The Wild Mane & The Long Game
They say that hair is just dead protein, but out here, in the wide-open expanse, it feels like something else entirely. It feels like a map of my "third act."
When I lived in the thick of it all—the digital noise, the schedules, the endless "to-do" lists—my life was groomed, trimmed, and conditioned to fit a specific mold.
But lately, I’ve been living by the rhythms of the land, not the clock. And as I’ve settled into this nomadic rhythm, myhair has decided to follow suit. It’s growing wild, untethered, and a little bit tangled.
There is a certain honesty in it. Out here, nature doesn’t rush, and it certainly doesn’t manicure itself for an audience. I’ve been thinking about the herd—how there is no vanity in a pasture, just the steady, rhythmic business of existing. When I stand out there in the elements, with the salt spray in the air and the wind doing exactly what it wants with my hair, I feel less like a project to be managed and more like a part of the landscape.
My hair is growing wild because my soul is finally doing the same.
I’ve promised myself that by the time I’m truly back on my feet—whatever that looks like—this mane will be long enough to touch the ground. It’s my own little "long game." A physical reminder of the time spent simply being.
Yes, there are zippers that catch, and yes, there are moments where I’m face-down in the sand, frantically untangling a mess that would make a suburban hairdresser weep. But that’s just part of the forage. You don’t get the freedom of the wild without a few knots along the way.
I’m chewing the cud on what it means to truly let go of the external polish. If my hair is a reflection of my life right now, then I’d say I’m finally growing exactly as I’m meant to:
untamed, unbothered, and entirely at home in the wild.