New growth. Wow! That phrase brings back a rush of memories of my relaxed hair being overrun with my natural hair. When I saw this image, it brought back a rush of emotions (Image found at: http://www.naturallycurly.com/curltalk/3c/77329-opininion-3b-3c-4a-i-am-confused.html). The funny thing is that when I searched “new growth” on the Internet and looked at images, I came up with verdant images of strong spruce trees, plant stems all glistening with dew, budding shoots and many other beautiful images from nature. This made me pause. New growth is a good thing. It represents rebirth, life, strength. But why did new growth have such a negative connotation when I was younger? Was it that I was resentful, afraid of the fact that the real me was rearing its ugly head and peaking through the cracks of my relaxed façade?
How do (did) you feel about new growth? This question pertains to most women, not just Black women so please chime in! J How did you feel when your color grew out and you had undyed roots? What about when your curly permanent grew out and your natural hair grew in? Did this affect how you felt about yourself? Did you go about your normal daily routine or did this prevent you from going out? I’d love to hear your stories.
Your hair is beautiful! I used to get relaxers when I was younger... a few times a year. My hair is 3c textured. When my new growth came in, people said, you don't even need a relaxer. You have 'good hair.'s how I hate that phrase! Regardless of the grade of my hair, I hated it. I wanted it to be long and silky smooth like the women on tv. So, I flay ironed it til the next relaxer!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting what your search brought up! Now I love my ' new growth ' cause I want my hair to get longer! I have bern completely natural since december 2009, and waiting for more and more strong, healthy, new growth to come in!
Hi J Renee, nice to meet you! Thank you so much for your comments. It's interesting to hear you talk about how much you hated to hear that you have "good hair". I'd never thought about that perspective before; thank you for opening up my mind (love it when that happens!). Didn't we all want long hair (don't know if you saw my earlier post but I talked about how my sister and I used to wear towels and shirts to "lengthen our hair" http://tropie7189.blogspot.com/2011/04/one-of-my-earliest-hair-memories-is-how.html)? Also, I checked out your website through Blogger and you are such a talent! Great photos! Best wishes with your journey (natural hair and photography)!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, just to clarify, that image is not me...I found it at the provided link: http://www.naturallycurly.com/curltalk/3c/77329-opininion-3b-3c-4a-i-am-confused.html).
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