The Right Stuff

I was in the middle of a seemingly never-ending internal debate about my first blog topic when I went to the New Kids on the Block concert last Thursday. I was a major fan of the group back in the day, and as soon as the concert started, it was like I was transported back in time. I became the screaming 14-year-old girl who lost her voice declaring her love for Joey at her first NKOTB concert, hoping he would hear me across a stadium full of thousands of other screaming girls. And in my mental image of my younger self, the first thing I thought about was my hair. Every day was a good hair day for me back in 1988. I was rocking the spiral perm and had perfected my bangs with massive amounts of teasing every morning. I must have gone through a can of hairspray a week keeping those bangs in place. This was a look I was proud of. But if I walked into work with that same 'do today, everyone would be checking their calendars to see if they missed Halloween.


Most of us are continuously on the lookout for that "perfect style". For some, they find it in high school and stick with forever (if this is you, it is urgent that you keep reading). Others have phases - the high school hair, college hair, first job hair, mom hair, etc. Many of us change our hairstyle when there is a milestone in our life. This is natural, but it need not be the only time you re-evaluate your look. Of course, it's nice to not have to think about your hair as you're rushing around in the morning. But it's more important to be able look in the mirror before you leave each day, and say "My hair looks great for the person I am today." My perfect style at 14 was not the same as at 18 (fortunately for the environment, the bangs came down), at 22, 26, or...well, we don't need to get specific with the number. In fact, my perfect style this summer was not even my perfect style for right now.


Even while I was lost in time singing along to "Hanging Tough", I couldn't help but notice how the Kids had gotten older. Donnie wore a hat for most of the show. But when the hat came off, his receding hairline was a reminder that his "perfect style" of a thick, full mane gelled sky-high wasn't possible anymore. But with his clean, close cut, he looked good. It was perfect for today.