Hair is terribly personal, a tangle of mysterious prejudices. ~Shana Alexander

In a few weeks, it will have been an entire year since I’ve had a relaxer. I think I’m ready to finally do the Big Chop. Frankly, quite a bit of the relaxed hair has broken off anyway, especially in the back. I’m ready to start playing with my natural curls. ALL natural curls. Not this half and half crap.

As long as I’ve been doing my own hair, it’s been straight. Either my mom was using the hot comb or I was getting a relaxer (that we used to call a perm). So I’ve always dealt with “straight” hair. Now I’m relearning how to style and care for my hair and it hasn’t been all that easy. Still, I’ve lasted a year without using the “creamy crack.” Now I just have to let go of all the relaxed hair and know that I’m going to have really short hair for a while. That’s going to be a challenge as well, but I’m determined to break through it.