Aitch by Jill King

Author:Jill King [KING, JILL]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd

Education is using every means and taking

every personal risk to discover for yourself

what you can do best

Villiers David,

Advice to my Godchildren

CONQUERING FEARS

I ’d built a reputation over the years for being self-controlled and calm at work – I was difficult to read, some people would say, as I showed little of what I was really thinking. But I wasn’t unhappy with that description. It was all to do with my early training when I’d been taught that being a consummate professional precluded the showing of emotion.

So I was surprised when Aitch looked at me in the mirror and asked, “What’s upset you today Jill?”

I tried to brush the question off dismissively, but Aitch wasn’t so easily put off. “Your head is hot, what’s bothering you?” he persisted.

I was actually having a pretty awful day one way or another and despite my well-practised efforts to disguise my feelings, Aitch had instantly detected that something was wrong. I was struck by his ability to pick up on the slightest nuance by putting his hands on someone’s head, and by his sensitivity to his clients’ feelings.

As we started to talk, my stress started to ease. Aitch just had this way of relaxing you: the small touches to your shoulders, the gentleness in his voice and the expressiveness in his hands as he ran them through your hair, created a sense of calm and serenity. I felt able to talk to him about what was going wrong in my day. I found myself explaining to him how I’d learnt to hide my true feelings from those around me at work, in an attempt to convince them that everything was under control. I wasn’t sure, I confessed, whether it was always the best policy.

A little to my surprise, Aitch immediately empathised with my dilemma. “It’s very similar to my own experience,” he said. “You have to learn to leave your problems at the salon door, and adopt the persona your clients expect of you. That’s not always easy, but I was taught to give my clients my full attention, and that’s what I do. What I don’t really know is what that deprives you of?”

Aitch looked deeply serious and I realised that for once he was letting his salon persona slip to reveal some of his own inner feelings.

“What people don’t realise,” he said, “is that I have to cope every day with the impact that living with an alcoholic has on my emotional life, and I have to bury those feelings when I come into the salon. Last night’s a good example. I went to a support meeting and there was a lot of soul-searching. It became clear that a lot of the time when I’ve been trying to help Donald, I’ve enabled him to avoid the consequences of his actions in a way I never intended. He knows that no matter how much he screws up, I’ll always be there to rescue him. It’s not an easy conclusion to accept, but I have to put all those thoughts to one side when I meet my clients.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.