November 10th, Day 79

When I first found out I had cancer my biggest fear was that I was going to die. Then when I heard it was stage one and fairly curable, my next fear was that I’d lose my hair. Dying #1, losing hair #2…when did hair become so important to women? Did we do this to ourselves or can we blame it on marketers and media exposure?

When I traveled to Paris last summer I stayed with my daughter in a less touristy part of the city and got to mingle with the locals. I was shocked to find that the Parisian women did not over-do their dos. Most of them wore their hair the way it behaved naturally, with very little styling or product involved. Even their color seemed to be more mousey and less shiny indicating that they don’t spend hundreds of dollars or hours and hours at the salon having it dyed or highlighted. Isn’t Paris supposed to be the center of the fashion world, where all the trends permeate from? Is this a trend or just a more laissez-faire attitude towards hair? Either way, when is it going to make its way across the pond so we too can let go of our constant quest to have perfect hair?

But, since it’s oh so important to me (remember, its #2 after dying) I’m trying to deal with it as positively as I can until I get mine back. Here’s what I’ve decided. I will most likely save hundreds of dollars by not going to the salon, not buying products, not buying hair accessories and not buying magazines with ideas for new hair. I will save countless hours not washing my hair, not styling my hair, not stressing about my hair and not flipping through those magazines I bought looking for new hair. I will throw on my wig, make a few minor adjustments to get it on straight and be done with it. We will use the money we saved and take a trip to Paris (sound good Sweetie?) when this is all over and I will do as the locals do and let my new hair fall where it may.