I am ready to meet my Hair

My hair journey has allowed me to experience my hair texture. While learning how to moisturize and maintain curly hair while my hair was relaxed, I had already begun the process of learning about my hair. I started to embrace my hair even back then while relaxing. But I always came short when it came to stretching. 

Stretching was fun and healthy. It introduced me to braidouts and curly styles that made being curly more fun. After a while, braidouts was my go to for a few years. I started texlaxing to get more texture. But everytime I hit 3 months of new growth I had to get a touch up. And I would have a sigh of relief as I witnessed my new growth smooth out and make my hair instantly longer! 

I will miss those days as I truly learned to love my relaxed hair. But that sigh of relief once I hit that 'creamy crack'. It is a similar feeling to the memory I have of first getting my hair relaxed. 

I was so tired of my hair. As a young girl wanting to be in, most girls had their hair relaxed already and I was slow on the trend. Truth is there was no environment that provided me to love my natural hair. My father was the closest. He was preachy about his disgust about how women's side burns would fall off. He didn't approve. But he was lame in my eyes. And too forceful, there was no love for the curls or the beauty of the hair. With him it was about justice. My mother seemed to do the best she could with our hair and I think she loved it and didn't want us to relax too soon. But she eventually knew that we would have to because of her understanding of "fitting in" and looking the part. There was no history or practices related to regiment or maintaining beautiful natural hair. So basically my natural hair had no chance. It was a Martyr to my culture and environment. I couldn't wait to have it look pretty and straight. I breathed my first sigh of relief on that first day I had my hair relaxed. 

My how time has changed. And the woman who I am today appreciates where she has come from and looks forward ahead. And yet even still as we charge forward we go back to the basics, the basics of being natural. 

Now that I am long past 3 months post relaxer, I see that the biggest mountain was turned to a molehill as my sister once wrote. The hump that I had to overcome was my mental relationship with my hair. When I saw the new growth as a relaxed chick, I was scared of it. I did not know how to deal with it. It is way thicker and less tamed. Now, I see the difference and I smile at the beauty of the health of my natural hair. And I sigh a different sigh, a deep sigh of goodbye... To the days of being relaxed. 

I am Ready to meet my hair