My inner identity has been shaped by my hairstyle. What does that say about me?

I stood in front of the mirror this morning looking at what can only be described as a mop of dark hair on my head, extending over 15 inches in some places.

Now for some context I never thought I would of had hair this long. I still constantly have my mother astonished every time I see her. Her new way of greeting me always consists of some sort of marvelled remark about her never imagining that her son would have hair longer than a military buzz cut.

Well who is to blame her for that. Both my father and grandfather had buzz cuts and I was born to what she thought was the same fate. I went for 17 years not knowing that I could anything different. That all changed when I went to university and decided to grow my hair out to get a ‘professional lawyers side part’ hairstyle. I was conditioned to think that a side part was what I needed as I progressed through university and was seeking a professional job in the legal sector. I began to internalise that my appearance, particularly my hairstyle along with a corporate suit would be a defining part of who I was and who I would continue to be as I became who I thought that I wanted to be.

Fast forward to March 2020, I was only back in Australia 4 weeks since having to quickly return from South Korea as the Covid-19…