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Rapunzel |
Before and After: A selfie shot in the mirror the night before my haircut; A selfie on the street after losing my locks! Or ... Rapunzel with short hair becomes Rapunzel with short hair! Say Cheese! A quick snap of the camera during my headshot session with Jody Christopherson, rocking my new do. Who's that Girl? A quick selfie on the subway with my hat. Loving the Dorothy Parker look! | This past weekend I cut off a good 13 inches of my gorgeous, long, thick hair. Some people called me crazy. Most were disbelieving in the idea that I would look good with a new short do, but the results are in, and overwhelmingly favorable. And other than the most obvious questions of "Do you like it?" or "How does it feel?" or "Did you donate it?" (Answers: I LOVE it. It feels amazing! Yes I donated the 13 inches to Wigs for Kids. For more information, check out their website. They do some amazing work.) The question that I want to answer, is "Why did you do it?" I have a dear friend, who when I told him that I was going to chop off all my hair, was utterly heartbroken to hear this news. He wanted to know "Why?" It was a valid question. After all, my hair has been long for a relatively long time, and any time I got a hair cut it was still in a style that hung past my shoulders. I have known him for about 6 years, and he has never known me with short hair. In fact, many of my very close friends have never seen me with short hair! Part of this is that my friend base has shifted and changed in the past few years, evolving with me. Many of these friends have been stalwart companions that have seen me through some rough times, and some good ones. But I did not arbitrarily decide to chop off my hair to see if my close circle of friends would like it, or still like me, or to just give them a different flavor of London. I decided to chop off my hair because: I wanted to. I felt this overwhelming urge to make a change. I had been going through the extremely difficult and grueling process of trying to find an apartment with a couple of other friends, and it fell through. So no change. But there was still this urge to make a change. Something tactile and substantial needed to change in my life. Moving wasn't going to happen. Loosing an excessive amount of weight would take months. Re-vamping my entire wardrobe would be so expensive, I would be better off moving. The only logical, least expensive, and fastest way to have a tangible change was to chop off my beloved locks. And I'm not lying. It feels amazing! My head is so much lighter. I have really thick hair, so this makes sense. And I feel a bit freer and a bit more bouncy and fun. It completely changes my look, which is why I was so excited to get new headshots the following day! The look on my friend Jody's face when I showed up for our session was priceless. "Oh my God! You cut your hair!!! It looks amazing!!!" If loving it myself wasn't enough, having my photographer friend gush about how well it framed my face, and how fun it was definitely got me on the side of the short hair club. I have spent less than a year of my life with short hair. Hair that did not touch my shoulders when down. Seriously people. It was LOOOONNNNGGGGG. But those days left me. It's not a miracle. It's what happens when you're not allowed to cut your hair for 14 straight years. Not that I didn't want to. Don't get me wrong. I love my long hair. I also love my short hair. Actually, I just love my hair. It's great! It's thick, soft, strong, and grows quickly. But a change needed to happen, and a change was made. Plus, I got to help out an amazing charity that does some great work with children. I got to do something good, and give back to the world in a little way. After all, it's only hair. It'll grow back ... eventually. |
On Monday 11/16/2015 I had the amazing opportunity to volunteer at the York Theater Company's Annual Gala. They present the Oscar Hammerstein Lifetime Achievement Award to an honoree. This year they honored the great Dame Angela Lansbury. And although, I was working the event I had the great opportunity to see many legends of Broadway perform, honoring this great force of art, and a great personal hero of mine. The evening was hosted by Victor Garber, and featured performances by Brian Stokes Mitchell, Marilyn Maye, The Yale Whiffinpoofs, Alan Menken, and none other than the original Sweeney Todd, Len Cariou. It was truly a magical evening. To cap it all off, James Earl Jones took the stage and spoke of his great friendship with Angela Lansbury, and how he loved working with her, and then presented her with the Oscar Hammerstein Lifetime Achievement Award.
I couldn't believe my luck! I was in a room with so many greats, many of who performed, and I was the lucky duck who got to be there for free! Granted, I helped out with the live auction, and again at the end of the evening, when I manned the elevator down to the first floor. This second job was not required, I was taking charge of a situation and providing a service in return for the amazing event that I was blessed enough to be at. Not long after I took up my post, none other than James Earl Jones came to take the elevator down. I held it for him, he turned, and addressed me, in his booming bass, with "Thank you." It took everything I had to be cool as a cucumber and reply, "You're welcome, sir." I have to say, it's one thing to hear Mr. Jones' voice enveloping you across a room through a microphone. It is another thing all together when he turns and uses it solely on you.
I thought my night, and almost every dream I could ever have, had come true. And then not 10 minutes later, the great Dame herself came to use the elevator. She, unfortunately for her, had to wait a bit longer than Mr. Jones to take the elevator down, but during this time, I seized my opportunity. After all, I had spoken to Mr. Jones with grace and aplomb. I turned to Dame Lansbury, and wished her a happy birthday. After all, that was the theme for the evening. She had turned 90 in the previous month, and all the performers sang "Happy Birthday" at the end of the night after she received her award. She smiled, so graciously, and thanked me.
I'm still pinching myself trying to make sure that this actually happened! I met Mufasa and Mrs. Potts, or if you prefer, Darth Vader and Mrs. Lovett. I spoke with them briefly, and if Jerry Herman is right, "It Only Takes a Moment" my life has been changed. It was an honor to meet them. It was my joy to be in their presence. And as this year gets closer, and closer to it's closing, I am sure this means in large that bigger, and better things are headed my way if I only have the guts, and grace to seize the moment.
I couldn't believe my luck! I was in a room with so many greats, many of who performed, and I was the lucky duck who got to be there for free! Granted, I helped out with the live auction, and again at the end of the evening, when I manned the elevator down to the first floor. This second job was not required, I was taking charge of a situation and providing a service in return for the amazing event that I was blessed enough to be at. Not long after I took up my post, none other than James Earl Jones came to take the elevator down. I held it for him, he turned, and addressed me, in his booming bass, with "Thank you." It took everything I had to be cool as a cucumber and reply, "You're welcome, sir." I have to say, it's one thing to hear Mr. Jones' voice enveloping you across a room through a microphone. It is another thing all together when he turns and uses it solely on you.
I thought my night, and almost every dream I could ever have, had come true. And then not 10 minutes later, the great Dame herself came to use the elevator. She, unfortunately for her, had to wait a bit longer than Mr. Jones to take the elevator down, but during this time, I seized my opportunity. After all, I had spoken to Mr. Jones with grace and aplomb. I turned to Dame Lansbury, and wished her a happy birthday. After all, that was the theme for the evening. She had turned 90 in the previous month, and all the performers sang "Happy Birthday" at the end of the night after she received her award. She smiled, so graciously, and thanked me.
I'm still pinching myself trying to make sure that this actually happened! I met Mufasa and Mrs. Potts, or if you prefer, Darth Vader and Mrs. Lovett. I spoke with them briefly, and if Jerry Herman is right, "It Only Takes a Moment" my life has been changed. It was an honor to meet them. It was my joy to be in their presence. And as this year gets closer, and closer to it's closing, I am sure this means in large that bigger, and better things are headed my way if I only have the guts, and grace to seize the moment.
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Author
London Griffith is an Alaskan born, Montana raised, Southern influenced, New York Actress. She occasionally writes about her life and experiences of being on the verge ...