Reflecting on my head shave

As before, if you have read my posts you will know that I aimed to shave my head on the 4th of July.
I was raising money for Target Ovarian Cancer and The Little Princess Trust. Im happy to tell you I did it and my total raised is £3740!!

I had a photoshoot done before and after to document the change. I wore the same clothes to emphasis that I am the same person, the only change is my hair.

It is now 7 weeks since I had the shave. Looking back now, it is amazing to see the support I had throughout my journey and on the night. I organised a race night, where I was going to be doing the shave infront of everyone. I ended up having my hair put into 7 plaits and they were auctioned off for others to cut and the first shave was also auctioned.

The tears came quite quickly after the first cut, it was unbelievable the amount of support I had in the room, it was very overwhelming. My brother even had his shaved too, to support me on my big night!

I also had a message board up on the night and the comments are so heartwarming. Something that has inspired me even more.

Reflecting back to before my shave, I thought that shaving my head would give me an idea of what its like to lose your hair through illness, and would benefit my idea for 4th year.
Since the shave, I havent felt the way I expected others to feel. I think due to the nature of my hair loss,  – it was my choice, it wasnt forced –  I cant even begin to understand what it feels like. I have been slightly anxious of what people would say to me, especially if they never knew I was doing it, but they feelings were very rare as I knew I had a reply for any questions, I was happy to tell people what I had done.
The only thing that could be helpful was that I always felt bare without any hair down my neck, so I always tried to wear high tops and scarfs to make me feel more comfortable.

This has given me a lot to think about in terms of progressing with my project, as I dont feel I could take the approach that I originally thought. Instead, I feel the best way would be to look more into the support angle for my research. I think that support was the biggest part of my journey this year, and it wouldn’t have been possible without everyone surrounding me, especially my family! Even though my gran isnt here anymore, her presence was very much present on the night, I did her proud!

I aim to draw from photographs that I’ve gathered to give me a starting point for developing designs. They will be personal photographs to keep the idea of having personal jewellery. To keep my grans memory close, to have sentimental jewellery.