I Just Realized That I Have Been Projecting My Hair Anxiety On To Other People

As a natural, I’ve had my fair share of awkward stares and conversations, so much so that I automatically assume it’s going to happen whenever I’m in the minority.

It’s pretty much expected, and I brace myself by even giving myself pep talks and play-by-play scenarios whenever I’m going somewhere just so I’m not caught off guard. Well, last week, to my surprise I was caught off guard… in a good way, and here’s what happened:

I love rocking my defined twist out to work, and my coworkers are all used to it, and we’ve all gotten past the awkwardness of how my hair defies gravity daily.

Typically I do twist my hair up Sunday mornings so it’ll have all day and all night to dry before I take it down in the morning.

On this particular Sunday, my whole routine was thrown off and I didn’t even twist my hair until Sunday night, so when I woke up Monday morning my hair was still damp.

As you know, damp hair turns into frizzy twist outs, so I proceeded to do my makeup and get dressed, all while hoping my hair would be miraculously dry by the time I finished all of that… but of course, it wasn’t.

I guess I could have thrown on a wig*, but I was like you know what, I’m going to rock these twists to work, because I actually felt cute all done up with them, plus I was running late and didn’t feel like fooling around with a wig*.

So I did the finishing touches to my outfit and was out the door. Halfway to work on the subway ride was when the anxiety and preparation hit me.

I was second guessing my decision about wearing my frizzy twists to work because I was really not in the mood to answer any annoying questions or dealing with stares. So I prepped myself for the judgement, and by the time I walked through my office door I was ready for whatever.

To my surprise, that whole day I was complimented with genuine comments about how cute my twists were and how great I looked. I really couldn’t believe how much praise I was getting! That situation made me realize that for a really long time I had been projecting my anxiety on to other people.

Yes, I’ve gotten some rude comments and annoying questions, but I’ve always received genuine comments as well. From that day on I stopped obsessing and prepping for what someone might say about my hair, and I learned to take every day as it comes- compliments or stares, who cares! Do you have hair anxiety? Comment below.