Originally Posted on Fruitofmybranches.com
![Dyingtobe](https://jadenjazz.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/dyingtobe.jpg?w=764)
Photograph Taken by Kiyah C Photography
I’ll never forget that summer I burned my left leg, just above the knee, with a curling iron. You see, I was trying to curl my hair into tiny ringlets, and I was using a curling iron with a barrel about 3/8 inches in diameter to achieve the look I had in mind. All was going well until the piping hot iron slipped from my hands and branded my bare leg before landing on my bedroom floor. I remember the pain, the unsightly bruise filled with puss, and the repeated application of cocoa butter to help it heal prettier. That was eons ago, and, although its faint now, my left leg still carries that scar.
I know you’re probably thinking, “Melissa, that makes no sense! Why in the world were you trying to curl your hair in tiny ringlets when your hair does that naturally?! God created it that way.” Answer: I haven’t always worn my hair in its natural state. I didn’t stop using chemicals to alter/straighten my hair until I was 27. Up until then, I had no idea what my hair’s real pattern looked like. So, in essence, I was burning my hair AND my body to acquire what I already had. I was dying to be what I already was.
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