Dreads

My 30th birthday came and went late last year. Much of my thinking around this time was self-focused, analytical, questioning.  Am I having a hard time turning 30?  Other people find it difficult.  Am I? Should I? How do I feel right now about 30? 

The answers came slowly. Yes, I felt fine about turning 30. No, it wasn't difficult.  

And how did I feel about 30? I felt I needed to be myself. Stop worrying about others, what they're doing/looking like/accomplishing. Stop trying to fit in by toning down my ideas, appearance, creativity.

And here came the hair change.

I remember Madison Greene band members, years ago at Cornerstone Festival, hair all locked.  Loved it.  Wanted mine done.  Was too afraid.  Too concerned about all that fitting in.

After spending my twenties focused on creating an open home, a safe environment for my children and people who needed "home", I felt settled and secure enough in myself to stop worrying about how my appearance fitted in with the overwhelming majority.

My dreads... wild, messy, lacking uniformity, brought freedom from concern about self.  They're also a real conversation opener.  Today in the supermarket, the check-out girl commented on how much she liked my hair.  Her own was completely hidden under an Islamic scarf covering; but she loved my locks and told me so, and her next question was; "Where are you from?"

I like this one, because then I get to tell them why I came to the Midlands in the first place, ten years ago.  (Someday I'll blog about it.)  Anyway, she continued to talk, even after my things had filled my shopping bag to overflowing.  I made the first move to leave, as I noticed the shoppers in the queue behind me shuffling their feet and looking impatient.  I swung my too-full shopping bag over my shoulder, tucked my newspaper under my arm, and blessed her with a very American "have a nice afternoon!"

So, yes, dreads...  they're four months old now.  They've a long way to go yet to maturity but they've come far, too.  That's Coo, my little limpet.  She's teething at the moment and almost permanently attached to Mummy.