On the 10^th of March this year, I decided to make a huge leap and shave my head as part of The Leukemia Foundation’s ‘World’s Greatest Shave’. At first, it was a frightening and exhilarating prospect, and basically just an un-thoughtout idea I had whilst feeling very adventurous and spontaneous one day. When I passed the idea around the office, the team immediately supported me and encouraged me to go through with it. I was still a bit nervous and hesitant at the idea of losing my golden locks, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised that shaving my head would be the most perfect gesture that I could make for two of the most special people in my life. One being my Grandfather John, who has admiringly battled (and once again beaten!) Lymphoma for over 20 years. He is a strong man and I love him dearly. The other inspiration is my beautiful friend Amy, whose ever-magnificent sister Lisa unfortunately succumbed to Breast Cancer on the 2^nd of March 2010 after a hard 10 year fight against this horrible disease. Thus, I decided to do it in her memory.

So at the crack of dawn on the morning of the big shave, I rocked up to Martin Place in Sydney City, where a large group of fellow “shavers” and “colour-ers” were meeting up. It was an amazing atmosphere: the positivity and sense of community was really wonderful. I quickly pushed away any trace of vanity and self-consciousness and stepped up on the stage to get shaved! It felt great! I wasn’t nervous at all, but was certainly a bit emotional inside.

The thing is, so many people in the world don’t even have the option of losing or keeping their hair. That’s why I thought this event would be such a lovely gesture – so that I could try to comprehend the extremely harsh reality these individuals face. I know that it is only a tiny gesture, and that cancer sufferers experience much more hardship than just losing their locks, but it certainly is a very rewarding and liberating thing to do!

In the end, I ended up raising approximately $1300.00, so I’m pretty happy with that effort, and am so thankful and appreciative for all the generous donations from friends, family and workmates!! It’s a very worthy cause and this has been a wonderful experience. Can’t wait till next year!

Lauren Cuneen