Before:


First Day:


First Wash:


Month 1:


(September)


(Halloween)


(November)


(December) I started washing with dawn dishsoap and all of a sudden I lost a shitton of length.


(Jan)


And I dyed them and then they shrank more:


Then I went Purple:(February)

Which went to Pink in less then a week:


(March)-Then I went a different color, again, and had quite possibly the shittiest month OF MY LIFE


(April)

And I got a Tank Girl Tattoo on April 20th:


(May):


(June)


(July)





AND: As of last Friday:









Its been a very long, long year. I used my dreads as a tool to teach myself patience. I've put up with a lot of shit because of them; I am an insurance agent, and while up until a few months ago I was in a call center so no one saw me, since June I've been working directly with the public. This means that I have to work extra hard, because people naturally assume that since I have dreadlocks I'm some burnt out hippie who doesn't belong selling insurance. Well, Up North in Yellowknife they do anyways. My whole family hates my dreads, but they love me so they put up with them.

On a whim, I put my facebook status as "I took out my dreads" a few months ago, and while there were many people that were upset, there were also a few that told me thank god, I hated them, or you look so much better without them (I put up my "before" picture as a profile picture". These people were not really my friends, and actually the majority of the people who were glad I "took them out" are also very two faced, and this just served to prove it. I then deleted them.

I love teaching random people who ask about my dreads that yes, I DO wash them, blah blah; I ove proving stereotypes wrong; I LOVE the look on peoples faces when i tell them I sell insurance and they go "really? YOU?  Even with DREADS?".

Basically, I love everything about them.

I used to wash them like, 4 times a week, but I was getting way too itchy. Now, I do baking soda rinses every so often, and I just get them wet and scrub my scalp every other time I shower, with a bi-weekly dish soap wash. I don't put anything into them anymore except for beads.
I'm not going to dye them anymore, because I don't want them to get brittle, but I may do a henna rinse to get rid of the white roots that pop up.


I just spent a week at Shambhala, And not only was it the most amazing experience of my LIFE, I saw so many dreads I almost shit myself. I met an elderly man with silver dreads to his butt who gave me some mushrooms, and told me how impressed he was with my dreads. I saw a beautiful woman with a buzzcut and one dread down to her waist. I saw so many many different styles of dreads, different adornments, everything; It practically blew my mind. And I smiled at all them, and they all smiled back at me.

I love being part of the Fellowship of the Dreads. <3