It was one of those mornings when everything just seemed to be falling into place … The sun was shining, the coffee was just right, I had on my favorite jeans, my slice of bread came out of our finicky toaster perfectly, and the dogs went through their morning routine without a glitch. With list in hand (I’m big on list making) I set out for town to run errands.

Even on the streets of Spokane everything was going my way. I hit green lights, check-out lines magically opened up, and before I knew it all items on my list were checked off. Quite agreeable in every way except for one annoying little problem … My too long hair kept falling around my face getting stuck in my glasses, and caught in my mouth. 

Unruly hair is a small thing to be sure, but irritating none-the-less. A fly in the ointment of my lovely morning. Then it hit me. I have been tolerating this hair aggravation for a while now, putting up with it until, like this particular morning, it had become unbearable. This is a familiar pattern. I’ve been here before and if my history holds true when exhausted of forbearance I might perhaps act rashly … Oftentimes with varying degrees of success in eliminating the annoyance. Sometimes I’ve made things worse. 

In general I don’t pay much attention to hair. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad it’s on my head as long as it’s well behaved. I’m willing to wash and comb it out, the sum total of my preening. All is good as long as I can pull it through the hole in the back of my ball cap or tuck it behind my ears. Beyond that I just don’t care, until it becomes a nuisance which it was on that day.

This aversion to fussing over my hair most likely comes from my early elementary school days when in general I looked like a scarecrow. Mom wasn’t much for grooming and left to my own devices I had hair sticking out at all angles from my self inflicted pony tail, and bangs that angled down on one side of my head. I wasn’t terribly skilled with scissors. Add the large space that was then between my two front teeth and the look was complete … total scarecrow.

The truth was that it simply didn’t matter to me then anymore than it does now. I had better things to do like create imaginary worlds in a hidden corner of our Chicago area backyard. What good would tidy hair be when involved in important mud, stick, stone, branches and water construction? 

I haven’t changed all that much. I’m still creating with stone, found objects, and now words and paint. I get so deep into dreamy possibilities I push aside irritations as long as I can until they scream at me as my hair did the other day in the car. 

My last errand was the pet store to get yet another harness for my growing Pyrenees puppy, Moose, who at 5 months old just weighed in at 63 lbs. He’s a big boy. All done with shopping and ready to go home another clump of sadistic hair blew in my face. That did it. 

Suddenly I remembered a walk-in hair salon just a few stores down from the pet store. I made a deal with myself. If I walked in and could get in to get a cut right away I’d do it. Sure enough, the gods were smiling on me and no one was waiting. The receptionist led me to a chair and said she’d get the stylist from the back.

As in most salons in my limited experience the stylists here were on the young side, well groomed with perfect make-up and fashionable hair-cuts. Then my stylist came out … She was a bit older, on the chunky side, fairly disheveled and nails so long I didn’t see how she could hold scissors. Her hair looked a bit greasy and was tied up in a knot on the top of her head so tightly it looked like she might not be able to shut her eyes.

Even though I’m not that particular about hair, I feared I’d end up with the same look as my 8 year old scarecrow days … And I could do that at home. Stay or bolt? I swallowed hard and stayed.

Turned out that Jen was a veteran stylist, had been doing hair for 38 years. Up close I saw that her hair was wet, not greasy. She was pleasant, competent and, as I found out while talking with her, pretty worn out. She was in the middle of packing up and moving, without, I imagine, a lot of extra time on her hands. Jen gave me a terrific cut and some pointers on gardening and canning. The next time I need a a hair-cut I’ll make sure I get one from her.

On the drive home I felt truly ashamed. I had judged a person based solely on a glance at her physical appearance. The instant I saw her I concluded she was incompetent, unkempt and the very last person I’d want even touching any part of me. Yes, she was a bit overly casual, probably due to the stress of moving. Regardless, she wasn’t unclean as I had, in a blink, decided she was. I was wrong, so wrong.

I don’t suppose it’s possible to eliminate snap judgments. I do think it’s possible to pause, step back from my instantaneous assessments made without sufficient information … To question my thinking. If ever there was a time to reign in hasty, unsubstantiated judgments that time is now.

I believe thoughts matter. They travel unseen through the world like radio waves and I don’t want to add to the pervasive negativity and insanity in the news, on school campuses, and on the street. The good news is that I have access to the health of my mind. I have a choice to be a positive influence. Even if it seems like a small thing in the face of what look like insurmountable challenges, imagine if one by one we turned toward compassion and generosity of spirit … A groundswell of goodwill working toward a better future for all. Perhaps you think I’m a dreamer … 

“Imagine there's no heaven

It's easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us, only sky

Imagine all the people

Livin' for today … Ah

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion, too

Imagine all the people

Livin' life in peace … You

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions

I wonder if you can

No need for greed or hunger

A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people

Sharing all the world … You

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will live as one”

“Imagine” by John Lennon