Back to Basics

I'm not good with stress.

It's nothing new with me, but the last few weeks have been big ones around here, in ways both good and bad. I am a creature of habit, indeed, and so when any little thing interferes in my routine it tends to send ripples throughout my life, starting a vicious cycle of stress that usually culminates in me shutting everything down for a while and letting everything kind of go on without me.

Not healthy, but still.

Anyway, this past month or so, the stress has been mounting. And it started to manifest itself in my hobby. Honing dull razors, test shaving, testing hones, translating and investigating and researching...and it was freaking me out. Instead of relaxing me, instead of being an outlet, it was becoming a burden. It got to where I didn't even want to look at my straights, much less get out the hones and work on them. That's why that CF test took me so long...I'd spread it out over a whole month.

So anyway, this isn't a whiney "poor me" post. Because I made it over that hump in the best way possible.

Tonight, I decided to just forget and shave. I put a fresh "Swede" in my Indian Concorde 3 Piece DE, soaked L'Ultima Setola, and whipped up some Mitchell's Wool Fat lather for tonight's shave.

I forgot everything about blogs and reviews and work and all the stuff, and just shaved. Slow and steady, smooth and clean.

One pass, unmindful of the grain.

Rinse, then relather with the leftover MWF.

Let the lather sit, and wash the brush.

Rinse again, hot then cold water.

And here I am, relaxed and happy with a smooth face and Lo and Behold!

I'm writing a blog post about it.