fifty fifty


Last night I started shaving my 50-day beard. I went through 2 razors, cut myself numerous times and endured immense pain - and that was for only half! As a result I thought I'd take a break for a couple of days before I shaving the other side.

Today I conducted life as per usual. I went to the supermarket, the bank, Plaza Catalunya and La Ramblas - the busiest parts of Barcelona - in the metro, and all about town. Peoples' reactions varied tremendously.

Some people saw me and then tried very hard not to look again, others just continued to stare and stare and stare. Sometimes I smiled at the staring owls and they just rolled their eyes. Others smiled back. Some pointed. Some pointed and laughed.

Some teenagers waited for me outside a shop and asked to take my photo. One guy on the train smiled and kindly told me that it was the first time in his life he'd seen something like this - I understood his tone be that of gratitude. Some said it was different. Some asked if my razor broke half-way through shaving.

The security guard at the trekking shop I’ve been to about 5 times this week – who used to give me cold stares – started a warm conversation with me. A bunch of waiters at a fancy restaurant started joking around with me and let me use their posh toilet when I asked afterwards. A woman at a juice bar said it looked cool... but still charged me full price. Poo!

It's a amazing how programmed people are to what is normal and what is abnormal. They have been brainwashed towards a certain benchmark of what is acceptable and what is unacceptable. Some people can't comprehend anything different - it's too challenging for them - though it's not their fault.

Some peoples' minds only function within certain parameters. It was interesting to challenge those parameters. Some accepted difference, others rejected it. Some are so de-sensitized to difference that their brains couldn't compute what they were seeing.

Wake up world! Break the shackles of prisoned minds. There is life out there!!!