Over this past month and a half, I have been running around like crazy, hunting and gathering necessities for our family in preparation for this pandemic. I have always paid close attention to the international news and, frankly, I knew our current president would not be able to handle the situation. Like the forever flight attendant, I swung into action in preparing for an emergency. It’s second nature to flight attendants; it's simply what we do. I forgot about my passion for being a stylist, I simply put it on the back burner and focused on my family first, and I am glad I did because everyone is safe and prepared for staying home.
I immediately looked inside and outside the house and decided to do all of the crappy jobs that needed to be tackled. From cleaning the garage, to weeding and yard clean-up, to
cleaning out all of the cabinets and closets in every room. Shamefully, I have commandeered the closets in the other bedrooms upstairs. So the hot mess in those closets belonged to me.
Now that I have run out of overdue home projects to tackle and organized my husband’s and dad's daily routines to work within our state's new shelter-in-place order, ironically, I can now relax and accept my new situation for the foreseeable future.
I looked in the mirror and screamed when I saw my hair. It was a thick, dry, frizzy, gray-root-showing hot mess! I am the go-to-the-hair-salon-regularly kinda chick. I really took my hair stylist and other beauty experts who help me look my best for granted. I washed my own hair and patched it up enough for a bun until my visit to the salon, but now I cannot just hop in my car and have miracles worked because of the shelter-in-place restrictions. That means only essential workers or businesses can be open and out and about. My hair said, “Guuurl, your hairstylist is an essential business owner!” In reality, I wanted to go see her before the order, but I thought it would be safer if I stayed at home. It's just hair, right? I have been tangling with my mangy mane for the past few weeks. I have ordered all types of products, and they are great, but without a professional using them or teaching me it's just not the same.
Tonight I washed my tangled mess of coiled hair and literally combed out four sizable balls of hair! I was mortified by what was landing in my comb and on the shower floor. I realized it wasn't because my hair was in bad condition, because my stylist had done a great job. It was stress due to the overwhelming fear of the pandemic. The stress from worrying about my family, my job and business, and the guilt of wondering if I put my family at risk due to prior exposure to many folks with minimal precautions. I decided tonight that I am going to relax, pray, meditate, focus on my passion/business, and, most importantly, listen to the medical professionals and my state and local government leaders.
So I am going to start hosting video learning and sharing events that help other women who want to get back to center. Women who also need and want to relax, laugh, and learn about techniques in beauty, health, nutrition, fitness, and self-care. We will be indulging in real chats, getting answers from experts, and sharing our own experiences to help one another get back to our old selves. So we will all be ready to hit the ground running, stronger and more confident than ever, when we emerge from this crisis.