As a girl who's always had short hair for the majority of her life, I never knew what it was like to have long locks until around junior year when I was recovering from a pixie cut (don't look too far back on my Facebook). It's been a learning experience thus far, but by now I think I've finally discovered the struggles and perks of having long hair.

You have mermaid hair whenever you go to the beach and can do the thing you've always wanted to do since you were five.

This copyrighted Little Mermaid hair flip. And you think, haHA! Look at all these people staring with jealousy at this gracefulness.

Though most of the time it ends up looking like this.

It just takes practice...right?

Hair flips in general just get 1000x more effective.

Enough said, Tina. Enough said.

Throw out your scarves. You have a personal blanket.

Your long hair keeps you toasty in the winter, but in the summer you'll suffocate from heat if you don't put it up.

Good thing buns are actually doable now!

So many options, too many choices! If we're being honest that was half of the reason I wanted to grow my hair out. I was so eager to leave the stubby ponytail behind...but then I realized something...

A lot of hair is a lot of responsibility.

I said it before, but I need to say it again. There's so much of it!

Brushing your hair before bed is a necessity.

Brush, brush, brush, just keep brushing. Don't want matted hair or tangles now, do we?

But no matter what, you end up like this in the morning.

We tried.

Your hair ties are located in at least 12 different areas throughout your house.

You never know when you'll need them, but you're always prepared.

Car rides with the top down end up looking like this:

Windy days? Same thing.

Keep praying. Your prayer needs to travel through all that hair you have so you have to make sure it makes it.

All you can really do is pray you look as good as this cow.

Teach us your ways, oh mystical cow.

Through it all though, it's fun to have long hair. Even if it does get in the way sometimes.

Just remind yourself of all the different hair styles you can try and pull off. It's worth it. Plus, there's more hair for people to play with! Nothing's more relaxing than someone doing your hair. I'm 90 percent positive it's a proven fact.

Even guys are feeling it.

So much to look at. All that bounce, so airy, so mesmerizing.

They're feeling it so much they're trying the look themselves.

I think we're all aware of the man bun craze. Now you're aware that I support it (especially on Harry). #LongHairDoCare

So next time you see a girl with long hair, give her a head nod and tell her extra conditioner is always a good idea. She'll know. She'll understand.