What’s in a Name?

I started losing my hair when I was 11. As it continued to shed over the years and gallons of Drano were poured down pipes of rent houses, I wore it pulled back in a slim tortoise shell barrette. The barrette got smaller and my scalp became more visible between the dark brown strands. I would have loved to shave it, but I wasn’t comfortable being that exposed. I also wasn’t comfortable wearing a wig which also made me feel exposed. I put it off as long as I could and finally bought my first wig at 32. After 15 years of wig-wearing I’m still uncomfortable. It’s too loose, it’s too tight, it’s crooked, it’s too perfect, it’s too poofy, it’s pulling my hair, it’s going to fly off, the part is too deep, the wig is too thick, the wig is too thin, etc. Which is why when thinking about a name for this blog, 75% of my ideas were related to hair as illustrated below.

• Is my wig on straight?

• Does this wig look real?

• I know you are, but what am I?

• It’s Shana with a long A

• Strong Wind Anxieties

• Roll the Windows Up

• The Tumbleweed Wig

• Where’s my wig?

• The Drain is Clogged. Again.

I picked “Shana’s To Don’t List” because my sister liked it, and it reminds me “to don’t” live my life around my hair. To celebrate my new-found hair liberation, I posted a TikTok that featured my kids making a video for school without realizing my wig was in the background hanging on my fireplace mantel. Press play for laughs.