Can I touch it?

A little about this blog. Back in December a co-worker and I decided to start a Walking Program, you know to get in shape and to lose a little "baby phat". Well it was going so well that after 4 months of walking and being able to walk 3 miles in less than an hour, we decide to step our game up. So we started RUNNING. Now please understand running is nothing I ever thought I would do. When I first met my husband he asked me to run with him and I gave him a laundry list of excuses on why I couldn't. The main one being my "HAIR". I could not fathom, sweating out my "good perm". So NO NO NO it was not an option. Well when my co-worker and I started running I said well maybe I can run and not sweat too much and still save my hair.

Well that obviously didn't work. I found myself needing to go to the hair salon every week, which was taking a toll on my pockets, but I was falling in love with the rush I got from Running. So I had to make a decision between my addiction to the "creamy crack" or "running". Once I started to see the transformation my body was making because I was putting in 3 miles of running, Running won hands down!. So March of this year was my last date with the "creamy crack". Its been almost 4 months and no relaxer. I decided not to "Big Chop" as they call it on the natural hair websites, not because I was afraid but because my husband wasn't having it. So I'm doing the Long Transition.

At first I had no clue what to do with my hair, and then my stylist suggested that I try "straw set" as my transition style. VOILA! it worked, I love it, I can run with it and still maintain my style. The journey has been interesting. Especially when sharing with my "black sisters" that I'm going natural. The responses have been eye opening. But I'm finally embracing my "nappy roots" and falling in love with the "new me".

Today when I got to work, this lady in my office who is "natural" walked up to me and said: Oh My God I LOVE YOUR HAIR - Can I touch it?  I said sure (really, can't believe I said that). She touched my thick, curly, nappy roots and said: It is so Beautiful. That statement meant more to me than she will ever know! It reaffirmed for me that this journey, though not widely accepted is about me. It's about me Loving Me for who I am, not being afraid to be the Me that God created and embracing the Black and Beautiful that God gave me.