Naturally Occuring Awesomeness

(pre-script: To get the most out of this post, go down to the playlist, click on the song, " 32 Flavors" covered here by Alana Davis, then come back and resume reading. I'll wait...) (...still waiting...)

The most glorious head of naturally occurring hair that I have ever seen was connected to the head of a boy named Grant. The last time I saw Grant was in high school, 14 years ago. For all I know, he's bald now; often the boys with the greatest hair are the first to lose it. WHY was that fabulous hair wasted on a boy in the first place, when it could have saved some girl hundreds of dollars in hair maintenance? I'm just saying... Let me describe this hair to you. It was full, voluminous, large wavy curls some indescribably bright, yet dark shade of burnt red. You couldn't even find such a bright shade of red in the drug store hair color aisle; it was practically jewel toned. Even if you could find such a color in a drug store, the problem with fake red hair color is that it doesn't last. It fades very quickly to a sickly light orange-pinkish tone. A pinkish tone in your hair is okay, if you are deliberately going for pink. But if you are deliberately going for pink, you'd go for a more deliberate shade, like a bright, hot pink, or magenta or maybe even pastel, but certainly not sickly orange-pink. I once knew a girl who was a make up artist and she had dark hair on top, with blond underneath, and under that, a layer of pink; you hardly saw the pink, unless she pulled her hair up, or if it fell forward sometimes when she walked, or something. It was very chic, especially since she was a makeup artist. Hair like that really suited a makeup artist.* It sort of said "You might want to rethink whatever your first impression of me was, I'm so unexpected underneath what you see. I'm full of hidden surprises." I like hair that has a message; I really do. For instance, anyone with blond hair on top and black or dark brown hair underneath is just letting you know that he or she is deeper than the surface of things. But now I've gone from naturally occurring phenomenal awesomeness to man-made deliberacy. The thing about the naturally occurring phenomenon is that it is very likely taken for granted by it's owner. Do I think that Grant could ever truly possibly understand the wealth that rode upon his head? No, no I really do not. It's as random as the fact that I, for instance, happen to have the hardest, thickest fingernails that you ever did encounter. And it's not because I've spent countless hours eating jello and swimming in chlorinated water, or whatever it is they say makes your nails strong; it's just another randomly occurring natural phenomenon. The only people who truly appreciate someones naturally occurring awesomeness are the ones who don't have that same particular awesomeness naturally occurring for them. So you can say to me: "Wow, you sure have strong nails!" And I can say "Thank you," and I probably WOULD say "Thank you," for such is the way I am conditioned, having lived an American childhood, after all, but really, I can't take any credit for the thickness of my fingernails. I can only say "thank you" in the sense that I appreciate that you are appreciating the fact that there might be something fantastic in my basic design.** But if you say "Wow, I really like the way you chose that sweater with that particular ring; it really inspires me, somehow." I can say "Thank you! You know, I really thought long and hard about which sweater/ring combination best suited my mood this morning, and I'm so glad that I could positively affect your creativity in this very small, but oh, so deliberate way."
-XOXO,

*I wish I had known that when I was fresh out of high school, though. I could have gone straight to beauty school and gotten a degree in Make-up artistry, and gone to work at MAC in the mall, or something, while waiting for Derek to discover me and sweep me off of my feet. But I digress.)

**Everyone has fantastic design awesomeness; it's just not always recognized; It's the recognition of the thing that is precious.