People keep asking me why I shaved my head. I shaved my head because I wanted to know what it felt like before I died. I wanted to know who I was without hair, who I was when I couldn’t be ‘pretty’. I wanted to know how people and guys treated me different, how everyone treated me different. Here are 13 things I learnt shaving my head:

1. I get 10x more interest on Tinder. Fact. Guys have told me they like it because it shows I have confidence, but I think it's because it's a point of difference. I'm also attracting more of the guys I am into.
2. FREEDOM – it feels so fucking good to have no hair. To stand under the shower head, wear lipstick on windy days or never need a hair tie. 
3. It feels amazing to ZERO maintenance, and it made me realise how much time and money I spent on washing, straightening, dying my hair.  
4. Just after I shaved my head I was sitting outside and I felt the breeze blow over my scalp, a sensation I had never experienced in my life. It seems simple, but it made me realise how much of life we miss out on by staying in our box.
5. I have never felt more beautiful in my life. I thought this was something I would learn to appreciate over time, but almost immediately I felt a love for my bare self. You change your idea of what beauty is, and you learn beauty emulates it from the inside. It doesn't matter what size you are or if you have the right shaped head. Once you learn how to love and appreciate yourself you teach others how to. I also didn't feel 'big' as I was expecting to, as I used to hide behind my hair.
6. My sense of style fits better. I feel I can get away with wearing anything now. It is as if the shaved head was the thing I needed to pull some outfits together.
7. My style has changed, and this has been exciting. Without hair I’ve had to be more versatile in translating who I am. I use more headscarfs and I love wrapping fabric around my head on the days I feel like having ‘hair’. 
8. I’ve had to find new ways to express my femininity. Because my style already boarders on ‘tom boy’ I had to find ways to keep it fem. I like to add lace, like lace bodices.  
9. Some people do treat you different. Some old people just don't know how to deal with you, and I often feel judged in certain areas. I think old people either think I'm a punk or a lesbian, and if they are rude I wonder if i am experiencing homophobia. It is interesting to see life from this perspective. I guess straight privilege is never having to worry about this. In general most people treat me exactly the same, and some even go out of their way to smile at me. It's not like I'm the first girl they've seen with a shaved head. 
10. People can be more intimidated by you. Do with that what you will.
11. I noticed different aspects of my personality came out more. For example, I felt more freedom to be ‘goofy’. I didn’t even realise I held back on this, but in hindsight I unconsciously thought people would think I was trying to be ‘cute’ if I was too goofy, so I held back. Now that the cat is out of the bag that I’m a freak I feel more freedom to be me.
12. Loosing my hair did cause me to loose my identity a bit, but it's made me reevaluate what is 'me'. It's helped me see I am not my appearance, as aren't others.
13. The most important thing I learnt shaving my head is that I am cool with myself no matter what. I'm so committed to myself and my personal growth that I now have the freedom to do anything I feel I need to do, and thats powerful. Even if I hated it, I wouldn't have regretted it because I would have had to know, and It's nice to be in a place where I am able to forgive myself no matter where I end up in life. 

If you are being called to shave your head, I urge you to do it. It has been one of the most important decisions on my Journey. Do you really love your hair how it is now anyway? And do you really want to die without knowing feeling the breeze on your scalp?