extreme makover: attitude edition

I have something to admit to you.

It might make me vain, it might make me shallow, but ya know what? It makes me feel good.

I got a haircut this week and I am in love. 

For someone with ridiculously thick hair it was just too much and it'd become something that I didn't want to deal with. I woke up nearly everyday having to figure out what to do with my hair. Curl it? Straighten it? Ponytail? Let me tell you, that last one won more often than not. (Especially considering blowing dry = 20 minutes, straightening = 20-30 min, curling = 30 min.)

This one step, cutting my hair (or, truthfully, having someone else cut my hair), created a surge of confidence in my life. The knowledge that I look good and have a reasonable amount of time to actually do something with my hair is superb. I'm not someone who places all my stock in how I look (I have lots to offer, folks. haha.) but I shocked even myself in how big of a difference my hair made in my perception.

Guess what? It feels nice to feel pretty. It feels nice to wake up and do my hair and think, dang girl, not too shabby. It makes me want to be cute in other areas too, like dressing better or actually putting on makeup for the first time in 3 weeks (beyond just mascara). And this got my little brain a-thinkin.

Does my appearance matter to more than just those looking at me? Does it matter intrinsically, ideally bolstering my confidence in multiple areas of my life and subsequently making me a little more valuable to myself and those around me?

(Is your mind blown yet?)

Does how you think you look affect, let's say, your job performance or your relationships? I say yes, to a degree, it does. I don't think it's usually the driving factor in those realms (my biting wit definitely is) but I do think it plays a part. The better you feel about yourself the more likely you are to want to be your best self. You'll want to show off how well you can do things because you really do feel like you're good at them. You want to give your best self to those you love, thereby increasing their affection (again, ideally) and creating a cycle of confidence awesomeness (for me love and affection are also confidence boosters).

I'm not saying a haircut or highlights or makeup or a new outfit will have this affect on everyone. I'm sure there are plenty of people who are extremely confident without makeup or with their hair done a myriad of ways and in their well-loved jeans (or in my case, sweats) and these people -- I commend you. That is a skill and a valuable asset. For me, this boost of confidence in one area of my life has definitely helped my overall outlook.

Anyway, I know what you're really all still here for.

Pictures of this life-changing/life-affirming transformation. So here they are.

xoxo.