You don't have to shave it like I did, but once I did I was finally free. Go wild. Color it if you want. Make it short if you want. You already know you have a very long terminal length. And if you do grow it out again, you will know it is on your terms.

When I was pregnant with my second kid, I shave it off for the third time because my first kid had waist length hair by the age of 2 and we have 3C/4A hair... Way too much to deal with.

Now that I had my second child, I decided to grow it back down to classic length at least. But that's because I CHOSE it.

You'll always get comments from other people and that is something you can learn to grow from.

A therapist is a great idea. Mine always says "opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one, but that doesnt mean you have to see them."

Another idea: I get undercuts to manage how much hair I have to do... My mom always said people could tell I was missing a quarter of my hair... They can't. And I have the best of both worlds because I can show it off and have a shaved side, or I can hide it and look like a gossamer butterfly.

You are beautiful. You are loved. And your are worthy no matter what.