*e*

the letting go and the lightness

 i'm back from bali, completely refreshed and inspired...and the big news around here is that i bid farewell to nine years of dreadlocked hair !(me in australia a year ago...those dreads were l o n g !)

my wish to let go of my dreads has been brewing for the past year now - something in me needed a shift, a new energy. i've loved having these locks for so many years - they have been with me on my journey into motherhood, creativity, love, loss, growth, travels and moves...they have been such a big part of my identity and i loved the natural beauty of them as well as the ease of having hair that maintained itself. lately i've been noticing a heaviness...literally (they were SO heavy!) and emotionally...many cultures believe hair to be sacred and powerful - and i definitely felt the strong need to let go of the enegry my hair was holding. and so began the letting go...not easy for an emotionally attached person such as moi - nor with the dramatics of my three little ones crying at the thought of mumma without her dreads ("but how will i find you in a crowd?"). slowly over the winter holidays i sat by the fire playing games with the kids and combing, combing (after cutting them halfway...many were down to my bum)...with my little hampster grooming comb from the pet store. true. a LOT of hair and dust and fluff was shed from these dreads...and it felt so so good to be releasing it.

i left for bali with a few lone dreads at the back of my head, and some loose shaggy hair at the front. lighter, but not quite light enough...

on a whim partway through our retreat, surrounded by so many dear souls for support and a good friend with a pair of scissors, i had the scraggly dreads and hair snipped off ! we were about to journey to the holy springs for our blessing and i wanted to be light and free. it felt amazing! the lightness! and to then go and have my head dipped in the springs felt like a total rebirth...letting go of vanity and years of emotional stuff 'trapped' in my hair, and starting afresh. i always wondered how i would feel the day i let go, and am amazed and proud of myself for the calmness surrounding such a big change.

i started my dreadlocks in thailand, so to be in the beautiful tropics of southeast asia again for the ending of this journey felt like i'd come full circle.

i wanted to honor my release with a little solo ceremony, so i took my bundle of hair down into the jungly greens to look for a place to bury them. my whole centre of balance was different with the weight gone! i felt incredibly joyful and alive walking through the rich rich colours with butterflies fluttering around me - i know, i know, it sounds like i was tripping on something but truly it was an awakening sourced from nothing but nature people! as i was walking i noticed some twisty tree roots with a little hole in them (a gnome home as my children would squeal)...it felt like the perfect spot to tuck my bundle of hair...with flowers and a blessing and some deep healing breaths i left them there.

*i'll be posting all this week about our amazing time in bali. sending lots of love xo

dreadlock date

ohhhh i get so excited when someone decides to take a leap and get dreadlocks - i love emails from blog readers out there sharing their dread stories and photos. instant connection!

so after hanging out with my girl jaz recently, she fondled my hair and toyed with the idea of getting them herself (with me chanting YES, YES, DO IT DO IT!) we ended the day with plans for a dread date the following week - at none other than weird sistas in freo!

i arrived around lunchtime with mr boy to find lovely new dreadlocks well under way! much squealing and inspection of the babies and chatting followed. took me back to the day i sat outside on khao san road with my bestie-bec, having my first dreadlock created by a wild young thai dude and his crochet hook. the feeling of eeek-what-am-i-doing? mixed with yaaaay!

it's been six months since my last maintenance and you could tell! so lucky to have weird sistas brilliance to take control and as always be entertained by their wild and wonderful stories as they whipped my locks into order.

 

i stayed for many hours waiting for the final result of jaz's lovely head of dark, skinny dreads...but someone was fussy - i left around 6pm, and got this photo in an email later that night.

doesn't she look awesome? i saw them in person a few days later and they look like they have always been a part of her (more pics on her blog). dread love!

(if you're wondering about getting dreads yourself, i wrote a bit about mine here, and also feel free to ask questions and i will answer in the comments section of this post x)

happy dreads

i've been asked several times lately if i was growing out my dreads - which made me realise hmmm...! might be time for some maintenance on these bad boys - last time i had them 'done' (loose hairs crocheted back in) was in thailand, and that was sadly a long long time ago! luckily i have a dreadie friend here in perth who knew of a place to go - so off we went on a child-free day out to weirdsistas in freo (where else?!!) to get our locks tamed :)

i really should have taken a before and after shot...they are so much prettier now i feel like a new gal!

after our scalps had been twisted and tightened, we set off to this place for some yum-yums...

which included this and a tofu burger that was too delicious to take a photo of (=starving pregnant woman could not pause for a moment before biting into the goodness)

it was a very lovey day!
(if you live in perth and want some sweet dreadies of your own make sure you check out the weirdsistas, they were awesome and much gentler on the ol' head than those thai boys!)

love from my so-cal tribe

on the weekend i was given the most beautiful ceremony of love and friendship and farewell by my local loves. tara planned this magical evening which could not have been more special...candles and blankets and yummies on the beach, my closest and dearest friends who have all made my time here so very wonderful because they love me.


i really love these girls...

(tara, morgs, maren, moi, denise, amy, lisa)

it was truly one of the lovliest nights i have ever had - as the sun set we gathered around on the blankets surrounded by the pretty candles, listening to the waves...soaking it all up, enjoying. each one of them had brought a special bead for my hair - and took turns chosing the perfect dread for the bead while sharing words and wishes and love for me and this baby and our new journey...

i feel incredibly blessed to have these women in my life, and to carry their strength with me. i wouldn't be the same without them - we said "see-ya's", not goodbyes, for i know we will all be back on the beach together again soon, loving on my new little beansprout baby and sharing our stories.

my next post will be from the rainy bushlands of western australia - big love to you all! xx

"looks like a bundle-a hay", quoth she

upon asking my darling daughter how my new tied up dreads looked...

she's right. but i do love my bundle-a hay! these bad boys just had their 3rd birthday, so i thought it was a nice little time to answer some dreadlock Q's...

When did you decide to never have to "do" your hair again and start the dreadie locks? I love them!
(why thank you starr!) I have always been drawn to things that are a little bit different, to rebel against how we are supposed to look/think/act...dreadlocks are just one of those things i found to be beautiful in their messiness and imperfectness...they have always fascinated me and after learning more about them from a boyfriend who had them when i was a teenager, i knew that one day i would go down that road. it wasn't until after ivy was born that i felt the urge stirring inside me once again, i hated my hair, i hated spending any time trying to make it look good - i've never been good at hair/makeup or any of that stuff! while traveling in thailand with a friend i took a deep breath and sat on the side of the street-market for 4 hours while several little thai guys worked furiously backcombing and crocheting my new little dreadlocks into place! it was scary and exciting and there was laughter and tears involved.

How long was your hair when you got it done?
Just below my collarbone i think. I lost a lot of length from the immediate locking-up of my hair. It probably took 2 years for my dreads to reach the length my hair was before i had them done.

What process did you use? (wax?)
No wax - just my own hair was sectioned, backcombed and then crocheted. i don't know exactly how they did it, they were fast! I know there are different ways to begin the dreadlock process, this is apparently the fastest way to have them lock up.

How long have you had them for?
Three years now. I remember chatting to a girl on the street right before i had mine done, she had beautiful dreadlocks and told me not to expect to love them for at least 2 years - they take that long to come into their own, and i really found this to be true! They get their own life-form after a while ;)

Will you keep them forever?
I doubt it...although i love the idea of being a little old lady with long white dreads! I can't imagine never tiring of them...I have no plans to chop them off right now, but who knows? I'm not quite ready to look like my brother oliver's twin just yet though....

Did you feel that it changed the way people responded to/treated you?
I don't really pay attention so I was going to write no...but i have had a few weird encounters/comments lately now that i think of it!

As they grow out - do you keep dreading/matting the new growth, and how?
I let them do their own thing, they do dread up themselves as they grow. Every 3-4 months I will lay my head on mick's lap while we watch a movie (he should add 'loctitian' to the end of his PhD title!) and he will poke the loose hairs back into the dread with a crochet hook, and sometimes palm roll them for me - it's like watching 2 orangutans grooming each other.

there is a stigma attached to dreadlocks that they are nasty and dirty and stinky (didn't someone want to hose me down and shave my head?!!), but that is actually not true - they can be made and kept very clean! it is up to the individual...i wash mine every 10 days or so with a peppermint shampoo (dr bronners), or special coconutty dreadlock shampoo...they smell good!

i know they are not for everyone, but i love my crazy hair. i love the freedom i feel when i give my dreads a shake in the morning. i love that they look like little paintbrushes at the ends and remind me to be me. also, what baby needs a toy when their mother has a bunch of crazy things hanging off her head?!!

and hey - when bored on a road trip you can entertain yourself and your little ones by doing silly things with all your bits of hay!

thanks for all the questions! if you are thinking about doing something rebellious yourself/want to know more deets, i will answer in the comments section :)

more birthday wishes & new hair!

i'll admit that when i married mick i was appalled by his and his familys serious forgetfulness, lateness (falconbridge standard time as we know it) and vagueness in general. i, however was quite the opposite and never forgot a birthday or appointment ;)

now, after several years together, it appears i am now 100% falconbridge without a doubt, and remember birthdays only weeks or months later! i'm terrible...

so, i haven't sent cards yet, but happy birthday to 2 special gals who share their day - my lovely friend viv

{hopefully next time i see you viv - neither one of us will be pregnant!! miss you girl!}

and my cute lil sister-in-law AMY turns sweet 15! i found this adorably hilarious picture of her as a little raggamuffin ~

hehehehe!

this is her nowadays ~

have a fabulous day both of you!

in other news, i let my new friend kim (who is a hairdresser) loose with my dreads this afternoon...she dyed them 4 different colours, pretty crazy hey?

still getting used to it, but ivy says its beautiful :)