Guess what I just got?
A weave.
No Alicia! Why? Your natural hair was so pretty…you don’t need a weave!
You are absolutely right. I don’t need a weave. I want one. Let me explain…
This summer I started my natural hair journey for many reasons. From wanting my niece to see my natural hair to feeling my scalp to embracing everything that God has given me including my natural curls…I did all of that! I really love my natural hair and think that it is one of the things that make me, me. Is it hard work. Yes. And so I had some box braids installed to give me a break. I loved those too. It was a chic look with absolutely no work sans some edge control. But, I can’t even lie, throughout the entire process I missed my weave. I love the look, the little maintenance and the fact that you can change your look without changing your actual hair.
So I got one.
I felt so much pressure to keep my natural hair but the fact is that at the end of the day it’s mine and I can do what I want to do with it. Am I perfectly fine with my natural hair? Yes and you will see me rock it again but why should I be married to it? Over the summer, I found like clothes, hair is another way for me to express my style voice. Because of my natural hair, I can virtually rock any style and that it is a God given blessing that I want to exhaust to the hilt. If I want to wear a neon blue Marge Simpson hairdo…so be it. It’s my choice and my privilege to do so.
I am going to do everything I can to protect my natural hair so when I rock it, it’s fabulous but I have the power and right to change it if I want to. In many ways I was finding my life consumed by my natural hair and that’s the thing…hair, or any aspect of yourself, natural or not, should consume you. You are truly not your hair. You are YOU with, without it or with hair added to it.
Let’s celebrate this realization with a little India Arie shall we. Even if you have heard it a million times, really listen to the lyrics. It explains what I learned over the summer better than I ever could:
