My Dreadlock Diary! #1

12:06


Hey cats!

Welcome to my newest running set of blog posts! I'm embarking on what most describe as a spiritual and character building journey that comes with getting your hair dreadlocked. My aim is to document each part of the process from beginning to end, logging everything I can about how I feel, what I'm experiencing and so on. These will be personal posts for me to look back on but if you're curious about dreads or are even thinking of getting them for yourself then I hope this 'series' can be helpful in some way!

Why Dreads?

I've liked the look of dreadlocks for around 5 years now and about a year or so ago, I actually had synthetic dread extensions braided into my hair on and off for 5 months to get a feel for them/see if they suited. I absolutely LOVED them and it was such a wonderful experience! Don't get me wrong they itched like mad at first and were shockingly heavy to start with but everything else was an easy ride. From this point on I decided I was going to grow my hair to a decent length, get back to my natural colour and achieve healthy hair so that I could finally commit to real dreadlocks with my own hair.

Here's a breakdown of why else I want dreads:

  • I crimp my hair pretty much any time I want to go out/have plans because my hair is so flat and goes greasy within hours; with the crimp this doesn't happen 
  • So having dreads would give my hair the volume I crave and eliminate all the heat damage as well as the time and effort it takes to wash, blow dry and style my hair (for me to still hate the way it looks) 
  • Which is great for my health because I can conserve all that energy and maybe even partake in spontaneous plans because styling dreads isn't a time consuming thing! 
BUT I am aware that the settling in process does require lots of effort and attention, however I think the pay off will be beyond worth it.

Night Before Nerves!

So it's the night before and I'm a jumble of different emotions, all exacerbated by the fact my depression decided it would like to up the ante for today and make me feel lost, scared and alone for no apparent reason; fabulous.

However I'm prepared, I've waited for this for so long and I'm beyond excited. I've done all the research I can, I feel I know everything that I need to for now and I'm content with the choice I'm about to make. It's funny how being aware of a permanent change can affect the way you feel about something; this past week I've enjoyed my hair and been happy with it, I get little fuzzy butterflies looking at it and knowing it won't be this way again. I suppose it's a loss in a sense and albeit my hair has never satisfied me, it's still mine and I'll be a tad upset to see it go. There's also that worry of me getting bored easily & dreads are far from easy to reverse. But like I said, I'm happy in my decision, I think it's the right one for me and the loss I'm feeling will be far outweighed by the gain of my 'new' hair and the positive (hopefully!) impact it will have on my life & mindset.

How do you feel about dreadlocks? I'd be curious to know considering the recent focus on all things cultural appropriation!

Stay curious


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