My Thanksgiving Day is spent mostly getting ready for the meal. It is all hustle-bustle to get the food to the table. There is always the last-minute carving of the turkey by my dad and a mad rush to get the chairs pulled to the table. Once we all get to the table we do what I imagine most families do. Pray, eat and talk about what we are thankful for. All of the “giving thanks” is thoughtful and funny. We all realize how lucky we are to have our freedom, health and loved ones in our daily existence. I am thinking this year I am going to give thanks for my curls. I don’t think once at Thanksgiving have the curlies spoken about their curls. My dad and brother are the only curlies besides myself at the table. They both keep their curls very short and have very little experience dealing with the real power of curls. Superficial as it might sound at first, curls represent a bigger world than what is just on my head. Acceptance of anything that is not the “norm” is the beginning of peace with oneself and the rest of the world.
Most curlies have struggled for a very long time with managing their hair. Whether it is worn curly, twisted, straightened, in a weave, relaxed, pressed, ironed, blown out or always pulled back in a ponytail, the love for curls is a rocky road. Hair is so tightly connected to our self-esteem. I am thankful that I have curly hair not only because it is unique but because it automatically connects me to other amazing curlies. There is an immediate mutual understanding of the struggles involved with having curly hair. We all are very aware of the humidity and dew points. We all have history with good and bad haircuts. The joys and struggles with hair care products and second-day hair are universal. An immediate understanding that swimming, riding in a convertible car, and being caught in a rainstorm can all be a potential curl disaster. I am thankful for the honesty and support that all the other curlies have offered me in my life.
I am also thankful, of course, for NaturallyCurly.com and all that goes with the site. I have had those bad hair days and found myself wanting to click my heels together, Dorothy-style, to get back to NaturallyCurly.com. I have found answers, ideas, products and a huge amount of support from all the curlies on the site. I am also thankful for the stylists who have embraced cutting curly hair bravely and with enthusiasm. They have made so many of us happy with our curls. I hope I never have to endure another bad haircut or the blow out that never looks right. I am also inspired by the women that have taken their curls to high places and become icons in our world. Seeing women with curly hair develop curly hair care product lines, opening salons, writing curly hair blogs, interviewed in magazines, on NPR and in newspapers thrills me. Actors, athletes, musicians, writers, models, all the YouTube videos made by curlies and curlies in everyday life always offers me inspiration and a feeling of embracing everyones unique differences.
As I am looking for new and exciting pie recipes and emailing my mom about the grocery lists, I am also thinking about my turn at the table to give thanks. I hope it is a good hair day!
