Hair Gripes: I Am Not My Hair, Am I?

I have a confession. Lately, it’s been all about my hair. It’s all I think about and inevitably, it comes up in almost every conversation that I have. I’ve become one of those people who can’t stop talking about myself, or rather, my hair. Yet, knowing that I am being this way, I can’t help but continue. Why? Because more than anything, I am excited about the changes that I am going through, about my journey from relaxed to natural. I am enjoying experimenting with organic products, trying out different styles, and I like touching my hair and feeling my natural textures coming through. I don’t think I’ve ever been this obsessed with my hair. Sure, when I used to get relaxers I would touch my hair often, feeling my roots to make sure they were as straight as they could be. But this feels different. This time, I feel gratified to know that what I am touching is my natural hair and not something that is achieved with chemicals. I like that it’s mine alone. And that I love it!

So far, this natural journal is liberating me in a way that I never thought I wanted to be but I sometimes feel that my identity is just a tad bit wrapped up in my hair. This has been on my mind a lot more since I made the decision to take the next stop and go in for “the big chop” (will write about this in another post). I’ve worn short styles before but I don’t think I’ve ever been so anxious about losing hair. I must admit, I am a little scared, not so much about losing the length but more because I'm not sure what I will find after and how I will feel about it. Don’t get me wrong, I can sing the lyrics to India Arie's I Am Not My Hair at the top of my lungs and mean it. But when I reflect on those times when my hair has affected my mood I wonder how much stock I really put into the role my hair plays in shaping my identity. I’ve always been of the mindset that when your hair looks good you feel good. So what if I don’t like my hair in its natural state? Will I be in a perpetually funky mood? I seriously doubt that this will be the case because as I've been trying out new things throughout my transition and learning more about my natural hair, I am finding it surprisingly easy to embrace the bad (when my hair experiments fail) as well as the good (success).

I Really Wanted to LOVE Glee

I’ve been humming the melody to “Don’t Stop Believing” ever since I saw the teaser for the new Fox Series, Glee, a few weeks ago. It looked like it would have several of the things I like: comedy, quirky characters, and lots of singing. Not since the premier of Ugly Betty had I been this excited about a new show. But alas, Glee doesn’t deliver on what it promised in the teaser and I think the root of the problem lies in it being too much.

There were definitely some things I liked about Glee:
1. There is that one girl who adds a gold start every time she signs her name (center) who reminds me a bit of Idina Menzel from Wicked and Rent (Taye Diggs' wife). I definitely see some diva quality in this character.
2. Some of the minor characters—cheerleading coach, football coach, principal—were interesting, if one-note, and I see entertainment potentional in them.
3. The musical selections were agreeable (who doesn’t love vintage Journey?) and the closing performance was nice and heart-warming (the kids can actually sing and have great harmony.)

I just don’t know if these few things are enough to entice me to invest an entire season of TV-watching time. Plus, there were things that I didn’t like:
1. The incessant humming throughout multiple scenes was beyond annoying. As much as the show would like to have the feel of theater, it’s just not there.
2. Aside from the Idina clone, the main characters as a whole are unexciting. Factor in the other dry, overly-neurotic, one dimensional characters and the lights dim a little more.
3. I’m not opposed to having multiple viewpoints featuring first-person narratives. I’ve experimented with the method myself and see the benefits of it providing insight into the psyche of several characters in an ensemble cast such as this but it doesn’t seem to be effective here. Or rather, I’m not feeling it! Character development might be better accomplished through dialogue between characters rather than through monologues.
4. Finally, Glee tries too hard to be entertaining and in my opinion, it fails.

Now, I’m not going so far as to write the show off completely. There are several shows that didn’t impress me out the gate but later grew on me. In fact, even if I don’t watch an entire episode, I’m amenable to tuning in for at least the last few minutes. If my predictions are correct, they’ll have a performance every week and that at least is worth seeing.