How Slightly Pointless Online Beauty Tutorials Saved My Life (And Other Observations)

pin curl retro setting pattern

Golda Poretsky, HHC
http://www.bodylovewellness.com

Recently, I was really sick with a stubborn bronchitis that lingered for about 2 weeks.  I had no energy, and the sinking feeling that I was missing out on everything.  And I sort of was missing out on a lot — from out of town friends to the Re/Dress Indie Fashion Show to the client appointments I moved so that I could lie on the couch and cough.

Missing out on these things felt almost worse than the awful sensations in my lungs; so much so that my emotional state started to get dragged down by my physical state.

In other words, I was sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Being the researcher that I am, I can say with a degree of certainty that the following helped me heal from bronchitis:

  • Er Chen Wan (awesome Chinese herb combo)
  • Approx. 1,000,000,000 gallons of hot tea with honey and lemon
  • Sleeping a lot
  • My immune system, generally

And, being the researcher that I am, I have determined that the following got me over the emotional hump of being so sick and tired:

Um, yes, you read that right.  Pin curling tutorial videos helped me out of the mega emotional slump that I had fallen into.  It wasn’t my usual arsenal of affirmations, gratitude lists, or other forms of self care.  It was methodically watching pin curling tutorial videos on youtube, trying it out on my hair, liking how it looked, watching some more videos, trying it again, etc.

black and white hair pin curlsBut since we’re being scientific about it, I’d like to think for a moment about why watching pin curling tutorials helped so much.

  1. Fun — Learning about pin curling and trying it out on my own hair was really fun.
  2. Easy — If you get deep into setting patterns and complicated hair styles, it can get really complicated, but I avoided the really complicated stuff.  Plus, all I really needed was some bobby pins and a bit of time on my hands, and I had both.
  3. Novel — Pin curling, for me, was new and novel.  Learning about it didn’t remind me of anything else.  It took my mind off of not feeling well, but was easy enough to do that it seemed manageable while not feeling well.
  4. Low Stakes — If I didn’t like the way my hair looked, it didn’t matter.  I was home all day anyway.  The secret of my terrible hair would be kept safe by my boyfriend and the occasional Chinese food delivery guy.
  5. Self Care That Was Unrelated To Being Sick — After not feeling well for so long, not wearing makeup, etc., it felt good to see myself kind of “dolled up”, even if it was only from the neck up.
  6. Seemingly Completely Frivolous — I probably could have gone my whole life without learning how to do pin curls.  And with the energy I spent on learning about pin curls, I could have been more clearly productive, for sure.  I could have written marketing materials for my business or read another book on intuitive eating or cleaned my office or approximately a gazillion other things that may have been more productive.  But none of those things would have been the right combination of the other 5 elements above that we have determined were so essential to actually feeling better.

So, I want to encourage you to sometimes pursue something that might seem frivolous or pointless or unproductive for the sheer fact that it may be fun and make you feel good.  Not everything has to have a specific purpose.

pin curl hairstyle

pin curl results!

I want to encourage you, too, to spend time on seemingly frivolous “beautifying” treatments too.  And let’s be clear, I’m not suggesting that you do those things because there’s anything wrong with your appearance, because you need to hide anything, or because you should do it.  I’m only suggesting that you try those things that sound fun.  If glamming yourself up appeals to you, but it’s maybe a little outside of your comfort zone, check out youtube or ask a glam friend what s/he suggests.  You may just knock yourself out of a bad mood, or even become that glam friend that your other friends ask for advice.  Just remember to be a kindly researcher toward yourself if things don’t go exactly according to plan.

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Golda is a certified holistic health counselor and founder of Body Love Wellness, a program designed for plus-sized women who are fed up with dieting and want support to stop obsessing about food and weight. To learn more about Golda and her work, click here.


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2 thoughts on “How Slightly Pointless Online Beauty Tutorials Saved My Life (And Other Observations)

  1. Another pincurl fan! I find this fascinating! I love thinking about those wartime girls, flipping through their magazines, pinning their hair at night, sleeping so carefully and then fingering it out in the morning. I have no idea why…

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