by Elle of elleellebelle.blogspot.com
“…let it go girl.”
These are the words I had to tell myself over and over again, in order to go from this gorgeous mane-
To this freeing experience-
Let me back track a little here. *clears throat, while nervously looking out with anticipation*
It all began fourscore and seven years…(ok, let me stop)
For real, for reals, I began my journey into this crazy life of a natural sista *fist pump* in 2008. My mother very early on had relaxed my hair in hopes of it becoming, well, more manageable (major side eye). Although I could definitely understand her reasoning, seeing that she had two little girls and
worked three jobs. I always thought about the what if’s…
worked three jobs. I always thought about the what if’s…
1) What if I never got a relaxer, how long would my hair be?
2) What if I never got a relaxer, how much more educated would I be on my hair type.?
3) What if I never got a relaxer, (fill in the blank)?
Nevertheless, I got slapped with the bondage of the creamy crack and had been under its reigns for many, many, many years. Until I graduated from high school in the summer of 2008. I told myself, no more! Okay, really I was just going to be going to college out of state and the only person who I trusted to relax my hair (my mother) was going to be forever and a mile away from me. Thus, I had no choice.
I grew my hair out as much as possible, then either during my freshman or sophomore year of college, I CHOPPED IT OFF PEOPLE!!!!!! *in my Oprah giving cars away voice*
Unfortunatly, I have no pictures that do my haircut at the time justice. Suffice it to say that my hair was so short, it did not even fit into a baby ponytail.
Andddddd gggggiiiiiirrrrrrlllllllll LET. ME. TELL. YOU. Everybody and their mother, literally, had an opinion on my new ‘do.
1) My bestfriends hated it and thought that my curl pattern would look something nasty when it grew out.
2) My mother thought I was crazy.
3) My sister tried to lay hands on me (spiritually of course, not physically).
4) And the list goes on…and on…
2) My mother thought I was crazy.
3) My sister tried to lay hands on me (spiritually of course, not physically).
4) And the list goes on…and on…
But I stuck with it and went through the cycle of a normal natural sista. Soooooooo, I had hair goals, length checks, product junkisim, satin everything that touched my head, hand in hair syndrome, protective styles, winter, summer, fall and everything inbetween routines, etc, etc.
Until I finally found my self stuck! My hair had grown to a length that I was very content with (a tad bit longer then BSL= bra strap length), but I was over it! And when I get over something I neglect it, and the fact that “it” in this case was my hair…..not a pretty sight.
Then the summer of 2012 came about, and my life was literally turned upside down. I had a death in my family, and it broke me all the way down. I mean I was so lost, that I’m still trying to feel my way around. One of the lessons that this tragedy taught me though, is that life is tooooooooo short to wait on tomorrow. If i wanted to do something, by golly, I was going to grab it by the horns and wrestle it all the way down town! So after work one day, I slid on up into great clips (the only salon in my area that was open on a sunday). Released the beast, aka my hair, looked into the ladies eyes and said-
If you want more information on whether or not the stylist passed out, how many hours I cried afterwards, or had I lost my mind completely?! Check back soon!
keep up with Elle:
Twitter: @ElleElleBelle
Youtube: EleElleBelle
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Have you done a second or third chop? Share below!
