moving thoughts.....

hi all my friends who have been following reflections..
please follow my new blog also DADsquared at www.dadsquaredblog@blogspot.com
reflections will stay salon crazy focused and DADsquared will be all things father and family!

Send DADsquared some love will ya?
Thank you,


Namaste

Five Salon Days 'till Christmas

December in a Hair Salon is a curious thing.


Historically it is one one our busiest times of the year.


I have already tweeted that I feel as though I am in a "glittery, candy filled, cloud full of hairspray".


That pretty much sums it up..


December begins...
And then...SNAP, it's over..


Our Salon is beautiful this season..
Lots of silver and sparkle..
Ella Fitzgerald Christmas music fills the air..
And we are creating a little differently than we usually do..


A little more heart.
A lot more gratitude.

I love this time of the year,
And I have been noticing something different.


A slight shift in priorities,
A giant shift in what's important.


I have been getting more thank you's this season..
More kisses and hugs..
More baskets of homemade treats..
More holiday cards with lovely family photos..
More hand made treasures being literally.....delivered by hand..


Times are tough guys..
People are struggling..
Jobs have been lost..
And money is tight..


Our Salon is extremely fortunate..

We are busy....and loved.....and our doors can stay open.


I feel for those that are not as lucky this holiday season.


5 more salon days until Christmas..
Ah... Breath and Smile.



Namaste

Blue Wigs and Happier Days...

I found this great picture of my Godson Luca when he was just a tiny baby.

He is so big now........ for a 4 1/2 year old.

As delightful as seeing this picture is, I am drawn back to the memories of the day.

The memories of that day.

Hello Henry?

You don't know me...

I am...... was..........a friend of Carol Perrys.

I'm afraid I have some bad news. 


Carol died on Tuesday.. 


I saw your name here in her book and I was sure she would have wanted you to know.


She spoke often of you.
You were very important to her.

Now a little about Carol.

She was many things...

A shrewd business woman..

A cool Mother to a not so cool Daughter.

A loving Grandmother.

An avid traveler, I still have many mementos she brought back to me from far away places.

She was a great conversationalist and an even greater listener.

I had done Carols hair for a very long time..

It was me that first felt that lump on her head.... (our business is a very personal one..we touch, literally touch.)

It was also me that kept insisting she have that checked out.

When Carols hair began to fall out due to the chemotherapy we always found a way to laugh or at least smile...
We would dream up stories of what her hair would be like when it grew back in....


Never IF it grew back in.


Eventually we knew she would need a wig, she was not letting her illness keep her away from work, from meetings, from life.

She asked me if I would come with her to find one.
And I of course agreed.

Joel and I had Luca that day.

We agreed that considering the realities of the day, that Joel would lay low with the baby and I would do what needed to be done with Carol.

As we arrived at the wig store, once again Carol amazed me with her strength and her humor..

She was so happy we brought the baby....

He's  just what I needed she remarked.

We tried on several wigs before finding just the right one..

Carols own hair had begun to fall out in clumps and right then and there in the store she asked the clerk if he had clippers.

Let's do this she said..there is no time like the present. 

As you by now know, Carol lost her battle with cancer.

But on that day, that incredible day, we did not cry.
We laughed.

We wrapped our fear and sadness up for just a little while and put it aside.

We tried on bright blue wigs and pretended that life would never be anything but perfect.

And you know what?

At that moment... for that moment... it was.





Namaste

Sent from my iPad

Inspirational Hiatus

This Writer will return shortly... renewed and more inspired than ever.

I Married A Shaman - And Other Interesting Stories: Men of Spain

I share this blog on my page because I must...
My heart tells me so....



I Married A Shaman - And Other Interesting Stories: Men of Spain: "A story about the lure of Spain and souls reincarnated... “Spain is calling me...”, I said. “Andalusia.” That was ten summers ago. I was l..."

BUDDHA will be doing your hair today.

I was recently inspired by a post I read from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.

I will share it now with you, exactly as it was shared with me.

"There is a common perception that compassion is, if not actually an impediment, at least irrelevant to professional life. Personally, I would argue that not only is it relevant, but that when compassion is lacking, our activities are in danger of becoming destructive. This is because when we ignore the question of the ...impact our actions have on others' well-being, inevitably we end up hurting them."

 

That statement brought some interesting thoughts to mind.

As a (somewhat) practicing Buddhist, I am not unfamiliar with the concept of work as meditation... work as a spiritual practice.

You do not have to be versed in Eastern Philosophy to understand the power of intention, as a matter of fact wonderful teachers like Dr. Wayne Dyer have brought these once lofty and far away ideas so much closer and made them more..... lets say accessible.

I digress.

What his holiness was explaining is that in our culture we have been taught to believe that the work place,  our career spaces, are not places where compassion should dwell...

We have all heard the saying "climbing the corporate ladder." which is usually followed by "be careful who you step on on the way up!"..... right?

How about, "sleeping your way to the top." or  "burning a work bridge." or "keeping a door open."

I can go on and on with negative, work related statements.

Which brings me back to my earlier interesting thought.

I am one grateful man!

The power of compassion, my buddhist beliefs and my idea of work as meditation has brought a whole new level to what I do behind the chair.

When I can get my self to that place of true compassion and intent at work, it is pure magic....

I liken it to the amazing book, Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel.

Oh come on Henry, really?

Cooking with emotion to create emotion?
What could that possibly have to do with hair?

Well, I hear you....... cooking and mixing color hmmmmm such an odd comparison.

But I did say that Meditation and the power of Intent was pretty amazing right?

When I mix color it is very much like cooking..

1 part love

2 parts experience

1 part joy

a dash of hope

and a drop of excitement.

When I mix color it is not just what I mix, nor is it just how i mix, but more importantly why I mix.

I have seen beauty happen each and everytime I do hair from that place.
When I do it out of love and prepare myself, and my products to give.
It is then, and only then, I receive.

Amazing, isn't it?

The  Dalai Lama says that when we meditate, when we open our hearts (first) and then our minds to beautiful possibilities.

He says there is magic in us all..... there is  Buddha in us all.

So therefore I can safely say that on those very special days........ when all is good in me, when I have an open heart and I allow compassion to lead my way.......

That It may not (just) be me doing your hair that day.....

Buddha might be in the mix as well.

Namaste

A little something to ponder

"Oh Jesus, Vanessa, what do you think men look at you for........... your teeth?!"



A little something my Nancy Gallo would say to her daughter when she visited the salon.