What's the Big Hair Deal?

         I just cut my hair last week. Not a trim, a 15 inch cut. It's funny, because there have been 3 other times in my life that I've done a dramatic cut like this (this one might have been the biggest though) and every time I get the same reaction from people. I have a few friends that say, "It looks cute!" or "It looks good." Which of course are nice things to say. I don't necessarily try to look cute though, not since I was 13 years old. And then there are the 'other' comments: "You had the most beautiful hair ever, why did you do that?" or "What made you want to do that?" or "You cut it! Do you like it?" Each of those comments could probably be argued as 'innocent', but in all honesty, they aren't positive or cute banter.
          First of all, why didn't you tell me I had gorgeous hair when it was long? Why tell me now, when I've already surgically removed that part of my body making that, would-be compliment irrelevant? I can honestly say that the last 5 years (that's the last time I cut my hair) I've probably had a handful of people tell me I had pretty hair. Usually it's even just a, "You're lucky your hair grows so fast", or "I hate you for having such pretty hair" (is that even a compliment?) It's like I'm Jo on Little Women, "Jo! Your one beauty!"
          My hair has been long 85% of my life. I like it long; it's feminine, sexy, creative and well..... feminine. I mean, there's a reason 95% of Victoria's Secret models have longish hair. I have had so much fun with different braids and twists. I also LOVE full, wavy hair. Even more, I love messy, wavy hair.
           But there is something kind of freeing to chopping off those locks. I don't feel like I fit a mold anymore. It's like breaking 'girl code'. For one, I have three young children which require a lot of attention. My long hair didn't get 'fixed' everyday. I workout for an hour every morning, which leaves the kids begging for attention and food by the time I get home. My showers/get ready time are usually 10-15 minutes. On a good day, maybe Sunday, I'll milk the hubby being home and spend a good hour- hour and a half getting ready. Now with it being short, it's been fixed everyday in an easy 3-5 minutes! So okay, it's efficient. But to answer the , "Do You like it?" question, I think so. I'm usually pretty critical on my appearances and rarely give myself a thumbs up. But  it's been fun, easy and freeing so far, so I guess that will have to do.
            It does make me realize that girls don't compliment each other very well, or often. Myself included, women need to speak out and give other women more compliments! I think for some reason we feel that magnifying another's positive traits takes away from ours, but the actual opposite is true! The women in my life that have been the most complimentary and sweetest to me, are the ones that I admire and feel most comfortable around.