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From a Dutch painting c. 1697

When I was a teenager I used to wear scarves on my head. I had frizzy hair with terrible cowlicks. It always looked un-brushed unless I spent a long time with my head upside down over a diffuser blowing hot air over thick mousse that dried my hair in curly clumps. I wore scarves that matched my chosen 'hippie' persona and easily covered my mess of hair.

As an adult I cut off all my hair and wore a pixie cut for a few years. But eventually I stopped getting it cut once a month and it all came back.

But that's not really why I'm here.

I am interested in the hyper-sexualization of even modest women's fashions. I am interested in the cultural contexts that lead women to take the paths that they take. I am interested in the way that women express faiths that have been written and taught by men for thousands of years.

But that's not really why I'm here either.

I think that I am here because there is a Creator who leads us each to creative expressions of faith. About a year ago, a thought was conceived and grew into an interest with no context at all.

Some mornings, I would put a scarf over my hair and feel like a hand rested gently on my head. It was not a patronizing hand. Just comforting.

Sometimes when I was feeling irritable or exasperated I would put that scarf on to remind me of a presence that is higher than my trifling troubles. That presence reminds me to be a peacemaker. Sometimes.

When I was to lead worship or write prayers, I would don that scarf as though it would shield me from distraction and filter in the holy.

I am here to be still and contemplate why this expression of faith seems to suit my current needs.

I am here to learn more about the experiences of those whose different needs are also met by similar pieces of cloth.

I am here to question my own religious and spiritual, feminist and feminine journey and how that journey is illustrated in my life.

Let's try four months of consistently covering, for better or for worse.