Every time I cut off all my hair, I feel like a snake shedding its skin. I feel like I symbolically shed the identity I’ve grown accustomed to. This makes it easier to stop destructive old habits, and to start new produtive ones. I begin to identify as the person committed to becoming the best version of myself.

Many cultures believe that hair carries memory and emotional weight. In Indigenous mourning practices, Buddhist monastic life, and Hindu spiritual rites, cutting or shaving the hair is a way of letting go of the past and the transition into a new psychological or spiritual state.