Kim has been consistently "encouraging" me for quite a while to give a pedicure a try. So, this weekend I did, and besides the relaxation, I also benefitted from the conversation with the young woman technician who had much to share while she performed her work.
 
She holds two jobs, plans on returning to school in the fall, and is currently engaged.  Her nail salon work is her second job.  She loves art.  And she is learning to be more capable in giving presentations.  Her day job has her working with an agency to help low-income people learn about their finances and how to develop skills to buy a home or start a business.  I had to wonder aloud about her job mix.
 
"Why did you choose this work?" I asked. 
 
"I've always loved beauty," she said, "so why not work in it, right?"
 
I imagine that working on men's and women's feet, she sees a lot of features that wouldn't normally be considered beautiful.  But, I don't believe it was the feet that she believes are beautiful.  It is people, and life.  That was evident in the full range of our chat.
 
"I like working here, like I did when I was in retail and service businesses, because people come because they want to.  They don't have to.  They choose to be here. I like to be part of that."
 
Clearly, to her, beauty is a feeling, not a feature.  I couldn't agree more.  Also, being part of people's lives when they opt for feeling good, optimistic, positive and beautiful can be a wonderful, rewarding thing.  We can choose to be part of others' positive choices every day.  And we should.


 

Listen to Life is a  free newsletter about learning and getting more from life by paying attention to our own stories and the stories of others, based on the presentations, writings, photography and workshops by Dion McInnis (www.dionmcinnis.com).  Copyright 2009 Dion McInnis.  All rights reserved.