My mother has a love-hate relationship with her hairdressers. She loves
to get her hair done, but sooner or later – usually within 2 years – she
is unhappy with the work they do and then she is off to find another salon and
another hairstylist.
It’s not like she looks through the phonebook and goes through the list
of salons in her area. She gets recommendations from everywhere she goes. While
at church this past summer she saw someone in the congregation whose haircut
she liked. So, she actually went up to the woman to ask her the name of the
salon and hairstylist she went to.
I started going to my hairstylist, Lori at Salon Cusato in
Hamilton, in 1990. I was married then, she was fresh out of cosmetology school,
and we just really hit it off. I have followed her to four different
salons since she started her career, and we sure have been through a lot
together!
We have shared perms (which she told me not to do, but I insisted),
long hair, short hair, my divorce, the loss of her Dad, her marriage, and birth
of her son. You can see a few of my hair styles over the years in my “Celebrating
My Anniversary” post from back in September. Lori is certainly someone I can
rely on and has come to be a part of my rituals.
Rituals. That’s a funny term isn't it? A ritual is defined by Merriam Webster
as “always done in a particular situation and in the same way each time.”
When I think about going to the same hairdresser for 25 years as a
ritual, I wonder if I am so OCD that I have the same rituals for other things
and can’t break out of them.
None of my friends would ever
call me spontaneous – I definitely am a planner and like routine. When I was
married to a police officer it used to make him crazy that I would do the same
things each and every day at the same time. For example, during the week I
would run the same route every morning. I think he thought it was boring.
Similarly, I go to the gym at the same time every day, use the same dry
cleaner, I visit Bennie the shoe guy almost weekly, I bring in bagels for our
Senior Leadership meeting every Wednesday from the same bagel shop, and my
parents and I sit in the same seats every week at the same church service we
have been attending for over 45 years.
There is so much of my work day and life in general that I have no control
over. These routines that I have help me keep structure, and my sanity, in my
busy world. They are the few things that I can actually control.
Do you have a routine that you
follow consistently? Or do you like to experiment and try spice it up? I’d love
to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
6 comments:
Routine, consistency, some of my favorite words; spontaneity is not in my vocabulary! A creature of habit, organization, I do not like the unknown. Sometimes to a fault maybe like when things don't go according to plan, but it helps keep me grounded.
I can so relate to this. I have been going to the same hairdresser since 1994. I followed her through different salons, she did my hair and makeup for my wedding, and she is the person on the East Coast I've know the longest since moving from the midwest to NJ. :)
I am SUCH a creature of routine. Every morning I boot up my computer and head to the cafe to fill up my water container and get a cup for my coffee (I don't like to drink out of my travel mug). I always see the same people during this morning routine, so it's nice to check in and see how everyone's evening went.
Same thing with my hairdresser! My cousin is a hairdresser and has become the only person I trust to touch my hair. I've attempted Groupons before for a few other stylists and I always end up calling her to fix what they did :)
I do like to try new things but routine is very comforting to me.
After reading this post, I’m realizing that I have two very different ways of living based on my setting/task at hand. Anything related to work and/or my education – words to describe me would be planner, organized, scheduler, manager, prepared, controlled (chaos), structured, etc. However, when I give myself permission to take a vacation and travel I find myself complete separating from those words and becoming quite the opposite. For example, I enjoy traveling to different countries, usually during the off season for cheaper prices, less crowds and less need for planning overall. My favorite way to travel is a last minute plane ticket that has me arriving in one country and leaving from another – the plane ticket is the only thing scheduled and “on the books;” everything in-between those dates is not planned, no accommodations booked, etc. I travel with an attitude of “figure it out when I get there” and start a journey. Descriptive words for my travel and extended free time would be very different – I find it freeing!
I just finished reading " The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life And In Business" by Charles Duhigg. It's a fascinating read and details how our brains work in relation to habits, why some habits are helpful and others are not, how habits can make or breajk a business and how to transform the habits that don't serve us well. Highly recommended!
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