The Tangled Curls We Weave

I have spent my entire life straightening my hair. “What is wrong with me?” I would wonder as I poured over my locks all morning; blow drying, pulling, straightening, tugging. “It just won’t… ugh… GO!” I would yell at it as I pulled it as straight as I could just to have it spring back up in a wild twisted mess.

I just didn’t get it. Why didn’t I look like the others?

The women in my family have incredibly straight hair. They can walk out of the house with wet hair and it would look the same way when they got home and it had dried on its own. If I did that, it would be a frizzy, wild mess that would take a lot of tears and water and tugging to get under control.

I never knew how liberating it could be to embrace my naturally curly hair. As a matter of fact, I was horrified of it. I would catch a glimpse of “those girls” who seemed so wild and care free with a beautifully messy mop of curls and envy everything about them. I could never do that.

And then one day I did. And it turns out there are a ton of people just like me, all trying to do the same thing: be themselves.

There are tutorials, articles, stories, entire online communities devoted to embracing natural curls. It is refreshing to hear other people’s stories and challenges as they are on similar journeys. The world can use more transparency and acceptance in the face of ridiculous “beauty” standards and touched up media images.

And so, on my crazy-frizzy-messy hair days, I chalk it up to honesty and choose to be proud of my wild mop. Releasing myself from the weight of expectation, I just let it go and let it be; a lesson I’m trying to learn in all aspects of my life.