Journaling Your Natural Hair Journey…and a Giveaway!

The last consistent paper diary I kept was around the age of 7. In it, I described the spanking I’d gotten for hitting my brother and how much I loved the square pizza they had in the school cafeteria.

I’ve tried several times since then to keep a journal about what was going on in my life but it always falls to wayside.

I was once asked if I kept a journal about the process of going natural. My answer was a resounding “No” but then I thought about it. This blog, for me, has been my journal.

In it, I’ve recorded my ups and downs, my experiences related to both products and the reactions of people in my daily life.

Here are some good reasons to keep a hair journal:

• If you’re a product junkie and go through a substantial amount of products, it can be hard to remember what worked and what didn’t. This is a good way to record your favorite products…and the ones that didn’t make the cut!
• You can keep up with resources including books, magazines, and websites. There’s so much information out there that it can be hard to keep it all together. Record your favorites.
• Lend it to a friend. A lot of people feel overwhelmed when starting out and would probably appreciate reading about your journey.
• Record your highs and lows. When you’re feeling down, turn back to that day when you were totally in love with your hair. When you’re feeling that new style, look back on the days when you were struggling…and feel proud!
• Record your growth. Whether it’s with pictures or actual measurements, it’s helpful to have some sort of evidence that your hair is, in fact, growing. We all know that natural hair shrinks and growth sometimes does not immediately translate everyday in the mirror… Watch that hair grow!

I personally love blogging for continuing to record my journey, but I realize that a lot of people are not big into online sharing. If that’s the case for you, drop by a bookstore and find a decorated journal to record your thoughts.

It’s even a good idea, if you have other friends going natural or who are newly natural, to meet up every month and share entries from your journals.

If you have no idea where to start, there is a natural hair journal called, well, “Your Natural Hair Journal” haha. It’s available on Amazon:

The author, Cheryl Simms, was kind enough to send me one awhile back to check out. It guides you through your journaling with headings like “Your Decision to Transition to Natural Hair” to examine your thought process during that time.

There are helpful tidbits about transitioning, hair typing (if you’re into that), online and literary resources, as well as a month by month guide to journaling your first year of being natural.

I think it’s a great idea and I’m sure a lot of people will enjoy it. There are illustrations, product recommendations, and, at the beginning of the book, the author’s own hair story.

So, since I won’t be using this journal, I am offering it to a reader who’d like to start journaling.

To enter, comment below and I will choose someone randomly. All entries must be in by December 28, 11pm CST. Only current subscribers (either through Google Friends or Feedburner) may enter.