Ugh thank you for writing this. This is my life! Similar to you a childhood haircut scared me into not cutting my hair for 12yrs!! I could sit on it haha. I’ve always been the girl with the gorgeous natural long blonde hair, it’s so draining. I managed to get brave enough to dye the ends white blonde(I believe I created balayage, I saw it as surfer and then suddenly it was everywhere!!) but then people told me it made me look cheap. I have recently cut it shorter than its ever been but that’s still longer than everyone else’s. I always had the dream of having super short/shaved peroxide edgy cut but never been brave enough. I think my hair is my safety blanket. Plus it doesn’t help when everyone around you tells you not to touch your hair, it’s perfect. The shoulder length hair is so gorgeous by the way, you’ve given me thoughts of being brave again…