My locks and I

I love my hair. I've never wanted to touch my hair more during any other time. I love the silky way my locks glide through my fingers. I find myself touching them all the time - I've heard it described as "hand-in-locks disease." Funny, eh? If there's a cure for it, I don't want it! I love my locks, love to touch 'em, love the way they feel in my hands. Wet, dry, oily, I love 'em!

But, I am not my hair, and as such, my hair is not me. My locks are simply the way I choose to wear my hair. For years I rode the roller coaster of relaxer-braids-drastic cut-relaxer-braids-relaxer-kinky twists-relaxer-cut-relaxer, etc. It was a cycle that lasted through my late teens and 20s.

I decided to make a change that although some would consider drastic (a big cut at a barber shop, going from bob-length hair to a short fade, is pretty drastic, if I may say so myself), was a necessity for me to allow me to remove myself from the roller coaster ride my hair was dragging me on.

Unbeknownst to me, locks can be pretty political. I'm not one to enjoy politicing much these days, I'd rather sit home and play Dora Bingo with my flowers, but even I get wrapped up in it, particularly the discussions on locinlocs and other lock groups on yahoo.com.

To be honest, when I applied for and interviewed for the position I'm currently in now (I won't reveal where I work, but I will share that it's a fairly conservative military-bred organization), I was truly surprised that I didn't get any flack about my new locks (they were about six months old at the time - unruly babies), and I was totally surprised when they offered me the position.

I love the freedom that my locks give me. No longer do I sweat a swim in the ocean, or pool for that matter, and never again will I have angst over taking a long walk in the midday sun for fear of sweating out a fresh perm. The only thing I regret regarding my locks is the fact that I contemplated them for as long as I did. I could've had another year of freedom, had I not been on the fence for so long.

Oh well. I continue to live and learn. All the while loving my locks!