10-10-10: the new "New Year's Day!"

Ohmylanta! My first blog on blogger! This feels like the good old days when I used to blog on Xanga religiously when I was just a young teeny-bopper and I would give out props and comments like they were going out of style!

Anyways, YESTERDAY was truly a blessing in disguise! After spending most of my Friday and Saturday getting caught up with my paperwork, feeling stressed out, unmotivated about dancing, and being a total loner, yesterday came along and made up for my, what seemed to be, miserable weekend.

Sundays, in general, are always awesome because I look forward to going to church and praying for my family and friends--that they may look forward to another great week head! But the Sunday of 10-10-10 was definitely one to remember for me!

I started off by attending the 8 am mass at my family's catholic church. I greeted father Greg and was excited that he still remembers me by name :) Then I did a bank errand and headed to town to drop off my paperwork to our main office. Afterward, I headed to the mall to get my hair done from one of my hula-sisters. She does amazing work with my hair so why go anywhere else, right?! She had called me earlier to move back my appointment because the receptionist screwed up the schedule. I didn't mind at all and decided to just check out the shops. I bought some essentials from Whole Foods, a cheesecake yogurt to snack on, and a really cute romper for only $20. I didn't realize there was a sidewalk sale going on until I saw signs and then thought, "Oh geez, no wonder it was so hard for me to find parking!" I barely shop for clothes for myself so finding this cute denim romper was absolute joy for me! Most of my friends know that shopping is not something I do often. ShooOOoot, I still rock the clothes I've had from my sophomore year in high school! HAHAHA! Working retail has sort of turned me off to shopping, especially on busy holidays! I prefer to buy gifts in advance and avoid crowds at all costs! But anyways, back to the point--It felt good to be getting a lot of things on my "to-do" and "to-buy" list done.

Haircut time!! This would have to be the highlight of my day! For the past 12 years, I have had haircuts before, but I've always told the different stylists that I went to, "I'll do some layers, but can you keep my length long?" And if I wasn't paying for a haircut, I could always count on my mom to bust out her scissors and just give me the straight-across-trim. My look would change... very little because it was always a protocol to maintain the Polynesian Dancer profile. I truly loved having my long hair! I loved to braid it, curl it, not even dare to brush it, or just toss it in a bun sitting atop my head!! But this time when I went to see Pua I told her, "I don't really know exactly how I want it, but I do want it short... I absolutely trust you so do whatever you want to it!" This was her second time doing my hair. The first time, I had told her exactly what I had told other stylists in the past, but this time, I just totally let her have control of the scissors and she did an awesome job! I absolutely LOVE it!

Being a dancer can get rough at times because of the many restrictions and orders that we have when it comes to our appearance: remove piercings, conceal non-Polynesian influenced tattoos, grow out hair, no bangs, no manicures, no pedicures, tan body, watch figure :'( No one likes being told what to do, but as dancers we grew up around these unspoken rules and learned to accept them. Year after year of the same mundane things I just craved change and that's exactly what this hair cut accomplished for me: CHANGE! Before heading home, I showed another hula sister, Kapua, who works at the same salon, my new hair-do, and I totally loved her response! She said, "Oh my gosh marray! I love it! It's like for the first time you actually have a hairstyle and not just stuff that's attached to your head! I sooo love it and it's so light!" I love it too and I drove home feeling like a new woman! LOL! I know, sounds kinda dumb, but really I did!

I ended the night by having dinner at Ruby Tuesday's with a few of my former co-workers from Brooks Brothers. They are such awesome people. It was sooo nice to know that our friendship never changed! We laughed so hard and talked so much and the food tasted awesome! At this point I had realized that some things in life are better left unchanged--all other domains that we have control over, are changed with hopes for a better outcome.

Let's face it, everyone craves change once in a while. This was my change, my way of breaking the rules! And I feel so guilty for feeling this good being it's only the beginning of the week! Not only does my head feel sooo much lighter, but so does my SOUL! I feel like I just let go the past 12 years of my life. 12 years!! That's how long I have had the same long-haired hairstyle. There were some good years: great times, greater friends, and amazing accomplishments. But there were also bad years: regretful situations, awful people, and painful memories. It feels great to let go of all of that hair, to let go all of the hurt, and have a clean fresh start, as if yesterday was my "New Year's Day" =)