This image of my plait, cut off when I was 13, accompanies part of an email exchange with a wise woman from Hull. Together they will feature in a community newspaper being developed as part of my commission for 3 Ways East and The Brignall Trust.
KG: The hair-growing-cutting-selling-re-growing that you do is interesting and I’d love to know more details – I’ve realised it’s a metaphor for how you live your life?
N: “hair-growing-cutting-selling-re-growing “- at first I thought to correct the ‘selling’ part. It brings me connotations of something not pure, something with a price tag. However in the core of the things you are right thou.. I do “sell” my hair, because I do get something in return. It is the pleasure that my hair could make the hard time some little kid goes through a little bit more human, normal, pretty even. I do love it. Same as blood donations, same is smiling to people, same as to pick up the key someone dropped in front of me. In our daily life we constantly interact with other people and of course we prefer when our interactions are with people we like, or make us feel good etc. In those moments we are taking, right? We learn to look after ourselves and we most of the time know how to take, without even thinking about it. We deserve it- right? We all deserve the best. But there are sometimes in life when people get the short stick. I had moments like that in my life? Did you? ..I think everyone has.. and in those moments to have somebody around us and to help us is game changer. I’m not so clever to be able to create a medicine to cure cancer. I’m not strong enough to be able to take the pain away from the people. I’m not wise enough to discover the way of happy, no trouble lifestyle and I don’t know many languages so to be able to share the truth with everyone… but I have hair- not the best hair, but I look after it well, grow it long as I can and then shave it, donate it to a charity for wigs for little brave fighters and hope that, this will make them smile even for one precious moment. I love giving. There is this saying “Whatever You Give is Truly Yours”.