I feel more...Me...with Short Hair.

24 of my (almost) 28 years of life have been spent with long hair that was at least halfway down my back. Mostly, this was due to my father's appreciation of long hair and his equivalent with it being a very feminine characteristic. If I cut my hair even a few inches below my collar bone, he was not happy about it. Don't get me wrong - I loved my long hair too, it was just that it was what was expected of me, by many more than just him.

Julia = long brown hair.

Not anymore.

Just under three years ago, I got the itch. I didn't feel quite right in my own skin. It's part of the reason I pierced my lip and started getting tattoos. I felt like the outside was finally starting to reflect the inside. Most of my family thought I was going through a crisis after my divorce. In reality, these things are what made me begin to love my body again.

My long hair just didn't fit with this equation anymore.

Now, anyone who has had long hair knows the struggle it can be. The never-ending static in winter, the long showers because dear-god-the-amount-of-shampoo-and-conditioner, the long hairs that fall down your shirt or hang off of your back tickling the back of your arms, getting it caught in your mouth, and always. putting. it. up. because what else do you do with over two feet of hair? Yes, it can be beautiful. Yes, there are hundreds of things you can do with it. But eventually you get absolutely sick of it and just want to shave your head.

So, I did.

Most of it. I started with shaving just above the left ear and going for an asymmetrical short inverted bob. Which lasted two weeks. Then I went full on Ruby Rose. Both sides (and sometimes the back) of my head have been shaved for two and a half years.

And I have never felt more comfortable in my life.

I have grown out the remaining "mohawk", but never much farther than my chin. And never once have I regretted it. Yes, my significant other prefers long hair, but that's not me anymore. At least, not right now. The more I change my outward appearance, the more I identify as myself. I recently began sharing my baking skills on social media under the name "Anni's Flour Shoppe".

Anni = short colored hair, piercings, and tattoos.

I like this equation much better.