My Sisterlocks continue to thrive, even in during this pandemic. Thanks to God, I have managed to stay well and strong during the last six months, and my locs are maturing, greying, and growing each day.
It’s Labor Day! Now that I’m four years in and several of my friends are also loc’ed and loaded, I sometimes wonder why I didn’t lock my hair sooner. Without a doubt, before I got my install, I thought traditional locs were my only option. The maintenance of traditional locs didn’t appeal to me because of the product required, and the maintenance cost of Sisterlocks initially caused me to pause. As a professional educator, I knew I had to pay someone to “do my hair” on a regular basis (unless I wanted to use boxed relaxers at home and risk long-term damage, skin and scalp burns, limp strands).
For me, Sisterlocks has been such a wholesome expression of my own natural beauty and personal freedom that I have forgotten how it feels to wake up and wonder what to do with my hair. My installation and six-weeks’ maintenance cost has paid for itself many times over in less preoccupation and in fewer hours of sitting and waiting to be acknowledged, seen, assessed, shampooed, relaxed, dried, styled, sprayed, spritzed, and rescheduled to do it all again the very next week.
Living with longer locs brings different concerns. I am not able to sleep with my locs free-flowing as I once enjoyed. Now, I must pull them up, away from my face at bedtime, to keep my face and skin hair-free. Every now and again, I can take a nap with my locs loose, but it’s rare.
My school district mandates the use of Microsoft TEAMS as our virtual learning platform. I’m constantly visiting virtual classrooms, so my hair needs to be neat and tidy. Updos and ponytails work on most days. But when I want to be free…
Since my June reti and previous blog entry, I’ve had another reti. I have another reti scheduled in a few days-for Saturday, the 12th of September. Here are pictures from my July 31st session:
Living in a virtual world affords my hair all of the graces of indoor protection, temperature control and comfort, and freedom from the harshness of the Memphis heat and sun. I’m going to continue to allow my hair to grow and flourish under the watchful eyes of Zoom and Teams lenses. You never know who is admiring your journey and trying to decide if they want to take a magic carpet ride with you!
Until next time,
Andi D😘
AndisLocks 