koenen - Barbara Koenen _uacct = "UA-356988-2"; urchinTracker();

My Audacity of Hope -- Reverse Samson Effect

January 20, 2009

On Inauguration Day...
I cut my hair for the first time since 9/11. This is very good news... my hair was really too long.

I had shaved my head while on vacation on September 10, 2001. The next day, when Bush responded to the 9/11 tragedy by declaring "war on terror" and urging us to go shopping, I needed to respond.

I vowed not to cut my hair again until the "war on terror" was over.

The absurdity of waging war on a feeling was cruel, and it detracted from the real issues at hand. Although I felt powerless about the whole situation, I still wanted something personal to mark the terrorist attack and its many ramifications.

My hair became a record, a symbol, a reminder.
It grew for 2,674 days (7 years, 18 weeks, and counting...)

Now, although resigned that we'll still be at war in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, tragically, for the forseeable future, I'm audaciously hopeful that our new President Obama will not wage war on a feeling, or on the English language, or the Geneva Conventions, or on the Constitution. He will not bully, he will not disparage nor disrespect our friends or the grievances of our enemy.

Reason enough to celebrate the audacity of hope!

I made an appointment at the Hyde Park Hair Salon for 4:00 pm, Tuesday January 20, 2009. President Obama''s barber, Zafir, was already booked (in Washington!), so Antonio did the honors.