I am taking down my braidlocks. I know some of you complimented my hair but hear me out... I liked having them in my hair. I liked the freedom. I liked the low maintanance. I love being all-natural. What I didn't like was the size of the parts she gave me. The grid was too large and not even. I was splitting them to make them smaller but she gave me diamond shaped parts and splitting them into 3s was impossible to do if I wanted them to be even. I was going to just let them be when I thought of something; the purpose of getting my hair locked was because of freedom and pride. How proud could I be of my hair if didn't like it? What kind of freedom is there in having to "settle" for someone else's idea of how my hair should be? (I told my stylist how I wanted it done, showed her photos, etc. so there would be no question as to what I wanted. She mentioned something about not making them too small because of potential breakage. I told her I understood her concern, but to please do as I asked and what I paid her to do. She didn't.)
Although it would've been great if my hair had been done correctly, having this experience taught me something about myself that I had forgotten; a)I am worthy of goodness and b)that even though I may not see the destination from where I presently stand, if I keep following the road one step at a time, I'll get there. Starting these locks is like starting a new chapter in my life and the old me would've settled for whatever. I have to live with my hair. I have to like my hair. Just tolerating it isn't good enough.
After giving it some thought, I started taking them down. I still want locks! Although it will take me forever and a day, I think I will have to do them myself for them to be done good enough for me. (No, I am not a perfectionist. If you don't believe me, I could take some photos of my house!) Finances don't really allow for me to get them done by a loctician. I am about to return back to school in a few weeks and have some school related expenses. It'll be nice to have people admire my hair and ask who does it and I can say, "me". I won't be braiding them this time. I will be interlocking them. They're tighter and I think they'll lock faster than braids. I even started some practice ones in the nape area. I figured no one would really see those, so it wouldn't matter too much if I messed those up. Well, I did an ok job. (yay me!)
Thank you NubianLockedPrincess and Kalia Dewdrop for all the DIY info and videos. I am so grateful for your selflessness and willingness to share what you learn(ed). Well, that's about it for now. I have to finish taking out these braids!
