WARNING: REFLECTIONS IN THIS MIRROR MAY BE DISTORTED BY SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED VIEWS OF BEAUTY
When I meet a new guest, I am excited and sometimes a bit nervous. It's a bit of a first date and you never know if it's going to go as well as you hope. I am in my comfortable space. I have created a safe haven to do hair in. A space in which we can speak about the vulnerabilities of life and beauty. I am comfortable in my space as much as you can imagine me being. But the guest is new to the space and potentially out of their comfort zone. There is a lot of courage and trust, I believe, that is happening to let someone new do your hair and to go somewhere new. And so, when the guest sits down and looks in the mirror more times than not, they say something bad about themselves. The mirror is not showing them what I am seeing. This breaks my heart. There is so much of me that wishes I could tell them that they are wrong, the mirror is lying to you. But I can't, because I don't have the credibility. When I sit in front of the mirror and take the 5 second opportunity to find something wrong with me, I do too. So, I get it. I hate the toxic positivity, trust me I am not here to tell you that you are wrong for thinking your cheeks are too round or that your face doesn't have wrinkles on it because what is the point of that? All I am here for is to point out there is a chance for MORE love for ourselves in these moments. MORE compassion and more showing up and listening to ourselves beyond the words. So what is standing in the way of us seeing ourselves fully and completely? The "good and the bad" not being anything other than the magic that creates this beautiful human being looking back at themselves through a looking glass.
My hope is for us to create a relationship build on trust, honesty, vulnerability, and courage.
I am so grateful to have this opportunity to create a space to connect and grow with creativity and expression.
With love and gratitude,
Jillian
The Beauty Project