These Locks Still Have Some Bite

Medusa indeed. When I was a child my Dad used to call me Medusa - his idea of humour, but it should give you some idea as to the wildness of my hair. I'm of mixed parentage which makes for A LOT of curly hair and when I was a child it was completely unmanageable. I ended up having to get it relaxed at a fairly young age, relatively speaking (if you don't know much about relaxing hair, it can be kind of risky if done at too young an age, and by risky I mean your hair could fall out). Anyways, for years I'd get my hair relaxed every couple of months and that kept it manageable (more or less). Then a couple of years ago I decided I wanted to go back to my natural curl and I let the relaxed hair at long last grow out and go away.

At first it wasn't so bad, I found a salon that specialized in curly hair and they showed me how to tame my wild locks. But of late I've found that original wildness starting to return. You need proof? All right, let's set up a challenge - my curly hair vs. a boar-bristle brush .... guess who came out on top. I couldn't believe it - my hair triumphed over a boar-bristle brush - I mean, have you seen boars? - they're pretty tough looking dudes! (see picture to your right).

In hindsight though - this is my own fault - I did want to go back to my natural self - grow it, release the wild --- phrase it however you like - it doesn't change the fact it takes me half an hour to sort out my hair in the shower. But the weird thing is, even after all this trouble and nonsense - I still love my curls. I love the way they twist around, I love the way they bounce, I love the way they frame my face. But now I'm coming up to decision time - what will I do with my hair for my wedding? Leave the curls or straighten it? On the one hand - natural beauty is the best beauty - on the other, straight hair is more controllable - I could have an up-do! Anyone want to weigh in on this choice?

And there was actually a point to all this rambling about hair, I swear. My question is this - how much do you think someone's hair is a part of their identity? Can hair change a person?