I started letting my hair dread naturally after an intense, deep pull in my soul to do so. I didn't really know why. I am trusting this journey I am on and so, I listened. I didn't know how to explain the need to dread my hair. My friend and soul sister, Rain, posted a blog about when she had dreaded her hair with this excerpt from Elena Rago.

"Really, my desire to dread my hair was no longer about my hair as much as it was an impulse to physically mark the deep shifts that were occurring in my soul."

Just twirling.

What I have learned about myself this past year after Penelope's birth has been incredible. I have learned to trust again. Trust in the journey. Trust in others and the love they bring. Trust that even if nothing works out, it's all working out.

I have learned to use my voice. For so long I stifled myself, even to those closest to me.

I've learned that I can, indeed, take care of myself, first, while still allowing room to hold others in a space of love.

I have learned that even though some of the hardest things to speak, are the words that need to be spoken.

I have learned that nobody is responsible for your happiness but yourself and no matter how hard you try, you can not make someone truly happy. That has to come from a place within themselves.

I have learned strength.

All these truths and lessons are tangled up in these dreads of mine. On February 23, 2012, I marked this turning point physically, on my body.

I'm not going to say that I've loved every step of the way with this dreading process. It's definitely a lesson in letting go of self consciousness that still resides inside me. It is lessening. Daily. I love these dread babies of mine and have let go of expectations on how I felt they should look by now.

Peace and Love.

Katelyn