Red!

I am finall back from vacation. I'll be lying if I say I am glad to be back but I am glad to finally take action of my life and let great things happen in my life. This year the only thing stopping me from reaching for the skies is if God's plan for me is to reach for the sun. Either way I am ready and eager to get this show on the road so I can finally get to where I need and want to be.

My trip was interesting to say the least. Had quite a few travelling issues but that topic deserves a blog of its on because right now I am not impressed with Delta, British Airways or KLM. Either way I'll just say I am glad I got to my destination safe and sound and in one piece and back here safe and sound and in one piece.

There is so much I want to share with you all but I will need to gather my thoughts and really think of what I believe is worth sharing. Some things I would rather keep personal and between the parties involved and other things I believe is okay to be put out there. Either way I did have a wonderful time and I realised that no matter what, Going home is always great! Being around family and friends was wonderful and It really has me thinking about how important family and friends are in my life.

One thing I do want to share and this actually was suggested by one of my friends is something I had been wanting to do for so long and I finally threw caution to the wind and just did it without thinking too much of the outcome or the possible consequences. I will say this though, It was the best decision I have made in a long time and as you read, you will know what I am talking about.

For those of you who know me, I have been natural for over 5 years now...probably longer. I decided to stop using any chemicals in my hair quite a number of years ago when I realised my hair was so unhealthy and I was always dreading getting a touch up because the relaxing cream would burn my scalp and the pain was soo unbearable I would cry. A friend of mine suggested to me that I stop relaxing my hair for a period of time to really allow my hair to grow and hopefully when I see my hair re-gain its strength and luster I can go back to relaxing. Well to say the least I never went back and as I type this I really dont see myself going back to chemicals. I would say never but who knows how I would feel 5 years, 10 years or even a day from now but as of now I am staying natural and I am not going back.

Anyway, for those of you who are natural you will realise that it can get very boring especially if you are not creative with your hair as some natural divas are. That boredom can actually have you thinking of going back to your relaxer days and if you dont have enough will power you might do that. Anyway, one thing I did realise while I was away was how many women in Ghana have gone natural. For a nation where hair salons can litterally be found on every corner and anyone who knows a black woman knows that we do not play with our hair. So to see women with such beautiful long natural hair was soo beautiful and empowering and to me it meant that many black women are beginning to embrace their God given hair and they do not need to change it to suit anyone but themselves. I also noticed that a lot of women were dreading their hair! I thought it was soo beautiful that a culture who frowned upon dreads because they associated it to mean the person was on drugs or lived a care free lifestyle with no ambition is now embracing such a beautiful hair style and realises that we are definitely not our hair and that even dreds can be beautiful. Personally if i could stick to one thing for a long time and not get bored I would dread my hair as well but I love the versitility of my hair and the fact that one day i can wear it in a huge afro or I can braid it up, or straighten it with a flat iron so to dread my hair I know I would be bored with it and wish I could have my afro back.

The decision I made that I dont regret was to dye my hair! It wasnt a spontaneous decision of course because I had been thinking about it for a couple of months but the minute I got to Ghana I walked straight into a hair salon wearing my sisters clothes(my luggage hadnt arrived yet) and I told the hair dresser which hair color I was thinking about and before I could object she had put the colour in and here I was an hour later walking away with red hair! At first when she put it in I almost told her to wash it out because I wasnt ready for it, but after sitting there for the color to set and her washing it out all I could think was "what did I just do??" As she blew out my hair I realised that wow! this is amazing plus all the compliments I got from the other stylist reassured me that I had made the best decision ever. The moment of truth was going home and showing it to my mother. Of course I thought she was going to freak out and tell me to go back and dye it black but she couldnt get enough of it! She loved it and just like she loved it, every single person who saw me with my colour loved it too!! Finally I knew I had done something that was right for a change.

Dying my hair was the most liberating, sexiest thing I had done in a very long time. It made me feel soo confident and beautiful. It change the way I walked, the way I looked at myself, how I presented myself to people and I like to think that the men who knew me or met me were not complaining either. It amazed me how much hair can make a woman feel soo sexy and beautiful and at the same time make you feel soo ugly. We are not our hair I strongly believe but I do think it plays a part in how we feel about ourselves and how we present ourselves to others.

I am loving who I am now and although building confidence shouldnt be based on what colour my hair is, I'll definitely say its a good way to start.