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hi -
I'm new to this tribe and new to dreadlocks (4 months in!)
I'd like to hear some people's thoughts on why they decided to dread their hair.
For me, I wanted a physical reminder of how I wanted to live my life: peaceful and free and spiritual. I guess I have this notion of what dreadlocks means, and that's what I want to embrace. that's who I want to be, and it took me until I was 30 to realize that I should be living my life for me, not caring so much what others thought.
I'm new to this tribe and new to dreadlocks (4 months in!)
I'd like to hear some people's thoughts on why they decided to dread their hair.
For me, I wanted a physical reminder of how I wanted to live my life: peaceful and free and spiritual. I guess I have this notion of what dreadlocks means, and that's what I want to embrace. that's who I want to be, and it took me until I was 30 to realize that I should be living my life for me, not caring so much what others thought.
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Re: why did you dread?
Fri, June 6, 2008 - 7:14 AMhi meg,
yeah, that's pretty much me too. though it took me til 35 to dread.
it is a reminder and for me it also says that i am not blinded by or suckered into the expectations of society. i am also influenced by rasta, so i'm sure that had a lot to do with it.
i see you're from dayton. me too.
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Re: why did you dread?
Sun, June 8, 2008 - 6:28 AMYeah for me it's also pretty much the same story. I've wanted dreads for ages and it's taken me 28 years to decide to free myself from the expectations of society (and family) and do what I wanted to do and that which makes me truly happy!! Rasta, reggae and hippies were my influences... (although I'm a self-proclaimed Christifarian) -
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Re: why did you dread?
Sun, June 8, 2008 - 8:46 AMWow! I must reiterate....
I am 31... but I wanted dreads like 10 years ago. I guess I must be growing up finally!
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Re: why did you dread?
Sun, June 8, 2008 - 7:52 PMVery much for the same reasons. I could not do anything with my hair while I was living with my parents as a teenager. Shortly after moving out of my house, I needed a huge change so I completely shaved my head - I continued with that trend for about 4 years. I decided that I would stop shaving my head the day I was married, and so that's how it's been. I always said if I ever grew my hair back, it would be to dread it. And sure enough, shortly before my hair was a year long, it was long enough and it was dreaded. It's been about 3 months now. I'm 25. I don't plan on cutting or undreading anytime soon.
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Re: why did you dread?
Sun, June 8, 2008 - 9:38 PMHa ha.. I just have to say I'm also 31.. Were the planets aligned a certain way for those few years or somethin? ;) ..dread alignment.. hmm.. -
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Re: why did you dread?
Mon, June 9, 2008 - 10:31 AM52 now dreaded when I was 50. Used to be a "banker babe" with perfect make up, manicure, every hair in place. When I turned 45-46 I started feeling that live was too short to spend that much time on the vanity side of me. Over the next 5 years I made many many major changes which included dreading my hair. I would of done it sooner during that 5 year period but I wanted longer dread
Dreadlock aren't a hairstyle but a lifestyle.
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Re: why did you dread?
Tue, June 10, 2008 - 12:58 AMLot's of the time I think a person's personality is reflected in their hair (coming from a crazy gal who used to have crazy frizzy curls). I wanted to get dreads when I was turning 17…I had just spent three weeks in an all out survival camp where we were out of camp the whole time, never having a shower. We didn't bring deodorant, bug spray, towels, hair brushes, razors…nothing, and it was a really freeing experience. My hair started to naturally dread itself, but when I got back to camp we had a food fight and someone rubbed cream of wheat in my hair. After washing the locks came loose. Then my mom told me she would come into my room while I was asleep and shave my head if I got dreads.
A few years later I got so sick of my hair always being wild and out of control and never being able to do anything with it, and always needing to use shampoos with high chemical content to clean my hair and tame it, I got dreads. I was also about to spend three months working at the camp I mentioned before, and wanted something I could go without washing for a few weeks and it wouldn't be a big deal.
That's why I got dreads. It's made me feel so much better to wake up every morning with the same looking hair, that I don't need to put a bunch of crap into to make it look nice. It's also nice to have people come up and want to touch them, or when I hear "Wow, you look more like yourself than you ever have before".
What a great experience.
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Cause its fun!
Tue, June 10, 2008 - 7:19 AMLet’s see, after wearing wool dreads for performances for a few years I decided to do it for real cause I really liked the way my hair looked dreaded. Also my hair was waist long and never really wore it down cause it would get all tangled and I was really bored with the whole “up in a bun” thing so when my locktician said my hair was made to dread I decided for my 45 birthday I would do it. Got a dread perm and the rest is history. When people ask me what it is like to have dreads I say my locks are toys for my head! It’s really how it feels cause I have so much fun creating new do’s and finding fun things to adorn my locks. So no lifestyle here, just fun!
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Re: why did you dread?
Wed, June 11, 2008 - 5:04 AMThese are all GREAT replies! Thanx for sharing.
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Re: why did you dread?
Sat, June 14, 2008 - 6:22 PMI wanted dreads since I was about 17 (thank you Nicole Baum!) and I am now nearing 40... I got dreads after my 38th birthday... I had gone blond and red, blue and red, black, back to blond (ouch), back to blue and it was so fried I had to undread my hair every morning and every night. So I went black one final time and got a dread perm and extentions.
I love love love my dreads. I love putting jewelry in them and sewing bits on. I love how easy they are.
I'm petrified of lice. I'll be sad if I have to cut them off!
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Re: why did you dread?
Mon, July 28, 2008 - 11:28 AMI dreaded my hair to a lot of the same reasons you did. Mine was mainly about having a certain image I wanted to be in my head, and then there was the one my family and society expected of me. I come from a conservative southern family and they wanted to part in dreads. And for over 2 years I lusted and longed for dreads but always made rediculous excuses as to why I didn't have them. So during this time I kept my hair long but it was so straight and looked oily at times. The wind would always blow it in my face and everywhere. I couldn't go outside without a hat or headband with my hair driving me insane. But the real kicker was everytime I looked in the mirror with no self confidence and just flat out didn't like the way I looked...especially if I saw a picture of myself. It was weird. But after people nagging and bitching non stop about my long hair, I cut half of it off. I regretted that more than anything. Because instead of following what I wanted, I let other peoples views effect me...which we all know is a bad thing. So as my hair grew back to 3-4 inches I had a friend dread it for me.
Now, 6 months into the process, I couldn't look better. I love the locks. It's amazing to me just how much confidence they gave me. It only helps matters when random people stop me in public and tell me how much they like my hair. My family has finally accepted the dreads, and aside from the annoying Bob Marley remarks, it's all good. (I think it's way too funny how many people associate my dread with Bob Marley. I don't even own a reggae cd....I love to listen to it though. I'm more a Deadhead than anything.) -
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Re: why did you dread?
Mon, July 28, 2008 - 6:35 PMyeah, that's awesome! doesn't it feel good to finally be who *you* want to be, not who someone tells you you're supposed to be? I'm coming up on 6 months as well, and I feel so comfortable with my dreads. I love the looks and comments I get from people because I know they're seeing a more accurate reflection now of who I am....
justin - put up a pic - I'd love to see how yours are coming along! -
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Re: why did you dread?
Wed, July 30, 2008 - 10:35 PMI uploaded a few pic just now...just for you. :) -
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Re: why did you dread?
Thu, July 31, 2008 - 6:56 PMsweet - your dreads are rockin'! yours are only 5 days older than mine - I feel like we're going through this journey together. :)
you said you were gonna try out dr. bronners for your hair - just bought some myself and am using up the last of my dreadhead stuff before I switch. let me know how much you dilute the dr. b's soap.
cool. -
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Re: why did you dread?
Thu, July 31, 2008 - 10:02 PMI haven't thought that far ahead. I was actually wondering how people did that...washing hair with a bar and all. The soap suds up really well though. -
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Re: why did you dread?
Fri, August 1, 2008 - 6:51 PMit took me a minute to figure out what you were saying.... ha - dr. bronner's comes in liquid form as well as bar form. so I've used the bar before, but just bought the liquid for the first time and it says "dilute, dilute, dilute" (or something to that effect). just not sure how much to dilute.
I'm sure someone on here can give us insight.... -
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Re: why did you dread?
Sat, August 2, 2008 - 12:15 PMI heard you can dilute it one capful to a gallon, but I usually just do a squirt of the stuff in a big cup (like HUGE Big Gulp kinda cup, i think 32 oz.-er) in the shower and fill it with water and use that. It is easy to pour over your head and it dilutes it enough for me. -
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Re: why did you dread?
Wed, September 3, 2008 - 9:04 AMHello everyone! I just posted this on a more inactive tribe so I'm pasting it here...
I've always fought the dreds that form overnight, and last January seriously considered just dreading it all. I had plans to have a stylist do it, but didn't have the money or time for an appointment.
In March I became pregnant. I didn't tell anyone about it - I'd experienced 4 previous misscarriages and sort of enjoyed my happy little secret. My baby brother was to be married in early July, so I figured I tell everyone a week or so after the wedding so as to not steal his 'thunder.'
In early July, all of our extended family from the country was flying in and I was to host quite a few at my home. An hour before they were scheduled to arrive, I started to miscarry at 16 weeks. It was a perfectly formed little boy, only about 4 inches long. I was heartsick. I didn't tell anybody - I was scared of ruining my brother and new sister's happy time. I sort of put it on my emotional back burner so I could focus on the wedding, which happened 3 days later.
Exactly one week after my misscarriage, my brother and new sister announced their first pregnancy (what a wedding present!). I was so elated at the news but struggling emotionally. I felt like I hadn't honored the life of the son I'd lost. For the first time in a long time, I was angry with God and searching for meaning in what had happened.
Over the next 3 weeks I slowly dreded my hair. I meditated and journaled the whole time - spent alot of it in the garden where I'd buried him, and when the last dred was finished I wasn't angry at God - I felt open to the future. I remember what I was feeling with each dred - I love that. -
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This is the maximum depth. Additional responses will not be threaded.
Re: why did you dread?
Thu, October 16, 2008 - 8:46 PMKelly that is an amazing story and I thank you for posting it. You sound like quite a woman to be so thoughtful to deal with your pain in the way that you did.
I too wanted dreads for a long time before I got them. All the same excuses and such till I just couldn't take it. My husband asked me to wait till after our wedding and luckily that was only a couple of days away. The next day he and another dear friend started them. It's now been four years and all is strong. For me they symbolize a lot. My wedding, all of the places and love and people that I have soaked into them. My choice to put myself into the world with an obvious stereotype and do it my way. An extension of art that I try to include in everyday life. The good that they have brought to me in the form of inquisitive strangers. Absolutely amazing!
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Re: why did you dread?
Fri, October 17, 2008 - 10:09 AMFor many reasons: my fine, curly hair wanted to dread, each morning I would take a large handfull of conditioner and work out all the tangles and loose hair, quite often there would be a small dread at the nape of my neck that would take 20 minutes or more to work out. Then I would use a large handful of mousse to tame my frizzy curls, blow dry it and try to style it. I got tired of all of this work and one day stopped all forms of hair maintenance.
As they started to form, I felt more intuned with my spiritual self and with nature. Now four years later, I can't imagine myself with anything else but dreads. They have become a part of who I am, as much as my smile or my wierd sense of humour.
The only time that my dreads have been/will be cut is in memory of a loved one who has passed away. Two years ago, a close friend of mine died in a car accident. I cut off a large dread at the back of my head and offered it as a burnt sacrifice at Bryn's memorial bon fire. As I heal from this loss, Bryn's dread lock is growing back, fatter than before.
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Unsu...
Re: why did you dread?
Wed, November 5, 2008 - 12:57 PMI did it because i was thinking about doing it for a long time. Being over here in Europe for 5 years I grew up and became independent. I had my fourth child lost the weight after him. And then one day i just decided to twist my hair to see what it would look like in the beginning if I did decide to commit to them. I did it for me, for the first time i accepted something regardless of what anybody said or thinks. I will be turning 30 next month and i feel good about it because of my hair i always hated it before. :0)
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Re: why did you dread?
Wed, November 5, 2008 - 7:42 PMI have wanted dreads for a real long time. I decided that with my life starting to make sense, this would be a good time. I also feel comfortable enough to do something against the wishes of my family. Now with the start of my own family I find that their opinions of me aren't as important as I used to believe. They may not agree with my look but it doesn't change who I am and what I do! -
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Re: why did you dread?
Tue, November 25, 2008 - 12:57 AMAs for me i have always been looking for freedom from society and is something i had when i was in highshool and was slowly corrupted by getting older and having to hold jobs wanting to succeed in the economical world and such then i realized that i had lost my natural desires to break free from the concrete jungle in were i was brought up and my desire for spiritual and artistic journeys!! so therefore i am now doing things that will work as reminders of my beliefs to always be conciouss of my awareness that i have achieved through out my young life!! especially having to live through our economical systems.
Hey all ya here !!!
Lets get the fuck out of the city !!!!Lets build a village or a bee hive and have a dreadlock nation!!!
All religions welcome because in the bottom of all there is ne God One Love One Conciousness!!
Pece and love to you all!!! -
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Re: why did you dread?
Fri, November 28, 2008 - 10:24 PMDematerialize- I've been steadily working out a plan (in my head) for exactly that... and there are tribes here about intentional communities. One day I will live in one, we will be fully sustainable and off the grid. All the BS of government will no longer be a concern as we raise our kids the right way (it takes a village) and treat each other the way we want to be treated. It's just a matter of time and finding the right people for this co-creation. =)
As for my dreads, I would be repeating the same thing most of you said. I finally got to a point where I valued what I wanted over what other people thought I should have/be/do. After years and years of admiring others with dreadlocks, I finally took the plunge. It's been quite the journey, with many awkward phases and frustrations, but I think they really do suit me and I plan to persevere and keep them as long as I can. As mentioned above, it's nice to receive compliments, sometimes many in a day, from complete strangers. I really feel confident in my decision to dread when I'm around other people who have them. (And often notice, mine actually look pretty good in comparison!) -
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Re: why did you dread?
Tue, December 2, 2008 - 11:40 AMBecause it beautiful.........
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