Monday Musings 4.29.13
I love make-up. It’s an outlet I have always gone to as a way to channel my creative energy. I love being able to create the look to go with the dress. I love being able to take someones features and make them defined and alluring, sultry and sexy. I love what a touch of lipglass can do to a person’s mood on even the most dull day. Earlier this year, I landed a gig that is to-die-for! I am a Make-up Artist for a brand I have adored since I was 14! I am so humbled that I was given this opportunity to share my talents with the world. I am humbled that I have been given this opportunity to add smiles to the people I come in contact with. I am humbled by our clients and their stories…
This past weekend the counter was filled with prom-goers. Awesome high school girls who for one night get to dress up like Cinderella and go to the ball. I did a lot of looks… Smokey eyes, glitter eyes and a few natural looks sprinkled in. One client I did I will never forget. She was the most beautiful, blond-haired, blue-eyed, 16-year-old. She was going to her first prom! As she sat down we talked about colors and she showed me a photo of her dress, I could feel the joy radiate off of her. I went and started picking foundations and shadows and lipstick… And that’s when I felt it. A light touch on my arm from one of the women that brought her to the counter. It turned out to be her aunt. She wanted to pull me aside to tell me something. I don’t think anything could have prepared my heart for what I heard next. This beautiful, bubbly, 16-year-old girl had an inoperable brain tumor. This would be her first and probably last prom.
The reality of the information in which I was just privy sank in. Her aunt wanted to tell me because they wanted to take a lot of photos and they wanted it to be so perfect. I looked up and caught the eye of my client and she smiled the biggest most excited smile ever. It was in that moment I knew she was in my chair for a reason. You can call it chance or coincidence, I call it a Divine Encounter.
As I was doing her makeup our eyes would meet and she would just smile. I couldn’t help but think how brave she was. Her courage and joy were incredible. The way she lit up when she saw her face was enough to make my breath catch in my chest and a lump to form in my throat. I wished her the most amazing night ever and with a hug they were gone.
On my drive home I sat thinking about this girl and her story. I am so thankful to have met her for just a snippet in time. That beautiful girl taught me something about life. We are all going through our struggles. Every one of us on this Earth has a battle to fight and a trial to endure. We can either let these heart-wrenching things break us down or we can live each day in the moment. Feeling the joy, feeling the pain, but feeling nonetheless. Feeling each moment of victory and defeat and doing it with a sense of joy. This girl, only 16 was wise beyond her years. She lived her life with joy and nothing, not even a brain tumor could take that joy away. I am still in awe of her.
Cheers, Dez