HAPPY LOC-DAY TO ME!!!

Hello Everybody! All right, all right, ...I just can't wait until the official day--today I'm going to celebrate my six month nappy lociversary!! **Clears throat**:

happy nappy Lociversary to me,
happy nappy Lociversary to me,
happy nappy Lociversary to me-eeeeeee,
happy nappy Lociversary to me!! (AND MANY MOOOORRRRREEEEE!!!)

Sorry, just had to do that! My actual six month lociversary is on July 4th, but I fear that it will be overshadowed somewhat by the annual July 4th Independence Day celebrations. After all, I guess the remembrance of the day that this country became independent from England is just a little more important in the whole scheme of things than the day that I started my locs. (To some people--just kidding!) When I began my locs on January 4, 2008, it didn't even occur to me that my six month milestone would be on July 4th; it just felt like the right time to begin the next part of my journey. Anyway, I've been celebrating all week so far--the ladies that I work with are excited for me and some of the customers are commenting on how much length my hair is showing in just six months' time. By the way, all of these women are white and the ones that are noticing the changes are the ones that are really supportive of me. I've gotten comments like: "I can't believe how long it is now--just seems like yesterday that you had almost nothing up there (on your head!)", "wow, your hair is growing like wildfire!", and "it is really becoming to your face shape. Did you know how you would look when you decided to do this?" (I have to laugh to myself at this question--no, I didn't know how I would look, not really. But, I was just ready to DO IT no matter how it looked in the end!) And of course, the comment that all us women just LOVE to hear, "your locs make you look SO MUCH YOUNGER!" (BOY, DO I REALLY LOVE THAT ONE!! ANYTHING TO LOOK YOUNGER--HAHA!) No, I'm not that vain; I know that if I'm blessed to live long enough, these semi-youthful looks, such as they are, will indeed fade. But it is nice to hear every once in a while that someone thinks you look a bit younger than your actual chronological age. Such an ego boost...

Not much has changed in the way of my maintenance routine. Still washing every two weeks, and rinsing/spritzing daily with eo's/water and sealing with either olive oil or jojoba oil or a combo of the two. I'm going to start trying to stretch out the time between my full retwists--instead of every two weeks after each wash, maybe just every four weeks. Will have to see how it goes. I didn't retwist after washing this past Friday, and discovered that I'm more anal about the "groomed look" than I first thought. It's definitely something different for me to just let the new growth go! I actually like the thick look although I don't know that I would be able to go for months at a time without retwisting like some of the others I know through the loc hair care site Nappturality. At least, I don't think I could go that long right now--just not quite ready for that. Maybe with time and more length to my locs...

As my locs grow strong (and hopefully long), so grows my spirit; or at least that's how I'm feeling. That inner core of strength that I've newly discovered within myself seems to be just a constant hum in harmony with my physical self. It's quiet, to be sure, but I know it's there and it's steady. God is there and is steady, and the beautiful thing is that I KNOW that HE is there and steady. It is indeed a heady thing to know and to feel through and through that this is a TRUTH that will never change. I mean, I've known this for a long time intellectually, if you can actually know such a spiritual thing on an intellectual level, but I KNOW this now on an overwhelmingly deep spiritual level in such a more intense way. It's really hard to explain in words because it's all just there as a full blown thing, like the eternal flame--never ending, never to be extinguished now that it's truly lit. Now, mind you, although my locs are a physical manifestation of this spiritual growth and development, don't think that if I were to cut them off at some point (which I don't plan to do) I would lose this "feeling"--this type of strength is not tied to my hair; rather, my hair is just one way of manifesting this strength. Remember Helen Reddy's song "I am WOMAN, hear me ROAR"? Well Baby--I'm roaring! I AM a GODDESS and I AM a DIVA--I AM a strong LOC'D WOMAN! God bless me and all of you reading these lines. May all of you on this journey called life, whether loc'd or unloc'd, find your strength and your truth and may you all discover your eternal flame. Be blessed, hugs and peace, janel