I titled this entry “Naturally Me: My Decision to Go Natural” because I get sooo many questions about why I cut my hair; sometimes it’s a little annoying but I do understand it was a drastic change for me and people have to adjust to that. I had long hair all my life and that’s how people were used to seeing me. When I cut it, I got jaw-dropping reactions from friends, family, and co-workers. No one could believe I had cut off my long, beautiful hair. And honestly I haven’t really missed it! Here’s a pic of how long it was before:
So, why did I do it? Well, I started thinking about going natural around May of last year. I was going to make a slow transition and let it be a gradual process, so I decided to not perm my hair for a while. I believe the last perm I had was around the start of June. I knew I had a pretty good hair texture so I was able to deal with a few inches of new growth. My plan was to let a few inches of new growth come in, then cut of a few inches on the ends, and so on and so forth (I read online about transitioning to natural hair before I made up my mind to actually do it, and it seemed this was the most recommended way if you’d had long hair all your life).
Well I was going through this whole process, and had actually just cut several inches of my hair off at the beginning/middle of August—I cut it just above my shoulders. I would just straighten the roots with a flat iron sometimes. Check the pic:
(this pic is from 2007 but it had grown all the way back since that time, and I cut it this length again)
Unfortunately, life doesn’t always go according to planned. At the end of August, I found out my mom was terminally sick with breast cancer. I won’t go through all the details, but just three weeks later she passed away (September 12th). My life was turned upside down and inside out. It was then that I decided to chop my hair completely off; I did it four days after my mom’s death, September 16th. My stylist was afraid to cut it cause he thought I’d wake up the next morning hating the decision I made and hating him for cutting it, but I had my mind made up. Here I am after the "big chop".
I guess doing the “big chop” versus the transition to natural hair was an expression of what I was going through emotionally at the time. And I don’t regret it at all. I love my natural hair. I love the little spirally curls. I love the fact that I don’t have to be afraid to walk outside in the rain without ruining my hair. I love it that I no longer look like what our society tells us women should look like! So now you know why I chopped off all my hair. Hope this gives some clarity to some of you who were too afraid to ask me why I cut it, LOL. I’ll leave you with a recent pic to show you how it’s grown since I cut it in September:
So there you have it! That's the story behind me chopping off my hair. Sometimes its challenging because I'm having to learn my hair and what works for it all over again, but I love it! If anyone wants any tips or how to deal with the big chop decision you just made, email me or leave me comments and I'll be happy to share more. Take care & take charge ladies!
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