Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

This is a long one, so let me get you a nice cup of tea or a glass of your favourite tipple and you                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     can pull up a chair and relax...
Today was my first day on the course! I'll write about that in another post but last night I got to thinking and reflecting about why I started on this road and what got me to this point...


I've always been a bit of a "Jill Of All Trades" and my interests are many and varied as my friends will tell you (and often tease me about!). I'll pick something up and study it in depth only to pick up something else a week/month/year later and add that to my repertoire too. But growing up I never would have guessed that this is where I would be by my late twenties. 


A little over a year ago I gave up a job working at something I thought I would have loved to have done as a career. One of those things many see as a "dream job" and indeed I know how lucky I was to have worked at it full time. I was working professionally as a photographer but, for many reasons, I discovered that doing that as a profession just wasn't for me.  Though I learned a lot and enjoyed a good portion of it, I found it trapping to work in the field, to other's briefs and it didn't give me the creative freedom I wanted with that hobby.
I've worked for money reasons in the past when I needed to save. But I could never work for money alone.


So, when I gave up the photography job I pretty much had every choice possible in front of me to begin again. The world was my oyster, as they say, and the options were so limitless they were daunting. I knew that I love to be creative, so anything I decided to work at at that point would have required me to go back to some form of education. So, I literally sat down day after day in front of the jobs listing website and went through each and every profession. Things I would never in a million years have thought of doing I looked at and tried to visualize myself working at it.
I surprised even myself when I came across barbering and thought "hmmm... maaaybe". And, as the days passed I found myself going back to this over and over again. 
It was creative, but on a one-to-one basis with each client so you constantly have new challenges and it's still a job, not a hobby. It's social enough without being overly tiring like the photography was (which like being a children's entertainer for 8 hours each day!). It's a business and a skill you can travel with and I value that.


And it was something else too... something I can't quite explain. 
The transforming something wild of messy into something styled. The stubble into the clean-shaven. It's the same reason why I love vaccuming ( yes, I love vacuuming!). I find it relaxing and almost zen-like to watch the hoover suck up the dirt leaving the clean surface behind and I like cutting hair and shaving for the same reason.


So I looked into courses and a few months later I signed up to do a basics course at The Waldorf Barber Shop in Dublin. I really, really enjoyed that (and if you'd like to read more about my time there you can look at my fellow colleague at the time's blog here: Diary Of A Vintage Barber Enthusiast ). You'll have to skip back a bit to find the entries from that time.
The course was short and part time but it gave me the taste for barbering and I knew then it was something I really enjoyed. But I knew I'd still need further training to find a job and to be confident enough in my abilities.


The rest I guess is history.
Though maybe not quite...
While working to save money to do the course I'm doing now for a while there I flirted with the idea of being a dog groomer! Yes, I thought "I love animals and it has some similarities with barbering..." but then I joined this website: Badger And Blade, were I met some of the nicest gents I know.
Honestly, the guys (and a few of us gals) on there, with their support, advice, generosity and their never-ending welcome really just hooked me. I began to love and appreciate a good lather and a traditional shave as well as the discussions on so many other topics. It was like my ideal barber shop was online! My mind was made up, so I did my research, saved my money and well... here I am.


So how did today go? Well that's for another night and another post as I'm not used to those early mornings just yet and my bed is calling me... Until tomorrow...


BE