I come from a long line of clean cut Uncles and sharp shooters and for as long as I can remember, I grew up hearing, “go get a haircut!” I would say, “dude, I don’t need a haircut, you just don’t get what having curly hair is like.” Regardless of whether I actually needed a haircut or not, I fell down this rabbit hole which felt like it was going to be a lifelong existential crisis of not knowing whether I actually needed a haircut or not or whether it was ok to have my long curly hair or not. So I just started shaving my head to a level 1 on the clippers and I learned how to cut hair - so that the Uncles and OGs in my life could start appreciating my traditional form of ‘looking sharp.’ It got out of hand though!

Well, after a decade I finally did it… I cut my hair.

Is it weird that most people earn a PHD across a decade and I measure my last decade as one long, overdue identity struggle haircut situation? Or are they equally as important to one another when discussing ‘The Human Experience’? The beauty of this comparison is that there is no correct answer and ultimately, everything is relative but really, the question is rhetorical. I am just doing my best to pull you out of whatever serious decision you are currently making or avoiding making to realize that you can’t take yourself or anyone else too seriously! Life is a haircut.

I started basing my decisions on my visual identity and the world view around me was shaping my every decision - what clothes were cool, what shoes to wear, whether I had waves in my hair or not, whether my line-up was crispy or tapered perfectly, etc, etc, etc. It was bull shit, I hated the feeling of having everyone else’s opinions shape my decisions - it was insecurity at its finest. 
Then a miracle happened: surfing and commitment to working for myself. It was an inflection point where about 12 years ago, I stopped caring altogether and just let my hair grow - I didn’t have football helmets to worry about anymore, I was working for myself, nothing holding me back and no one telling me “to get a haircut”.

The awkward phase was something special, at one point, I looked like a sun burnt broccoli top in your Grandma’s garden. When my hair fell down for the first time and gave up on the Jackson 5 Afro situation then hit shoulder length, I was surfing every day and at the height of my game wave wise, it was incredible, the self-confidence was overwhelming because I was no longer looking like a boy band dude from the 70s and had somehow entered the sphere of dragon-rider-knight-in-shining-armor-ripping-surfer long hair situation. But alas, I fell right into the pit of existential identity crisis again and my hair became ‘who I was.’ I was all of a sudden, Mike from Imperfects with the long curly hair. I just really became uncomfortable with being noticed for how I looked versus what I was making - and that strikes a deep chord across my entire life, for good and bad reasons, as I am sure a lot of people can attest - and what I stood for.

So, I did the natural thing, I took back full control of my identity, from myself. I had the night sweats for two nights after I cut my hair because I loved it so much but guess what, hair grows back and more importantly, no one should ever fear any type of change so greatly that it hinders their growth. Change is progress and progress is good. Here’s to keeping your hair exactly how you want it, now metaphorically speaking, give yourself a break and don’t take it all so seriously, go find a way to give yourself a life haircut.

Born of the curliest kind
Not a temperature but a clearly creative state of mind
Framed with good intentions 
Until further notice and after unveiling life’s lessons.
Nothing wrong with being who you are
But everything broken about viewing the mirror from too far
Fake self-love is simply mis-guided truth
No different than being naive in your youth
All the same, still so damaging and dull
Might be the worst drug of all to not listen to your soul.

“I've always heard the old folks say that if you don't know how to enjoy good luck when it comes, you shouldn't complain if it passes you by.”

— Don Quixote