Three Lessons From My One-Year Loc Journey
A journey of growing trust, seeing beauty, and deepening connection
--
365 days ago I embarked on a journey that I knew would elevate my life if I allowed it to, the journey of locking my hair. They say hair is the antenna to the universe, and when you lock it up, you’re allowing yourself to connect more deeply to your higher self. You are able to hold on to more wisdom and the process of locking your hair should be about improving your life in all ways.
I’m fully aware that the loc’ journey isn’t spiritual for everyone. Many people are just tired of doing their hair or simply like the “style.” Even still, there are lessons that can be learned from going through this process. And throughout my ONE-YEAR LOC’D, there are three lessons that stuck out to me the most. Trust, Beauty, and Connection.
Trust
I could stare at my locs all day, but it won’t make them mature any quicker. I could throw water on them to make them kink and coil. I could retwist and retwist over and over again, but the effort would be fruitless. What’s truly unique about this journey is that it's going to happen in its own time, but it WILL happen. I just have to sit back and trust the process.
Trying to control the tiny (or large) aspects of our life doesn’t usually end up doing much. Sometimes we just need to let go and trust that we are going to be okay. Some things are just not meant for us to command.
I am a professional track and field athlete. I have a coach that writes the workouts, decides how often a week I train, and largely decides which competitions he wants me to attend. This year I switched to a new coach, and he does things very differently from any other coach I’ve ever worked with. I trusted him with complete control of my training, and I became the world bronze medalist.
I had to let go of my desire to lead. I had to release the fear of failure. I had to free myself of the anxiety of uncertainty and let trust guide my actions.
The belief and knowledge that I would be okay regardless, helped me to trust in all aspects of my life. Worry fell away, easy and effortlessly, like autumn leaves.
