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3 years ago i decided that dreads were the right thing for me. I always loved the way they looked and really wanted them. April 2010 was the last time I cut my hair, after having it shaved most of my life, for the sole purpose of going through this journey. At first I caught a lot of trash for my desicion from friends and family (my granddad is an old school barber and my entire family are not always down with non traditional things) I fought through all of the heckling and continued to grow my hair out.

I began reading and researching all about dreads, night and day I was watching videos, reading articles, and talking to people about them. As many of the people on this site will tell you, I fell into the trap of KnottyBoy and DreadHeadHQ and was a few dollars away from ordered a wax filled chemical death trap...Until I found this site. It opened my mind up to a side of dreadlocks I did not even know existed. I went from only wanted dreads to wanting to go through the journey and work and live with them instead of coming out "perfect and neat".

So finally after 2 and a half years of growing and waiting, I had a friend help and we did the twist and rip method. No products, NO WAX...and I could not be happier. I am only 2 weeks in but I already feel better and more unique. I can finally show people that I am different. I still recieve negative comments but I do not let it get to me, because for every negative comment I recieve 10 positive ones and it feels really good. I've made the best decision and I cannot wait to see what the future holds. Peace, Love, and Locks.

BEFORE

After

current profile picture is of five weeks. so many loose hairs andugh.

Never wrote a blog post in my life, but I wanted to share this story with everyone and brag a lil bit about my sister. I started my dread journey oh lets say about three months ago, they are coming along very nicely, with the only support really from my sister. Everyone else had the same ignorant negative stereotypes about dreadlocks and the people who have them. I told her (sister) my reasons for wanting to partake in this journey of true awakening and the method I had chosen. Sheimmediately showed her support in my decision and has supported me the whole way.So this week before Thanksgiving she took a trip up to Iowa City to visit some of her college friends and go to Chicago for a couple of days for her late birthday gift to herself. While she was in Chicago she went into the Lush store and told me she want going to get me something, but didn't know what. I told her thank you and maybe some facial scrub or something I didn't really care I'd settle for some cheesecake! Later on that night she text me and told me while she was in the store there was a lady with beautiful long mature dreads that worked there. My sister told me the two of them chatted for quite awhile and they talked about the whole journey and how she had started. My sister told her about me and how far along I was in this whole process and if there was anything hair wise she would recommend for my sister to get me. My sister ended up getting me Big Shampoo and in theingredientsit is fifty percent sea salt. I am super excited to try it out, but more so that my sister did that for me. She is such an amazing person and that fact that she takes interests in things that are important to me just makes my hear soar. We were never close growing up because we lived themajorityof our lives inseparatehouseholds, but this last year we can become closer than ever. I wouldn't trade our bond for anything in the world I love her so much. So basically this post is about how wonderful of a sister I have. Peace be with you.

The sides and back are coming in nicely but my front looks so mediocre to the rest to the point it doesn't match almost at all .... I've done bs washes and Jojoba oil on all of my hair and i haven't been twisting any of my hair so why is this happening notice the major difference ?

So I am super excited! I just bought some dreadlock shampoo from the dreadlockshampoo.com Can't wait to be able to use them!But on another note. I am approaching almost the three month mark with my baby dreads. I must say they are becoming their own and very surprised at how fast they are locking up. In the last week I have noticed they have shrunk at least 2 1/2 inches or so! Almost all of them have loops and or zig Zags in them and there are 73 of them! That quite a lot of craziness!! But I do I have like three of them at the base of my hairline that are knotted really close to the scalp and are pretty tight oh and won't lay down. They just want to go in the other direction . How can I loosen them up at the root a little bit to create some more comfyness! They almost all look like this. Can't wait to see how they will transform! Thanx all for listening to me babble!<3 Anna.

I haven't been able to visit this site due to no computer/phone anymore, but my dreads will be 11 weeks old tomorrow!

My husband lost his job working for Apple, and he is searching for a new job. I had to look for a job as well and thought I would have to get rid of my dreads. I have been pretty depressed about that. I found a job though as a waitress and they don't mind my tattoos or my dreads! So I am pretty happy now!!!!

So that is where I am at... very excited to continue to watch my dreads grow!!! I am definitely thinking about getting some dread shampoo though because the baking soda wash just isnt working for me. I may be doing it wrong though... I put baking soda in the sink with warm water, soak for about 7-10 min, rinse, then do the same thing with apple cider vinegar. Even after rinsing the final time, the water that rinses from my hair is still dirty... I don't like that...

Ok now I am done rambling

dumbass hacker! he thinks his smarts of hacking impresses others well in only amuses himself, sick. selfish jerk. well glad this sit was savd anywys

I have washed my hair for now the second time and I notice my hair is getting oddly soft why is that ? My Afro hair wasn't even this soft

If I had to sum up my day with one word it would be- comfort. This is so for many reasons, I'm going to share one of the big ones with you guys (and the one that has anything to do with dreads).

I went to one of my best friend's musicalreformance tonight. Tonight was the last of 3 nights, all of which I attended. I had written this friend a letter, which i frequently do for those I care about, and gave it to her earlier on in the week.

In this letter I expressed to her my following realities...

I've been lost lately; more lost than I have been inyears.Sometimes I feel like not only am I far from home, but I don't even know where home is. Sometimes when I feel this way, I am able to think of her and start to remember how to get home. In a number of ways...she is home for me.

At the end of her preformance tonight, when she out to recieve her congradulations from everyone, she had with her a letter for me. Out of respect for the intimacy of the letter, I will not share the entirety ofits contents with you. But in one parrt of it, she wrote that i was ironic that I felt far from home, because lately she had felt like I was becoming stable, and creating my own home. ThatI was becoming anchored in my decisions and in who I am.

One of the first things this made me think of was my hair. I have been told my multiple people that my hair is too thin, and that I will have "sparse" dreads. A number of people have told me that because of the kind of hair that I have, I will have to dread it myself or have someone else dread it for anything to happen. I dismissed and took to heart none of these comments. And my hair is doing amazing. I have way more hair to dread than I initially thought, and I'm coming up on month three now and my hair has dreaded way more than I expected in that short time.

I feel like my decision to dread and to do it how I wanted has helped me grow. My friend was rigt- I am creating my own home. I've been feeling so inadequate lately, and her letter and my hair have helped show me that I've been feeling that way because I've been feeling guilty about not responding to the standardso others; I've been too focused on everyone and everthing else. I need to come back home, back to myself.

This friend of mine is a beautiful person, I don't know howelse to say it. She never speaks with disrespect, or harmful intent, but she always speaks her truth. She pours all of her self into whatever she is doing; dramatic preformances, math homework, watching a movie even. She is always present and committed to that presence. Her strength and capabilities amaze me. When I don't know how to go about a decision, I ask myself what she would do. To me she represents truth, presence, morality. When I imagine the person I want to be, I imgine her. And although that desire is valid (I do want to be the kind of person whospeaks my truth,is present,moral), her letter tonight made me realize something- there are already so many amazing things about who I am. I've been so busy focusing on what I'm no and wondering how to be those things, that I've been missing all the amazing things I already am!

I feel like her letter and my friendship with her has simply reminded me of something I thought I already knew: I am beautiful in who I am. There is a tibetan mantra that I wear around my neck - "Om Mani Padme Hum"- and one interpretation of it is that you already posess what is necessary to be Buddha.

I already am Buddha. I already am my Self.And I don't thinkI give myself enough credit for how powerful that Self is.

I washed my hair and now the twist are completely gone in my front and my sections seem to be gone also. My hair feels like my loose Afro hair ... I always feel like I'm moving backward when I wet my hair