Good morning friends,
It's about 2:30 am on a Thursday morning.
I had a wonderful day in the salon, no really. It was fabulous. Today was a day of Guest Artistry at another salon I do a lot of work with.
I have so much fun hanging out and working in other salons that are not my own. I often refer to them as my "field trips". It's kind of like when you go to your friends home and you want to help them do dishes or help out in their kitchen. Why on Earth would you want to?
Because it breaks up the everyday monotony of living our daily lives, that's why.
Today I had some fabulous color clients and a wonderful lunch with a long-time client of mine and each new guest that came in today was incredibly happy with color. I can't ask for more, you know?
Wednesday nights have turned into comedy nights for me doing open mics and performing stand-up comedy. I love it so much, but between Guest Artistry and having to catch up on office work, I had to duck out tonight and be a responsible business owner. Sometimes that blows, ya know? LOL.
I have to tell you that I have enjoyed calming down a bit because my summer was 4 months of non-stop, balls to the walls bookings. I am so incredibly grateful to The Creator and my clientele for the opportunity to serve them and be in business! Really! I am.
Do any of you remember the age you were when you started to take a panoramic view of your life and say, "it's okay to take a day away?"
I think I'm hitting that age when I have realized staying home, cooking and yes, even doing my own dishes is good for me.
In my spoiled, privileged little world of assistants, housekeepers, florists and paid-for trips, I look forward to sometimes being a real person. Then, I wake up the next day to appreciating all I've been given.
One of my main influences and main mentors Joan Rivers recently passed away and I have to tell you that I have been thinking a lot about our time together and the blessing I had of working with a comedy and style legend. She was so fun and so polite. She was not brash and was not rude, she had manners and treated everyone equally.
You never wanted to cross Joansie though because she'd publicly annihilate you.
She has a scene in her 2010 documentary "Piece of Work" where she says that for 47 years there had been a car downstairs waiting for her and for 47 years she never had to worry about anything. She had ups and downs, she had to file for bankruptcy after Edgar's suicide and deal with Melissa not talking to her and lost major contracts because "nobody wanted to hear from the comedienne that lost her husband to suicide."
She was truly one of the most thankful people I ever met and was one of the hardest working people I ever knew. She never wanted to retire.
The night before she went into cardiac arrest, she was playing a small comedy gig in New York and she had intentions of filming more "Fashion Police" and working with Jerry Seinfeld on the second season of his TV show that interviews comedians.
Before meeting Joan, I had a time-limit on projects. After that, I learned you could work and enjoy your work into your 80s. She really meant the world to me after that.
I still cry thinking about the moments we exchanged stories and jokes. It was a riot! My nervous little hand worked on her hair and I had so much fun listening to her candid honesty.
When you hear someone say, "listen to your elders", I truly learned that lesson working with Joan. She talked, you fucking listened!
More life experience than me, more ups, downs and extraordinary opportunities given to her than many of you reading this.
So, in my calmest moments, I can hear Joan telling me to enjoy the night at home and to get my ass back up and working and thanking God for every opportunity.
I don't have a car waiting for me every morning, but I do have a lot of people waiting for me daily and I have not had to beg a person to sit in my chair in many many years... at least eight years. I've been published, I've won awards for both my writing and color work and have had the opportunity to host events and work in media as a personality.
Thank you Joan. I will never stop.
And thank you to all of you that are reading this now. Thank you for allowing me to sit in my beautiful home and type this on a new Mac while listening to commercial-free paid radio. Without you, this all disappears.
Warmth,
Josh
PS: I miss you Joansie. Thank you for being my fairy godmother.
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