I'm a day later than planned in closing out my previous sprint in barbering. I had a lovely weekend with longtime high school and college friends, wrapping with family dinner and then the Super Bowl last night (or, at least, until halftime was over). No Eagles? No Bears? After Benito, I was good.
Barbering-wise it was a very slow week for me. I caught four cuts, each a bald cut with a beard trim. I continued to exercise my fade skill on my beard.
I also posted two different curated music sets in the past sprint. My January set is all about setting intentions and it will motivate you from start to finish. Alternative, electronic with decent hip hop seasoning, I think you'll enjoy this mix.
"This Will Be My Year" on Mixcloud
There's a more cerebral musical dialogue going on between my friend Austin and I on Mixcloud where we seem to be capturing music of a particular moment in our day/week to paint the time, as Basquiat might've put it.
"Tuesday Night's Prep is Wednesday's Adulting" on Mixcloud
I made that mix Tuesday night (hence the title). I had a little bit of adulting to do and rather than let it fester and I continue to worry about a few disparate things that require personal attention during working hours, I took a day to knock out a bunch of things. I didn't like some of the adulting I had to do, but I did it without complaint and allowed myself to have an amazing weekend, worry-free, as a result.
Keep Doing
Last week I really kept on top of things, worked on communicating mindfully with clients, everyone at the shop, my folks, my kids, my friends. Left space for people around me to shine (or learn). Hit the gym twice. Five weeks of mindfully learning out loud. Supportive people around me make it easy to stay on target.
Less Of
My morning routine took a little bit of a hit last week with sleeping in, relying on instant coffee, weather making my joints a little cranky... This week I want to focus on making my mornings count a bit more (like finishing up this post today) by getting up with my alarm rather than snooze it several times.
More Of
I'm noticing that sometimes other students are watching me perform a cut and I'm realizing that I'm developing a rhythm as I focus more on staying in one place rather than hovering all around the barber chair as I work. I'm methodically going section by section in my cuts. Ppl are observing and noticing the attention I'm putting into clients so... yeah, more of this for sure.
Stop Doing
As I'm learning proper, ergonomic ways to hold and use my shears, I need to really stop holding tools in ways that feel natural to me but are actually straining my hands and wrists and elbows (and shoulders and back). Just because I can bend in certain ways doesn't mean that's the way I should do a thing.
Start Doing
I've now been observed performing every type of cut. This month I start working with tinting and I'm excited about it, so I think I'm going to start actually hawking my services and inviting ppl to come visit me in the shop for a decent cut for $10 (other services are super discounted as well because, well, we're a barber school). I'm ready for y'all's hair (especially in a shop where master barbers won't let me fail you).
