Busy

Yes, I've still been so busy that I can't think straight. Added to all of my busy-ness is the knowledge that Christmas is only days away.

I haven't had time to participate in the online hair forums, and I have pretty much been practicing benign neglect with my hair.

I've just been wearing it up in a bun, and brushing it just once a day to change the style slightly.

I've noticed that when I do the Movie Star Shampoo (oil soap) in the correct proportion, I can actually stretch out washes for an extra day, which is a surprising bonus.

I'm still waiting for my hair to be long enough to do some of my favourite styles, like the Celtic Bun, but I am finding it easy to be patient, given that I'm so busy these days.

I'm just not really giving my hair a lot of thought, which is probably a good thing.

I hope that everyone's week is off to a good start.

'Til tomorrow, my friends. Much love to all.
xo

Sometimes This Is Tedious

While I have oft said that I am not trying to rush into the future and wish my life away, I must admit that this hair-growing can be tedious. It requires every ounce of patience that one possesses.

I know that some of you are lifelong longhairs, and can't relate, but for us growers, the difference from month to month is so frigging minuscule.

When I look at my progress from February to December, I realize just how far I've come, but I have a feeling that my next trip to waist is going to be a very, very long haul.

I guess this is an exercise in patience that I sorely need.

On the upside, I am still very happy with the present state of my hair. Aside from the fact that there are many hairstyles that I can't yet do, I am enjoying my hair as much as is humanly possible. I JUST WISH IT WERE LONGER!!!

Of course, I'll get there in due time, so I'm doing my best to relax about it. Unfortunately, once in a while I have days like these.

I suppose everyone has days like these whether it comes to hair, saving for a special item or losing weight. We get past it and don't let it get us down enough to give up.

Speaking of weight, I hadn't weighed myself for some time. I weighed myself 3 times this week, and there's no doubt about it; I've lost 10 pounds. It doesn't really show much, but I do know that the next 10 pounds will show a lot.

Realistically, I don't expect to lose more than another 10-13 pounds, unless I become a long distance runner. I will look quite good 10 pounds from now and I'll be able to wear my jeans!

So one thing frustrated me; one thing makes me happy. I guess we're all this way to some extent.

'Til tomorrow, my friends. Much love to all, and extra hugs to anyone feeling alone today.
xo

Oh Dear

Well, my daughter left for home early this morning, before the sun even came up. We were supposed to take some photos of her hair last evening, and also, she wanted me to give her a trim.

All of that came to a crashing halt when a simple toilet repair turned into a plumbing disaster.

To make a long story short, a pipe that should have been threaded into the main pipe was soldered in by the workers who built this house. There was no way to expect that, because in this particular case, every plumber would tell you that soldering is a no-no. So the shut-off pipe was broken right at floor level when my daughter and my husband were trying to remove and replace it.

Fortunately, the main water was shut off in the house, but once the pipe was broken, there was no way to turn the water back on in our home without a geyser shooting out in the kids' bathroom, which would have caused a major flood.

We had to call in a professional at 8:00 P.M., and before I went to bed, the pipe was fixed, the toilet was working, and we were a few hundred dollars poorer.

Everything was in chaos, and we didn't get around to taking photos of my daughter's hair, nor did I get to give her the trim she wanted.

I guess we shouldn't have waited until the last minute. Well, live and learn.

In any case, I realized that I have a length photo of my own hair that was taken exactly one year ago tomorrow. I took another photo today. Because the shirt has lettering on the back, it's another good one to establish the amount of growth I've had in a year. (Photo is clickable for a closer view.)

Since last year's photo was taken, I have trimmed off  3 1/2 inches, which is about a half of a year's worth of growth, so I'm fairly pleased with the amount of progress I've had in this one year.

I am still embarrassed by the thin ends, but once again, I have to remind myself that I need patience and eventually, my hair will be longer, and all of the thin ends will be trimmed away.

I wonder how many times I've had to remind myself to be patient in this blog. I don't know exactly how often, but it's been a lot. I have to keep reminding myself that I don't need to be perfect, and this is a journey, not a race. Okay, I am duly reminded.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

'Til tomorrow, my friends. Much love to all.

If The Odour Of Apple Cider Vinegar Bothers You

A lot of people like the results of an ACV rinse, but do not like the vinegar odour that is left in their hair. 

I think that some people use too high of a concentration of vinegar to water, and that's often the problem However, some people find that they are bothered by the odour of ACV long after their hair has dried, even when using a weaker mix.

If for some reason I feel the need to use a heavier than usual mixture of ACV to water, I have found a way to nullify that vinegar scent.

I've mentioned before that I use about 4 or 5 tablespoons of AVC to a 2 litre pitcher of water as a final rinse after every CO. With that dilution,  there is no lingering scent, at least not for me. But sometimes I use a heavier dilution, especially  if I've just clarified my hair and I really feel the need to make sure that I do all I can to close the cuticle and counteract the negative effects of clarifying.

What I do is put the vinegar in my pitcher first, and to mask any potential vinegary odour, I have found that essential oils are very effective. My personal favourite essential oil for this purpose is lavender oil. Not only is lavender oil fairly inexpensive compared with other essential oils, but it is extremely hair and skin friendly, and has a clean, green fragrance. I might add 5-10 drops of the lavender oil to the ACV in the pitcher, depending on what I think is necessary and then add the water.

When I do that, I never smell the vinegar, even when my hair is still wet.

Another thing you might try is using white vinegar. A lot of people find that white vinegar has less of a lingering odour. Also, remember that if you have very pale blonde or silver hair, you are better off using white vinegar anyway, as ACV can deposit a slight golden cast to pale hair.

I really like essential oils and I often add them to other products, like conditioners, if I find their fragrances unpleasant.


Well, it rained all night and most of the day here today. I kind of like rainy days when I don't have to go out, because they are peaceful and somehow relaxing.

I'm afraid that I woke up far too early again this morning, so I'm still feeling very tired. Does anyone have any tips on preventing early morning waking? I don't have any trouble falling asleep; I'm just not sleeping through the night.

My hair is feeling more like itself today, after this morning's CO.

Right now I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas, just waiting for the day when I can post that I've reached BSL. I am really champing at the bit to be able to do some of the styles I used to do when my hair was longer, but that will take a few months I guess. Patience, again.


In my new movie blog, I discussed Don Juan DeMarco, with Johnny Depp today. If you've seen it and would like to add comments, or if you haven't seen it and are curious about it, please check it out.


I can't believe that it's already going to be Friday tomorrow. Where did the week go?

'Til tomorrow, my friends. Much love to all.
xo

Lack of Sleep, PMS and Damaged Hair Don't Mix

Sunday evening already! Where did the weekend go? It was rainy all morning and cloudy and cool all day. Today was the very first time that the house was just a touch chilly when I woke up. Not chilly enough to put on the heat, but chillier than I've been used to.

I slept a bit longer last night--until 4:58 a.m. That was just not enough to make up for my sleep deficit, and I have PMS. Not a good combination.

I did that lovely deep coconut oiling yesterday, with wonderful results. I love that the oil can be washed out with conditioner. It never ceases to amaze me how well conditioner cleans hair. In any case, my hair feels soft and lovely.

However. I have to admit that I've been obsessing again today about my thin, damaged ends. I honestly don't know how bad it looks to any of you, but I can tell you that I can really feel it.

When I pull my hair into a ponytail and slide my hand down, there is not a gradual taper. There is a very abrupt point where the hair palpably gets thinner.

I swear if it weren't for you all who read this, I may have given in to temptation and chopped off enough hair today to get rid of those last few thin inches.

I am so fortunate to be accountable to you who read my words, as well as to my family. It makes giving in to hormonal whims more difficult.

So, crisis has been averted, and I won't chop. But I have to admit to you that I wanted to.

Finding that balance between cutting out damage and still allowing my hair to grow is very difficult at times, and today was particularly hard.

I just have to remember that I cannot expect perfection. No one is perfect and my hair doesn't have to be perfect either.

Thank you all who read my blog. You all help me more than you'll ever know.

I hope that you all had a great weekend, and I wish you a happy week ahead.

Love to all. 'Til tomorrow, my friends.
xo

Not Quite As Cheerful As I'd Hoped

I really wanted to be more chipper and cheerful when I wrote today, but it's just not happening. I still have a migraine and that summer cold as well as hot flashes, and I feel like a bear with a thorn stuck in its paw.

I'm not feeling as impatient about my hair today as I was yesterday, but I'm not feeling great about it either.  AutumnLeaves, wouldn't you think we'd have learned our lessons by this age?

I do want to say hi and thank you to Linda, a new reader who left some lovely comments on my website.  Your kind words cheered me up, and we can all learn  to be patient together.

I've mentioned before that I used to use cone-free products, but that I am now using cones (products with silicones) on my damaged ends. I really like the conditioners that I've been using, but I tried another one yesterday that made my ends feel as if they're made of plastic. This is not helping me feel any better about those damaged ends.  I don't know whether it was a one-time thing with this conditioner or if I need to clarify and perhaps that's the problem. I have used this conditioner in the past, but I don't recall my hair feeling this way after using it.

I will be trying the conditioner again, but I do have to say that the last few inches of my hair feel like Barbie hair.  It's really not a good feeling. I'll go back to the usual conditioners and give this one another try at a later date.  It really could be other factors that is causing my hair to feel this way. We'll see.

It's going to be quite a while until I'll be able to go cone-free again, but I'm not minding it too much ordinarily. If I try to go completely cone-free now, I'd have so many tangles on the ends, and my hair would feel so rough. It's just not worth it to me.

With the heat and the humidity, as well as the hot flashes that I'm experiencing, I just can't say enough how happy I am that my hair is long enough to put up and keep off my neck. I'm not wearing it in any way fancy, but it's up and out of the way. I don't know how I would cope if I had hair on my neck during hot flashes.

On another note, they say that a mother is only as happy as her least happy child.  I believe that to be true. I won't say much, but I will say that one of my kids is going through a trying time.  It's only temporary, and it's not health-related, thank heaven, but it's a trying time nonetheless. I truly hope things get better very quickly.

Well, I guess that's about as much babbling as I dare do today.

Love to all.  'Til tomorrow my friends.

Just Grow, Dagnabbit!

Maybe it's because I woke up with a summer cold this morning and I still have a migraine, but I'm feeling very--er--irritable about my hair today.

I was just visiting The Long Hair Community, and one of my buddies who joined TLHC a few months after me, whose hair was much shorter than my starting length just posted an update, and her hair, which was always beautiful, is now half way down her bottom and still gorgeous.

All I can think about is the fact that my own stupidity has set me back so far.  My hair right now is not much longer than it was when I started the journey 4 years ago.

It's true that my hair was damaged when I first started the journey, and that highly processed, heat-treated hair would likely have had to have been cut off eventually.  However, I really did myself in when I had the bright idea of dying my hair brown.  I know I've moaned about this several times, but today it's really getting to me.

I damaged my hair so much getting it back to my blonde colour, and I've had to cut so much of that damage off. I still have a few inches of that damage left.  It's not visibly damaged really, but I can feel the damage.

Yes, yes, I've ranted about this before, and I know that I can't go back in time and undo my mistakes, but sometimes it does get me down.  I guess today is just one of those days. I just need to whine and get it off my chest.

Intellectually I know that my hair will be at waist length a year from now.  I also know how swiftly a year passes these days.  But here I am frustrated yet again. Logic just doesn't always work.

Patience, PATIENCE, PATIENCE!!!  That has to be my mantra for the rest of the day. I'm sure I'll be over this frustration after a good night's sleep.  And now I'm off to have some green tea and take some vitamin C.  What kind of fool catches a cold in July?  Okay, don't answer that.

I hope to be back tomorrow feeling more chipper and cheerful.

Love to all.

Nothing Works For Everyone

Wouldn't it be nice if hair care tips that worked like magic for some people worked for everyone? It's just not the case though. It's such a matter of trial and error when it comes to hair. 

Even people with the exact same hair type can often have radically different results with various products, methods and treatments.

I remember when I first joined The Long Hair Community, I was overwhelmed with all of the products and methods that seemed to work like magic for some people. Someone with the same or similar hair type would rave about a product, and so I would run out and buy it and it just didn't do anything for me. Sometimes another recommended product would work like a charm.

I've come to the conclusion that every head of hair is as unique as a snowflake, and there really is no one thing that works for everyone.

If that wasn't bad enough, I've also realized that what works for me in the middle of winter does not work as well in the summer.  The change of seasons can often mean a couple of weeks of unhappy hair until I adjust my routine.

It can really be frustrating to look for that shampoo, conditioner, deep treatment or hair tool that will give the results one wants. I've finally settled happily into a routine, but not before trying many products and methods that just didn't work.

I still can't say that I've found the holy grail of hair products, but I am getting much better at knowing what will and won't work for my hair. I no longer seem to be spending money on products that don't work. My routine has become very minimal. 

If you're reading this and you're new to the long hair journey, just remember to try only one new thing at a time, and see how that works.

Don't try to change your routine too drastically with several different products, deep treatments or methods all at once, or you'll never find out just what is or isn't working.  Yes, it requires some patience, but you'll figure it out. You may also save yourself some money.

Above all, remember that growing long hair is a very, very long term project and you have time to figure these things out. As I've said before, it's a journey, not a race.

As for me, I still have that migraine that I mentioned yesterday. We did get the thunderstorms and there are more on the way.

Even though thunderstorms induce migraines for me, I do love them. There is something magical and so beautiful about hearing the tinkling of the rain, seeing lightning and hearing thunder and feeling safe and sound in one's home.

Luluj, if you live in the Niagara Region, then I imagine you live somewhere less than an hour from where I live.  I hope you did get that rain.  AutumnLeaves, I hope you get some rain too. It sounds awfully hot where you are. It's very hot and humid here as well. I'm hoping that the thunderstorms that we are getting today and over the weekend wash away some of that humidity as they nourish the earth.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful and happy weekend.

Love to all. 'Til tomorrow.

100th Blog Entry Already

I noticed today that this is my 100th blog entry. I honestly find it hard to imagine that for 100 days I have written an entry every day, mostly on the topic of hair. I'm glad I never thought this far ahead, or I don't think I would have thought I could have done it. Therefore, I likely never would have started.

What I've learned though, is that this blog is less about hair than the lessons it's been teaching me. I guess I've realized that the hair journey thing is a metaphor in many ways for the life journey in general.

I discovered fairly quickly that how I felt about my hair was often a reflection on how I felt about myself or about my life.

For example, I have learned that perfectionism is not necessary, often is destructive and can literally paralyze and stop me in my tracks. Sometimes "good enough" really is good enough. I don't have to be perfect. I would have thought that I would have figured this out a long time ago, but actually, it only became crystal clear for me during the process of blogging about my hair.

Patience.  I never really realized what a gift of grace patience truly is. And I have discovered that I have far more patience than I ever knew.

I also have learned that I am capable of stepping way outside of my comfort zone, which is what I've done by making my little videos. They may not look like much, but for me, it was a big breakthrough to be able to make the videos, let alone release them to the world.

What a wonderful thing it's been to actually follow through on writing every day. Some days I really think that I have nothing to say, but I write anyway. Somehow, something always comes out. They may not be pearls, but I manage to write every day anyway.

I honestly didn't think I had the stick-to-it-iveness to write on a daily basis.  But I have!

I have also learned that frustrations come but then they go. It's not worth getting hung up on something unimportant when in just a day or two it seems completely irrelevant. I'm finally starting to see what is meant by "don't sweat the small stuff".

Have I taken all of this to heart and integrated it into my personality and my life as yet? Well, I'm afraid I've still got a long way to go, but I'm seeing the path more clearly now.

So thank you blog, for these and the other lessons you've taught me, and above all, thank you to my readers, who help to keep me motivated. You mean so very much to me.

Love to all. 'Til tomorrow.

Happy Father's Day

I wish a Happy Father's Day to anyone who may be a father, to your partners who are fathers, and the fathers of anyone reading this.

It's a balmy, beautiful day here, and I've had the day to myself.  I currently have a head slathered in coconut oil, and I'll be touching up my roots in a short while.  I've been colouring my hair for so many years that I really have the touch-up process down to a science and it doesn't take me very long to do. It's not an inconvenience to me as it is to some people.

I am in a happy place again with my hair.  Trying a couple of styles that I hadn't done in a while this week and playing with curlers took the edge off not being able to do hairstyles that require more length.  It's funny how little it takes sometimes to get past a stumbling block.

My impatience has been put away again, at least for a while.

Today I've been wondering yet again just how long I'll be able to grow my hair with it still looking healthy. I do hope that I can get past waist length, because I've been looking at some beautiful hairstyles that I want to try that will require that kind of length.

It's a mysterious journey in a way, because while I have short-term goals, I really don't know what my final destination will be, or even if there will be a final destination.  Perhaps even if I reach my "secret" goal of tailbone length, there may be things that I will still be able to do to improve the condition of my hair.  I may want to grow out my bangs again, or maybe not. My journey may have to end at waist length or at hip length. I really have no idea. Whatever will be will be, and it's exciting not to know what the outcome will be.

I truly am enjoying the whole process, even though I do have days during which I feel a bit discouraged.  The discouragement always seems to pass, and before I know it, I'm back on track, looking forward to my next goal again.

Knowing that the negative days pass and give way to the positive is a wonderful thing. It's a good thing to remember about non-hair related issues too.  I've said it before, but I'm learning more and more valuable life lessons along this long hair journey

I hope you've all had a wonderful weekend and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

I Need Hairstyle Inspiration

I'm in a rut.  I think it's because my hair is just at that length where it's growing out of many of the shorter styles that I love, but it's still about two or three inches too short to do some of the many updos that I've been waiting so long to do again.

Also, my hair is thicker than it ever was previously at this length.  I attribute that to better hair care leading to less breakage.  That's a great thing. I dreamed of having thicker hair and actually having it means that my hair care is really paying off.

However, thicker hair means needing more length to do many updos that I used to be able to do at this length. I can't yet do a Celtic Knot, except in a half-up.  The same goes with the Infinity Bun and one of my favourites, the Rose Bun.  There are many others too numerous to mention.

I was looking at my website longingly today, seeing the styles that I have done before, but can't yet do again.

Really, there are many alternative hairstyles that I can do at this length, but nothing is really grabbing me.  So I end up in the same old French Twist or Cinnamon Bun most of the time.

Does everyone hit a length when they get bored with their hair? I hope it's not just me, and I really hope that it passes very soon.

Maybe I'll run across a new hairstyle to try and become inspired again. I really hope so, and soon, because feeling as though I'm in a rut is not helping my patience level at this point.  And as I've mentioned many times before, even yesterday, patience needs to be my best friend in this long hair journey.

Another Exercise In Patience

It seems as though if nothing else, this long hair journey is going to teach me patience.


Shortly before I began this blog, I thickened and widened my bangs, because I wanted a bolder look, and I wanted my cheekbones to show more.

However, I've come to think that maybe I cut back too deeply, so I'm growing out part of my bangs, so they won't be as deep from my hairline or as wide.

Eventually, the grow-out will become face-framing layers, but right now, the sides just look neither here nor there and they are starting to look a bit awkward. The tips of the grow-out are just now touching my cheekbones.  It will be months now before they are down to the edge of my face, or to the length of my chin.

I did give it a lot of thought before increasing the size of my bangs--more time than the 2-week rule that I've mentioned before, and I did like them, but I realized that too much of my hair was being used for bangs.

So on top of having the patience to trim regularly, which will delay my overall long hair journey, now I have these face-framing layers to grow out.

I am not at a point of frustration with it as yet, but as the length of my side bangs becomes increasingly awkward-looking, I am quite sure that I will need all the patience I can muster to keep growing them out.

Time and patience. That's what we who are growing our hair need. Time and lots and lots of patience.

Feeling Good About Reassessing My Goals

I woke up this morning, had a shower and washed my hair.  I was very pleased with how my hair looked when it was dry.  The trim really helped.

As I’ve discussed before, the chemical damage on the bottom few inches of my hair is driving me crazy.  The hair is still shiny, due to the good care that I give it, and the damage isn’t always obvious in photos, but I can feel it. 

Anyone who has damaged areas in their hair knows just how different that damage feels than the rest of the hair, especially when wet.

In days gone by, I would not have had the patience to even keep my hair as long as it is.  I would have cut out all the damage even if it meant a pixie cut.

However, I am slowly learning a bit of patience.  It is taking a bit of trial and error though, to figure out just how much to regularly trim. 

I had really thought that cutting 1/3 of my growth every three months would be a good enough compromise, but I really watched my hair over the past two months, and I realized that the damage catches up to my ends more quickly  than that trimming regimen allows.

So now, as I mentioned yesterday, I will be trimming off half of my growth until the damage is gone.  It’s going to be quite easy for me to both see and feel where that damage ends.

It’s made me have to readjust my timeline, and it’s going to be much longer to get to my next goal, which is BSL.  I was already getting impatient to get there, but I really have to remember that this is a journey, not a race.

I charted my projected growth and trims with my new trimming plan, and I should still be able to get to BSL by the end of the year.

I will be able to reach waist length and longer by the end of next year for sure.

While it’s disappointing to still pay for damage that I did to my hair over two years ago, it’s been a learning experience, and I know that however long it takes, I will reach my goal.  It’s just going to take longer than I’d hoped.

I’m not going to try to kid you or myself; it’s not going to be easy to be as patient as I need to be, but it’s a choice between long, nice-looking hair in the long term or long raggedy looking hair in the short term.

To me, it’s not contest.  I’m always about quality over quantity.  I just need to keep my eye on the goal and exercise more patience than I had originally thought.

I’ll tell you a secret though.  If it wasn’t for this blog, I would have been sorely tempted to get rid of all of the damage, which would have taken me just around shoulder length.  I know I would have regretted that, so again, I’m so grateful to be accountable to you who read this.

‘Til tomorrow, my friends.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

It was time to trim my hair today. I’ve mentioned before that I planned to trim one third of my growth every three months.  This is to remove the old damage, of which several inches are left, and also to keep my ends from looking raggedy.

However, when it came time to trim, I realized before I even took that first snip that I was going to have to trim off more than just a third of my growth.

My hair had been cut in a very sharp v-shape, and I want to start leveling it out a bit.  If I just cut off 3/4 of an inch, almost none of the length would have been trimmed.  There was such a tiny bit of hair at the point of the vee, that it was almost pointless to trim it and expect that my ends would look less jagged.

So I thought about it for a long time and ended up doubling the amount that I trimmed.  So in essence I cut off about half of my growth of the past three months. I really didn’t want to lose the length, but on the other hand, my ends looked terrible.  I would rather have hair an inch shorter than planned than have longer hair with ends I despise.

A really important part of growing my hair is doing my best to make sure that it remains as healthy looking as possible.

If it takes me double the time to achieve my goals, so be it.  This is really where patience is going to be needed.  The sooner I get the rest of the damage cut out, while still managing to keep growing, even a bit, the better.

So, I’m not exactly ecstatic with losing more length than I hoped, but it did beat the alternative of having ends that I was unhappy with.  That past damage is really coming back to haunt me more than I thought it would.

I must admit that I do hope that this is a good growth month.

Goals and Expectations

Growing your hair from short to long can be a very long process. It can also be frustrating unless you set manageable goals and have realistic expectations.


If your hair is currently an ear-length bob, and you ultimately want tailbone length hair, it feels like forever until you get there. So set mini-goals. A great way to set mini-goals is by using body markers.  In the case of the ear-length bob, your next goal may be to lip length, then chin length, then grazing-the-shoulders length.  Keep those initial goals manageable and within reach of a few months to a year.  This really helps keep you going. You don't need to lose sight of your ultimate goal, but keeping it on the back-burner saves a lot of frustration.


I've mentioned before the importance of taking monthly length photos. It's highly unlikely that you'll see much difference from one month to the next, but you definitely will see progress when comparing this month's photo to a photo from 3 or 4 months ago. Seeing definite progress will really help to keep you motivated, and when you start to think that your hair isn't growing (and it will happen), you have those old photos to look at and they will remind you that no matter how slowly, you are making progress.


Also, have realistic expectations about what your hair is going to look like when it's long. Don't compare yourself to someone who has a completely different hair type. If your long hair inspiration is someone with thick, wavy, coarse-textured hair, and you have straight fine hair, you have to know that your hair will never look like that wavy person's whose hair you so admire.


As your hair is growing out, learn to appreciate the unique beauty that is your own hair.  Believe me, beautiful hair can be thick or thin, curly, straight or wavy. Now is the time to embrace your own individual hair type.  Look for inspiration from people whose hair is similar to yours.


These tips will keep your long hair journey less frustrating, more fun, and you'll be less likely to want to give up.


Happy growing!

The Little Things

Sometime it seems like hair just isn't growing.  Of course, waiting for hair to grow is far worse than watching a pot boil.  Yet there are surprising little things that one notices from month to month or even from week to week.  


Perhaps I'll try a hairstyle that I couldn't do a month ago because my hair was too short, but I can do it now.  Maybe I'll feel hair brushing against my arm or my back and know that I didn't feel it there even last week.

Only a couple of months ago, I couldn't reach up behind my back and grab my hair without leaning my head back a bit.  Today I can grab a good inch between my fingers with my head held high.

I think of these things as mini-milestones. They're not the major markers of hair growth like hitting shoulder length, or having my hair falling below the line of my shoulder blades, but they're pleasant little moments just the same.

Little things, little pleasures, little surprises--that's what keeps me going. 

That's also why I take monthly progress photos.  I may not see much or any difference from one month to the next, but if I look at a photo from three months earlier, what a change!

Growing long hair really is a journey, it's not a sprint.  Enjoy and savour every moment of it.  The length will come in time.  

In the meantime, enjoy the little things along the way.