All This Talk About Hair

If you have been around over the last year you most likely would have stumbled on the relaxed hair vs natural hair debate. And if you are like me you would wonder why it is such a big deal. The main reason women give for going natural is that they want to go back to their roots and appreciate their natural hair texture and the beauty in it. To me, there is nothing wrong with letting go of  relaxers (or creamy crack as natural hair enthusiasts call it) and deciding you want to rock an afro.

I recently cut my hair off, and became a naturalista (yes, another one bites the dust). I cut off my hair because I went through a phase where I was doing different things to my hair and it just didn't look right any more. The decision to cut my hair had nothing to do with embracing my natural kinky hair or wanting to radiate my God-given beauty. It was far from that. I needed hair that I could just wake up and go with and not have to worry about, hence my short hair. I have no intention of growing my hair out any time soon and therefore may not be classified as a bonafide member of the natural hair gang.

The natural hair community has grown so much that you cant go on social media and not see something about hair. It has resulted in the rise of so many blogs and social media accounts. Events are even being held to celebrate/promote natural hair. It has now become the "in" thing.

I have noticed that women with natural hair talk about their hair a lot. It's is their main topic of discussion. I am tired of opening my instagram and seeing a girl posting about washing her hair or oiling her "fro". We all wash our hair, natural or otherwise, this is not news, this is not something worth sharing. If it is then why didn't you share it when you were washing your relaxed hair? It has become such a big deal now to have natural hair that people with relaxed hair are sometimes crucified.

 I come from a society that does not really encourage kinky hair and natural textures because it is seen as untidy. Women are therefore encouraged to relax their hair, use hair extensions or put them in braids. There has however been an increase in the amount of women who have transitioned to natural hair. These women face challenges everyday from people asking why their hair is that way, why they wont relax it, telling them it is untidy or asking why their hair is not made.

A woman should not be judged by her hair or what she chooses to do or not do to it. Your hair is a part of your image, some people say a person hair is a means of expression and other use the phrase "I am not my hair". Whatever a persons take on hair is, it is solely their decision what they choose to do to it. No one has the right to crucify another for relaxing their hair or not relaxing their hair. Hair is a matter of personal choice and naturalistas should stop trying to turn everyone natural. As with everything in life, natural hair is not for everybody.

To spice up this post a bit, I have included pictures of the differents ways I have worn my hair over the last year.

Relaxed hair in a pixie cut 

Girls love their weaves

     My side shave

My hair now

Why I Stopped Blogging/Writing

I have been off the blogging horizon for quite some time now and this has been as a result of many things. When you start a blog, you do a lot of research on the internet on how to be a successful blogger. You find things like:

• You have to be consistent 
• Find your niche/target audience
• Build a following 
• Create a brand

The list seems to be endless on these sites. After reading all this I feel very demoralized because the only successful bloggers I see are fashion, beauty and lifestyle bloggers. They seems to be the only ones who have all the things listed above. So when I write I think to myself who will read this? Is anyone even interested in what I'm saying? My writing is not perfect so why should people read it. I am in constant fear of what the response to what my work will be. I am also in constant fear that my writing is not good enough to build an actual niche.

I still have these fears but I am finding ways to silence them. I am constantly trying to make my work better, finding interesting things to write about. I have however come to the realization that I am not in blogging for the money or the fame, I just blog because I like to write and I guess it's time people read what I write.

Shindara Salako