Performing this to-do was a pretty epic deal for me. I know that sounds dramatic and kind of shallow, but you have to understand that for me a braid is more than just a braid. You see I could have been doomed to spend the rest of my life sporting the same painfully ordinary side-braid I’ve been wearing since I was fourteen, but instead this weekend I decided to make a change; to take a stand against the normal way of things. This weekend I learned a completely new side-braid. Not exactly a bold statement, but trust me this was BIG.

Truthfully, I would have been perfectly content to forever wear that same harmless, simple side-braid I’ve always worn (the one I learned when I was five, playing with my barbie dolls). I enjoyed that braid very much. It was comfortable. My fingers always knew what to do: one strand over the other strand over the other. It was my go-to style when I was too lazy to throw my hair up in a bun. It worked just fine. Although, always at the back of my head I knew I needed a change.

This past weekend on a camping trip, John and I practiced a brand new hair braid: The Fishtail. It’s a gorgeous braid. Technically it’s trickier than the basic braid. The process is almost backwards: one strand under and over the other strand under and over the other. It took us a good fifteen minutes to feel comfortable with the pattern, but I have to say I absolutely love the results. It’s my new favourite braid (albeit the only other braid I know). But it’s a step in the right direction. I imagine I’ll wear it often; I’m even keen to learn a new one.

I suppose the moral of my story is that we all have our own side-braids to overcome. Sometimes those side-braids need to be messed with, changed, rearranged, or completely re-imagined. Because only until we embrace a little change can we make room for the possibility of something better….or if not better something equally comfortable.

*I’d like to give special thanks to John for agreeing to put this on our mutual to-do list. He agreed only because I told him it would be like tying knots. (Which was a total lie.)