Lent, Magi, and a Shaved Head.

Yes, That's Right, I Shaved my Head.


Okay, so perhaps that isn't the most Earth-shattering news, its quite common for ladies to shave their heads these days, but you should understand that the non-technophobic end of my family is probably finding out through this web page. Nic runs for her life!!! HOPEFULLY, my siblings will be kind enough NOT to show our mother the images found here. *chuckle*

On a more serious note, there were plenty of reasons for me _not_ to shave my head. Please refer to the information link I provide on my "about me" page if you haven't already, to learn about anything I mention here about my birth defect which you might not understand. I have a birth defect named Spina Bifida, and hydrocephelus was one of the related problems I was also born with. Due to the hydrocephelus, I recieved a shunt in my head in the first few days of my life. Due to the shunt, I have an unattractive scar that runs along the right side of my head, along with what looks like a bump--which is the actual shunt button. I get annoying or sometimes rude comments about my height or my electric scooter--or my driving--all of the time, so why subject myself to more pestering, right?

The Gift of the Magi, By O. Henry

O. Henry's story has been one of my favorite stories ever since high school, though for some odd reason I erroneously remembered the title as "The Wisdom of the Magi," which made it incredibly hard for me to find the darn thing...I even just goofed with the HTML and wrote it wrong again...anyway. I will let you read it on your own time and draw your own conclusions as to why it affected my decision.

LENT?!?!?!?

As you've probably gathered from some of my other pages, I'm a devout Roman Catholic. Lent has many different meanings for Catholics, and surely a different meaning for those raised Catholic before Vatican II. It is perhaps a time of reflection, of penance, of sacrifice, of cleansing. It is many other things, too.

In the past it has always been very hard for me to "give up" something for Lent. Its too hard to resist what I want, and I always feel guilty for not bieng able to resist. I also have clinical depression, so it really doesn't help to increase my sense of guilt which is already largely misguided as it is. For me, this method of Lenten celebration then is not healthy. I have taken on a habit of "taking something new on" rather than "giving up something special to me." You would think that having my hair chopped off would fall into the latter catagory, but for myself it goes into the former. I spent all Lent and beyond joyfully explaining myself and educating people to the cause I took o