Hi everybodies! I should be getting ready for work right now, but I'm sitting here bloggin' and looking at my YouTube page, counting subscribers and such. A good friend of mine stopped over last night (I wasn't expecting her) and it was such a surprise to see her! I was just stunned--I haven't seen her or talked with her for at least a couple of months (our schedules just constantly clash). Anyway, she has locs (somewhere between 3-4 years, I think) and she was just astounded at the growth of mine in such a short time. She was one of the few sistas that supported me in my venture and was one of the first people to see my coils when they were first put in and miniscule and I was sporting the "tres scalpy" look! LOL I can remember her laughing at me just a little and saying that I would have a hard time locing because my hair is much softer than hers--she has a really coarse texture and mine is more wavy than a really tight kink. Much as I love her and much as she loves me, she honestly didn't think my hair would loc very quickly.
Well, she was very pleasantly surprised and pleased for me and she just couldn't get over how much progress I've made thus far on this journey. I really value her opinion. She has what she terms "ghetto, mammy-made locs"--locs that she started herself, no meticulous parts, no guidance really, she just one day decided to grab and start twisting. She had permed hair at the time and didn't cut the ends off, she just kept twisting and twisting and twisting until the ends stayed twisted and the new hair began to loc. Her hair looks fantabulous! And you know what? She also views the growth and transition of her loose hair into locs as a spiritual journey, just like me. As her locs grew strong and long, so did she and she grew in self acceptance by leaps and bounds. I personally have a hard time understanding how some can view this experience as just a fad or just for fashion and not also about growth on an emotional/spiritual level. I'm not hating on those that loc for these particular reasons, I'm just saying that I can't fathom this not having some type on impact on one's emotional/spiritual outlook. I say this for the simple reason that we, as women, do tend to get a little emotionally involved with our hair, especially if it ain't lookin' as fly as we would want it to! We obsess over it and have an almost compulsive need to keep it looking just so and when it doesn't cooperative, we get bent! Those of us on this loc journey are currently at or have been at the "fugly, ugly" stage at some point in this process--you can admit it. You know what I mean--the "baby" coils/braids/locs aren't doin' what we want them to do, they are fuzzy and standing all over the head, they aren't neat, etc. And we get emotional about it--what do we do to calm it down, cover it up, make it behave? And then one day it hits us--forget about it, let it do what it gonna do and it will one day transform into the proverbial swan. Don't obsess and don't hate; just accept and move on. The same for the spiritual transformation--having to care and maintain locs physically puts one in touch with oneself and, in my opinion, encourages some introspection, meditation and inner quietness that allows one the time to return to one's spiritual core and to cultivate strength there. This is/has been such a strongly emotional/spiritual experience for me that I just can't really put it all into words. I have gained such strength so far and I hope to continue to increase that strength. My girl friend remarked that I just seemed to be glowing with an inner peace and serenity and she has been privy to some of my most deeply held insecurities and fears--she's seen the worst parts of me, and she is totally blown away at my new-found spiritual "grounded-ness" and peace. God was/and still is working on me in a big way through this loc journey and I thank Him for that. Thanks be to God for allowing me to experience Him in such a way as this.
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