Project Snip

About Project Snip

I missed my hair appointment by a flight confusion. I thought I was flying Tuesday, but no, Monday, same day as my hair was scheduled to be cut. A five day TEDGlobal conference with friends and acquaintances seemed the perfect opportunity for a prolonged collaborative haircut. The event was the timeline for my new do. The theme, "Radical Openness," subtly impressed itself upon my many coiffeurs. They expressed vulnerability around their relationships with hair and appearances. For me, it was a relaxing intimate experience to offer people scissors and stand there quietly waiting as if they were pondering their next chess move. Taping the short bundles or strands into the notebook with their written words enhanced the ritualistic feel, like a yearbook. I trusted that some increasingly obvious form would take shape with each snip of my tresses until the last day when the self-assigned clean up trimmers, just waiting for their snip, would finesse. Was Project Snip an act of exhibitionism? Self mutilation? Most thought it was fun. I needed a haircut. I wanted to avoid small talk, get to know people in a new way, and cut the split ends.