Chronicles of a Natural Apostolic: Measuring Growth... Is is important?

I have been pondering this question.

Is it important to measure your hair growth? 

I was looking back on some pictures of my high buns because that's a style I am constantly wearing... Lets see my "progress" so to speak..

November 2010: This is when I did a high bun for the first time. I was so excited that I could get my hair into a high bun without bobby pins! And actually have hair left to make the bun.

February 2011: I was so proud of this style. I thought my high bun was so big! To me, I thought my hair was amazing! It was such a milestone to me to be able to do this with my hair. And I thought wow this bun is so much bigger than the buns I used to do..

March 2011: My hair started getting thicker and fuller. I was able to get more and more hair into those buns. And I started learning different techniques based on if I wanted a tall bun or a full bun.

Tall bun

Full Bun

October 2011: Many months went by and my bun really grew!

February 2012: And here is now..

Seems like a great way to measure length right? NOT. One thing I have learned to appreciate, dislike at times, yet understand- it is very difficult to measure growth with natural hair. 

1. I have very coiled and tight curls. So I get a lot of shrinkage when my hair is in its natural state. Today I am wearing my hair in a poof with my natural curls and it looks very short. Is it? No. But that is just the way my hair is. So if I were to go back in time and look at all of my wash and go's to determine length I would most likely be extremely disappointed. 
2. The  method of stretching will determine "length". When I do twists on wet hair, the outcome is a shrunken, very defined twist out. However if I do twists on dry hair, the outcome is a very stretched almost blow dried wavy look.So how you stretch your hair- if you stretch it at all- changes what your length looks like. 
3. Pictures are deceiving. I have some pictures from a year ago where my hair looks thicker and longer than it is today. But my hair is growing at a constant rate (hubby measures for me for his amusement lol) .. However because of the versitility of the textures we can create with our hair, sometimes out hair can be long yet look short. So you can't fully go by pictures!

So bottom line, is measuring growth important to me?

Yes and no. I like to know that my hair is growing. However, more than growth I want healthy hair. Because odds are I will never straighten my hair again. Its just too much work, a hassle and I don't want heat damage. So I will never see straight flowing locks down my back lol.. So with that said, it would be very difficult for me to see my length dramatically changing on a month to month basis unless I do length checks all the time. See the headache there? 

We all want to see growth. But more than anything I want healthy hair. When people come to me and tell me how shiny, full and healthy my hair looks, that is more of a compliment to me than, "wow that's some long hair." Because if I am taking care of my hair to the point that it shows- I am bringing glory to God.

My new motto?

No more measuring growth/length this year. I want to have healthy hair! Why stress over length when its hard to tell anyway? :) Instead of all of that stressing, I could have just been having fun with my coils and oodles of curls! 

Lets ENJOY our hair!