My Journey to Natural Hair

I wore relaxers for years because I thought that's what every black woman does when she becomes old enough to have chemicals in her hair. I never questioned why I permed my hair even though I'd had lots of problems with relaxers over the years. And I always viewed women who wore their hair natural as going against the status quo.

Natural… you're kidding, right?
Then one day my sister-in-law came to visit. She had a TWA (teeny weenie afro) at the time and was talking about how she would never wear relaxers again. We talked about how many black women are now choosing to embrace their natural hair. She even suggested to me that I might be happier natural. At first I was appalled at the thought. Why would I want to deal with the headache of natural hair? Everyone knows how hard it is to manage.

That's not the look I was going for.
About a month after my sister-in-law's suggestion I gave myself a routine touch up. And about 1/3 of my hair broke off. It was terrible! I'd been managing breakage since I was 15 years old but this was the worst episode ever. I was depressed at the thought of growing my hair out, relaxing it again, and dealing with breakage all over again. So, I started checking out sites about natural hair and decided it couldn't hurt to try.

My husband was OK with me going natural. He just didn't like the thought of my hair being short. So I tried for two months to transition into natural hair. But the effort and results involved in maintaining broken off hair, relaxed hair, and new growth proved to be too much for me. I finally told my husband that I wanted to do a BC (big chop) and I hoped he understood. He was very supportive.

The Big Chop
So, my sister-in-law cut my hair down to about 2 inches. My 7 year old cried when he saw that my hair was gone (but he recovered). It was a bit uneven so when my husband got home from work I asked him to trim it with the clippers. He put a guard on the clippers and cut my hair to about a 1/2 inch TWA.

I wasn't expecting him to cut it that short. But I was shocked at how happy I was when I looked in the mirror. I couldn't believe how soft and beautiful my natural hair was. It's been a year now and I still feel that way.

Learning as I go.
So far in my natural hair journey I've learned that is not hard to take care of my hair. It's just different. I've learned a lot about natural hair care and I'm sure I'll be a lifelong student. Also, it surprised me that wearing my hair the way that God made it has actually given me more time during my day. I've learned how to do quick, attractive hairstyles that last for days; so, I don't have to spend as much time on my hair.

The best part of all is that I have inspired my oldest son (yes, the one who cried from shock) to appreciate his hair. He asked for permission to grow his hair out and wear it in cornrows. With some practice and patience I learned to cornrow his hair. And he told me that he thinks "it's cool that we can turn our hair into afros."