One of my assignments in high school was to keep a journal for several months about a “significant relationship” in my life.
I was, in some ways, a typical high school guy. “Significant relationships” may have been the last thing I wanted to write about. It took me a long time to realize the one relationship that really was significant enough to inspire me.
I created a journal of my relationship to my hair.
I wrote entries about getting a haircut, and about sideburns. I wrote about disagreeing with my parents over how long my hair should be allowed to grow. I wrote about the terrors of shaving.
Though my journal has receded into the past, my relationship to my hair is still one of my most significant. It may be the longest relationship I have ever had. It defines and reflects different periods of my life.
I have never really had very long hair. It has, like my father’s and grandfather’s before me, become thinner and thinner. It has not, though, become very grey.
I have had various types of facial hair. I have had mustaches, but not very effective ones.
I have had a beard for long periods of time. They have been longer or shorter; then a few years ago my beard became shorter and shorter until it eventually went away.
Once, when I shaved off my beard for Halloween, I continued to comb it, as if it were still there, for the week it took me to begin growing it again.
My hair reflects who I am, and who I am becoming.
What are the most significant relationships in your life?
Who shapes you and shows you the deep truths of who you are?
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