I have had my dreads for 10 months now. My husband's are nine months or so.


My thoughts on getting dreads right before I did them:

http://myrrhdusa.livejournal.com/482008.html

My thoughts on them now:

I love them, even though sometimes I have days when they seem floppy or too fuzzy. I never feel like I want to comb them out, and I can only remember one day, about a month in, where I had a single regret, and it was gone by the following day. I think, for me, it was the best decision, and it was the right time in my life to do it.

I actually feel like I look better with dreads than I did with straight hair (I know not everyone agrees, and that's okay.) I don't have to fuss with curling irons or brushes. I always hated when my hair would be in my face, and I hated that it would stick to my neck when it was hot. These are no longer an issue.

I love sticking my dreads into the wind in a car. I love that people remember me as the girl with the dreads and not the girl with the boobs. They are great conversation starters with strangers. People are eager to touch them, which is both flattering and creepy depending on the person, haha. I actually enjoy answering questions about them, and especially when I am able to enlighten someone about certain things, like washing dreads, or that you aren't neccesarily a pothead just because you have them.

I love finding things to thread onto them. I like tying my hair back with a knot or two. I love flinging the water out of my hair after a shower--it's like a great many-thonged whip and the pull of the swing feels good on my scalp. I love pulling them up into a big pineapple/fountain hairdo.

I've noticed other things too. I am a much calmer, happier person. I know no one will believe that dreads have something to do with this, but I really think they did. I am more able to let any anger or irritability flow away from me, and I also think that I'm somehow more intuitive about the feelings and concerns of others. Yes, I know that sounds flaky as hell. But it's the truth.

This is a link to the picture timeline I posted at eight months, in case you didn't see it:

http://myrrhdusa.livejournal.com/548702.html

The gods make the dreadlocks. You are the soil for their garden.