Yippee, the weekend is here...
Take a few minutes and check out our video below. It's eight minutes, but we cover lots of ground.
- Hair
- Babies and other fun announcements
- The Giving Challenge and,
- Make Your Derby Picks
Remember to tune in tomorrow when we feature another worthy recipient of our Yellow Envelope Project.
I was cursed with terrible tresses... lame locks... a miserable mop.
When your hair is straight and fine, haircuts feel like a necessary evil - an expensive, but necessary evil.
The last time I liked my hairdresser, I was living in Louisville and getting my hair cut by a woman whose name was Jazz. I loved a lot of things about her. I loved that her name was Jazz. I loved that she was cool and funky and that every time I got my haircut hers was another color. I loved that while I showed up after work wearing Talbot's suits, Jazz's sported vintage styles from second hand clothing stores and looked great.
Most of all I loved that this cool, hip, funky hairdresser named Jazz gave the stamp of approval to my uncool, unhip, nothing-funky-about-it haircut. With all the aptitude of a true artist, Jazz matched people's hair with their styles. She was the quintessential hair-stylist.
Hairdressers play interesting rolls in our lives, don't they? We talk to them in much the same way we do a friend or the way a "regular" might talk to his favorite bartender. We share snippets about our families, our weekend plans, what we are excited about, or the latest list of things that is stressing us out. Like old friends, the next time we meet, we can usually pick up right where we left off. "What ever happened with...?" or, "How was your vacation to...?" Hair dressers are part friend, part counselor and, and if you are anything like me - hoping for a brand-new-you when she spins the chair around - part miracle worker.
Friday is National Hairstylist Appreciation Day. Consider delivering a small treat to the person who cuts your hair. Tell her she is, "A Cut Above." and thank her for helping you look your best. I am guessing it will be unexpected and I am sure it will spread a little shine.
I delivered my a couple of days early.
After two years of living in Grapevine and six hairstylists, I met Kendall. She has cut my hair four times now and I must say, I'm feeling pretty "jazzed" about her.
Shining off until tomorrow...
Saturday I will begin Day #1 of Round Two of my 29 Day Giving Challenge.
My starting over after 20 straight days of consciously giving is not nearly as important as the reason why I must start over.
Wednesday, April 21 was a long day. Up and out of the house by 8:00 a.m.. Meeting at 9:00, 10:00, and 11:00. Attended a staff retreat in the afternoon where we spent five hours drafting a one-line vision statement and a three-line mission statement. Home. Dinner. Bath, bed, and book routine. Nine o'clock at night and, darn it, I still haven't consciously given my gift for the day.
But all did not have to be lost.
I lost my chance to give because I am prideful. I could have given Richard a night off from household chores or, even better, I could have given him the gift of a compliment, or the gift of my affection.
But, I didn't.
I didn't because earlier in the night we had an argument and it left me angry. I knew that not giving Richard my daily gift would mean starting the entire Giving Challenge over and still, with all of that at stake, I couldn't find a way to give. God forbid that Richard confuse my thoughtful gesture with my letting our argument blow over - or even worse - my calling a truce.
I was willing to start the entire giving challenge over just as long as I didn't have to swallow my pride and give when I did not want to. I think that is worth repeating. I was willing to start the entire giving challenge over, just as long as I didn't have to swallow my pride and give when I did not want to!
Cost of the book, $19.95. Cost of the indisputable lesson I learned about myself, PRICELESS.
Some people would look at my life and think I was an experienced, maybe even an elite-level giver. Cards, baked goods, thoughtful treats - that is the kind of giving that come easily to me.
Followers of this blog will remember me stating early on that I intended to challenge myself during the 29-Day giving cycle and not allow myself to default to planned gifts - gifts that I wrapped and presented on my terms. In fact, I announced that I was not going to plan any of my gifts and that, instead, I would let each day's opportunity naturally present itself .
Actually, I give myself high marks for sticking with my commitment to give spontaneously. I gave up a parking spot at Target. I gave the gift of time, by providing a listening ear when I was running late. I donated money to the Humane Society when normally I would have used the money for something else, and I gave quite a few other things along the same lines.
The indisputable lesson I learned about myself by participating in 20 days of Cami Walker's 29 Gift Giving Challenge is the following: I give when I want to and I am not at all good about giving when I don't want to.
Sound small?
It's not. This experience has forced me to think and rethink what I know about giving. Stay with me.
It is easy to present someone with a gift and to confuse it with giving. I can do this sort of giving all day long. I have a few extra bucks to spare and wrapping a present to give someone else makes me feel good too. And then, of course, there is an added bonus of receiving attention and accolades when the package we present truly shines.
What this exercise has taught me, though, is that the kind of giving that makes me proud of who I am is the giving I do when I flat out do not want to. Not spontaneous giving, because as it turns out, I can still control that. No, I am talking about the kind of giving that forces you to swallow your pride. Giving Richard a gift on April 21 would have been hard. It would have felt like defeat - like I was giving in when he so blatantly made me feel bad. It would have meant forgoing the chance to teach him a lesson and deciding not keeping score. It would have meant swallowing my pride.
I think Cami Walker and Mbali would be proud of the raised level of consciousness that their Challenge has provided me. I'm not a new, changed, fixed person, but I am more aware. I stalled out 20 days into the challenge because it asked of me something that I was not willing to give. That "something" is the very thing I need to move toward if, as Cami proclaims, giving is truly going to change my life.
I'll start again on Saturday, May 1. Anybody want to join me? Visit me in the Community Forum labeled Today's Post and let me know. Or drop in and tell us something you have learned while participating in the 29-Day Giving Challenge.
Shining off until tomorrow...