Let's talk hair...my good friend Kelly W. made me think about this as she blogged about doing her daugther's hair. I thought, "hey wait a minute I have a lot to say on this topic".
I can honestly say that I hated my hair growing up. I was called "Bush Woman" in elementary school and no matter how hard I tried to "feather" my hair it NEVER worked. It was just one big ball of "frizzy hair". I hated combing my hair as it was very thick curly hair. No one ever made brushes or combs for curly hair people, especially if it looked like mine. The only people I knew that came close to the same kind of hair as me was my friend, Maria, who is Africian American.
I still remember all the times my Grandmother (Father's mother, curly hair came from his side of the family) would say to me, "As soon as you go up and comb your hair we will go to the store". It was like she just thought that I purposely frizzed out my hair on purpose. I thought I was doomed for life with ugly hair. My poor Mother always tried to help, but I was young and thought my way was best. After argument over argument we finally came to an agreement that I would wear my hair the way I wanted to on Monday through Saturday, but on Sunday she could have her way. Looking back through the many photos, I wish I would have let my Mother do my hair more than just Sunday.
Let's jump into the future, freshmen year at BYU and all the sudden my hair became managable. It has something to do with the dry weather, it controls my hair...and all the sudden people started commenting on my hair as if it was "cool". I became a little more confident and started to like my hair instead of hate it.
Let's jump a little bit farther into the future where my hair will and can be the main purpose of conversation. I have gone into interviews where my hair was talked more about than the actual job. I have had people comment on my hair all over the place. People that I don't even know come up and ask if they can touch it. Most recently a co-worker asked me how long it took me to get my hair to do that, I always find this to be a strange question, as I can't image anyone doing my "do" on purpose. I think that is the little girl in me that still thinks her hair is the "butt of jokes".
Why is it that we have to experience such trials in life before we see the blessings. I just wish that someone would have told me all those mornings that I fought and cried over my hair that one day some people will covet my hair. Ah...who am I kidding, even if someone would have said that to me I never would have believed them. Looking back I realize that I allowed myself to have such low self esteem because I never looked like others, I dreamed that I would be beautiful if I had different hair.
Now? Well now, I wish I had a dollar for everytime I heard a person say to me, "Wow, is that natural curl? People pay a lot of money to have their hair look like that". I wish I could say, "yes, but would they be willing to go through childhood looking like a bush woman?"
The other day a friend of mine was telling me why he liked me, while he was going down his list he mentioned my "big hair". I wish I could remember the other things he said, but the funny part was that my mind was stuck on the "big hair" comment. When I was little if someone mentioned my "big hair" I think that would have sent me off crying. This time when I heard it, I just smirked, because let's face it if only I had known then what I know now.
A lesson learned: Love thy hair no matter what age you are.
