If We Never Try

"Bonnie & Shyne" by Shyne

...Then we drivin' to the sunset / Pull over, get up on the hood ma I ain't done yet...

Since Ash Wednesday, I have been devotedly working out as a part of my Lent promise and this "change" in my life. I have been telling myself all this year that I would work out but I could not find the time to start.

I realized, literally the day before Ash Wednesday, that Lent was to
begin. I took that as a sign to commence my new lifestyle.

And I have been really happy with myself and really happy with the preliminary results of my body.

However, my hair is taking a beating. I am a Black girl who is currently sporting a permed bob haircut. I permed my hair almost three weeks ago. The first 2 weeks were without any issue. I had the comfort and confidence of a fresh perm, styled, bouncy, and shiny.

And then I started working out. I thought it would be a good idea to put it in a wrap while I worked out, but I have read that I shouldn't have done that. It basically allows for my hair to soak from root to tip.

I am a Black girl. I can't wash my hair after every workout without risking serious damage (and ain't nothin' worse than a queen without her crown). So I was scouring the internet for remedies against "sweating out a perm". I found some articles and blogs with tips about how to wear one's hair during exercise and what to do with it following an exercise session.

Then I came across more articles about how the tediousness that is doing Black hair keeps many Black women from working out. At first, even as a Black woman, I was thinking that it was kind of shallow. But then I thought about the abuse my hair is enduring from working out everyday (on top of that, I erroneously thought it would be more convenient to blow dry the sweat out of my hair following a workout).

I thought about how I feel less presentable each day as my hair seems to progressively lose the shine. I can't wear it down anymore because there is no curl or wrap to speak of. I'm just so sad about my hair.

It just makes me wonder what we are supposed to do? We have to work out. We sit in cars and trains and buses almost all the time and must find more calculated ways to exercise since our lifestyles have been made so much easier by technology. But what about my crown of glory?

It seems like a silly concern, a stupid question, or a shallow worry but with the rate of heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and the ilk, it suddenly becomes a serious conversation. A lot of Black women are not working out for the sake of their pride and joy: their hair.

I don't have an answer or a suggestion or anything. I just think it is something interesting that I have only now considered. Oh, the facets of being Blac.