I JUST CUT MINE...how it went down i had my dreads going for about 7 months. i felt really great about them. they looked shitty, but were getting tight and turning into big congos. i saw them as a way to embrace the beauty that nature creates. the spiritual connection was minimal beyond the 'back to nature' concept, so now that i've cut them, i don't feel empty or bad really. i think long hair is beautiful, and the maintenance that many perform on their hair is unnecessary. sometimes dreads are just more work than combed hair. keeping em clean is a challenge (mine were slightly nasty inside when i cut them), they take time to dry, and the neglect vs. separating combining dreads issue creates an aesthetic dillemma. you gotta be hardcore to let your dreads form into 2 giant masses of hair if that's what they want to do, and if you do maintain em at all, lines for 'keeping it natural' have to be drawn. it's too much hassle for me. plus, i had to pull my hair back at work to keep it out of machines that could turn my face into ground chuck, and they were so tight pulling em back hurt my scalp... oh well, 2 inches of hair will be 6, then 8, in no time, i hope. peace
about what is considered natural... does it matter what others consider to be natural dreadies? I mean mine are partly back combed once and left to do their own thing then occasionally ripped they are about 4 months old now and not looking conventionally beautiful, but i dont care cos to me they are natural and they are mine. If you decided you didnt want them any more that one thing but if u did it because you werent sure of how to up-keep them and please others then ... man chill Hey im glad you are looking forward tolong hair again though And ddont forget to give away your love dread to the person who warms your soul (that was the dread on the right side of top of your neck)
i don't think anyone wants that love dread. never heard of it, but its in the trash now....about pleasing others: the dreads didn't please ANYONE, b/c they looked like shit and none of the people i knew saw them from my perspective or looked for the same good in them as i tried to. i don't down anyone's choice to maintain their dreads, and if they do any good for someone's spirituality, self esteem, self image, whatever, i'm all for it. i just wasn't gaining from them anymore and they were mad work...i guess the main point of my story, is that people should really really be prepared for anything appearance wise if they want to "go natural," and be prepared to compromise and relax if you want to keep em.
i think personally i found that when i tried to control my dreads they didnt like it.. now ive just relaxed with them, let the do what they want.. ive put in a few beads i let my friends decorate them with things but as far as the dreading process goes i trst them to live their own way and i know other peole hate my dreadie buti love em and thats all i care about.
man do i know hwat you're talking about. i cut mine exactly one year ago, after having them for a whileeeee. mine locked up naturally also. mine did also look nasty. locks were eating other locks, etc etc. i had a dinotail on the side of my head, that was as big as a wrist. there definitely was a spiritual connection with the hair, personal meaning and the nature of it, they were beautiful to me. but they began to smell funk, started becoming uncomfortable when i slept, they remained wet for HOURS, and i TOO had to put them back for school (i took a nursing class, where we went clinical a few times a week and i had to put it back while on the floor.) i started seeing it as becoming a hassel, so one day, within the week i started thinking about it, i just cut em. saved the dino tail. MAN did it have gunk in it. i forgot how beautiful my face looked without a huge comcoction on it. overall, it was a great experience, but it was very liberating cutting them, just as it was growing them. i hope you saved one of yours =)!
hell yeah. it was an interesting experiment, but its easier to have 'normal' hair for me, even if i like their connection to certain aesthetic and philosophic ideals. but what's with all the saving of dirty old dreads? the few of mine that I saw while they were being cut off looked like they'd shitted themselves inside. peace, brad
good for you. may your locks bring you peace, but if your circumstances should make the a source of pain, it might be time for a cut.
I have a list of people wanting me to call them when I want to cut mine, and they want to do it fo me. Not because they don't like them. But I will never cut them. I have 'em now for 5 years....and I want to grow them until they reach my butt or even longer!!!
i don't really have any photos to remember them by. maybe a handful. also, a huge belief of mine was the fact that your hair is one of the only things that sticks with you no matter what. out of everything in this world, everything changing, coming, and going, my hair was still atop my head. i bloomed so much the years i was growing the hair. it was as if it was a plant i was blessed with, one which i had the privilage to watch grow. my very own. i just wanted a physical memory.
i think dreaddies are the most beautiful thing ever... but im still young and the parential forces that be are against it. They also wont let me shave my hair all off... as that was my second choice. So, I plan to wait a while, and get dreadlocks as soon as I can. I was wondering... how much mantainence do they require? I figure it takes a little hassle but I think it'd be worth it. For you who said you forgot how beautiful your face was without dreadlocks overwhelming it... I never thought of that. good for you. best of luck with your beautiful hair all, however you may choose to wear it. ~peace~
Man, I love the way dreads look, especially when they are nice and even..but reading what you guys are saying about them, just makes me wonder if they would be right for me. I love the artistic and philosophical connections but I hear a mixture of too many good and bad things... it just doesn't seem worth it, sometimes. Should I?... I am not sure. Namaste, Ben.
ben, it's an exerience all around. i never really planned on growing mine when i first did. i am israeli, so my hair isn't fine and straight... when i was 13 i started growing my hair, and probably a year into it, once it got around 6 or 7 inches, they started locking up a little. within those next 6 months, half of my hair was in matured little dreads, but much was still stringy and normal. i think i liked it most when it was like this. every week i'd find myself with another lock or two, until most of the hair was locked up. just let me tell you... if you do it naturally, they WONT be nice and even and straight. i had some that were as thin as a pencil, some as thick as a wrist. one stretching down my back, while others were just past a shoulder. i had a few matts of hairs, just as it sounds. if you want those picture perfect dreads, many salons do it, but i dont know how spiritual you'll find them. you dont need dreads to be a spiritual person, not remotely. i dont think one thought went through my head while they were beginning to lock up was remotely along the lines of "this is going to be so yogi". just let things happen, don't fret much on it, everything'll turn out how it'll turn out, and adjust at the time. peace
I agree with what you said. I am a spiritual person without them. I really don't want to do it competely natrurally. I love natural earthy looks, but for me they have to have "rhyme and reason" if you know what I mean. I couldn't have different lengths and small to huge sized dreads. I still very well may do it though. Maybe the salon idea is best for me. Thanks. Ben.
