I Got My Head Checked....

Last week got me really down. Bad honing, bad shaves, and bad feelings all around. But a little perspective, and things are back on track...

I don't know about you, but wetshaving, and especially for me straight shaving, is something I picked up for the, what...the ritual? The connection to past and present, and the centering of it? The time, the focus on simple action, is what makes it important for me--being in the moment. The honing is the same--on the rocks with my razors, with the head where it's supposed to be.

But last week...it wasn't there. I wasn't in the place I was supposed to be. I was failing and getting frustrated, and my frustration led to more failure．I turned to Straight Razor Place to ask about it, and I got hugely varying advice, and more and more frustration. I very nearly gave up entirely.

But I didn't. I went to visit Kawaguchi-sensei, and got a solid grounding. Just hone. Just hone, and don't get irritated, or worry, or let yourself be tired, because it'll come out of you and into the edge, and the edge won't be any good. And he was right, that was exactly what was happening. My edges and my shaves were failing miserably, my face was hurting, my heart was low, and the snake was eating its tail.

But that visit to Kawaguchi, and some generous help from Sham on SRP, straightened my head out. Honing and shaving isn't about what other people are doing, right or wrong. It's about being, now.

So this week, with my head right and my heart high, shaving has been good again, and honing as well. I'm enjoying myself, which is what is supposed to be.

Honing is, and shaving is. Just that.