Eagle and Taye are completely correct. This is my second set and this time around the journey has been very powerful and enlightening. I'm 21 but an old soul.
updated by @melanie-rose: 07/23/15 05:24:51AM
How old were you when you started your dreads?
I'm 35. Had a hard time growing up. Whites didn't except me cuz I was half Asian. Asians didn't because I was half white lol. Hard to be mixed in the 80s. I pretty much eventually embraced my differences in high school n became the "cool" kid because I was tough n different. Now I enjoy standing out. Plus I like pirates, Celtic warriors, n shit lol. I love wearing my kilt looking half Asian with dreads!
You are right...people pick up on fads. I pierced my nose in 1986. It was a big deal. Had to go through a lot of people not understanding. Now over 25 years later everybody and their brother has a facial piercing. At one point I wanted to stop wearing it because it was becoming so popular. Then I realized that it doesn't matter. I saw my first Grateful Dead show in 1980. I went to over 300 shows after that. Now I see people who were not even born before Jerry died who sport the t-shirts and appreciate the music. That doesn't mean I am gonna throw away all my live shows and stop listening to their music. It makes me happy that a new generation has good taste 
I went to my first gathering in 1985. The Rainbow Family has grown a lot. It may or may not be a fad for people. But I have been me...just the way I am since before YOU were born. If you want to call my lifestyle "fast food" spirituality go ahead 
I will be the same me when I die. I will just growwiser every year. But I am not gonna change. And if being kind to people and respecting the Earth or even connecting spirituality with dreadlocks is a fad....then more power to it!! It is a damn better fad than pet rocks....but then again, that was before you were born
peace and blessings everyone. I love a good fad, especially one that lasts a lifetime, or maybe even lifetime after lifetime. My dreadlocks are part of the journey, they are part of the whole thing, they have a spiritual connection for alot of people from different cultures all over the world. There is a spiritual connection to me with my dreadlocks, its wonderful, its real and I like it. There are alot of people who can explain it better than me. I am happy with a spiritual life. What else is there for me, this is the life I want, why would I question what I want.
well long response i could soo write to this but i wont torture u by it ha ha i started my dreads age 26, only September 2012 baby dreads ive got hee hee
i have always been a spiritual person and soul. i didnt choose dreads to be hip or eye pleasing i simply jumped at the experience u could say. i admired them from a far for many many years and understood other reasons y some people got there's and i didnt really compare to their reasons. but i wanted to be able to accomplish something and i chose it out of love for nature and honor our peoples heritage i guess, humans i mean in all human cultures at one time long ago or another they had dreads and were proud of them and the higher class status it was considered for some cultures. with that said it was only natural and beautiful to have them, wat was there to lose? but hai,r that re~grows, but on other hand seemed to be gaining few good things as well the experience and a distant connection i felt with them and a personal change that ended up being much much more than what i even imagined. i was struggling to find beauty with in myself before now and struggling with society's perception of beauty and this journey allowing the dreads to form with lil love and aid in right direction o and to mention i have very thick natural curly hair in which i was constantly fighting to brush the knots out since i was vey small girl wasnt fun and painful as i grew up i still had to brush 3 or 4 times a day just to tame the knots wen u have thick curly hair brushing only makes it real frizzy and fluffy picture Diana Ross ha ah thats how mine was wen brushed or blow dried in a normal way so i finally pretty much gave in to the knots and let the dreads form thinking id be one with my ancestors and be a wonderful experience to gain a open mind and more profound inner love an beauty for people in general. well i am seeing this is truly a unique and wonderful experience for me. and much deeper than some not experiencing dreads may think. well and i just learned there are a few that do have dreads that dont feel they r changed in any way sort of foreign to me as i have learned and experienced many good and cool things about life people and love and of course who i really am as a person and a young mother of two beautiful babies. checkout my time line so far and happy dreading to all Peace. http://www.dreadlockssite.com/forum/topics/timeline-3
Thank you for replying!When you wrote:"i was struggling to find beauty with in myself before now and struggling with society's perception of beauty"That is exactly how I feel, Society is so f'd up nowadays, I feel that dreads are a way to let go of vanity and embrace the world for how it is meant to be, not how billboards and hollywood percieve it to be
Started at 17, nearly 2 months ago (but this is my second time). First time dreading was 16 Have always loved them, have always wanted them and just find dreadlocks to be so beautiful. Plus I love decorating as much as I can (by that I mean I have tonnes of bracelets, anklets and necklaces), so dreadlocks make me able to also put things in my hair and look fine :P
I started at 26, halfway through last year. Mine help remind me that life, everything, is a process. One bad day or moment simply cannot make everything suck, because there is so much more to it than that. They help me be patient, and i have never felt more fully aware of who i am than right now. I can let some things go and embrace other things fully. It is super cool
I had my first set when I was 20 but ended up taking them out because of terrible headaches I was getting. I was palm rolling everyday and making then as tight as I could at the roots.. no wonder I was getting headaches!! after 3 months I begged my mom to comb them out.Now 4 years later Im starting the journey again and it feels so right!! My dreads make me want to be one with the earth and all the creatures upon it ^.^ I even took a vow to stop eating meat when I put my dread in.. but that probably won't last as long as the dreads 
