Kindergarten Love. We should all be so blessed!

September 20, 2008 at 1:11 am (Enlighten)

 

So I went to have lunch today with Kenya at her school.  I was talking to her and her friends about what is happening in “The Tale of Despearaux” the book their teacher is reading to the class.  Then, a boy walks past  in the aisle behind us and Kenya leans back in what seems like slow motion and gently leans her head back so her golden hair hangs like the tresses of an angel and turns toward him.  His tender brown eyes get big as the world as he takes in this little vision.  He sees nothing else in the room but her. It is a holy moment.  They are in love.

 

“Mommy, Me and Oliver (not his real name) fell in love.  He’s my true love you know”  After seeing them together several times now there is not a doubt in anyone’s mind.  We’ve been told by the teachers, other students, other students parents, HIS parents!  It’s impossible for anyone who sees them together to miss it.  They lock eyes. They smile.  They share.  They laugh. They talk.  They make silly faces.  They enjoy eachother.

 

Yesterday in the hall one of the parents told us that her son told her about Kenya and Oliver.  She said disgustedly “Ugh, can you believe it!  What do THEY know about love. They aren’t in love.  Thery’re FIVE!” 

 

I’ve been thinking about this ever since.  The way I see it,  if anyone knows what love feels like it’s a five year old.  There are no judgments of class or intelligence or money.  They aren’t medicating old wounds.  They just know what they feel.  Their frontal lobes are not developed enough to rationalize.  They just go where the love is!  They avoid people and places where they do not feel it.  For them it is simple.

 

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to go back to that state of not thinking so much and simply move to where it feels good.  Use our emotional guidance system and simply divide our feelings into two simple categories.  The good ones and the bad ones.  Then, just walk toward the ones that feel good, avoiding the ones that feel bad.   I believe we can. 

 

Call this God or the Holy Spirit, I believe this “feeling” guidance is how we know if we are in the light, in the flow, in Love.  I believe we can all be “IN LOVE”  Love feels good.  It feels right when we love.  It feels good.  When we make choices or say things that feel bad inside we are not “In Love”.  We can’t control what others do or responsibilities we must attend to, but it is always our choice to do our lives “in love”

 

I know there will come a day for Kenya when being “in love” will become more complicated and her beautiful heart will break. I pray for the wisdom of Solomon when that day comes.  However, knowing this is coming does not take away from the real love she is in today. What a horrible disservice it would be to discredit it.  For now though, it is the sweetest thing to see love grow in her little heart for someone not in our family.  She has chosen wisely.  I love that girl!

 

 

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All Hot-Air Is Not Created Equal: The truth about blow dryers.

September 19, 2008 at 1:44 am (Empower)

“So What’s the deal with a $200 blow-dryer!  Hot air is hot air, right?!” 

 

Nope.  

 

I am going to help you learn the difference between a blow dryer you might use at say a hotel bathroom and one you might perhaps buy at the Now You Know How retail store. :o )  (Shameless plug, I know, but still)

 

Okay, so here is what you need to know.  Ordinary blow dryers do one thing.  They blow hot air.  The air blows past a heating element and until eventually the wate evaporates.  This works fine for drying paint or that wet spot on your shirt.  However, what we hair-addicts had noticed over time was that the hair was getting brittle and over-dry.  I am so happy that the smart people in science figured out how to use ionic technology. 

 

Ionic technology is the best thing to come along for our hair.  Instead of simply blowing hot air,  the air passes through an element that puts out negative ions that find the water molecules and pull them out of the cuticle of the hair more quickly and efficiently than evaporation.  This leaves the hair safer because it is not exposed to heat for so long. 

 

Then there is tourmaline.  This is the next cool feature that they have come up with.  Tourmaline is a stone that, in addition to many great healing qualities, they have found that it is very effective in maintaining the health and condition of the hair. Whoever did all this research is to be commended. 

 

Here’s a cool factoid.  If you use a really great blow dryer on your dirty hair it will, between the ions and the tourmaline, get cleaner!  It even helps second day hair to SMELL better.  Think about those ionic air purifiers.    It’s doing the same thing to your hair.  Pretty cool huh?

 

The money!  My god, why SO much money!  I know how the thinking goes.  “How can I justify the money for such a common every-day product.”  Here’s the thing. Figure out how often in a week you use a blow-dryer.  Then, calculate how much time you spend using it.  Add up those hours.  Now, figure out how many hours in a year that is.  With a great tool you can cut that time in half, your hair will look WAY shinier and healthier and you arm will hurt way less because it doesn’t need to hang out in the air as long. 

 

Women’s Power Tools.  Go in the garage of most American men.  Notice how many tools there are .  Between the hand tools and the power tools add up how much those cost and how many hours a year they get used.  Now look back at your number.  Trust me.  A couple of hundred bucks is not that much for a tool you will use several times a week and that will save you so much time and effort. Your time and shoulder muscles are worth it! 

 

So hopefully that helps sort out at least one crazy thing today.  You can go to my website www.NowYouKnowHow.com and see the one I happen to be in love with at the moment. It’s important to know that I am NOT brand loyal.  I’m quality loyal.  So if I find a dryer or brush or anything I like better than the one I happen to be carrying then I’ll happily vote the old one off the island.  No hard feelings, just business.  So,  if you need a new blow dryer  you should get one.  You’ll be glad you did.

 

 

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My Story.

September 18, 2008 at 8:38 am (Enlighten)

Welcome!  Thanks for coming over.  

 

I figure if I’m going to be blogging, I should at least let you know a little bit about me.  So, here’s my story. After you read mine, I want to hear yours!

 

I’m a hairstylist from Miami. I live in Nashville.  I’ve done hair since’93.  I have an amazing partner named Tim.  In addition to being my life partner, he is my parenting partner and business partner.  We have an extremely unconventional marriage.  It works for us.  We have two crazy-cool girls named Kenya and Aslan.  They are 5 and 3.5.  I get weepy when I talk about them.  They fascinate me. 

 

In ’05 my whole life changed.  I lost my father.  I lost my religion.  I lost my dearest friends.  I was spinning, reeling, lost.  I had a 2yr old and a 5 month old.  Now that I look back on it, it is probably very much like how the “ugly duckling” felt upon hearing the news… 

 

“WHAT!!  You mean, she isn’t my real mother!

 I’m not even from here!  My butt isn’t really all that big after all!

So who the hell am I?”

 

  

So, after a head-spinning shift in my reality it occurred to me to find out what I could do, who I could choose to be.  So I asked (God, the Universe, My higher-self. I’m not entirely certain how to name such beauty.) for a million dollar idea.  I wanted to create a more fantastic life, and there is only so much hair that a girl can cut in a day.  I needed something big so I could see my big ideas manifested in the material world. 

 

So, I got an idea in the shower (where I get 95% of my ideas).  After answering a client’s many questions about blow-drying her hair, it occurred to me that even though I had answered that question a zillion times in my career, SHE had never heard it before!  If she didn’t know how, then maybe there were lots of other women who would like to know.  And so Now You Know How was born.  I created a DVD teaching women how to do an amazing blow out.

 

Now You Know How...To Blow-Dry Your Hair DVD

Now You Know How...To Blow-Dry Your Hair DVD

 

There it was.  I got my answer. It was as if all those losses I had endured in such short order were actually blessings that released me from the chains of those who only had a place in my life as long as I was unaware of my power.  I accept full responsibility for choosing that path, and for making a choice to change. 

 

And so, instead of letting that good idea come and go without action, I chose to walk toward it until it seemed like a bad idea.  (Which it never has!)  So, we shot the DVD in ’06, and finally in July of ’08 we launched!  We are a little like Bambi on the ice right now, learning the ropes of marketing and PR.  It’s new, and scary, and I can TOTALLY do it! 

 

That’s my story in a tiny nut shell.  I look forward to hearing from you and learning about your journey.  Are you starting something new?  Have you had a shake-up in your reality?  Are you surprising yourself with things you didn’t know you could do?

 

Thanks for coming!

Blessings on your head!

 

Kimberly

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My intention.

September 10, 2008 at 1:02 am (Empower, Enjoy, Enlighten)

Welcome to Enlighten. Empower. Enjoy.  A blog dedicated to living life unafraid of being beautiful, unashamed of our power, and unembarrassed . . . EVER!!!!!

 

It is my intention to hold a space here where we can learn together how to live out the next-best version of ourselves.   I am embracing my next-best self by sitting here in the coffee shop (like all the cool bloggers) and putting myself out there.  I’ve been digging my heels in for years resisting blogging, but now I’m ready.

 

How about you?  What is it that you just know you are supposed to do?  You’re probably a closet-genius at it, but it seems too hard, too intimidating, too time consuming, yet you think about it . . . You think about it a lot.

 

What if that voice in your head is the voice of the next-best version of you, the ‘future’ YOU, calling over your shoulder at you in the ‘present’ and saying :

 

“DUDE!!!  This is awesome!  You’re gonna feel like throwing up at first,

but don’t worry! After a tiny bit of effort you’re gonna be

AMAZING!!!!  You were made for this!”

 

What if we make a choice today to listen to that voice and jump in with both feet!  Let’s just do it!  What’s the worst that can happen?  Nothing worse than all the greats have risked!

 

In future blogs we’ll talk about everything from spirituality to hair styling tips.  I look forward to co-creating a great space here.

 

Blessings on your head!

Kimberly

 

“Your kingdom awaits you.  Go forth and know you are strong, kind and beautiful.  For you are a Queen.”

                     -Leslie Anne Salzillo

 

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