My Wig Fell Off And It Went Viral.... I Find It Liberating
One stunning picture broke the internet the other day and it has my fiancé and I in shock still at this very moment. We’re both thinking, “How in the world did this happen?” We had articles written about us from BuzzFeed, ABCNews, DailyMail UK, BellaNaija Weddings, Houston Chronicle, Linda Ikejis blog, Brides.com, and a number of others.
We just freaking went viral by simply keeping it real. Look, my life is no fairy tale and our goal isn’t to have an internet famous wedding or be some hot item couple that everyone wants to be like. We were honestly just being ourselves.
We’re both super thankful that everyone has showed us so much love and support. We tried to read through almost all 2,000 comments from the first initial share on Facebook by Munaluchi Bridal Magazine. We were amazed at all of the positive energy. There was not one single NEGATIVE comment. Everything POSITIVE.
I was even more surprised when the Founder of Munalichi Bridal posted on my wall, “Such a great moment. Thanks for sharing with us. People needed to see that!” I pondered on that for a moment. Then my beyond FANTASTIC wedding planner, Chioma of Dure Events calls me and says, “Jessica, look at what you did?” I’m like what in the world did I do? You just did what no one else would think to do. You posted a picture that’s not perfect and that’s the beauty of it!” Now we done gone viral. We are still trying to process this.
I think most people are surprised I did it, but those who are really close to me understand I just want to be me without any limits. If that means posting a picture of my man twirling me around as my wig falls off then I’ve learned to accept it even if others don’t.
My greatest desire has always been to help passionate women live an authentic life of freedom. “Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It's about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen.” - Brene Brown. That picture expresses every bit of my world, my authenticity and my freedom. Believe me when I say it has taken me a very long time to get to this place, but now that I’m here, I’m enjoying every bit of it.
Seasons ago in different episodes of my life, I would’ve been so afraid to share an image like what I shared due to caring to much about what others would think. Or I would’ve asked ten other people what they would do and allowed myself to be talked out of something I really had peace about. But now I’m free and I’m enjoying every bit of it.
For awhile, I always thought to myself, “If I could just be like her. If only I were her size. If my hair was like hers. If I had as many followers. What is she doing that I’m not doing? I’m in the wrong field. God, have you forgotten about me?” The list goes on…. Seriously these were the conversations I had with myself and sometimes still do. Don’t act like you’ve never had these thoughts before.
During one of my driest seasons part of 2014 and 2015, I removed myself from the world to focus on my inner being so that way it could stand out more than my outer being. I hope that makes sense. I learned a great deal about freedom. I learned what it meant to be a free woman.
I knew that I had grown as a woman when I made the decision to post the infamous wig picture. I looked at my best friend and said, “I want to post a funny picture today!” And then I posted a collage showing my wig falling off. It wasn’t even an edited picture from one of the greatest photographers on the planet, RH Photoarts. That’s probably why the unedited images looked so good. But the point I want to make is that your freedom does not lie in the hands of people. It’s something that is rightfully yours and already belongs to you.
Freedom does not care what others think about you because everyone is always going to have an opinion about you. All you can do is learn to be the BEST you and ACCEPT the BEST you.
Freedom does not seek the approval of others. Whether you have a large following or small following JUST BE YOU. Don’t try to change yourself to fit in with the masses. The masses will follow as you JUST BE YOU and ENJOY BEING YOU. Don’t be subjected to the standards of this world. Your news doesn’t have to be just like everyone else’s news. You can either always view and talk about the news of others and try to create a similar news or you can BE THE NEWS because you make the choice to LOVE YOU, ACCEPT YOU and ENJOY YOU.
What is it about you that makes you different? What is it about you that separates you from the rest? What's within you that you are hiding from the world out of fear? That being within you desires to be free and deserves to be free.
We must OWN every moment that God places in our laps. We must BECOME and BELIEVE in the awesome being that is hidden within us. We can be free because freedom is rightfully ours and belongs to us.
Freedom is a choice and we can all live a life of freedom. We can all be a light in a world that tries so hard to kill our authenticity. “The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” This is FREEDOM and it is ours. - CG Jung
