csberry

I wrote the following a little while ago on mulletsoflove.com. It turned a little more emotional than I had intended for that location. Since it is exactly the kind of post I was planning on putting here on LJ, I've decided to just copy/paste it here.

I'm overloaded with nervous excitement about finally reaching this day. The mullet will come off tonight. In just under two years, I've gone from my conservative businessman cut to this shaggy version of a mullet. There were times I questioned why I was growing this beast on my head. There were times I wished I could just go ahead and cut it off. But thanks to prayer and remembering the kids that I hope will benefit from my hair, I was able to sweat my way through this summer, smile my way through my 20th high school reunion, and get to today with a monstrous amount of hair on the back of my head.

I will be getting the hair cut at my Boy Scout troop's weekly meeting tonight. Stephanie Bates, my hair stylist, will be there to take her electric trimmer to the back of my head. Friends and family have been invited to watch. A local TV station and the local newspaper will have folks present to document the moment. In the end, I hope that the effort I've put into this mullet and explaining it to others over the past couple of years will influence others to take steps to increase the amount of charitable work they do. I hope people find ways to integrate helping those around them and the earth we live upon into their everyday life.

I have done nothing spectacular. I just let my hair grow for a while. While the motto I came up with for Mullets of Love is "Business in front, charity in back," I hope it is obvious that charitable work is actually front-and-center for me. It is so easy to worry and criticize society and the world around us. We need more people (not just leaders and "others," but each one of us) to actually take action. When walking to and from the stores this Christmas season, keep a eye out for trash and pick it up. When buying presents, grab one extra one for you to donate to Toys for Tots or other charitable causes. Donate your long hair to Locks of Love or a pint of your blood to the American Red Cross. Spend time visiting with the sick in hospitals or elderly in nursing homes. There are plenty of things each of you can do to help make this world a better place. Just find something that suits you and do it.