Day 52 of natural dreads & photos

OK, so where have I been? it is so hard to get good pictures of my hairs stages, and then by the time I do, it ends up being weeks later, and they've already changed again. Nowhere to begin like the present (and maybe a little ways back too :) )


Before getting going on the pics... I will remind this is the natural/neglect method where you wash and let dry, separate into the sections that are forming and otherwise, just leave it alone to mat into dreads on it's own. I separate normally after I wash and let it dry. It mats up like crazy after washing, or wearing my llama beret with my hair up inside it.

Day 26

wet, with beads to keep sections

Day 52

beads out, sections still going on

Day 45

this is the back as it's drying, before separating the matted roots.

this one dread is making crazy loops and bumps. fear not it will be a normal dread as the hair mats and pulls in tighter.

my hair likes getting bumpy

more matting going on at my nape

These hand-dyed berets/tams/hats are for sale in my Etsy shop. I also do customs :) 

Day 52

whew... have I caught up? I hope so. I will try to have DH get some pics of the actual dreaded hair that resembles more matted sections. there's a couple of them in these pics, but they are soo hard to capture and they are all underneath.

it's going well so far. my hair is really taking to dreading. it is so amazing to feel and see the changes my hair is going through on it's path to dreadlocks.

If you are thinking of dreadlocks for your hair, or you currently have dreads, check out www.dreadlockssite.com it is a wealth of information, friendship, and photos.

It is better to travel well, than to arrive.

So it's been just over one month since I started my dreads. They were started with some t&r which was fairly unsuccessful due to not really trying to make them perfect. But, learning that that stuff doesn't matter anyhow, since the hair has to be allowed to do what it wants to do, which is mat itself into dreads on it's own, well, it makes the whole t&r thing a moot point.

A couple of weeks ago, after washing my hair, it felt like a humongous mass of knotted hair at the nape of my neck. My hair loves to knot there naturally... hmmm... it felt like it wasn't doing what it should be doing. that manner of thinking, is exactly incorrect though. It was doing exactly what it should be doing to dread. We really are taught to manage everything so much in society that even when you know, sometimes you find yourself being a slave to holding onto concepts and ideas, that really, don't matter, and are counterproductive.

I had my husband separate the big tangle in the back into my hair that was sort of in it's own sections. I had some tiny baby dreads in the back of my hair that joined together as one. It's actually rather interesting to watch your hair evolve and change on it's own. There are many other times in my life that I've witnessed this...  being pregnant with my children, and watching my body change, and watching all of my kids grow, through gardening and watching Nature do what it does best when it's undisturbed. I love watching life unfold when you guide, but let life happen and evolve without trying to over-manage it all.

So, back to my hair. Every time I wash my hair it feels like it's completely tangled up and unraveling at the same time. However.... after it dries it feels super soft and like it's going to just lay flat and easy and never dread. Then, boom! I feel my hair again later in the day and suddenly it feels like it just dreaded itself more. It is the coolest thing! Have faith Christina, it is doing what it should be doing, and what you want. When I felt it this last time I washed it, and thought I had the whole knotted thing going on again, I asked my husband what it looks like and he told me it looks normal, just like I have lots of hair and it's sort of fluffy, but it doesn't look like a big knot like it feels like to me. Hmmm..... curious. So, I reach back again a little bit later and discover that the knots are not knots, but they are matted dreads. The first few inches of the tops of my baby dreads in the back are locking up! They are dreading themselves. What an amazing feeling that my hair is doing what I want, finally. Ah, patience. I know I have it. I have five children, they test it every day. I've had four unassisted home births, the last two pregnancies going to 42 weeks nearly, and me trusting my body and Nature in that regard; I know I have patience. But, I am never satisfied with where I am, and will always strive to see if there is more that I can learn. More that I can understand, when I just let go and allow myself to grasp it.

My dread journey is cool. So very cool so far. What started as a wish for a new hairstyle turned into the opposite; a quest for complete peace, and a lesson in letting go. It's been the best thing I've done in a LONG time, for my spirit.

My New Dread Journey

So my new journey in life starts. I decided after some time thinking about it, talking about it, and asking my husband all his thoughts on it so I could mull it over some more, that I was finally going to do dreadlocks in my hair. Where did I begin? On my Droid phone, I googled "dread salon portland" and came up with the Dread Goddess (www.dreadgoddess.com). Then I started googling prices, methods, and my journey was getting a little time on it's path. But I started thinking about the cost of someone doing dreads in my hair, and the maintenance involved. I haven't had my hair cut in 2 years as it is. Before deciding on dreads, I was just about ready to chop it all off for a messy pixie cut. I've got five kids to keep me busy, my fiber arts to work on, and a million other things so haircuts always need to be something that doesn't need to be blow-dryed to suit my taste.

Next stop along my dread journey happened to be www.dreadlockssite.com. This was due to more googling, and ending up with a reply on a Yahoo Answers post. This is the site that made me realize I just needed to let go. The reason dreads had come into my life was because it was time for me to learn more about patience, more about letting go, and more about letting myself just BE. It's been 11 days since I first started my journey, and some days I've felt inspired with my hair, some days I've felt frustrated, and now nearing two weeks down the path, I'm feeling much more at peace with my dreads. What will be my dreads. What is now just my hair expressing itself as a small child finally set free. That what it feels like, just letting go and laughing a little for no reason except that you feel BLISS. It's going to be a very nice journey.

Day 2

Day 11

Day 11

Day 11

Day 11

Day 11

Peace until next time.