EVERYONE! i want to know...

It's kind of funny. Most people here seem to have found deeper meaning in their lives through their journey.

For me, I started my locks while I was quitting smoking herb, and learning about Rasta. I already felt that deep connection with the earth and how all life is interconnected. My locks were just a way for me to represent that feeling through my appearance. As time went on, however, I stopped caring about how my locks made me look. I no longer view myself as the guy with dreadlocks. Now I am just a guy. They have helped me just become me. I don't ever plan on cutting them, but if I ever had to, I would not feel like a part of me has been lost. I would know, for myself, what dreadlocks have taught me.

After 5 years with them, I am just a guy who happens to have dreadlocks. They are beautiful, they're fun, they are easy. I am at a point where that are me. No maintenance, no effort, no care for how people see me

updated by @baba-fats: 07/23/15 07:56:46AM

I always wanted long hair since I was a wee lad but the cult I was raised in did nottoleratelong hair on boys. When I left the cult the first thing I did was let my hair and beard grow out. After having long hair for a few years I was sick of brushing and maintaining their 'silkiness' did not see the point in it. So now I have locks,voil.

awesome (: well the funny thing about me is i started my dread locks AFTER i quit smoking weed. a lot of people still pass me joints and bowls asking me to hit it. and i say no i dont smoke anymore. and they say oh well you have dreadlocks so i assumed you smoke. it gets annoying after a while. i hate how dreadlocks are associated with weed. i have nothing against weed, i wish i could still smoke. but it gets on my nerves how dreads and weed are in the same category. my best friend kyle, has long hair as well. its probably down to the middle of his back and hes 6 foot somethin. so thats awesome.

sussi- my journey somewhat started like that. i was interested, so i researched. then i started looking at it more spiritually and how it connects me to nature and my ancestors. its a journey for me and its starting to just become who i am. <3

Back when I was a kid, I saw someone somewhere with locks. I don't remember who or where, but they stuck with me. I found myself wanting to let my hair tangle up like that. A want that lingered in the back of my head a long time.

Mind you, I'm a researcher and skeptic by nature... so, I did what comes naturally... I read... everything...

Sometimes that means I give up on what I had previously wanted but in this case it actually made going through with it inevitable.

To most, dreadlocks is simply a term tied to Jamaica, reggae, cannabis andRastafarianism, but what I found was a number of traditions far older than any of that, traditions rooted in nature, wisdom, self-sacrifice, etc, etc, etc,...

I had hesitated to lock ye olde mane of hair because of a few things.
1. I'm not christian. Rastafarianism, the origin of the english term "Dreadlocks", is a christian sect where the locks are a part of showing their devotion to YHVH (the judeo-christian deity.)
2. While I am of mixed heritage, I'm about as white skinned as the next guy. Dreadlocks, as a word, is strongly tied to the history of people of colour (specifically, of African descent) in Jamaica and USA.
3. There is no other actively used term for this than "dreadlocks" (or "dreads" for short) so there's no way of escaping the first two points.... people will misunderstand and misinterpret.

Doesn't matter...
Not after I found ties to my ancestors, my ancestral faith, my heritage if you will.
Not after the tradition of locks as something done, not out of rebellion, not out of combat, and not out of subservience to a deity, but out of a search for something more, a search for wisdom, a search for understanding, out of proximity/connection with the earth, etc, etc, etc, etc...

I respect wisdom more than rebellion, I want to learn and grow in wisdom myself.
I want to understand more, I want to know more, I want to be more open to the beating of the heart of nature herself.

I know that hair won't do that... but it's symbolic, it has meaning to me.
And meaning is something we create. A card doesn't have an inherent meaning, but the image, the text, and the people who give and receive it, these are the things that add emotion to the act of giving a card, and the people who have that emotion are what gives it value and meaning.
So it doesn't matter if it's "just hair", it's something I'm doing, for this reason, and this gives it value, and meaning.

People still pass me bowls and blunts. My girlfriend even does sometimes. I just say "What, do I look like a pot head?" And everyone laughs. It's an inside joke with my friends. It doesn't bother me that locks are associated with it. Or that people still think I smoke. I just laugh it off. It's amusing.

What you have to do is prove that you are you, even without getting high. After a while, people will stop thinking it right off the bat. Of course, strangers might assume things out of ignorance, but eventually you will put out a vibe that you don't smoke anymore

I must say that was verybeautifulwhat you said...I really respect (and in a way can relate) the symbolism you associate with your locks.

Hans Miniar Jnsson said:

Back when I was a kid, I saw someone somewhere with locks. I don't remember who or where, but they stuck with me. I found myself wanting to let my hair tangle up like that. A want that lingered in the back of my head a long time.

Mind you, I'm a researcher and skeptic by nature... so, I did what comes naturally... I read... everything...

Sometimes that means I give up on what I had previously wanted but in this case it actually made going through with it inevitable.

To most, dreadlocks is simply a term tied to Jamaica, reggae, cannabis andRastafarianism, but what I found was a number of traditions far older than any of that, traditions rooted in nature, wisdom, self-sacrifice, etc, etc, etc,...

I had hesitated to lock ye olde mane of hair because of a few things.
1. I'm not christian. Rastafarianism, the origin of the english term "Dreadlocks", is a christian sect where the locks are a part of showing their devotion to YHVH (the judeo-christian deity.)
2. While I am of mixed heritage, I'm about as white skinned as the next guy. Dreadlocks, as a word, is strongly tied to the history of people of colour (specifically, of African descent) in Jamaica and USA.
3. There is no other actively used term for this than "dreadlocks" (or "dreads" for short) so there's no way of escaping the first two points.... people will misunderstand and misinterpret.

Doesn't matter...
Not after I found ties to my ancestors, my ancestral faith, my heritage if you will.
Not after the tradition of locks as something done, not out of rebellion, not out of combat, and not out of subservience to a deity, but out of a search for something more, a search for wisdom, a search for understanding, out of proximity/connection with the earth, etc, etc, etc, etc...

I respect wisdom more than rebellion, I want to learn and grow in wisdom myself.
I want to understand more, I want to know more, I want to be more open to the beating of the heart of nature herself.

I know that hair won't do that... but it's symbolic, it has meaning to me.
And meaning is something we create. A card doesn't have an inherent meaning, but the image, the text, and the people who give and receive it, these are the things that add emotion to the act of giving a card, and the people who have that emotion are what gives it value and meaning.
So it doesn't matter if it's "just hair", it's something I'm doing, for this reason, and this gives it value, and meaning.

Jdwood; i agree that was very touching hans. (:

babafats; yeah i agree but my fact that these people have grown up with me it kinda gets old after a while. guess all we can do is shrug it off! (:

For me I got into reggae music wanted dreads for a while and found Eyeheartchrists videos and was inspired to go the natural method. Then I got in to Rastafarianism. Now they are are more of a spiritual connection of me to the earth and nature.

Yeah, I'd say just shrug it off. It sucks, but remember, they're high. Not that they don't realize, it's that they want to share, and the first thing they think about is not that you don't smoke, but that you're next to them