Why I Shaved My Head

Washing my hair in the shower, I try to think of how we can raise money for Relay for Life this year. Our team is pretty small and none of us have particularly useful fundraising skills. We're good at asking friends and co-workers for donations but nobody likes beggers so we limit ourselves. I remembered one year in Junior High when students got their hair cut for Locks of Love but how would that raise money? Then a little thought pops into my head...what if I shave my head for a price?

I'm not bold. I'm not brave. I don't do crazy things; I was that kid who corrected her teacher when she accidentally gave me more points than I earned because I was afraid she'd get mad at me for letting those two extra points slide. I'm the kind of person who overthinks and probably overreacts. However, when I told my family and friends of my head-shaving idea, they acted like I had just suggested jumping out of an airplane with no parachute. The comments I received were all in shock and full of phrases like "oh my God! But you're so pretty! Why would you shave your head?" I was never nearly as nervous as my mother and sister. It was just hair to me. I knew it would grow back. What I couldn't figure out was why nobody understood why I wanted to do it.

I wanted to show that I cared. Cancer has a nasty habit of running in my family and when my dad got diagnosed with cancer, there was nothing I could do but pray. Cutting my hair off wasn't much but it was more than I had done before. I also started going to an AMAZING Church and every Sunday they talk about the importance of giving. This was something I had to do.

Over the next two months, we raised money as we did before; selling baked goods at work and asking friends and family for money, but this time if they gave a little more, they had a chance of seeing me with a bald head. Surprisingly enough, this actually worked. Our boss donated half, which was an enormous help.

I don't want to sound self-righteous or toot my own horn for shaving my head because lets be honest: it really wasn't a big deal. It was a small action but it was done out of love and what I didn't expect was what I would feel afterwards.

On the day I had set to shave my head (6 days before Relay for Life and 7 days before my college graduation) my sister revealed to me that she had gotten in touch with our local news station and that they were going to meet us at the salon to record what I was doing. As stated above, I'm not bold. I'm not brave. I don't do crazy things, and I especially don't want to be on TV (unless we're talking an alternate reality where I'm tall, skinny, perfect, and written in as Brad Pitts true love in some semi cheesy RomCom- but I digress) I never wanted to be on TV or be interviewed. I had sudden flashbacks to every public speech I ever made in school; slurred speech, shaky voice, red cheeks, and hands so shaky you would think there was an earthquake were I'm standing. No, no, no. No interview for me. I wanted to physically hurt my sister but I restrained myself. As we sat in the car outside of the salon, I told her I needed a minute with God and she left so I could have a moment to pray. I prayed so hard for this to be a good thing and to not feel humiliated. My sister knocked on the car window, I took a deep breath, said Amen, and got out of the car and into the salon.

Never so quickly has prayer worked. We waited for a minutes for the news station to show and it was nothing like we pictured; no big lights and cameras in my face. It was just two girls asking me questions in front of a camera. For some reason, I didn't shake nor turn horribly red. I breezed through the interview part and then it was on to shaving my head. Everybody was watching and I was so nervous; not about my hair, I was super excited about that, but I was nervous that I'd do something to embarrass myself. But that didn't happen. My head was shaved in a matter of a few minutes and as I saw myself for the first time, I was in shock of how much I actually liked my new do'.

Shaving my head was liberating. I felt like I had done a little piece of good and it somehow gave me more confidence in myself than I'd ever had before. I've never felt more beautiful. The support I got afterwards- even from strangers, was more incredible than I could have imagined. It really hit me how one small move can have such an effect. One little act of kindness can go a long way and what a wonderful world we would live in if we all could act a little kinder.

Everyone should shave their head at least once- especially when its for a great cause.