By Katrice
I remember a time when I would not have stepped out of the house with a head full of thick, bushy hair that stands on end. It wasn't that I didn't like natural hair; Six years ago and back further, I probably would have been anti- {and even confused} about anything not neatly coifed — natural or straight. Thinking back, even the first time I saw Maxwell I thought his hair made him alternative. Hm, I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that now. Nevertheless, I'm so glad that was then. I've been natural just about five years and though it was a decision I made for the health of my hair, learning about my hair and my relationship with it has extended beyond its roots into my mind.
I was even more tightly coiled in my mind than the hair on my head. And getting to a point of letting my hair just do what it does was major for me. I was so wedded to an ultra short, ultra straight 2 to 3-inch long hair cut for years and I thought that look fully communicated the impression I was trying to make — that I was sharp and no-nonsense. I'm sure no one besides me even cared. lol But, anyway, thank goodness something got me out of the box; Something being my hair as the impetus for me actually loosening up in so many areas of my life.
The day I took the above photo, I was in the middle of the work day and winding up production for the August issue of Atlanta Tribune. I wasn't stressed, but I was on the edge of it and between the heat I'd just come in from and the volume of my hair that day, something had to give. When I threw my afro up in this messy updo, I looked at my reflection in my laptop and thought, hmmm ... I like it. And in that very insignificant moment, I was immediately proud of myself.
Why? Because for me it signaled growth and expansion. And "A mind stretched by a new experience can never go back to it's old dimensions." I love when I'm able to put my finger on a moment when I've been stretched.
