Hair I Am!

I recently moved, as many of you know and I am not working right now. I have had a few jobs over the years, and have been self employed for the last eight. Working for myself has had it's share of benefits, but I have missed being in the public eye so to speak. I don't regret any of my decisions, I just miss the people. People watching was a great past time for me and my friends. I eventually taught my hubby the fine art. So I figure I must blog about what I love most, so hair I am to give you the inside scoop. Ok, it's inside my head, who cares about semantics right now?



For those of you who don't have a clue what I am talking about...people watching is when you are sitting or walking or standing in a crowed place looking at and evaluating the passers by. I can't help myself, it has become somewhat of a sick obsession. I like to see what different people are wearing, eating, talking about, acting like. It is so fascinating to me to see all of us out there in our diversity, trying to be alike, or stand out from the crowd.

Still, every now and then, I find myself wanting to go up to someone who might be having a bad hair life and say "Here's my card, call me when you are ready for some real help!" No, I have never done that, but thought about it at least a hundred thousand times! The truth about people is that most of us seek attention in some form or another, whether it is negative or positive. Some of us will deny forever that we even seek any kind of attention at all, but that is just not so. There is attention, or perhaps intention, to everything we people do. I'll give you an example.

I used to consider myself shy, and did not publicly wish for attention. I thought I lived in my own little world, and only gave the key to certain people. And those were the only people I wanted attention from. Now whether they came into my world or not would be something else entirely to discuss on a different blog! Now, seeing myself as shy, as I did, I find it rather amusing that I would seek out the most outrageous hair styles and makeup I could do and wear that with out trepidation. For heaven's sake, I would wear gold, hot pink and blue striped eye shadow! Why, for the attention. Yep.

I really did think I liked that punk-rock sort of more new wave style I tried to make my own back in the late eighties. But even now I find myself doing weird things with my hair, clothes and shoes. Why? You guessed it, attention. Whether or not someone else likes it or not is really not the point, it is the fact that someone else noticed. Yes, I'll get to the point.

Hair is the attention getter for most of us. People notice it right away, good or bad. Now whether they will tell you the truth to your face is whole other story. Most people will either say something nice, or completely avoid the topic altogether. No one wants to hurt your feelings right? And let's face it, some of us are stuck in a by gone era which either began or ended right around high school. Some of you out there have had the very same hairstyle for decades! Now, this is not to say that is all bad, if the style is flattering or has become a trademark (thank you Mr. Trump for giving the rest of us something to consider). I suppose if your hideous do, actually gets you recognized and makes you a fortune, who am I to say you should change it? Gene Simmons, keep your do, it works for you!

But the fact of matter is, if you want what you want, and don't wish for change that is fine. I am just saying it may be getting you attention, but you should ask yourself if it is the attention you really want. The next time you sit in your hairdresser's chair and ask what they think...be open for an honest answer. Don't be offended if the style you currently have is perceived as unflattering by your stylist. And don't rush to take their advise either. (I'll refer you back to my last post for more on that.) Take pictures of the styles you find the most attractive. Ask about those. Ask if you're hair will do what you see in the pictures. If not, ask for more details about why and what they would suggest instead. There needs to be, sometimes a LOT, of dialog with your stylist about change. Make sure, before any shear or cutting implement touches one strand on your head, that you are comfortable with the procedure and are certain of the outcome. If your stylist refuses to dialog with you, get up and leave! Quickly.

Confession: I love attention. I love knowing that people are looking at my work and admiring it on themselves or someone else. It gives me great satisfaction to know I can make people fall in love themselves...ok at least with one part of themselves. I would never make a client change, nor would I do something without permission. I personally would never do any intentionally to mess up someones hair. Cosmetology is the study of hair. That is what hairdresser's do, study.
It is scientific, and much like the medical profession, it is a practice. Hairdressers who are any good at what they do, never stop practicing or learning new things. This is a craft that you have to use or loose.