full of color

On a side street in Barcelona…

“la vida es así llena de luz

llena de color

una flor

que se abre

en el centro

de tu corazon”

(“life is so full of light, full of color—a flower that opens in the center of your heart”)

“Full of color” reins me in. It practically hits me in the face as I finished out the trip to Barcelona last fall. The trip that had absolutely everything to do with color. Color is what got me there from Chicago. It’s how I renewed my passport in a short amount of time.  It’s how I won my creative life back.

This past year has been insane, amazing, heart-breaking and heart-warming. It has been filled with weddings, love, loss and new beginnings. I see the light that fills my own life and realize, constantly, how lucky I have been throughout the year. Whether I can control it or not, my heart is completely open—ready for what’s next. 

Early in 2017, my hair stylist asked me to be her model for a hair color competition.  I had modeled a lot for her and she completely forced me out of my comfort zone. This time I entered the salon completely relaxed, surrounded by a group of friends who I could be myself around. So talented and supportive—and such life-changing experiences to come with all of the continued work I’d get to do with them. Given how difficult this shoot was –standing in one pose, for hours as she gets that one section of hair placed exactly where she wants it—this was the first time I had ever been at ease during a photo shoot. I thought, shouldn’t I be stressed? Maybe I’m too relaxed? I hoped that my lack of hyperventilating before the shoot didn’t ruin it. Hair stylists, the make up artist, clothing experts, colorists, models, assistants and the photographer took care to get the best shots. Ours was the winning shot.

We’d find out a few months later that my hairstylist won as a semi-finalist. Then, she received the call that the photo of my empowered hand on waist pose and  “unicorn vampire” hair—the dark hair with strategically placed wisps of green, pink, purple—won gold for the Partner category for Goldwell’s Color Zoom competition. This meant we’d go to Barcelona to compete in a worldwide live color competition for hair stylists. I’d have to leave my boys behind for the travel experience I had longed for since my last trip to Europe fifteen years earlier. Even though we had a lot to prepare for in the coming months, mentally, my bags were already packed. I just needed to renew my passport…

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