| Posted on April 24, 2012 at 2:25 PM |
Diana wanted to fit in with the rest of the girls. She wanted the long hairand the straightest hair possible! She would get her relaxers faithfully everytwo months...Once she was able to do her own hair she would flat iron it, usecurling irons, and blow dry her hair to get the look she desired! Her motherwould tell her to make sure not to overheat, but Diana wouldn’t listen. Shewould just continue to straighten it in hopes of it looking straighter. Dianabegan to notice more and more hair in the sink as she would comb and flat iron- she began to wonder why it was shedding so much. Was this normalshedding?!?!? When she finished styling she would have so much shed hair notonly in the sink but on her shoulders! This definitely was not good!!
The length gradually became shorter and shorter and more uneven...it seemedone side had given up growing and the other side had just broken off badly. Peoplebegan to notice and comment on her issues. Then the relaxers began to not takeand could barely tell she had gotten a relaxer; her confidence began to droplower and lower! Her hair had lost the battle not only from the heat andchemicals, but because of her mild eczema. "No more heat or chemicals;that include relaxers, flat ironing, or blow drying", the dermatologiststated. Diana sat in a state of shock; how could she go without those things!The nurse then said, "Well, I think your fro is cute." Every morselin Diana's body shut down...her hair wasn't supposed to be a fro; actually itjust lost the life, shape, and shine that it looked like a fro. Diana wasdevastated beyond measures.
What was Diana to do? How was she to style her hair? She went home and justcried until there were no more tears left. There was no hiding the fact thather hair was ugly. She wanted to stay in a little hole and never be seen again.She would compare herself to others and wish she had their features...Whycouldn't her hair look like that? Why couldn't she have that? Or why couldn'tshe be pretty like that?!! She had lost all confidence in herself and thenatural beauty God had given her! Something so simple, as losing her hair coulddiminish all love for oneself. Regardless of how much she hated who she saw inthe mirror, she refused to show it in public. She would laugh it off, smile,and joke but no one knew that inside she was torn to pieces. People would saylittle jokes about her appearance and hair and she would just laugh but it wasthose words that she remembered at night as she cried herself to sleep. Shewrote in her journal and poems asking why God made her this way and why she hadto go through so much with her hair and appearance.
It took about 5 years for Diana to acknowledge her true inner and outerbeauty! She did not complain about her hair or appearance but loved everythingshe was blessed with (the good and bad). How could she let such sillinessaffect her so...Something as silly as hair...Yes, she still takes her hair veryseriously, but she learned to deal with the issues and not let them consumeher. Society had scarred her for life; they had given her a falserepresentation of what beauty had to be...still today there are 'categories'that represent beauty. She used to question where she fit in this category.Now, she realizes that she doesn't fit in that category because she has acategory of her own! She refuses to be a follower but a leader...Her newfoundmotto is ‘you can let others inspire you but do not try to replicate butoriginate’. She is stronger than she has ever been before; she has embracedthat FRO that she now has! Her hair woes are far from over, but she is ready totackle them full force!
To Be Continued………….
Categories: Hair
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