Showing posts with label pride. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pride. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
YOUR THOUGHTS/COMMENTS, PLESE!!
Hello my loc family! Hope your day has been well. Just gotta ask your opinion on this because it's still bugging the crap outta me. Remember a couple of posts ago I mentioned about being b*&%?@'d out by a customer in my store because of my gele (headwrap) and bindi? Well, I just thought I'd post a pic or two of a gele that I've worn to work and ask your opinion as to the appropriateness/professionalism of the look. Now, the pics that I'm posting show what I would consider an "everyday" type of wrap look--nothing overly ornate or dramatic, and the fabric colors, while very vibrant and colorful, are not what I would call "over the top" for a retail work setting. What's your opinion? After speaking about the incident with my superior, he assured me that as far as he was concerned, I'd not violated the company dress/uniform code (which is black or khaki pants/skirt, black polo-style shirt or red polo-style shirt. Almost 100% of the time, I wear all black--just doesn't show as much "stuff" as would khaki!) and that I was good. If you were to deal with me face to face, would you be offended by my wearing the wrap and the bindi (of course, you would be treated courteously and professionally at all times!) Thanks for the input!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
HAPPY NEW YEAR (and a LOC ANNIVERSARY!)
Hello folks! Happy new year to everyone--hopefully everyone's holiday was wonderful. Thanks so much for hanging with me through my not-so-frequent postings--due in part to the general craziness of the retail holiday season, but also due to my extreme fatigue. It has been discovered that I have a quite irregular heartbeat and the lack of oxygen in my system was contributing greatly to my feelings of continual and extreme fatigue and general daily feeling of malaise. I'm now under treatment and hopefully I will have the energy to post more regularly to this blog--at least that's the plan as of this moment!
Anyway, on to the good stuff--I've reached the 2 year mark! Happy Lociversary to me! January 4, 2010 was the famous (or is it infamous) day and I couldn't be happier with my locs! Sorry that I don't have a pic at the moment of my hair, I will post one later on this week--silly me let my camera's battery completely discharge and I am currently letting it charge up. Two years ago, my baby locs were less than 1/2 inch long and now in just 24 months, they are past my neck--is that amazing or what? Several people have told me to watch out now--that my hair will REALLY start to take off! One of my best friends has locs (I believe that she's into her fifth year) and she says that she's blown away by how fast they've grown. Yep, they still have a huge spiritual significance for me and yep, I'm still committed to keeping them for life. With the growth in length has come more growth in terms of patience with self and others, understanding and empathy with self/others, and self-understanding and self acceptance. In this past year, I've also had to (graciously) respond to a couple of individuals that have attacked my choice to wear my hair as I do and have also attacked my choice to wear gele (traditional african headwraps) and bindi. I had to respond graciously because the attacks took place in my professional setting and when working with the public, one must always respond in as gracious a manner as possible so as to not reflect upon the professional environment--this was in fact very difficult for me because of the personal nature of the attack. I believe that this individual choose the time and place purposely because she knew that if I were to respond in a "ghetto mama" style while on the clock, she could use that against me when reporting me to my superiors. As it is, there was a time when my self-esteem would have been severely shaken by this incident; now my self-esteem is much higher and my self-confidence and self-acceptance is such that this incident had no effect on me except to follow-up with my superior to report the incident in the event that this person decided to pursue her "complaints" further up the line (which I found out today that she did). Fortunately, my superior is supporting me to his superior so again, peace and no worries on that front. But enough of these ramblings--I hope all of you are in good health and good spirits and I really hope to be posting more regularly in the coming weeks. Blessings!
Anyway, on to the good stuff--I've reached the 2 year mark! Happy Lociversary to me! January 4, 2010 was the famous (or is it infamous) day and I couldn't be happier with my locs! Sorry that I don't have a pic at the moment of my hair, I will post one later on this week--silly me let my camera's battery completely discharge and I am currently letting it charge up. Two years ago, my baby locs were less than 1/2 inch long and now in just 24 months, they are past my neck--is that amazing or what? Several people have told me to watch out now--that my hair will REALLY start to take off! One of my best friends has locs (I believe that she's into her fifth year) and she says that she's blown away by how fast they've grown. Yep, they still have a huge spiritual significance for me and yep, I'm still committed to keeping them for life. With the growth in length has come more growth in terms of patience with self and others, understanding and empathy with self/others, and self-understanding and self acceptance. In this past year, I've also had to (graciously) respond to a couple of individuals that have attacked my choice to wear my hair as I do and have also attacked my choice to wear gele (traditional african headwraps) and bindi. I had to respond graciously because the attacks took place in my professional setting and when working with the public, one must always respond in as gracious a manner as possible so as to not reflect upon the professional environment--this was in fact very difficult for me because of the personal nature of the attack. I believe that this individual choose the time and place purposely because she knew that if I were to respond in a "ghetto mama" style while on the clock, she could use that against me when reporting me to my superiors. As it is, there was a time when my self-esteem would have been severely shaken by this incident; now my self-esteem is much higher and my self-confidence and self-acceptance is such that this incident had no effect on me except to follow-up with my superior to report the incident in the event that this person decided to pursue her "complaints" further up the line (which I found out today that she did). Fortunately, my superior is supporting me to his superior so again, peace and no worries on that front. But enough of these ramblings--I hope all of you are in good health and good spirits and I really hope to be posting more regularly in the coming weeks. Blessings!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Me Just Feelin' Some Black Diva Pride...
Hey all--I was just surfing YouTube and stumbled upon several videos by Naturalnana made up of slideshow style presentations of natural-haired black women. All I can say is....WOW! THESE PHOTOS ARE SOOOO INSPIRING!! All of the women in these videos--from very fair skinned to very dark skinned were absolutely beautiful. And it wasn't so much a physical thing, although all of them were very asthetically pleasing to look at--beautifully shaped eyes, lips, beautiful smiles, etc, but it so much more the projection of being comfortable in their own skins, of being and acknowledging their "blackness" as it were. From the complexions to the physical features to the hair--oh the hair, the gorgeous hair! Whether braided, loose, loc'd or whatever, they were all just GORGEOUS!!! The confidence and the "queenliness" was just too awesome to behold; the aura of proud black womanhood just too shining to behold. It made me feel something very close to reverence to be able to project so much from a two dimensional photo.
I feel so much pride when I see black sistas projecting this so strongly, and I aspire to project these things also. Even more than just projecting this type of pride so convincingly, I aspire to internalize this majestic pride and truly believe this of myself--that I am truly an awe-inspiring creation of God and that I am truly and wholeheartedly beautiful in my full fledged natural state--sans makeup, sans chemically altered hair, sans surgically enhanced body parts, etc. I no longer have the chemically altered hair and I don't have any surgically enhanced body parts (too expensive on a practical level for me and I've just never really had the urge to put myself under anyone's knife just for the sake of a temporary beauty lift--guess I just don't want to be that beautiful! LOL) And although I love wearing makeup and playing with makeup, creating looks that enhance my natural features, I can really live without it, if I have to--although I do have to admit that it does help to brighten up my look! Now, I don't personally know any of the sistas that were in the video, so I don't really know if their personalities and actions in real life reflect this high pride in self for real, but I truly want to be able to carry myself like the queen that I know I truly am. This is not false pride nor is it, in my opinion vanity--this is acknowledging what God has, in His graciousness, created me to be--a reflection of Him that should be/is awesome and flawless in its beauty. My physical self--my kinky/curly hair, my brown skinned body, my short, pug-ish nose, my (too) wide hips and my (too) small breasts, my mind--and my spiritual self are all manifestations of Him and are as they should be. It's a shame that it's taken me so long to truly feel ready to embrace this; such a waste of time trying to embrace something that He never intended for me. But, perhaps this is His way of teaching me/us how to truly appreciate what He has freely given us in the beginning. Thank you, God, for allowing me this journey of discovery of self and You, even though the road hasn't always been smooth. Be with me as I continue on this journey of self-discovery and "You discovery" and if it is Your will, continue to bless me with increasing knowledge of You and of myself. Please allow my loc journey to be a part of the vehicle that allows me to gain this knowledge and throughout this discovery process, temper my great and growing pride in self with genuine humbleness and allow not vanity to overcome the lessons that you would still have me to learn. Amen.
I feel so much pride when I see black sistas projecting this so strongly, and I aspire to project these things also. Even more than just projecting this type of pride so convincingly, I aspire to internalize this majestic pride and truly believe this of myself--that I am truly an awe-inspiring creation of God and that I am truly and wholeheartedly beautiful in my full fledged natural state--sans makeup, sans chemically altered hair, sans surgically enhanced body parts, etc. I no longer have the chemically altered hair and I don't have any surgically enhanced body parts (too expensive on a practical level for me and I've just never really had the urge to put myself under anyone's knife just for the sake of a temporary beauty lift--guess I just don't want to be that beautiful! LOL) And although I love wearing makeup and playing with makeup, creating looks that enhance my natural features, I can really live without it, if I have to--although I do have to admit that it does help to brighten up my look! Now, I don't personally know any of the sistas that were in the video, so I don't really know if their personalities and actions in real life reflect this high pride in self for real, but I truly want to be able to carry myself like the queen that I know I truly am. This is not false pride nor is it, in my opinion vanity--this is acknowledging what God has, in His graciousness, created me to be--a reflection of Him that should be/is awesome and flawless in its beauty. My physical self--my kinky/curly hair, my brown skinned body, my short, pug-ish nose, my (too) wide hips and my (too) small breasts, my mind--and my spiritual self are all manifestations of Him and are as they should be. It's a shame that it's taken me so long to truly feel ready to embrace this; such a waste of time trying to embrace something that He never intended for me. But, perhaps this is His way of teaching me/us how to truly appreciate what He has freely given us in the beginning. Thank you, God, for allowing me this journey of discovery of self and You, even though the road hasn't always been smooth. Be with me as I continue on this journey of self-discovery and "You discovery" and if it is Your will, continue to bless me with increasing knowledge of You and of myself. Please allow my loc journey to be a part of the vehicle that allows me to gain this knowledge and throughout this discovery process, temper my great and growing pride in self with genuine humbleness and allow not vanity to overcome the lessons that you would still have me to learn. Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
