With the record breaking "snowpocalypse" ravaging the east coast and trapping me inside for a full 48 hours and counting, I was free to apologetically wear my pajamas all day, eat cheese snacks, and watch VH1 Soul for hours on end. It was during this marathon that I happened upon Laura Izibor, an up-and-coming neo-soul singer of Nigerian and Irish decent.

(photo credit: lauraizibor.com)

With funky tracks and a delightfully different and interesting voice, a video featuring Izibor was a pleasant interruption to the monotony of my day. So I laid there, on the couch, in lazy bliss as my TV set blared Izibor's latest, "From My Heart to Yours". As I toe-tapped to the beat, however, I was troubled to find my attention quietly seduced away from the song by...you guessed it......her hair. As beautiful and stylish as her ringlets are, I was somewhat surprised at my own reaction to her 'do. Normally when I see a chick with a rockin' 'fro, she is instantly filed away into my mental reservoir of "Holy Grail Hair" and I spend the next few weeks researching her routine and trying everything I can to get my hair on an equally fabulous level. Sitting on the couch and studying Izibor's tresses, however, led me to a different conclusion.For the first time, looking at someone else's remarkable hair gave me an uncontrollable desire to get out there and celebrate my own, just as it is.Blame it on delusion induced by snow day captivity, but by watching Izibor bop around in her music video with her artsy clothes, big hoop earrings, and larger than life hair, I felt remiss that for the last few weeks, I hadn't been celebrating myself in the same way. For the first time in American culture, there is a wealth of information about natural, African-American hair and it can be easy to get lost in the "tips and tricks" that'll help you make your hair longer, looser, shinier, or simply "something else". Learning about and trying things with natural hair (as any natural diva can attest to) can be great, but it is such an involved process that I think sometimes we can lose sight of the fun in rocking our hair as it is.If we're not careful, such an "on to the next" attitude can permeate other aspects of our lives. While I'm not saying that ambition, drive, and trying to better yourself is a bad thing (after all, this blog is rooted in such characteristics), it is something to manage correctly, as you do not want to wake up one day and realize that nothing you have or did was good enough because you were always looking for that next best thing. I've been guilty of this when studying other people's path to success, and I've certainly been guilty of this when admiring other women's natural hair.So dear readers, I challenge you to celebrate your current state of being in whatever facet of your life you may be struggling with the most, today. For example, If you're newly natural and find yourself drooling over pictures of Corinne Bailey Rae's long curls, try using accessories, stunning makeup, or just a more confident attitude to make you feel like the 'fro you've got is "all that and then some" until you reach your ultimate hair goal. Life's too short--make the most of what you have, when you have it, and the rest will fall in to place.