Must Read: Bald Boldness By Charly Boy .

Leaving your comfort zone or breaking away from someone else’s shadow are the most difficult things to do. As humans we are always stuck in the wheel of routines. As soon as I was done with school, I was in a hurry to establish an identity of my own, find my own path and do my own thing. I gate crashed into the music scene, for me it was the quickest way to not only get attention but fame and a place in history, because I set about it all in the most unusual manner, determined to succeed.  This was some 35 years ago, I thought of special features or traits that would stand me out. I came up with my alter ego, the feminine side of me with all the make-up, girly girly stuff etc. Continue..

And they all shouted, “Ha Naija Boy George”. See dem mouth.

From birth I have always been a restless soul, always questing for fresh new ways, always questioning why things were the way they were. As an adventurer, I have always looked for other ways of doing the same thing, always on a permanent exploration trip. So I regularly felt the need to keep re-inventing me. So from the “Boy George” look, even though I had started way before he was known, I morphed into a Bohemian character. That’s when the Pins, Chains, Studs, Rings, Piercings, Tattoos, the Mohawk/Punk look changed the whole game. Hummmm, come and see, I looked like the biggest bouncer ready to beat up anyone and everything in my path. Thanks to Late Tyna Onwudiwe. With the overwhelming and intimidating persona of the Brand, people became careful around me. Them know say I no send anybody.

From the Mohawk era, I again morphed to dread lock wearing kinda’ guy which I rocked for about 17years. It had become my stamp, my seal, completing the persona, alongside my other paraphernalia. My locks grew very long over these years but not without shedding a lot of weight. As I advanced in age, it began to thin out from the roots, specifically at the centre. Call it bald.

With thin hair and all the skull attachment I decorated my hair with, it was a lot of stress to manage. But then I don’t give up on chores just because they’re hard, I weather the storm if that thing must be done. It’s my resilience, my tenacity and my loyalty to anything and everything I put my mind to. I’m a firm believer.

Sleeping time, shower time , f**king time, posing time, all saw me struggling to pack my dreads in order to have uninterrupted flow and that didn’t go easy at any time in the course of the 17years if you ask me. I wanted deliverance by all means but willing to wait for the right time. I knew I had to carry that hair to its full term, just like a pregnant woman comes to full time before a baby is born.

Then came the call, in form of a casual suggestion…by my spiritual guide. My Guru…said to me, after one of our meditation sessions, “Why don’t you shave off your dreads”. What?

What exactly would that look like? I queried. Knowing how not so endowed in the looks department I am, it was unthinkable. Shave my hair? Hell No!

However, this is not just a casual call; it’s my spiritual essence calling me up higher, deeper. It’s something I needed to do as a matter of obedience in super quick time, according to the grand script made about me many years ago, at the beginning of this whole journey. After all, I agreed to all the terms and rules of engagement.

It’s more than changing faces, its trading places…in the spiritual realm. It’s the ordination from lower level to higher cadre, as I am a minister now in higher matters concerning deity and mortals, the chief priest of the coven…if you get what I mean. Ha!

So I’m happy to wear this new look, excited to put on this new coat.

I was skeptical initially, afraid to look in the mirror after chopping off the locks but now, I feel confident, strong, beautiful, above all, powerful…more than ever before, ready to take on this new world with all that comes with it. I feel younger than I felt 35yrs ago; I feel most at peace within, even though these have been very trying times for me and my family, a sick father, a sick Mum, a sick father in-law, hummm like they say when it rains it pours, but in the face of all the not too pleasant things that are happening all around me, I have kept an unnerving cool I never before thought possible.

Most times we resist change because we are not sure of what lies at the other side of the fence, but we forget we only discover things when we venture. We must leave our comfort zone if we must learn new things, become better persons.

I’m bald and not ashamed; my boldness is in your face, no hairs!

I feel youthful again, beyond before, tastier, sweeter, more active, more potent, more loving and more giving.

The Boy in The Charly has again come to life, one of fun and desire.

It’s not my fault, call it my BALD BOLDNESS!