Building and knocking down corners

In the field of haircutting (where I worked and taught for six years), there is a dreaded notion of a “corner.” A corner is a place within the structure of a haircut where two planes meet, and it can create unwanted bulk in a hairstyle. Part of the finishing work of a great haircut is the stylist knowing where the corners are hiding, and working them out so that the shape feels more fluid.

Sort of like how a gifted bodyworker knows where to find knots in specific places on your body, an experienced haircutter will know where to go looking for corners to eradicate in her refining work. However, unlike knots, corners are a necessary building block of a structured, long-lasting haircut. Finding and removing them doesn’t mean she made a mistake. They needed to be there in the foundational steps, just as they need to be refined at the end.

When I used to teach apprentices in the salon, they’d do their haircuts and I’d come around to check their work. I’d point out any issues and show them where to go back and correct. I got a reputation for being a kind of wizard, because before I’d even walk over, I knew exactly where to look and find the invisible inconsistencies in their work. It’s not magic, of course, but rather experience, that can discern where the root of the problem likely lies. I’d insert my comb, show them a cross-section where I expected the corner to be, and lo and behold, there it was. I’d leave, and they’d resume their cutting.

The thing I taught them was: the corner is not the problem, as long as you know where to go back and find it later. That structure, that scaffolding, is there for a reason. As a more senior stylist, my work still had corners in it, and it always would. That’s not the part that went away with experience. The difference was I knew to go back and look for them and smooth them out before I finished my work.

There is more than one way to build a creative project, or a career. Most of the time it’s not a straight line from start to finish. More likely, you’ll have scaffolding you have to build, structures to get you from phase A to B, that you will no longer need in phase C. You’ll overshoot. You’ll build things that weren’t strictly necessary in retrospect. That doesn’t make them mistakes.

I’m here to grant you permission (if you need it) to create whatever structures you need to get to the next step of your journey. Whether that’s stopping or starting something (a second job, for instance), trying things that might not work out, acting on a best guess, or asking for extra help from a coach or a friend. Have faith that the structures you think you need will get you where you need to go, and that you can go back and refine later. Not everything is forever, nor is it meant to be.