The Art Of Listening

            I have been blessed with my work to be able to travel to many countries and experience and see the different cultures of so many people.

            I am also blessed to be able to live in the USA and in New York City with such diverse cultures and languages. But it took me tell Saint Martin an island in the northeast Caribbean, (approximately 190 miles east of Puerto Rico). To discover how the tone and fluctuation of one’s voice can explain, show and build a story without really understanding their language.

            The north side of the island of Saint Marteen is Dutch and the south side of the island of Saint Martin is French. I recently did a shoot in the French area of Saint Martin. I took three years of French in school and since the age of 19 have been to many French speaking countries including many years of working in France, so I do understand,”le petite “.  I find it funny that of all the places I have been, it was that in the south side of this island of Saint Martin is where I realized how ones voice can express so much with fluctuation.

            It hit me one night what I had realized a week after my trip…  I was Smoking a cigarette on my stairs in NYC.  My ears caught a attention of young man speaking,”French” he was on his cell phone as he wobbled across the path way in front of me, I assumed he was tipsy. The tone of his voice was longer and his pauses in between for a French man were even shorter than usual.

            As hairdressers we are used to talking with are hands and fingers and we can communicate so much by doing so. Not just behind the chair but as for me a lot of time it is with using my hands to communicate with the art director or model on set that are from a different country and don’t speak English very well or sometimes at all. Trying to communicate without using language as we all know is not always easy. But as it is with many cultures I am finding it is about the art of listening. Listening to someone’s tone and how their voice fluctuates not reacting to the up’s and down’s but really listening to what they are presenting is what I hope to hone in on.  I believe that listening is an art and it takes practice, just like doing great hair only comes with practice and then more practice. I hope to practice and hone in on the art of listening as much as I do with my hair.