happy thanksgivingfrom the reinhardt family

i am a regret-er

people like to think they have no regrets. "i don't regret anything; i learn from my mistakes." we've all heard it. and some of us have said it (you know who you are). well, i am not one of those people. i fully admit to having regrets. yes, i learn from my mistakes, but that doesn't mean i don't wish i didn't make them. i wish i had gone to more high school dances while i went to a school that actually allowed dances, i wish i'd never backed into that red convertible that one time, and i wish that i hadn't eaten avocados on my 21st birthday, landing me in the emergency room because of a severe allergic reaction. i regret all of those things. and, most recently, i deeply and severely regret cutting my hair.

last month i bade adieu to six inches, turning my long golden locks into a short shock of hair. it wasn't an impulsive act; on the contrary, i've been wanting to cut my hair for a while now. i did it a few years back and really liked it. i felt it made me look a little older and was a nice change from the long hair i'd had since the 5th grade bob. (every girl gets a bob around the 5th grade; it's just a part of life). this time, however, like is the furthest feeling i have towards my new do.

keeping in mind the mentality of the regret-less, though, i am trying to find the good amidst the bad, and the good that i've found is a lesson in humility. cutting off my hair has been like throwing off a security blanket. i'm realizing that my long hair kept me feeling too secure in my appearance, and amidst this lack of hair lays an abundance of insecurities. sometimes i just feel ugly, i'll admit. but other times, i feel an overcoming sense of humility. not in a bad way. in a good way. in a way that makes me say to myself, "you are human; you make mistakes," and, "let go of your appearance; looks aren't everything."

with all that being said, i do not plan on keeping my hair short for the sake of learning from an ongoing mistake. no, i plan to let my hair grow. and grow. and grow some more. but not letting go of the lesson i've learned along the way. and as a reminder to myself in the years to come: the grass is not greener on the other side, nor is your hair cuter when it's all gone.

see it, love it, eat it

"once a little boy sent me a charming card with a little drawing on it. i loved it. i answer all my children’s letters — sometimes very hastily — but this one i lingered over. i sent him a card and i drew a picture of a wild thing on it. i wrote, 'dear jim: i loved your card.' then i got a letter back from his mother and she said, 'jim loved your card so much he ate it.' that to me was one of the highest compliments i’ve ever received. he didn’t care that it was an original maurice sendak drawing or anything. he saw it, he loved it, he ate it." —maurice sendak