do they mark a turning point, and religous value or just a good look. Orgionally my dreads didn't mark and major event, but really that major event sorta happened a day before my dreads we're born, so really they have become a symbol of...well...freedom for me. what about you?
To me they are just a symbol of me being my own person and having the hair style I want instead of just being like everyone else because that's "normal"
dreads to me are many things they are like spiritual antenas that connect me to a more magical spiritual world colecting words of wisdom from the collective conceisness of the universe theyre also the roots that bind me to the earth and createa more connectiveness to a more natural existence theyre also a sheild that protects me from the forces of babylon.. disconnection from the everyday mundane 9-5 world and allow for a more richness of experience and connectiveness to a deeper understanding of whats truth i guess you could say theyre a symbol of choice.. a choice of a lyfstyle that bases self worth and successfulness not on the size of my bank account but on the richness of my experiences and the lives i've touched wow i never realized just how difficult that question would be to answer i think i could go on and on but never make it quite clear what they truly mean wai ithink i got it light,love,clarity,understanding,hope,joy,wisdom,truth
This should be a good thread. My dreads are an experiement, an experiment in human psychology. I like to smile at people I walk by or talk to random people on the train, bus or even sitting on a park bench, just to observe how they react. It provides an interesting commentary on human nature and supports my hypothesis that generally, people (around here anyways) really do judge you by the way you look. But the majority of people don't seem to notice my hair and are quite nice anyways.
My dreadlocks are a way to keep me grounded, to keep me remembering who I am and where I came from. As my hair continues to lock, I continue to learn more about myself and the world. I also really like the fact that I don't have to take the time to "do my hair" in the morning...I can literally roll out of bed and brush my teeth and be ready to start the day...it has taught me how silly vanity is.
I'm with all y'all so far on this one... (Annie and Soaring Eagle, especially ) I do feel that my locks keep me humble and aware of my connection to the Earth, to time, to the rest of existence. Almost in opposition to feeling closer to the rest of existence, they also provide a sort of filter in my life to weed out the people who would discount me or categorize me because of a hairstyle. And, more personally for me, they do mark sort of a turning point in my life. I let my hair dread about the same time that I finally stopped drinking liquor (a huge destructive force in my life), same time a dearly loved one left me and this world, and the same time as I finally said goodbye to living my life by the dicates of Babble-on in order to find some joy in it. That year was a powerful turning point in my life and I think it is well marked with my dreads.
I've wanted dreads for a long time, but the program I was in in college wouldn't allow that. I was very unhappy, but was afraid to reorient myself in another program. I was living a life that wasn't mine. Then, I decided to go into another field of study, so a couple of days later, I got my dreads. Then I became who I really was inside. To me, my dreads mean everything.
to me I would say my dreads reinforce the simplicity I want in my life as a whole. no chemicals, no hairbrushes, no make-up. nothing to tie me to the race and strife for perfection. my dreads are connected to an important event in my life. I started my dreads when I started my journey to heal my life long eating disorders. I felt that if I were to remove my self the the ideals of conventional and media inspired beauty I would be more likely to stick to a sort of self love that did not require me to starve or purge to become a real and accepted part of the worl I live in. My husband was able to help me understand my love for myself in natural form effects not only me, but him and my children. so to shorten the long, they mark my removal from conventional beauty to help me overcome my eating disorders and the simplicity I desire in life. I hope that was written well enough for people to understand.
mine also do mark a change in my life although i had dreads before that as well.. i cut off my 1st dreads buckling under parental pressure i went to school for computer programming and was being pushed into a lifestyle very different from the 1 i'd wanted i broke my back at my graduation party which was life changing in itself, but i just woke up and realized that it wasnt the life id chosen for myself, i wa trying to just do what i was expected to do by others and it was making me miserable cutting my 1st dreadswas traumatic for me..i felt disconnected.. and restarting my dread journey was recovering my true self
My dreads marked a time in my life when I was really depressed. I don't remember exactly why I decided to grow them, but one day it hit me that I needed change. Dreads were that change that helped me knock myself out of the depressed rut I was in. Dreads represent freedom from conventional beauty. They also represent a simple life style that most people won't try because of whatever reason. Peace and love
Dreads to me express my artistic freedom. It represents different being to me from others. They express divine artwork that is easly made.
I would... but i have no picture of my dreads except for my student id... and my digi well the batteries are gone... LoL im going to answer this question... Refering to my dreadful hair ... I would say i have more freedom with my short hair. When i got notice of my cousin getting lice and makeing the decision on my own to cut them. I would say I feel more free. I can walk in the rain as a please without worrying about fungus growing in my dreads. I can talk a shower anytime i want without worrying about the time and effort it takes to dry my hair. With my short hair i dont worry that much about how i come it, becuase the crown well always stay up unless i use wax or gel. Which i dont like useing because they are a bitch to put in and a bitch to take out... I am able to run my fingers through my hair, as i please. I can see more because my hair isnt blocking my eyes anymore.... All of these and many more give me more freedom. I am free from the sterotype of dreadlocks, that i fought so against but try to so hard to live with ... I say im more free now, then i was with dreads... Dreadlocks arent for me, to much time on drying... Not my thing ... Im the kind of guy who likes to just pick up my shit and move on... Which with my doo right now creates this for me... Dreadlocks arent my thing... But ill still love them, but not all of them...