Most of the decisions made about my hair are thought out well in advance before execution. Like when I got bored with my long hair and cut it into a Halle Berry look (circa 1992 Boomerang). Shorty after, I decided to get it cut into a modern mohawk. When I got bored with the short hair do, I created a wig and began the process of me allowing my hair to grow freely without manipulation. Here's what I did. I glued tracks onto a stocking cap, cut and styled it, repeating this process for almost 2 years. There were many instances where I took better care of the darn extensions than I did my own hair. I know. I know. Shame on me. Little did I know, this behavior would cost me big time.
One weekend in September 2010, I bought more packs of hair to create another wig. Taking my hair down took longer than usual, but at the time, I didn't think anything of it. My goal was to hurry up and get that old weave out so I could redo my hair and get on with my day. Soon enough I found a monstrosity of rubber glued dreadlocks chillin' at the top of my head! In slight panic, I drenched my hair in conditioner to help loosen the glue so detangling would be easier, but there was no use. I mean, it was quite a sight to see. I tried everything from vaseline, conditioner, and glue remover shampoo but that damn glue just wouldn't give. So I called my fiance and begged him to rescue me. I gotta give it to him, he tried detangling for a while until I made the executive decision for him to cut the glued dreads out of my hair completely. Since I hadn't relaxed my hair in months, I had two different textures of hair on my head. I had new growth and of course my ends were still relaxed. By the time he got finished, I was left with a teeny weeny afro and a single shead tear. Sweeping up all that hair was more painful than my big chop itself.
I vowed to myself that I would never neglect my hair again. The next time I took my hair down to refresh, I noticed this unbelievably coily hair texture that captivated me. Although, my hair was chemical free, I was still using hair products designed for chemically treated hair due to my lack of knowledge on how to care for my virgin hair. I grew pretty frustrated on wash days because, but I decided to be patient and do some research. It's baffles me how unfamiliar I was with my hair texture, but I was not backing down from this challenge. Today I am overjoyed because I've discovered a treasure that's been hidden for over 16 years.
I'm just a few months shy of being one year natural and I'm lovin it! This is one of the best decisions I've made in my life and I encourage you all that are thinking about it to do it! I am by no means knocking those that choose to do the opposite, because trust me I have done it all. However, there are certainly rewards when taking certain risks and I most definitely consider myself a walking testimony that it you take the risk you'll earn the reward.
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