The Perspective Thread

[Entangled]

I had an idea for the "You Know You're a LHC-er when" thread: You know you're an LHC-er when you're frustrated with your hair's length, health, or taper. I've definitely had my moments of frustration. I was looking at my shadow and thinking about where I've been and where I'm going, so I thought this might be a good idea. To take yourself out of the mindset you're in now, post where you've been and where you're going. Pictures are welcome, but definitely not necessary. I'll go first:

I remember when my hair was just touching shoulder and if I settled it just right, you couldn't tell how long it was and I could pretend it was at least BSL.

Now, I can play with the ends of the hair behind my back, and can fold my arms over it.

Someday, I will be able to sit on my hair.

And here's one about braids:

I remember when my hair was too short to even ponytail, and how excited I was to later put it into pigtail braids. It was still too short for one English braid.

Now, my braid rests between my shoulder braids. I can feel its comfortable weight when I run.

Someday, instead of longingly looking an my shadow's tailbone and wishing my braid was there all ready, I'll instead be gazing at my knees and wondering when my classic length braid will touch them.

Your turn. Where have you been, how far have you gotten, and what will you be doing in the future?
This is a reminder of how far you've come, and what you will be doing in the future. What will your feeling now feel like to you future self? Sometimes it seems impossible to get to where I'm going, but a few years ago I would have yearn​ed to be where I am now.

[YvetteVarie]

Great thread idea Entangled.

I remember when I got a haircut after extensive relaxer and dye damage and was left with an inch of virgin hair. I remember feeling so frustrated about having short hair and wearing weaves and extension braids to cover my very short hair.

Now, my hair is down to my armpits, and I can bun or ponytail whenever I want to.

Future me will have a huge head... Because her hair will be twice the size of her head. I will have a big afro that I will wear everyday, and once in a blue or purple moon, I will straighten my hair to just show its length and luscious volume. And I will master the curly styles if I have to die trying

[LadyCelestina]

I was at hip in August but I cut back to what ended up to be sort of WL-ish.I was unhappy about cutting but the very damaged ends were bothering me a lot.It felt as if it was in awesome condition even though half of it is still dyed.

It's been not even two months and my hair feels short and as if the condition worsened because I neglect it.In reality it is probably better off left alone and not that short since wl-to-hip isn't a huge jump.

In the future,however,I'd like to mantain this benign neglect approach,as it's so much easier than constantly fussing over it.Work more on the benign.Reduce my trims to as little as possible without causing damage to worsen.Someday,I'll have to make another cut for damaged ends,but hopefully I'd be unhappy for having to cut back from classic to TBL,not from hip to wl :D And of course,I'd be happy to have non-dyed hair.

[Dreams_in_Pink]

When they took out my microrings extensions like 3-4 years ago, i was left with shoulder length, finger-thick ponytail. I remember saying to myself, "Okay, i will never have nice thick hair for a looong time."

Now i have 11 cm of ponytail circ. with the ends passing waist length. I'm happier than i'd ever been with my hair. Perseverance is the answer to all hair problems. :cool:

[TheBlondieDream]

As my journey has just begun, you all can tell where i am now from the pics i've uploaded, obviously there's a long long long path in front of me and i'm torn beetween the excitement of the journey and the frustration of being impatient, which i think is one of my worst defects.
I hope this will help me improve, because i know that haircare mostly rely on being patient to see the results of what we are doing, so it's kind of a test :)
I can already tell that, even in such a short time, i feel my hair a little more softer and i think it's a baby step towards my goal.
As per my goal....well, nothing speaks better than some pictures and a video
https://fbexternal-a.akamaihd.net/safe_image.php?d=AQAhWMAXMrXxBekV&w=484&h=253&url=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.naturallycurly.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F10%2FHow-To-Pineapple-with-Marula-Curl-Therapy-for-Perfect-Curls-1200x627.jpg&cfs=1&sx=0&sy=0&sw=1199&sh=627

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF_sDoXB-OY
I don't know if i can achieve this, but i will do everything i can to get as close i can to this ideal. (And yeah, it's not blonde, but i've thought about it and i have to embrace what my hair can and can't do and love them for what they are.)

[hanne jensen]

I remember that I've never before been able to grow my hair past a longish APL. After joining LHC my hair got to can I call this waist. Because I made some mistakes along the way and didn't really know what my hair needs and likes I had to chop most of my hair to shoulder length in July 2013.

After some hard thinking and learning to accept my hair as it is and trying to meet it's needs, I reached BSL this September. Just a year ago I had just reached APL.

[BrownEyedBeauty]

If you think that something will take too long to accomplish such as growing long hair, do it anyway. The time will go by whether you do it or not, and when that time does roll around, you will wish that you had done it long ago.

[fiðrildi]

In 2009 I grew my hair to the longest length it's ever been (a little past waist). I used to think that was extremely long, so after I cut it back to around BSL again, I used to think that once I had hip length hair.

And the other day I was curious to see pictures of my hair back then (2009), when my hair was "longer than ever", thinking that it would be past hip, close to tailbone.
Well, I have found pictures, and my hair was just a little longer than my current length :p

[Avis]

I remember when I made my first ponytail with nearly all of my hair. I also remember when I could only make two plaits in my pigtail braids. And a time when my cinnabun barely had one coil and needed lots of bobby pins to stay in place. Oh, and the point when my hair was in the awful post-pixie mullet stage. I wore a lot of tiny pigtails and beanies at that time.

Now I have more plaits in my braids (and can even make a single braid), my buns don't need any help from bobby pins and if I tilt my head back I can feel my hair brushing against my waist.

Someday I'll be able to do a nautilus and lots of other buns. I'll be able to feel my hair brushing against my entire back and someday it won't be layered anymore. Maybe someday I'll even be able to sit on it. I'm not sure when I'll stop growing but I'll be patiently waiting until I get to that point.

[jacqueline101]

This summer my hair was brushing my waist when I held my head a certain way. Like an unwise person I cut off an inch and my hair has seemed to stop growing. I have been trying for two summers to reach waist. I cut my ends due to tangly split ends.

[lunalocks]

My hair has been through a lot. Long, and then permed. Then shorter and shorter through the 80s to trim off the damage and finally a big chop to get rid of it all. A year on a sailboat which bleached it out to the color of honey (I am a dark blonette) and kept above the shoulders for the next 4 years. Then, gradually growing long again. Goal was waist by 50 but it never happened. Had a hairdresser who purposely trimmed off more than I wanted because SHE had decided that BSL was the perfect length for me. Found that out after a time. Stayed at MBL for a few years. Then I set about to trim only 1/4 inch off every 2 months to keep ends tidy and still grow. Gradually made my way to waist. That is when I found LHC.

When I first heard about wearing hair up all the time, crazy hair treatments, silk pillow cases etc., I must admit I thought LHC constituents were a bit obsessed. But I read and listened and changed up a few things. I bought some sticks and forks and learned how to use them. I watched videos for bun making and found a few that worked for me. I gave up cones and discovered waves. I S and D ed. Finally I gave up getting trims because I was stuck at hip for a year and wanted to focus on growing.

I am just past TB now. I really can't believe it. I wish I had found LHC long ago. I wish I had stopped wearing a ponytail long ago. That is the damage I am now growing out and (I hope) why my ends are thin. The thickness IS traveling down. I do have fairytails, but plan to trim and maintain at classic until they thicken up a bit more.

So, never say never or not possible. it is possible.

I never, never thought I could grow my hair this long. Thank you, people of LHC!

[Komao]

This summer my hair was brushing my waist when I held my head a certain way. Like an unwise person I cut off an inch and my hair has seemed to stop growing. I have been trying for two summers to reach waist. I cut my ends due to tangly split ends.

That's a shame but it will grow. I use to trim to often. Now I do a dusting twice a year. I will do a little more frequently if I notice damage so it's not set in stone. My hair has grown a lot since I became a member here. Keeping the scissors out of sight has helped me. I would rather do a dusting more frequently than a trim that I end up taking more than I need to. Hope it I'll work for you, too. :o

I don't know if you put oil on your ends? That has really helped me.

[jacqueline101]

That's a shame but it will grow. I use to trim to often. Now I do a dusting twice a year. I will do a little more frequently if I notice damage so it's not set in stone. My hair has grown a lot since I became a member here. Keeping the scissors out of sight has helped me. I would rather do a dusting more frequently than a trim that I end up taking more than I need to. Hope it I'll work for you, too. :o

Thank you. I'm going to start checking my ends monthly for splits and trim them off if needed. I'm in the no trim challenge. I might have to drop out of that and microtrim more often.

[Chromis]

Perspective, eh?

When I first started lurking on LHC my hair was about BSL. By the time I made my first post over a year later, it was already quite well past that but classic still seemed agggges off. The first picture in the series is the first one I posted here in my intro thread on the archived forum (I don't have any from before then which don't show my face):

https://farm7.staticflickr.com/6227/6327663730_220e96e58f_b.jpg
ETA: And now I can cheat and see my join date! Okay, this panel starts from 2006. That first picture shows a full three years of growth from having it shaved off for surgery. And wow, I have been maintaining at knee since 2011 now at least!

[velorutionista]

I remember when my hair was just past APL and felt sooooo long, and now I look at pictures from then (2006) and wonder how I could ever call that "long"! (And then I cut it all off for a chin-length bob shortly after!)

Now my braid tassel is just an inch or so past BSL and I can easily reach back and grab it (which amazes me!) and my loose hair is grazing waist length.

Someday, at the very least, my hair will hit my hips, and maybe I'll be sitting on my braid tassel at some point (not sure if I will grow quite that long, we'll see!)

[Cania]

I remember tilting my head waaaaay back in the shower to see what TBL would be like. Now I have to put it over my shoulder to stop it getting stuck in delicate places :o

[Komao]

Chromis, love looking at pictures like this. It's so inspiring and what I find so fascinating about LHC. Your hair is so beautiful. :blossom: