Living Outside the Stacks

Hair.  How is it that those strands of protein can cause so much angst? Especially for black women.  Seriously, I wish they’d had videos like that when I was a kid.  Do you know how many young black girls might have embraced instead of rejecting their hair?

Last year I decided to go “natural” and stop chemically straightening my hair.  That was a big step for me, I’d been straightening my hair since my mom first gave me the go~ahead at 13 or 14.  I didn’t need to but I wanted to because my sisters were doing theirs.

Anyway, I loved my natural hair ~ even when it didn’t do everything that I wanted it to do.  But just discovering what my natural curls looked and felt like was an amazing thing.  I enjoyed being able to wash my hair and go.  Do you know how much time I gained by not having to worry about blow drying and flat ironing?

A few months ago, I found out that my husband wasn’t a big fan of the natural hair look so I made the decision to go back to relaxing my hair.  I have mixed feelings about going back to the “creamy  crack” but, for right now, this is one of those compromises that one makes in marriage.  For a year I had the chance to see my natural self and to gain a confidence that I never knew that I had.  Maybe someday I’ll go back to my natural self, until then I’m going to strut my stuff and love my hair in all of its states!

I have the research skills of a librarian, the preservation skills of an archivist, the organizational skills of a mother and the domestic skills of a Stepford wife. I have the research skills of a librarian, the preservation skills of an archivist, the organizational skills of a mother and the domestic skills of a Stepford wife. Read more from this author