The Documentary Pictures

THURSDAY NIGHT

Norman's Mom says goodbye to the locs.

The cutting begins (that's me in the green.)

FRIDAY MORNING
After a looong shower and plenty of scalp scrubbing.... a head full of shiny black curls emerged. Here Norman is, on his way to the barber shop at 8 am to get it lined up.

LATER THAT WEEK
Okay: DRASTIC CHANGE. From neo-soul looking dude to pretty boy.

THE CONCLUSION
This whole experience taught me a lot. I definitely like being the long-haired one in the relationship again. But I respect Norman's "it's just hair" attitude. I always complain about how hard my natural hair is to deal with. Norman loves my hair.
I would NEVER EVER cut off 9 inches of hair. Norman did.
He has a far healthier relationship with hair than I do.

But, I often suspect that my relationship with hair would be healthier... or at least more 'normal', if I hadn't ingested so many lies about my hair over the years. I am still learning the basics: natural hair is equivalent in beauty to anyone else's hair; natural hair can grow at the same rate at anyone else's hair; natural hair requires different hair care than straight hair. etc, etc.

Maybe, once I've totally reset my thinking, I'll have the freedom to chop off multiple inches of hair, just because it's 'too hot on my neck'.