Rapunzel for a Cause

After two years of growing my hair from shoulder-length until past my waist, of struggling with applying shampoo and conditioner, and buying sachets and sachets of those things, bearing pains in my arms as I tried to get all of it in one thick braid that would rival Rapunzel's, tying it up in a sock bun fashion (but without the sock), being unable to take off all the snarls and tangles, it is off!

In which Mulan becomes Ping. pic.twitter.com/IFsB4pUoNS

— Alyssa Mulan-O (@peraldaiel) September 12, 2015

I have cut my hair, like Mulan did, but I didn't do it for China or to save my father. I did cut it for a cause--shedding a good 14 inches (longer, if you straighten it) and donating it to Papemelroti--who will make it into wigs to give to victims of cancer.

There are actually quite a number of similar causes and organizations that accept your hair (within a certain length, of course), and make them into wigs. Locks of Love (based in the United States) is the first organization I encountered with a cause such as this, but it's a little bit hard to ship my hair all the way across the globe. Thankfully, Papemelroti is available for those of us here in the Philippines. (Papemelroti sends the hair to Donate Your Hair. There are some guidelines before you hand it over.)

Now, my hair is up to my shoulders though sometimes I think it's more like a lion's mane than a what a person's gorgeous, silky tresses should be. Will I grow my hair and donate it again? Yes. It will probably two years again before I cut it, and I will probably go through the agony that I did in the past several months, but then I realize I've probably been blessed with this wild, thick hair for a reason: to grow it for those who don't have.