Yup....1 year and seven minutes of hair knotting up like a sloth climbing a greased pole! That's basically how much patience you have to have to get the locs of all locs! Ok, let me step back a moment to clarify..... When I first started this adventure of dreading up, I made a big mistake of having expectations. Perhaps its part of my American social upbringing to the tune of being able to control personal aspects of my own life. But I attest that I have been SAVED by this almighty hair of mine. I say that because I came to really discover about my true nature, who I thought I was vs what I really am. Nothing HAS to happen, just let it be.

It is now one year later since I ridiculously backcombed my 18+ inches of long hair (it is now shoulder length and well hidden in the form of matted hair). What a crazy journey it has been. I am no where near at the stage I thought I would be in by now, meaning having long perfect dreads, but I know now that I really didnt know what dreads were. To the untrained eye, my hair doesn't "look" like "magazine" dreads but I now know different. dreadlocks are and should be a symbol of the natural state of being. I am no longer trying to be, but rather being as I am (deep huh?)

I can feel each unique dread of mine and I have seen their constant changes as the months go by. I feel as thoughI have reached the stage of cooperation (no longer fighting each dread from clinging together anymore). This next year will undoubtedly be a fun one. I look forward to seeing how they mature and continue to teach me that perfection is merely an illusion that we have created. Instead, the process that I have been through is as natural as a child learning day by day.

So are my 1 year old dreads pretty and ideal from various perspective? Not even close. Am I disappointed? On the contrary, I feel a bit more enlightened. It is what it is. As my dreads grow up, so will I. Not bad for a "soon-to-be-40" year old "kid" eh?

Happy Dread-Birthday to me!

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