Does growing out your hair bring back memories for you?

[backtolonghair]

I know this is an intersting topic, but I was curious.
I am growing out my hair, and my ulimate goal is waist length. I had this hair length when I was 16 and haven't had it there since. Now that I'm growing my hair out again, it's bringing back memories of when I was around that age and when things were different and better in some ways. I almost feel in a way that I going back to that.. it's kinda weird and cool at the same time. Has anyone else on here experienced this?
Please share. Thanks! :)

[spidermom]

This is the first time I'm growing hair longer than somewhere between APL and BSL. Therefore I don't have any long hair memories.

[Anne~]

Not bringing back any old memories here either. My father was a barber I always got a regular boys hair cut. But it's making memories now. ;)

[suicides_eve]

yeah i have a few hang ups with growing my hair to its original length (a bit past bsl), i was in a toxic relationship which my hair was in some ways involved ( walk by hard yanks, snips taking off with scissors, it goes on..:luke:) but i also have fond memories of my daughter playing with it when she was a wee baby, doing all kinds of fancy up dos, twirling it around around my finger,

I think this time around i will have fun growing it out , my new bf is very encouraging and loves the look of long hair. I am positive it will be a pleasant experince which will bring great memories.

[MemSahib]

Mine was roughly this length when I was in my very late teens. So yes, it brings back memories.

[HairColoredHair]

I'm too young to have wistful memories of my teen years... :lol:

I still remember how awful it all was...

[MemSahib]

I never said my memories were wistful or pleasant in the least. They're memories, that's all.

[MyFireElf]

Growing my hair out brings back one very specific memory for me of being around four or five years old, sitting in front of the fireplace wrapped in a bath towel while my mom brushes my hair, and talking to my father about how long my hair was getting because I could feel it brushing against against the small of my back when I tipped my head back.

It's just one memory, but very pleasant indeed. :inlove:

[DecafJane]

At this stage, I keep remembering how painful it was to grow out in the past, and I keep thinking "why, why why??!!" :P
Right now, when it is just brushing my shoulders, it is starting to hold a lot of water as I get out of the shower after washing it, and I remember how I used to have to squeeze my hair before I stepped out onto the floor, otherwise I would cause a minor flood in the bathroom! :)

[Anje]

None for me. My hair is about 1-1.5 years' growth longer than it's ever been before, so this is unexplored territory.

[basak]

This is the longest my hair has been so no memories of the past, but I'll definitely remember the things that I have in my life now a few years later, if my hair is still long.

[Blueglass]

Because it will be your constant companion, it will be your bridge to past, and future, and the ethereal world.

[intothemist1999]

I know this is an intersting topic, but I was curious.
I am growing out my hair, and my ulimate goal is waist length. I had this hair length when I was 16 and haven't had it there since. Now that I'm growing my hair out again, it's bringing back memories of when I was around that age and when things were different and better in some ways. I almost feel in a way that I going back to that.. it's kinda weird and cool at the same time. Has anyone else on here experienced this?
Please share. Thanks! :)


I hadn't really thought of it that way, but I *am* aware that my hair hasn't been like this in around 30 years, and in my mind I mostly connect my having long hair from around the time I was around 10. I think it reached waist length around the time I was 8 or 9. Definitely MY good ole days.

One thing DO remember is when I was probably around that age, I guess I was at the height that if I were standing right in front of my mom, she would always gather my hair at my back and run her hands down it. *sniff*

Occasionally when I inhale a chunk of hair it reminds me of a photo of me and my brother with Santa, when I was around 7, and a piece of his faux beard got in my mouth!! I was too polite or shy to say anything, so yes, I have that photo around here somewhere!! :D

[Celebrian]

Yes, I think I know what you're going through...

The last time my hair was the length it is now - I was fourteen years old. So, the memories are sharp and bitter-sweet. I've changed to some degree (obviously!) but it is suprising how often my mind goes back all those years when I look in the mirror and see this hair flowing past my shoulders. Mind you, I take far better care of it nowadays!

I had also recently wondered if other people went down memory lane, concerning their current hair length...

[cutastrophe]

I know this is an intersting topic, but I was curious.
I am growing out my hair, and my ulimate goal is waist length. I had this hair length when I was 16 and haven't had it there since. Now that I'm growing my hair out again, it's bringing back memories of when I was around that age and when things were different and better in some ways. I almost feel in a way that I going back to that.. it's kinda weird and cool at the same time. Has anyone else on here experienced this?
Please share. Thanks! :)


Yes absolutely, sometimes I wonder if I'm going through a mid-twenties crisis because I'm so fixated on having my virgin waist length hair back, it used to be that long when I was really young. I do think (if I ever get there :rolleyes:) it will make me feel younger. And because I had it growing up, long hair definately just seems more... "me."

[Masara]

I was 28 when I cut my waist-length hair to above my ears so I certainly have memories. My hair is just approaching APL and now it falls onto my back when I'm getting dressed and that is just so familiar. Back in the summer when I finally could do French braids again, it felt like coming home. Something my fingers hadn't done for more than 10 years but I didn't even have to think about.

[rubyredslippers]

I never had long hair as a child, it was always a chin-ish to mid-neck-ish bob with bangs, but I used to throw my head as far back as it would go, when I was alone before a bath or whatever, and just revel in the feeling of the ends brushing my mid-back. Sometimes I feel my ends against the bare skin of my back and I remember that feeling from when I was young, and I think, "I have hair like that now, just like I wanted." Then sometimes I'll toss my head back and let the ends try to tickle hips, and think about how that'll be.

Some things I just haven't grown out of :shrug:.

I don't think I could return to a bob, because that would feel so childish to me, I'd just see my five-year-old-face supermposed over mine in the mirror.

Same goes for bangs. I'm really reluctant to go back down that route because of that childhood-association.

[far_away]

Yes, happy childish memories. I was little and used to plait my hair before bed. I have just started doing the same again and it reminds me of being a little girl. My hair was only ever about bra strap length (not that I wore a bra in those days) and I am catching it up slowly but surely.

There are other happy associations though, not just wistful ones. In those days I didn't know how to look after my hair and my Mum with short tightly curly hair didn't either. Now I am more in control, know how to treat my hair and it is becoming more beautiful.

[jel]

I thought that growing my hair will bring back memories of my late teens and (very) early twenties, when my length was just past BSL. But no, it hasn't happened at all. Probably because I'm now growing consciously and caring for my hair - the teen length was very much just laziness and youthfull rebellion, not to mention the bleached highlights and perms!

I just realised I used to have midback length hair in my childhood, until about 8 years of age. If I *think* about it, I remember my mum (now deceased) combing and plaiting my hair. But I have no kinesthetic memories of that, when my SO combs my hair it doesn't remind me of times past. I'm all in the now! :D

[EmeraldIona]

Oh yes, the memories have come flooding back to me. Especially the past few days since I joined LHC and am thinking about my hair more often. I havent had my hair this long since I was around 14 or 15 years old and I find Im getting excited about buying new hair accessories, just like I did when i was a teenager!
The other day, when I picked up a bottle of shampoo that I hadnt bought in all these years, a memory of the boy I had a crush on at that age popped into my head......just as well my husband is'nt the jealous type, haha. Is'nt it strange how sights and smells can often take us on a trip down memory lane?

[Xandergrammy]

It IS bringing back old memories, but with a bit of a twist. My sister and I had long hair in the 70's. Mine was stick straight and hers was wavy. I wore my hair short for many years and when I decided to grow it long again, my hair grew in wavy, just like my sister's hair!!


My sister and her hair around 1973-

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g6/Xandergrammy/image0-3Small-1.jpg

[jtl45]

For me, having very long hair brings me back to being a kid! I really didnt have my hair cut till I was about 6 years old! I went from extremely long to a buzz cut (flat top) till I was about 15.
Growing my hair long has been a really enjoyable process (except the early grow out year) and brought back good memories!

[Silver & Gold]

Not bringing back any old memories here either. My father was a barber I always got a regular boys hair cut. But it's making memories now. ;)

Me too and a perfect formula for short hair . . .

I made a fuss when mom brushed my hair + dad was a barber = pixie cut for Silver & Gold.

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg46/veeless/pixie.jpg

[Curlsgirl]

I'm too young to have wistful memories of my teen years... :lol:

I still remember how awful it all was...

I am probably much older than you and I guess I'll never forget. I saw this thread title and it brought back a flood of unfortunately not so good memories. It was the only time in my life I had BSL other than lately. I was an adolescent and my Mom was severely depressed and I was the only one at home. She was so caught up in her own emotional struggles that she hadn't time to take to show me how to be a young lady actually. I remember just letting my hair go and my sister who was much older finally taking me to the salon. They couldn't get the tangles out there were so many. I was so ashamed and embarrassed. It hurts a little bit to even write about it now. BUT I am thankful for where God has brought me since and am going to focus on that instead of the pain. I am now in a completely different place, happy and secure in His love! All of that happened because other people were hurt. My Mom did her best and I love her. God took it all and made it GOOD!

[biggeorge]

it's bringing back memories of when I was around that age and when things were different and better in some ways.


Most definitely. I finished high school during the peak of the Vietnam war. Kids were being drafted by the thousands. Long hair became a sign of defiance and protest against the "establishment". The hippie movement was in full swing. Protests and sit-in's. Peace and free love. A new music revolution.

I grew my hair out the first time beginning around the end of the Vietnam war. Turbulent times, but wonderful times.

And now, 30 years later, I'm doing it again.

[intothemist1999]

My sister and her hair around 1973-

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g6/Xandergrammy/image0-3Small-1.jpg




ALI McGRAW (on the poster)!!! She had the MOST beautiful hair!!!

(is she still around?)

[ladystar]

Oh the memories, when I had hip length hair was so beautiful and virgin hair. (I still have the pony tail at home) I had my first real boyfriend I was 17. I did a student film. I have a lot of wonderful memories with my long hair. The last time I had it long tail bone was when I was about 23, Lot of memories with my friends at this point clubs bar’s etc… Then I had to cut it off because I had done a relaxer about a yr before and my hair was all breaking it sucked. But now on the right track to virgin long beautiful hair again. I cant wait!!!

[magicatt]

I am just past waist now and I find that I'm thinking often of the time when I was 12 and I realized that my hair touched the top of my jeans. (I only have another inch or two to go to reach that now.) It's just really that memory of reaching back and realizing that my hair touched the top of my waistband but I'm feeling my hair in places that it hasn't touched since then.

[AJoifulNoise]

When I first read the title of this thread I said "nope, all new memories!" But, as I thought on it, I realized that wasn't true.

My hair reminds me of spending time with my mom (who died when I was in the 5th grade). For years she washed my hair for me in the sink.

Also, it reminds me of how much I loved my hair when I was little. I was so proud of it when I could tie my pigtails under my chin.

[vindo]

My hair was never longer than waist but I sort of get remembered of that time, I was a Teen and I got bullied a lot.

Many people criticized my hair back then..called it ugly and I often got told I just dont have the hair to wear it long, it would never grow well, too thin too straight too this bla...

So many times I thought "I will show you...." ;)

Having come this far I often think

"In your face!!!!!"

in my head...:p

[vindo]

It IS bringing back old memories, but with a bit of a twist. My sister and I had long hair in the 70's. Mine was stick straight and hers was wavy. I wore my hair short for many years and when I decided to grow it long again, my hair grew in wavy, just like my sister's hair!!


That sounds wonderful :) , a part of her.

[Celebrian]

When I first read the title of this thread I said "nope, all new memories!" But, as I thought on it, I realized that wasn't true.

My hair reminds me of spending time with my mom (who died when I was in the 5th grade). For years she washed my hair for me in the sink.

Also, it reminds me of how much I loved my hair when I was little. I was so proud of it when I could tie my pigtails under my chin.

Oh, bless you. That touched me about your mom... and the tying of pigtails under your chin is so cute!

[Xandergrammy]

ALI McGRAW (on the poster)!!! She had the MOST beautiful hair!!!

(is she still around?)



YOU'RE RIGHT!! She did have the kind of hair that I wanted!!! I haven't heard much about her lately. I'll have to go google her and see what I find.

[Xandergrammy]

That sounds wonderful :) , a part of her.



Thanks, Emi! It IS very nice to me- and like a part of her. :inlove:

[blue_nant]

This is the longest my hair has been so no memories of the past, but I'll definitely remember the things that I have in my life now a few years later, if my hair is still long.

Basak: you have, as they say, thud-worthy locks! Oh my! Just luscious!

I, too, have never had hair this long. In the shower today, it adhered to me, and I held it in place and looked: the ends are about 4 inches from my knee *long, long girly giggle*

I think when I was 25 and hacked it off, It was only waist/hip length. heeheeheeheehee

[LMarie]

After reading this, yes its bringing back memories both good and bitter sweet lol. In middle school I had hair down to my calves and moved to a new city/school. There was one other girl at school with long classic length hair that would roll her eyes at me as she walked past me commenting to a friend "so what, its longer, mine is red" lol My hair is black and I guess in her mind her hair was better due to the color. I laughed at that then and even harder now when I think about the mean girl pettiness. I wasn't aware I was in a competition! I never gave my hair length a thought since at that point long hair was all I ever had and knew. In fact, when I first spotted her I was excited to think I had something in common with her but I guess not! OH well, good times.

[Groovy Granny]

You would think so....and I expected it to, but it hasn't.

Not counting that spell in the late 80's/early 90's when I was MBL and coloring.....going back to the 60's, my hair had a whole different feel and look to it...even though it was WL and natural.

I went from light blonde back then to darker blonde/light brown and then went silver.

My hair now has a finer and wurlier texture than before as well.

Plus this is the longest I have ever grown it to, and now having all these styling tools and tips, it has a whole different look and feel.

The only awareness I had of my long hair 50+ years ago was the humidity poofiness (major curl explosions and frizz) because we didn't have/use conditioner or know of oils and serums back then.

I wore it parted in the middle/worn down or ponytailed or flipped braid & ponytails....and pretty much didn't give it a thought...not like I do now :lol:

[Dark40]

Yes, I have a lot of good memories as I'm letting my hair grow out! Right now, my hair is almost waist length. That's the longest it has ever been in my whole life after my childhood length. When I was a childhood a memory I have is that the longest it has ever been was MBL. I've always known or felt that it could grow a lot longer than that but my mom would always tell me that it can only grow to a certain length, and it will stop. Ever since my childhood I've always wanted classic length hair, and my mom would often tell me, "Your hair can't grow that long." But nowadays, she has a change of heart. Now, she's thinking that my hair can grow to that length! I think it's because she sees that the texture and hair type has changed with my hormones changing.

[Arciela]

Wow a 10 yr old thread o.o but yes it brings back memories, good ones :) my hair is creeping towards classic and it's been that long when I was little, but I never appreciated it like I do now.

[iforgotmylogin]

My hair is long for the third time in 20 years. The first time I grew it out as an undercut, and I used to do a lot more to it then than I do now. A lot of things I have forgotten - like sticking it together in clumps with gallons of gel, and how despite not having much privacy as a 17 year old, staying up super late to be sure I wouldn't be stopped bleaching it

[lapushka]

I went back to how stubborn I was as a child already. Age 5 (first grade, I turned 6 after first grade) I said to my mom, I want to grow my hair. She at first kept taking me to the hairdresser, to get bangs cut and also the back and after about a year of not getting anywhere I refused to go back to the hairdresser. My mom then realized I was dead serious, and she allowed me to grow out my hair. I still got trims once in a while, but anyway. I got to classic age 10/11. I started to sit on it, and asked my mom for a trim. She kept postponing it, and when we finally got to the hairdresser I was so sick of my hair...

And then I decided to chop it all off to a page-boy cut. LOL!

Yeah... good times. :lol: ;)

[Wildhorserider]

Having my hair short again is bringing back memories of when my 3 daughters were born. I shed terribly after each birth and cut it to chin each time. It’s actually making me pretty emotional lately. I loved having babies to care for. I miss feeling them move in my belly and nursing 😭

Oddly, I don’t remember my hair at all back then. I also realized the only reason I didn’t mind short hair was because I didn’t give myself a thought back then. I was consumed with caring for a new life. So, this time around I thought, no big deal, you’ve had short hair before. Well, it is a big deal! I wish I had a nursing baby to get me through this! My youngest is 6... I wonder if she’ll let me put a diaper on her?

[Stray_mind]

I remember my days on LHC, taking length shots and being excited about each milestone.. It is so rewarding to grow long hair for me. :)

As a kid, i used to just do my thing, without caring about my hair at all.... Now thanks to LHC i am much more mindful of it and it's health.

[Milkchocolate]

I saw this thread at the perfect time :) just this morning I was combing all of my knots out..and I get many..and i had a flashback to when I was 11 and remembering how filled with rage I was when my mom would comb out all my tangles and trying to hide and run away when my mom placed the paddle on my head when I wasn’t looking! XD

[cjk]

Actually I've never had long hair. As a boy it was always kept short.

This is entirely new to me, and I'm enjoying the heck out of it. Entirely new feelings and experiences.

[carlimeow]

This is the perfect thread for something I was thinking about last October... it was such a strong feeling I still remember it now. I was trying on some outfits I had put together 4-5 years prior, and when I looked at myself in the mirror I started to feel so emotional... happy emotions, of course, because my hair was back to both the colour it was before I tried indigo in late 2012 (nothing wrong with indigo, it just ended up not being the right choice for me) and the length it was before I cut it off as a result in 2013 (I know I could have made a better decision, I have even come to realize how cool two-toned hair can be while growing out indigo, but I was really young and it was kind of a strange time in my life). The time period that I had first put together those outfits (late 2012-2013) compared to the current time made me realize this so intensely all of a sudden, and that sudden rush of remembrance/fulfillment meant a lot to me...

It was just really neat to see myself basically having the exact appearance that my 17/18-year-old self really wanted back: the long red hair I had in the summer of 2012, that I had spent three years growing and that meant so much to me back then, and still does now. It's not only about the looks of course, but naturally that aspect of hair can't really be denied... it was just a very happy feeling for me, that "full circle" kind of feeling. Even with the damaging mistakes I have made in this second hair growth journey of mine, I understand that I have to also remember to look back and perceive how far I have come in a good and positive way.

(Writing this also reminded me of when I got a trim a month or two ago and my mom pointed out the way I seem to keep a 'historical record' with my hair :p... well, at least during the time period of my two long hair journeys, I don't really remember much before that, I was really really young then. I guess I can be rather good at remembering vague time periods and things like that when they pertain to my strong interests)

Sorry for such a long post! The subject of this thread just reminded me of this thought I had... :blossom: