Welcome back to From
the Desk of a Dreadhead. This week I want to showcase some pretty marvelous
people. As a digital native, surfing the web has become a hobby I cannot deny.
I spend most of my time clicking around the Internet for hours on end. In my
stage of pre-dreading research I stumbled upon an amazing dreadlock forum full
of people all around the world with amazing stories, and gnarly dreads. For
those of you unaware of what a forum is, it is a medium (such as a website)
where ideas and views on a specific topic can be shared and exchanged. This
forum is called Dreadlock Truth (DT), and it has helped me fill in a lot of
holes that the Internet couldn’t. Let me introduce you to some beautiful people that volunteered to help me out and answer some questions about their knots.
Meet Cassie! Cassie was born in Colorado and currently lives
in New Mexico. Cassie says, “I hated my non-dread hair, so I’d be happy with
dreadlocks for the rest of my life or at least as long as they look good.” In
Cassie’s opinion, the worst part to having dreadlocks is “when you have to cut
them because they’re so long they’re getting in the way of things. That, and I
miss scented shampoo.”
This is Caitlyn from Chicago, IL. Caitlyn has had her dreads
for nearly 4 years and prefers to decorate them with “beads, rings, embroidery thread,
peyote stitches and whatever will stay on!” Her least favorite dreadlock
stereotype is “that if you have dreads, you identify yourself with the
Rastafarian faith.” She plans on sporting her dreads forever!
Say hello to Chris from Sheffield,
England. He has had his dreads for just about 6 years and he started them using
the backcombing method. He doesn’t decorate his dreads because he doesn’t like things
hitting him in the face. When asked what being a dreadhead has taught him, he
replied that “everyone has a polar opinion on dreads and most of the time they’re
willing to share that opinion with you… whether you want them to or not.”
The owner of these rockin’ locs is
Jessie from Ann Arbor, MI. Jessie is a Registered Nurse in an ICU. Jessie says,
“They’ve taught me about looking beyond a person’s physical appearance. I know
who the ‘good’ people in my life are.
[Dreads have] freed me from being just “one of the herd”- I’m the ‘nurse
with dreadlocks!’”
Meet Deven. She says, “The dreadlock
community is one I would have never found without my dreads. Being a dreadhead
has taught me quite a bit in my nine months of having them. It’s not a
hairstyle, it’s somewhat of a lifestyle.”
The owner of these beautiful dreads is
Olly. Olly is from the UK and has had his dreads for 4.5 years. He volunteers
as a teacher and studio technician at his old college. “The Bob Marley/Rasta-oriented
stereotypes” annoy him the most and he says one of the biggest cons to having
dreads is that “they can be a nuisance while eating soup!” According to Olly a
pro to having dreads is that if he were ever in a life-or-death situation where
rope were needed, he would be just fine! “They just feel right for me” says
Olly when asked what his dreadlocks mean to him.
This here is Paul from Stafford, West
Midlands, located in England. Paul is a self-employed illustrator/art director
and started his dreads with the backcombing method. To him, dreadlocks are a
good ice-breaker to have. He sometimes misses being able to run his fingers
through his hair, but doesn’t plan on getting rid of them anytime soon. Paul is
happy to accept himself for who he is without automatically making choices
based on what is expected of him “it’s a sign of my freedom.”
Say hello to Sarah from Derbyshire, UK.
Sarah is a support worker for adults with learning disabilities. Sarah plans on
sporting her locks for as long as she can, and she loves that she doesn’t have
to mess with her hair in the morning. Her least favorite stereotype is that “we
all take drugs, it’s not something [she’s] into.”
This amazing set of dreads belongs to
Becca from Denmark. When asked what the biggest con was to having dreadlocks,
Becca stated “Dryingtime after showering.” While the biggest pro is that it’s very
easy to have a good hair day! “The world needs more love, peace and harmony.
This dreadlock forum has that, and it is a great inspiration for many other
things than just a hairstyle… makes me feel part of something positive and
different in general.”
Meet Marc from Southampton, UK. Marc
has had his backcombed dreads for 14 months. His favorite compliment was his
grandma telling him how good they looked in front of the family. He loves that
his dreads show people that he is who he wants to be; he doesn’t have to be
anyone’s clone.
This is Holly from Edmonton, Canada.
Holly has had her dreads for 4 years and would like to say “it’s completely
possible to get jobs with dreads! I’m lucky and live in an area where the job
market is good, but I’ve secured at least 4 jobs since dreading my hair. Even
when it looked most messy!”
Say hi to Tracee! Tracee is from
Virginia and she has had her dreads for almost 3 years! Being a dreadhead has
taught Tracee “Patience, patience and more patience,” as well as the fact that
many people assume a lot about her based on her hairstyle. Tracee enjoys dying
her dreads and decorating them with thread and trinkets. The biggest pro to
having dreads, in Tracee’s eyes is “all the wonderful people I get to meet,
between DT and having my hair as a conversation starter.”
I wish I could have included everyone who I got the chance to hear from, but everything good must come to an end, right? I am extremely grateful to all of these wonderful people for allowing my to interview and showcase their lovely sets of dreads and I hope you enjoyed meeting them!
*Special thanks to Dreadlock Truth to allowing me to run into such positively delightful individuals.
Come back next week for more From the Desk of a Dreadhead!
