After wrestling for real estate for nine months in my mother's belly, two of us emerged in the summer of 1985.
On that day my twin-sister and I were completely bald save for some numerable silky strands of pitch-black hair that scantily decorated our small round heads.
But within a few years those stands multiplied into forests and what once resembled silk now looked more like wool. With every passing day and every glance into the mirror, my love-hate relationship with my hair grew. It was either I loved it for its naturally fluffy texture which I found just as comforting as cuddling a teddy bear or I hated it for its obstinate refusal to blow in the wind like the magazine girls' hair did. In an attempt to force it to submit to my will for it to be straight and "blow in the wind", I had it chemically relaxed.
But my relationship with my hair was just a symptom of the neurotic relationship I had with myself. As I grew, I struggled with self-esteem. The next person: my fair-skinned friend, my brainy classmate, and even my twin-sister, always seemed to me to be better that I was. I was yet to realise that the grass is only greener where it is watered. And up to that point in my life, I had not been watering my sense of self.
It was only after I finished high school and was about to go to college that I decided that if this life was going to be worth living I might as well learn to fall truly, deeply and crazily in love with myself. So I did it. I introduced a pair of scissors to the curtain of straight hair that I had been hiding behind and by so doing unveiled myself so that I could really meet me for the first time.
Years later, with my hair growing into an afro that seemed to to be creeping up to heaven, like Jack's beanstalk, I discovered the treasure of information about natural hair on social media. Through the generosity of countless natural hair bloggers and vloggers, I started to not just see my hair as nappy, but as happy.
It is on that basis that I have decided to share the happiness that is natural hair and self-confidence tips with the rest of the world. I look forward to you joining me on this journey of self-acceptance, celebration and throne-claiming as I share how I wear my natural crown.