I just posted this to my blog.. I'm still in shock over this whole event.. might have something to do with the fact that only 30 minutes have passed...
I just got home from having my hair cut. It needed to be done. After six months of absolutely NO professional treatment, it was getting pretty raggedy. I knew going in that I would need to cut off several inches.. but I didn't realize it would be SIX. Yeah.. five to six inches came off in a matter of a minute. Then it was 'cleaned up' which meant another half inch or so. I was amazingly relaxed while it was going on and it wasn't until after I left that I started to have my breakdown which came to it's climax when I showed my dad and his response was literally...

*eyes widen* *mouth drops* "OH MY GOD!"

(Sorry, Lord. He was shocked.) Yeah.. I pretty much lost it. I cried. I can't believe all of my hair is gone.. I can't even hide it in a pony tail. It looks awful. More than anything, I'm sad that I lost so much hair. It took me so much time to grow it out and my plan was to let it grow until I entered a community. That's still my plan.. it's just a plan that's five inches shorter now.

*sigh* I really want this gift to be beautiful for our Lord and that's about the only thing that is keeping me from crying again now. It will grow out again and with regular maitenance, it will stay healthy. Now all I need to remember is to breathe.. and stay calm.

I don't even want to see people now.. they're gunna freak just like my dad. My stylist and his team of course love it but they always do... or at least they all pretend they do. And I think the reason I didn't freak out DURING the process was because A) my hair was so long I couldn't even see where he was cutting initially, B) I didn't have glasses so I couldn't see anything anyway, and C) I was talking to him about discerning a vocation to the religious life. He had so many questions and I was happy to have answers... Yep. Totally distracted.

Experiences like these are exactly the reason I wait so long to go back.. ho hum.

Eat healthily, exercise properly, spend a good amount of your day in prayer and it'll grow back soon enough! A few years ago, on an emotional down (a bit of an understatement) I lopped off my very thick, knee-length hair up to my jawbone. It looked fantastic - I was told - but now I wish I hadn't.

There is something quite powerful about a girl/woman's hair, I think, especially if it's long (a relative term). I'm only beginning to realise this myself now - I don't think our hair is something we can simply "utilitise". It does mean something, cutting it off means something, and cutting it at your investiture means something.

'Course, this is all personal meanderings and it's possible I'm quite off the mark. But what I wanted to share was: it's all right to be upset. Even if you don't (over-)symbolise stuff like I do, six inches is a lot of hair to lose in one fell snip, and it will take a while to get used to. If you like, you could see it as a step in your discernment - you've discovered something new with the Sisters of the Renewal and it marks the beginning of a fresh step and direction in your journey towards God.

I don't know what your time-frame is or if you even have one - but hair can grow one heck of a few inches in a few years. Concentrate on God and He'll give you a superb investiture!

Love and prayers,

PP

I think the bigger gift to Our Lord would be your detachment from your hair. I have been growing mine out for a long time, too, so I can imagine how you feel! Actually I had someone cut six inches off of mine when I was younger after I had only asked for a trim. But don't worry! It will grow back before you know it, and for now you can have fun with shorter hairstyles PP had some really good things to say. And I agree, He will make your investiture beautiful no matter what

Now that I like.


I am a little disappointed in my attachment to my hair.. but the good side of it is that the reason I am most attached to it at the present moment is because I want to give it away later.. and this somehow feels like less of a gift. Anyway, thanks for the suggestion pp. I really like it and it really does make me feel SO much better.

If I come across something about myself that lets me down, so to speak, such as an attachment to something - I try ("try" being the operative word) not to see it as something to get despondent about, but another opportunity for grace. Because in this failing there's a good amount of ground to cover, a huge scope for improvement: a flaw can become another part of Christ's triumph.

Well, that's the theory, anyway

I'm humbled that you found my words helpful. Deo gratias!

Love and prayers,

PP

Don't ever lose sight of the fact that God wants your heart so much more than your hair.....

I understand that pain. I haven't had my hair cut in thirteen months because last time was a total disaster. To make matters worse, someone took my picture and put it up on facebook.

Also, keep in mind that you still have a whole year after you enter to grow your hair. So I'm sure you'll have really long hair by then.

This is also something I try to remember. It only took me about a year and a half to two years to grow it out.. and regardless, I'll be giving up something that I've nurtured for that very moment. And like stlmom said.. I can't lose sight of the fact that God wants my HEART so much more than my hair.

The sad part of me is the part that says the hair is the visible sign of what is not visible in my heart... and then rational me says that what is invisible in my heart is visible through my actions... What a mess.

I am having hair problems too ( not to steal your thunder, hughey ). I have brown hair that my mom always had cut relativly short ( a bit above my sholders) and highlighted blonde. It looks great when I bother to blowdry and flat iron it; but I never do. So I want to grow my hair long and let the streaks grow out. My mom says that brown is an ugly color on me ( thanks mom! ) and my hair is better this length. It's driving me nuts!

I can totally relate.
I used to have REALLY long hair. That all changed when I entered the convent. Each haircut was traumatic for a long time. Someone would just cut our hair in the novitiate to keep in short. No big deal. I have learned to live with short hair and we wear a veil so it doesn't show other than the very front.
Detachment is crucial in this way of life, however, I still struggle with getting my hair cut-Sr.Jacqulyn cut my hair once this summer and it was a pretty memorable experience----
Over Thanksgiving I was visiting with my parents and went to get my haircut at a walk in shop. They cut it sooo short that my parents were in shock when I came home. I guess they figured that sisters had to have REALLY SHORT hair.
My Dad's reaction was like your dad's. He took to calling me "shortie" for the longest time. Now it seems that I have advanced to "mediumie". So there's hope...In a few weeks you too can be "mediumie".

Laura......... I am sure that your hair looks lovely and it will soon grow again in time for your Investiture.

Thanks, Sister!

With the order I am interested in, no one ever sees your hair after investiture.. not even the other sisters. I don't think I would be too worried about it after investiture because .. I've given it up! And you don't see ANY of the sisters' hair. It's all covered. I really don't know how they go about cutting their hair.. but I do know that no one ever sees it. So I guess they cut their own. I'm sure it's lovely.


Steal my thunder? Please! If I had thunder.. I'd prolly ASK you to steal it.

I'm sure your hair is beautiful. God gave it to you.. it must compliment you. I think everyone looks better with their natural color than any color they give themselves. .. I've never highlighted or dyed my hair for that very reason.

oh NO. maybe i should re-consider discerning for the CFR's! my hair is CRAZY. i'd never be able to cut my own. it's big and red and curly.
i would post a picture, but i'm not sure how.


ps: i wouldn't really stop discerning cos of that . it could be kinda fun to try to cut this mane myself!!

Mine isn't wild.. but it would be if I tried to cut it myself!


btw, to upload images, use a sight like flickr or photobucket. they provide links to your photos hosted on their servers. then when you want to post them, you use this code:

Photobucket provides you with a link already inside those tags. (I think it's the last one they provide.) That makes it easy to just copy and paste into a post here at phatmass. But really, it's not hard to add your own tags.

Hughey, I'd grown my hair out the year before I entered the PCPA, and wanted it REALLY long before investiture . My hair grows incredibly fast. It's curly and crazy. It's ALSO almost completely grey. . .an Italian thing. I got my first grey at 17. Anyway, I'd let it grow and grow, and then finally this past month, after not being able to do anything with it besides braiding it or tossing it in a pony tail, I had a foot cut off. Everyone pretty much freaked! Now however, it's REALLY curly because all that weight isn't bogging it down. And yet, I HAVE to do my hair every day, because if I don't I look like I have bed head. I'm in this funk right now. . thinking about ceasing all the dyeing and seeing what it looks au naturel. I've seen some incredibly beautiful women, with grey hair and thought about it myself. However. . .my mother's upset. She thinks that having a 'grey' daughter, it'll make HER look older!

Hair grows back, and esp if you aren't entering right away, your hair will be long again, before investiture!

Pax et bonum!

I have no idea when I'm entering.

Well no matter. As has been mentioned here a few times. .you'll still have your postulancy to grow it out.

And candidacy! (Thanks again, yall. I'm feeling much better.)

I hadn't cut mine for two years before I entered the PCPA in Hanceville so I know what you mean! Now it's been three years, and I had it re-layered but I didn't have it cut yet. I'm still waiting to see if I enter anywhere soon enough, so it will be long for my investment. But it is hard to style very long hair, isn't it!? For grey hair, my mom uses a special Pantene Pro-V shampoo meant for grey-haired people (she stopped dying hers a couple of years ago and now it's more beautiful than ever!), and while it's damp she puts "sillk drops" (a got2be product, I think) on it, and it is always smooth like that. Maybe you could try it

Silk Drops? Sounds fancy.

It's not the grey that I'm concerned about, it's the growing out! Any suggestions?

I know what you mean, though about the waiting to see if you are going some place else. I got myself back into debt, which can't be helped now. But if it's His will that I try yet again, I will it as well. I'm getting back to 'healthy' (insofar as the reasons I left) and perhaps at that point I will be low enough in my debt that I can consider looking again, if it be His will.

God bless you in your search and discernment!

I asked the stylist how often I should return for a 'trim'. He told me 6 weeks would be sufficient if I was aiming to grow it out again. He knows that my goal is to keep maximum length while still maintaining health.. so I'm gunna try that.

all this talk of hair cutting and Sisters, and veils, reminds me of this great video..

First vows of Sr Jacinta and Sr Miriam CFR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru8B94MfQx0

May God give you His peace!

On second thought.. I'll probably go every 8-10 weeks. I think 12 might be pushing it but 6 seems like a monetary thing for him...


That's the order I'm discerning with!! Isn't it lovely?

yes they are, i had the privilege of being there at the re-beginning of the Sisters and working as an assistant to Fr Groeschel for over a year...Good is good.

..again, speaking of Franciscans Sisters and shaved heads!!:)

How neat.

Can I just say that I love how vocation station has a whole thread about hair?

hair cuts and veils, hair cuts and veils!

http://www.servidoras.org/documento.asp?ti...mp;seccion=News

I've got very Dutch hair, that is: it like to do the exact opposite of what it's supposed to do! Fortunately, it responds very well to reverse psychology, so when I want it flat and out of the way (like when I'm going to church) I'll leave it loose until the very last minute, after which I'll tie it up. And if I want it nice and flowing, like for a concert, I'll pin it up and take the pins out ten minutes before going on-stage, and during that time my hair will sort itself out.

I shudder of the thought - but what will it do under a veil? (Hedgehog-like images come to mind!)

There are some indispensable items for wearing long hair under a veil:

elastic headband
bobby pins
those little v-clips that clip open and closed
elastic ponytail holder
a flat barrette

What I used to do is put mine up half-way in the barrette, braid the rest and then fold it at my neck so the bottom of the braid was pointing up, and then pin it to my head with the bobby pins. The v-clips are for when you have strays, and the elastic headband is for making the veil stay on if it's not tight enough, or holding it back if it wants to go wild under your veil

That's interesting, I always wondered how nuns put their hair back without making a huge lump in the veil. Would that work under the full viel though? Or was it only good for the postulents veil?

I had to make a cap (just like a shower cap, but made of white cotton), it hides my very black hair and keeps it under the veil. Otherwise, my hair starts going every single way possible, and my veil slips off. I'm having to let my hair grow, if I keep it short it won't stay under the veil. So, with shoulder lenght I will be able to use a barrette and force it to stay under the veil.

I should just enter a community with whimples

(Too bad that I'm quite sure I'm not called to be a PCPA! :D )

Yes, the postulants have a brown cap the same as this that they wear under their short brown veil during postulancy.



The sisters with habits and the full headgear have short hair so there's not really a "lump" problem there I had really long hair when I was a postulant so it was challenging at times but sometimes I just had to live with having a lump under my veil! For instance, in this picture, the day I entered there was quite a lump because I had my hair in a bun when I received the veil

more shaved heads nuns and veils!:)
"Passionist nuns live some of the most austere religious lives: They shave their heads; get up at 2 a.m. every day to pray; whip themselves with small leather lashes to share in the pain of Christ’s flogging; practice long-term fasting, give up foods such as fruit and vegetables during the summer as penance, and only speak one hour a day. Their suffering, they believe, can help save lost souls."


"Although their faces seem pale and gaunt, their eyes tired with black circles, these women laugh and tell jokes and poke fun at slow-praying sisters or sisters who fall asleep during their vigils"

"Sister Marie Michelle is tall with sparkling blue eyes. If she had hair, it would be thick and black. Even without makeup and after years of less than five hours of sleep a night, her face beams a wide smile. But she is quite serious when she says she made the decision to become a nun at the age of four.

The story goes that little Marie stood on a kneeler while her mother prayed beside her. In front of them sat a nun. “I leaned over the pew and I grabbed the bottom of her veil and I picked it up to see what was underneath it. And my mom grabbed my hand and was mortified and she said: ‘Don’t touch the nun! She’s married to Jesus.’ That was it for me!.”


-------------------------------------------------------------
Young postulants marching into chapel to receive habits in Alton, Illinois.
"Belongea marched up the aisle carrying a tall white candle. A wide smile spread across her soap-cleaned face as she spotted her parents seated along with her brother and five sisters, their spouses and children. She wondered what her family thought of her hair. The sisters had shorn her brown tresses the day before, leaving strands less than a finger long. But Belongea kept back a long lock for her mother, a gift she would present no-doubt with tears. Belongea wasn’t nervous really, but excited, eager to get through the event. But what if she didn’t turn the right way or bow at the right time?
http://www.aliciapatterson.org/APF1903/Reed/Reed03.jpg photo

When the Archbishop called her to the altar, he placed the dress and veil in her hands and said: “The religious habit is the garment of your salvation.”
http://www.aliciapatterson.org/APF1903/Reed/Reed04.jpg photo
The postulants clutched their veils and habits to their chests and hurried to a back room where they slipped off their black jumpers and white blouses and put on their habits: calf-length, long-sleeved black dresses with pleats in the front and secret pockets in the petticoats where the sisters carry their rosaries, pens or candy for the students. The young women stared at each other.

“You look so holy!” Belongea told one of the women, then giggled.
Their veils felt awkward at first and they reminded each other not to get “veil neck” — a condition in which a sister stiffens and won’t turn her head for fear she’ll lose her veil.

the last 2 pics and paragraphs are about this Community
http://www.altonfranciscans.org/default/Formation%20Page.htm

Oh, wow, these pictures are great! Thank you!

NUns at the zoo..great pics!





have a Joyful day
Peace of Christ Jesus!
E-J

All these young nuns, makes me want to run off to the convent right now! ( which would be painful, because 1. I live in the middle of no where 2. there are no nuns near me and 3. I cant drive, legally, anyway)

I'm looking from my study books to my rosary to my study books...
Bad VA! Baaaad! No convents before graduation for you!

lol. I'm putting off my homework right now... oops!

Introibo ad altare Dei, Ad Deum qui laetificat iuventutem meam.!
,what a wonderful holy desire,at your age, and in our times !!i pray that you keep that Grace, and guard your desire...just dont get into allot of debt!!!!

i am surprised that their isnt a good Community of Nuns/Sisters,close by that someone could help you make a non-vocational retreat at at LEAST yearly?.. whom am i to speak.a guy..with a licence! .living in the middle of nowhere, close to a Monastery
Peace and all goodness be in your soul, Emile-James.

SANTA TERESA DE JESUS De Los Andes, be your friend in intercession..

franciscans are my favorite

*edit: you know... i'm always threatening to just shave all my hair right off. it might not be SO bad being bald!! ...i bet my head is shaped funny though.

you read my mind.. (about my own head, not yours).

haha.

i gotta figure out how to post a picture of my mane on here. i'll try that thing you posted. thanks, Laura!!

*edit: i tried to get the pictures on here of my hair. it didn't quite work! i'll just give the website. http://new.photos.yahoo.com/stuckinamo93/#page1
the graduation one was may 2003 when my brother graduated collge.
the one where i'm dressed up was last year before prom. it only took the hair dresser lady like twenty minutes to tame that thing!!!!
the one of me at the beach (we call it Martha on the rocks ) is from last August. it is my senior pic. my hair is pretty tame there.

*edit...again...it wouldn't work, that website!! try either of these: http://www.picturetrail.com/stuckinamo93
or http://www.flickr.com/photos/36662701@N00/

stuckinamo, if you click on "all sizes" in flickr.. it'll take you to a page with like five or six image sizes. click on the size you want and just below the photo it will give you two urls. use the basic one and put it between image tags. if you do that, you'll get this:



Very lovely! So pretty.

and for the others.. a picture of her hair.. in COLOR!

Wow, those are pretty pictures.

This is some thread!!! Over 640 views and over 40 replies in 24 hours WOW!!!! The pics are great.

I cut my hair right before Thanksgiving, right in the bathroom and much to the surprise of my mom

My long locks that went almost to mid back now hang just above my shoulders, but I like it because there isn't any "rats nest" at the base of my head anymore.

Anyway it will grow back and now my mom likes it.

does that cheer you up? LOL

why the mad face?