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YEAR 2 - AUG. 2003
I feel that this is an important issue to add to as I have found that many people have experienced this -or should I say, LACK of this.
At the 2 year mark, I reflect upon how people have taken my decision, their reaction to my choices -not just through the locing experience, but to the whole concept of change.
When I first started, there are many people who made it quite clear how they felt about my decision to loc -from distant friends to close family. I must admit, I wasn't happy about it and found it quite disheartening that many people's view of me had changed because of their own personal misconception of what locing is and for what it stands for to me. And who can blame them -dreadlocks have had the most misunderstood values put upon them...from being a 'radical' to the 'dirty' image they are often branded as.
I realise that the whole concept of change for many is diverse and the way in which each of us goes through it is all dependant on the individual.
But what I found to be important to remember is that:
*YES, people might not like the idea
*YES, it might throw people off balance.
* BUT, Life isn't black and white. Life holds possibilities for everyone.
We all have the right to do what we freely think is good for us and if that means that a few people will get temporarily upset by the misunderstood illusion that locs are a bad thing, then you know better. After all, locing is a process that each individual will experience differently.
Like many, I have found my support through like-minded people...whether on the forum pages (which have been a great help in support and knowledge for me) or from new friends who value the way I have changed -not the way my hair has evolved. That goes for many other ventures I have started through the journey...my ambitions to become a therapist (which many around me thought was a bit mad!) and my personal changes.
In life, I feel that it is important to evolve into the person we want to be, to learn and experience the journey to fulfil our inner path...to have aims that are true to us.
As I said before, locing is an individual journey so it may mean something completely different to you.
Thats for you to find out...
Even after 2 years of locing, I still get the occasional sly comments from people I know -and yes, it still annoys me. I would've thought that by now they surely had got over the whole thing!
Oh well ... they'll get over it one day.
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YEAR 3 - AUG. 2004
Things don't get better - but I no longer really care whether people have changed their minds about MY hair.
Seriously though, whats the big deal?
What I now know is that it is not how we look, it is what we put out there that counts
Confidence shines through louder than ANY physical aspect.
OK, so I was worried about how job interviews would go and how my clients would take my hair -but the only one who seems to be making an issue out of it was just me. As soon as I showed my Self to be happy with who I was as a person, then they accepted me.
And yes, I got the job in several occasions, with my locs out there!
Why is it that we are the only race who feels ashamed to be our own Self?
In this day and age, do we really feel we need to wear a relaxed head to be accepted?
Haven't we moved on from all that?
And aren't we the only ones who are putting our Self in denial and Self hate?
I usually wear headwraps, it keeps the bad energy out. But this Summer was the first time that my locs were out ALL the time, and the first time strangers complimented my plants. Strange feeling, but it shows me how long & far I've come since the days when I was unsure of my new locs. I was unsure of ME.
Things have changed, I see many naturals around, and people seem to be more open to it now.
As for loc support, all that matters is that our Self loves the change. Love all the stages that the journey to locdom brings. Love your natural hair for what it is. Accept your choice and enjoy the changes! |
| |  | ...THE PATH WINDS. NEGATIVITY IS THERE TO MAKE US STRONGER AND BUILD OUR STRUCTURE. POSITIVITY IS THERE TO ENCOURAGE US AND BE THANKFUL OF OUR REWARDS. IT IS THE OBSTACLES THAT SHOWS US WHO WE ARE. *
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