Hair Raisin

So I did it, I went to the salon and got my hair relaxed. And it looks awesome! I don't know why I was so conflicted about it. Well actually after thinking about it, I do understand where my angst came from. It came from everyone else. I am insecure about a lot of things, but my hair is not usually one of them. I do occasionally get upset when I have a bad hair day.

In a lot of instances, when I mentioned that I wanted to get my hair relaxed people would tell me that I shouldn't for a myriad of reasons. Some people would say I shouldn't because I have "good hair" - sigh - are we still singing that song? Or others would tell me that all I had to do was blow it out or that I should just love my hair. The truth is - it's just hair to me. The truth is I know my hair better than anyone and it is not a particularly enjoyable experience blowing it out. It is tiring and the results are short lived for the amount of time involved. And although I love a lot of the natural styles, it took longer than I was willing to spend to have some of them done. 8 hours for braids or twists and it costs a lot of money.

The truth is - I was ready for a change. When I am ready for another change, perhaps I will go back to basics. And yes, I do love my hair. I loved it while it was natural and I love it now that it is relaxed. It doesn't change who I am.

But I must admit, when my hair looks good (this is not to say that I didn't like it before), I feel better - which helps my confidence - and people do respond to me differently now - which may work out to my advantage in the long run.

I think it's funny and maybe a little sad that some people treat me differently now that my hair is straight. Some of the men who used to ignore me seem to fall over themselves trying to talk to me. Now all of a sudden - I am attractive. Or I have the reverse (usually with women) like "why did you do that?" "Your hair was so cute before." Ok....how am I supposed to respond to that. Why do people say things like that? I think it is actually quite rude. These aren't people that I am cool like that with - they are just random people - acquaintances.

I am still the same person. I guess everyone has an opinion - which is cool. Getting to the root of it, I did it because I wanted to (why does anyone do the things they do?) I don't care who approves and who doesn't- it's just hair and it is only a small portion of who I am.