As you may or may not have heard (depending on whether you live under a rock), Justin Bieber has done the unthinkable and cut his famous do.  Yes.  Believe it.  I would never joke about something this important.

Neither would I joke about something equally as important, perhaps more-so for me (I’ll explain why in a minute at the risk of seeming even more shallow than I already do, writing a post about hair)--Jennifer Aniston has also undergone the shears (collective gasp).

How will the news of the Biebs’s new cropped cut effect the world?  I would imagine that there will be a dramatic increase of appointments made by and for, teen and tween boys who will undoubtedly follow suit.  After all, they’ve been hating (copying) him ever since his side swept mop first appeared on the scene.  Why stop now?  Once the boys make this change, their lives will go on as usual.

But, what about we who have spent the last decade and a half desperately trying to emulate Jennifer Aniston’s golden mane?  I for one have been going to her same colorist for the last 8 years (Michael Canale) and a few months ago plunked down an obscene amount of money to have her same stylist cut my hair (Chris McMillan).  I did not go so far as to ask for a similar style, although with my own hair being a similar texture, and of course, a very similar color, it did turn out somewhat like her trademark long layered, slightly beachy look.  The only thing different was he insisted on giving me side swept bangs.  I have never been a big fan.  I never know what to do with them and my hair seems to want to grow away from my face, rather than forward, leaving me fighting the "battle of the bangs" every time I style my hair.  Plus, Jennifer Aniston did not seem to be sporting them lately, so why should I?  But, Chris was pretty determined and it’s hard to argue with an expert.

It made me question why I let someone else determine how my hair should look in the first place.  I started thinking about how I’d been wearing the same long layered cut for years and years, just because Jen did.  Well, maybe not solely because she did, but it was working for me (as it was for her) and I like that whole "if it ain't broke..." mentality.  But, maybe it was time for a change.  I started thinking of cutting it shorter.  Say collar bone or shoulder length maybe.  And more blunt.  Still some layers to accommodate my natural wave, but definitely less than I’ve had in the past, and definitely shorter.  Kind of a longish bob if you will.  Not like Jennifer Aniston at all.  At least not until today.

I, like many of you I suspect, was shocked to find out that there was, in the wake of the Bieber situation, a second snip heard round the world.  Could it be that Jennifer Aniston somehow psychically knew I was seriously contemplating cutting my hair, and in an effort to thwart my small step toward individuality, cut hers first, in the exact style that I was going to have, so that now if I go ahead and do it, I will still be copying her?

I would venture to guess that while her many admirers (myself included) pay lots of attention to the state of her hair, she probably, just like me, was getting bored of having the same style and decided to get a new look.  No big deal at all.  For her.  It took me months to decide to abandon my sheep-like mentality and opt for a NON-Aniston look.  And now, on what was probably a whim, she’s gone and beat me to the cut, rendering me, for all my efforts, a sheep once more.  UNLESS I don’t cut mine.  I could just keep the old style.  But just look at Jen’s hair!  I can't help it.  It's just too perfect.  It makes me want to say baa.