On the Couch with Gina

Gina dishes about her love affair…with her hair! Check it out:

I must confess. I have taken a lover. We are still in the honeymoon phase of our affair, so forgive me if I gush about my lover shamelessly. Just indulge me for a moment. I have fallen head over heels for my hair. Yes, I’m talking about my hair, and I am so serious.

I stopped getting relaxers three years ago as an experiment. I always wanted thicker hair…BIG hair to be specific. But I could never achieve the volume I wanted with a relaxer in my hair. As the relaxer grew out, I developed a crush on my new growth. I could tell I was falling hard for it, but as we so often do in new relationships, I still doubted that things would work out between us. As it continued to grow, and the more we saw each other, I just fell deeper in love. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, touching it and envisioning our future together. I knew I was hooked when we would have a disagreement and I no longer felt that our relationship was being threatened. On the contrary, bad hair days brought us closer because I was learning, by trial and error, how to bring the best out of my hair. One day, I threw away the perm box in the closet that I had kept on standby…just in case. Finally, I knew that no matter what came our way, we could work it out and be strong together.

We have been loving and learning each other ever since. It’s all I ever wanted…it’s strong, healthy, quirky, confident and free. Most importantly, it’s BIG. My hair makes me feel true to myself. It reminds me that there is inspiration for every challenge because I know who I am, my identity is clear, and my mind is calm. I’m sure you can guess that this affair is about more than just hair for me. My decision to grow out my relaxer came at a time when my soul was begging for a voice. I’d hidden myself for such a long time, and as my new growth took over my hair, a new attitude and a new perspective took over my life. I mark the three year anniversary of my love affair as a turning point in my life and a celebration of self-love and authenticity.