So you decided to go natural? How did you make your decision? Did you big chop? Here is a glimpse into my story.
I started my natural hair journey in early 2010. I wasn't quite sold on the big chop and had already been wearing my hair short and relaxed. For years I contemplated going natural, but never had the guts to do it. I made the decision to continue to transition until my relaxer was all grown out, or so I thought.
In June of 2010, I had major surgery and needed to make sure that my daily routine was as low maintenance as possible. By this time I was fed up with my hair as it seemed more difficult to care for with two different textures.
On July 26th, I took that leap of faith! I had no clue of what products to use or what my texture was really like. My stylist said to me, "what are we going to do if your hair doesn't curl up?" I said with the straightest face, "we slap some relaxer on it and shave the back like we did back in the day." We laughed, but I think we were both nervous. As she proceeded to cut... I began to pray.
Nothing or no one could have prepared me for this journey of becoming natural...well, no one but God. It was definitely a process of discovering who God was in my life and who he made me. My journey evolved into more than just being liberated from the box of stereotypes and cultural discriminations. It became a journey of self love, rebirth, courage, and spiritual growth . God revealed to me that the cutting of my damaged hair (the relaxer) symbolized the cutting away of the dead things (relationships, people, sin) in my life.
God was teaching me that the way he made me was beautiful, and MY BEAUTY IS NATURAL!
