Naturally ? Z- A Rediscovery of Self Pt. 1

nat·u·ral·ly  (nchr--l, nchr-)

adv.

1. In a natural manner.

2. By nature; inherently.

3. Without a doubt; surely.

So by now you are wondering why I chose the word 'Naturally' when I refer to myself and my thoughts. Here is your answer...

Two years ago I was on the brink of turing 30. And like anyone I began accessing my life and my priorities. That accessment lead me to a startling discovery... I was leading a life that was a lie. Well it was a bit more targeted than that. I found that I was unhappy with my hair.

I was forced to realise that I was sucked in the media's idea of what I should look like. In an effort to maintain this idealism I began doing unhealthy things to my body and to my hair with terriable results. My hair was over permed, unhealthy, brittle, and did I say unhealthy. Soon I realised something had to be done. My immediate solution was to turn to a wig.

Although it was quite convient in the beginning I found that my hair was breaking off in an even more alarming rate! Somewhere along the line I heard whispers of women who were defying the media's images and they wer going "natural".  As I began to read into the whole "natural" concept I realised that this was not only a move to improve my hair's health but all of me as well. After much internal debate I hacked all of my hair off. It was the best most liberating thing that has ever happened to me and it was also one of the most tramatic things that I have ever lived through.

I began to understand how Samson felt when Delilah cut his hair. I felt like my identity was being chopped away along with my hair. But what I did not know was that my journey and understanding of life was just beginning.

I spent months trying to adjust to my new look. In those months I learned just how attached people are to hair and how strong the media has hold on us. Many, many, many people around me did not agree with my decision to go natural and had very strong opinions about my decision. After a while I realised that it boiled down to ignorance but it still managed to shake my new Natural foundation. I found myself thinking about reverting to a perm several times throughout my first year.

There is so much more to this but here is where I'll stick a pin in it for today. Thanks as always for stopping by &

Until next time...