"I See Your Face"

Hello my Naturalistas and wannabe Naturalistas,

It's been a great week! I've enjoyed a new sense of freedom ever since my declaration to go natural!

The other day I was in line surveying the menu in the college cafeteria. As I was perusing whether to go with roast beef or tilapia, a colleague of mine, also in line, just fixed his gaze on me. Before his gaze I was feeling happy go lucky, but my gosh, his fixedness on my face almost made me wanna cause a scene and ask him,
"What, John <-(not the starer's real name), is there something on my face?" I guess he read my body language, and suddenly snapped back to planet earth.

His response: "Wow, Ije you are truly beautiful. I love your hair. I see your face. I see you."

I certainly did not see that coming! I sheepishly shuffled my feet, and expressed a surprised thank you to John. Can a black girl blush, because I think I certainly did. Lol!

I found that experience a profound moment to ponder. Why now, of all times that John has seen me, did he decide to compliment me in that moment? He was so genuinely passionate about it. I'll tell you why. Because to him, at that moment, he had seen the real me. Not Ije who once wore weaves, or a fresh perm, but me for me in a sort of untapped, raw form. He saw my face.

I think that's how God desires to see us. He wants to know the root of who we are, and you simply can't know who you really are until you get Back to the Basics of who you deeply are, which means peeling through the "layers" (i.e., the weaves, the perms, the processing) to get to the inner most beauty that lies within you--your soul. It is why God so passionately wants to know us, and see our face, and when we believe in Him, He enters and takes residence to the seat of our soul, and is happy to talk to you and know the real you. It is when He can truly see your face, kinda like how John saw mine yesterday.

Below is a quick video of my beautiful mother who helped in catapulting my journey. She just looks timeless. She is just shy of 60 and looking FABULOUS!!! I never had a sister growing up, but often people think she is my sister. I love her so much. Enjoy!

xoxo
-chisomthewriter

My New Do Reveal and a Moment Back in Time

I was a little nervous about coming to work today to reveal my new "do." When I walked into my boss' office he greeted me. I was squeamish, and ready for whatever quizzical declaration he might have about what I did to my head. Drum roll please! He simply said, "Hey Ije! Good morning! Did you have a good weekend?" After our exchange of common pleasantries, and talk about how our individual weekends were, he went straight to business about talking on what he garnered from the recent HR conference he had returned from, and he talked with me about some training and development strategies he wanted me to investigate and possibly implement for the college.

Wow! I was pleasantly surprised, and also internally happy that he was more engaged with picking my brain on a new endeavor rather than wondering what I did with my hair! I know it's early but I really like my new do.

When I told my mother about my plight to go natural she responded in her Nigerian accent, "Ije, are you shaw about dis?" Lol! My response: "Yes, Ma, I'm sure."

As she threaded my hair it had been 20 years since she had engaged in this time honored African hair tradition. We both recounted those days during my early years when I dreaded "hair days," because I knew it meant torture while I sat between my mother's knees as she worked her magic. Even now, those childhood images are still vibrant in my mind, and in the mind of my mother. And so I now return on my own volition, and plop myself between her knees again. We reminisced and laughed...

xoxo
-chisomthewriter

With Love, from Chisom and Naomi

Hey everyone,

Okay, below is my first vlog installment. I just want to clear up one major thing. I am NOT a beautician, or an image consultant. I will not try to SELL you anything regarding hair/hair products. At this time, I'm not making a profit from my blog. I am simply documenting my journey to becoming natural. All opinions stated on this blog are MY assertions on MY experience with MY natural hair transition, and may be coupled with statements of items/products I have used to assist me on my natural hair journey. Believe me, I don't have time or plans to start developing a product line. This blog is simply my virtual diary, that I am open to sharing with you. Feel free to share my blog with others.

xoxo
-chisomthewriter

Back to the Basics : The Chronicle of My Hair Harvest

I have decided to go Back to the Basics and return to my "roots," my natural roots that is. I will try to defy all things associated with perms, relaxers and weaves for the next year. For the last several months I have had this desire to get my hair back to the illustrious, primitive stage it was during my wonder years. As a mother to a young daughter, I see how beautiful, full and rich my daughter's hair is, and have desired to return my hair back to what it was originally designed to be. I will not lie that I am a little nervous, yet excited about this journey.

First things first. Should you decide to return your hair to its natural state, please have an open dialogue with your beautician or hair stylist. It's just common courtesy  to your stylist, and will certainly benefit you too. If they do not appear supportive in your endeavor, then like a split end, cut them off. I called my stylist, Kat, and while she was surprised at my decision she gave me a litany of options on how we can now go about treating my hair chemical free. The plan - engage in roller sets for a while, and also have some African threading done courtesy of my mother. Some people call them silky dreads, but the way we do it in Nigeria it is done with a very taut string that is repeatedly tied around the hair to keep it together, and let me tell you, this method grows hair!

Also, my scalp has been quite dry, and with the partitions that threading provides, I can easily grease my scalp now. My partitioned head looks like a patch of farmland, but you know what? I am ready for my harvest of fuller, longer, healthy hair!

If you are considering a natural hair journey, but aren't sure yet, then live vicariously through my blog to see if it's really for you. Be patient with me, as I am new to all of this, but I'm excited! Thank you for visiting. I hope you will enjoy the spirit-filled aspect of my blog, and my occasional vlogs. Welcome to my journey, Back to the Basics: The Chronicle of My Hair Harvest. So long creamy crack! Lol!

xoxo
-chisomthewriter