I was overwhelmed with the warm, kind welcome after my first WIW. I have been so impressed with the genuine care you all seem to have for one another. Thank you for making this so easy a space to join...

My hair seemed to generate more buzz than what I wore, so I thought you might enjoy a post just about the hair. I hope that you will forgive how wordy this is, but there is lot to this subject for me, and I have noticed that most other women have complicated relationships with their hair. I can only hope that my post will inspire introspection, creativity, and even perhaps something unexpected...

I have long felt that most of my resources and effort should go to my hair, since it is the one thing in my "wardrobe" that I wear every single day,, and I have spent a lot of time analyzing what feels the most cohesive to my looks and personality. I feel like the very best version of myself in short hair. Not only are my looks very soft, but my personality is quite gentle and meek. On top of that, my preferred clothing styles are almost exclusively feminine. My amazing hairdresser totally gets me, and she said that on me, long hair would be like putting bows on ruffles. That is exactly it. The style gives just enough edge for me not to go into a sugar shock of sweetness!

The other aspect of my hairstyle is the color. I was a natural blonde until I had children, then it darkened into something not quite dark and not quite light - and very drab. I ended up going with heavy high lights to make it a variegated blonde. After my 9 year old daughter died of cancer 6 years ago, I needed something different. I had to find the new me because the old me had been crushed. As much as I truly did like the woman I was before, I had to let her go. After I went platinum blonde, I looked in the mirror and knew that woman. She was the person who lived deep inside of me. One day my husband said to me "you are Sarah The White." I was baffled by this, so he went on to explain that in The Lord of The Rings, Gandalf the Grey went into the darkest belly of the caverns to fight the fiery beast, and emerged with pure white hair, completely and forever changed. And much more powerful. He became Gandalf The White. I looked from my husband to my young son, who was nodding vigorously in total agreement and understanding. Even now, years later, my eyes well up when I realize that they completely get me. And thanks to them, I get me too.

So... I know that's a lot of pressure to put on hair. But it is my hair story and it is amazing to feel the utter freedom of being myself and feeling unafraid of showing that self to the world.

My hairdresser, who is also a wonderful photographer, used my cell phone to do an impromptu shoot after one of my hair cuts. Other than her last shot, the looks are way too crazy for me to feel comfortable in, but I am trying to keep working with tamed down versions of them. The very last photo (one of mine from a different day) is what my ultra straight hair ends up looking like most of the time. It is very ornery and straight and that's what it wants to do! I just thought you all would enjoy seeing the fantastical possibilities!