Nerves and Questions about starting Natural Dreads

A little update in case you might be curious

I am officially starting my dreadsnextTuesday. I would start earlier but we are about to take a trip to visit my Grandmother for her 90th bday and so for her sake I am waiting until we get back.

I mentioned doing dreads to a couple different people and got 1 "That's SO awesome, you should totally do it" (one of my best friends), 1 "..oh.. ok. No that'd be cool!" awkward.. from a co worker. And my boyfriend I think is kind of hesitant but said it's my hair I should do whatever I want with it. He said he has the typical prejudice that white people with dreads are dirty. I explained that you need to keep your hair clean, and also,I'm not dirty lol. I think it will kind of be like a journey/learning experience for him too, to be with me while I do this.

Anyways, I'm super excited. I haven't told my bosses yet, or my family. I'm not sure for work if I should just start doing it and explain if they ask any questions? Or let them know ahead of time that I am going to do this. I'm sure I'll be posting for support later with my parents, I am not looking forward to telling dad >.<


Can't wait to start and post pictures!!! :D

updated by @janna: 07/12/15 03:12:56PM

whats your job

i would say it depends on your job if your like face to face with the public alot id say explain to yoir boss that you asre doing it (dont ask permission just say you are) and explain how and why and that its a spiritual journey and that u still keep them clean and if needed can pull them back or cover them during the awkward stages

if your not face to face with the public alot dont even bother mentioning it and if they mentionint just respond yea well its a spiritual thing..and leave it at that

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

I have two jobs, one in a vintage store where I do help customers, and one as a Nanny for a family.

I will be working at a preschool over the summer, and be seeing (and seen by) a lot of parents. That's probably the job I'm most worried about. I think that is good advice though. I will probably just cover my hair a lot while I'm working in the summer. I have a feeling the next few months I'm going to be debunking dread myths a lot :P

You just might be surprised about the job thing! i'm guessing you'd be fine. I had the same concerns as you. My advice would be to not tell them ahead of time that you are doing it. That alone might make it into something "bigger" than it needs to be. I didn't tell my boss...and I have had no issues. Not to say that all bosses are the same

One thing I do have to say for your hair type...is to really understand the amount of time that goes into the '"sectioning" phase. Not meaning that you are physically sectioning...although you will be doing some of that. But remember to allow your hair to come into sections on its own. I would have never guessed this portion of the journey is so important...Here I am 3 months in, and am just starting to understand myself that the sections take time, but it's so crucial for the dread process to even begin. Also, I have fine hair that tangles easily, but that's different (I guess) for contributing to the phase I am in now. Oh last thing! Don't be afraid for when you have to rip a section in half! It's kind of satisfying. Taking back a little control. Since sometimes they like to fuse together overnight it seems.

Happy dreading!

One of the things I think I think/worry too much about is the sectioning :P I have refrained from asking anything about it because I figured it's one of those things that will become a little more obvious once the whole process gets started. I go back and forth between hoping my fine hair will section and start dreading fairly nicely to dreading ( no pun intended lol) that it will just be a huge poof of tangle that is impossible to section or pull into proper size dreads.

OliviaJonas Aley said:

One thing I do have to say for your hair type...is to really understand the amount of time that goes into the '"sectioning" phase. Not meaning that you are physically sectioning...although you will be doing some of that. But remember to allow your hair to come into sections on its own. I would have never guessed this portion of the journey is so important...Here I am 3 months in, and am just starting to understand myself that the sections take time, but it's so crucial for the dread process to even begin. Also, I have fine hair that tangles easily, but that's different (I guess) for contributing to the phase I am in now. Oh last thing! Don't be afraid for when you have to rip a section in half! It's kind of satisfying. Taking back a little control. Since sometimes they like to fuse together overnight it seems.

Happy dreading!

well in general, you wont understand the dreading process until it has started. when i started with twist and rip i didnt know that it would fall out. i didnt understand natural sectioning either. with your hair as it is now, you wont understand it. but it does section itself pretty obviously. if your hair is knotting up super duper over night, thats a good thing. you just gotta stay on top of it so it doesnt super congo. its easy.you know how your hair is in sections when you get it wet? there ya go. it something it is naturally meant to do.

Janna said:

One of the things I think I think/worry too much about is the sectioning :P I have refrained from asking anything about it because I figured it's one of those things that will become a little more obvious once the whole process gets started. I go back and forth between hoping my fine hair will section and start dreading fairly nicely to dreading ( no pun intended lol) that it will just be a huge poof of tangle that is impossible to section or pull into proper size dreads.

OliviaJonas Aley said:

One thing I do have to say for your hair type...is to really understand the amount of time that goes into the '"sectioning" phase. Not meaning that you are physically sectioning...although you will be doing some of that. But remember to allow your hair to come into sections on its own. I would have never guessed this portion of the journey is so important...Here I am 3 months in, and am just starting to understand myself that the sections take time, but it's so crucial for the dread process to even begin. Also, I have fine hair that tangles easily, but that's different (I guess) for contributing to the phase I am in now. Oh last thing! Don't be afraid for when you have to rip a section in half! It's kind of satisfying. Taking back a little control. Since sometimes they like to fuse together overnight it seems.

Happy dreading!