It’s 6am in the morning, I am in a small town near the Italian Alps, and I have finally decided to write my first blog. 

I have been contemplating writing a blog for the last 12 months, but it has taken until now to finally put my fingers on the keyboard trigger.

So many things to consider, what do I call it? why would anyone be interested in reading my ramblings, my thoughts, my opinions, my experiences? but hey, here we are.

So, my first hurdle was what to call my site, I knew it had to be something to do with my most distinct feature – My hair.

Growing up as a mixed heritage young lady during the 80’s in the U.K, was difficult. For many years I actually despised having naturally curly hair. I was always ‘different’. I wanted nothing more than to ‘fit in’ and be the same as everyone else. As soon as I hit 13 years of age, I charged off to my nearest ‘Black Hairdresser’ and demanded straight hair. For the next 12 years I continued to ‘relax’ my hair, running from any sight of rain and feeling that ‘burn’ every 6 weeks. 

It wasn’t until I started reading authors who are still my role models today, powerful female authors who I could relate to such as Maya Angelou and Iyanla Vanzant, that I started to rethink ME. Who I am, my place in the world and what I stood for.

And so for the following 5 years, I went through the process of learning to love me, warts and all… curly hair and all.

Of course, it is sometimes easier to be ‘invisible, but I had to look in the mirror and be proud of my differences. I may have not always been comfortable with what I saw, especially as my features never really fitted a ‘box’ – Even ‘Equal Opportunities’ forms didn’t recognise me, always having to tick ‘Other’ becomes grating. Nevertheless,  I am very proud that my features represent my heritage, my lineage, my ‘her-story’. 

Looking back, one of the things I am grateful for and what I think is so important for young women is to have role models that they can identify with, I will forever be indebted to the authors that made me rethink me.

Of course the world has changed tremendously since the 80’s/90’s. We now live in a global village, the World Wide Web has ensured this. Beauty ideals have somewhat changed, I would like to think we are more conscious in knowing that beauty is not only skin deep but in how you represent yourself, your character, your values and your beliefs. Even from an aesthetic perspective, there are many forms of beauty and it is O.K for a woman (for me) to own it (own me). Celebrate me – for me. 

So here it is, my first blog, was it so bad? No, I think I could get used to this writing malarkey!

Thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings, be certain that there will be more to come!