Beyond The Barbershop
Welcome to After Tutup by me, Al.
Four years ago, I wanted to become a barber and so I did.
I spent a considerable amount of time honing my craft, day in day out, as I was determined to be good enough to have returning clients. I have now reached a point where I can make a living from it, and while I'm still in the business of cutting hair, I think it's time for me to move on to something I've long neglected - writing.
I've inconsistently experimented with this idea at various times in my life. I started a blog in my teens and then a YouTube channel in my early twenties - which I've since archived so don't bother looking for it - all with the goal of sharing thoughts and ideas. After a while, I started questioning the value of the things I was making and decided that nothing I made was good enough so I completely abandoned it. For me, it wasn't enough that I had a story to tell or that I had fun making it, it had to be considerably good.
I spent most of my life being afraid of trying new things because of a deep discomfort with the possibility of failing. Often, I would give up before I even had a chance to see its true potential. But the thing is, like my relationship with barbering, I had to give numerous mediocre haircuts before I was deemed good at what I do. That's just how learning works. You don't see the hundreds of bad drafts before you see the one viral post, and as I've learned from any good writer, these most definitely happen first.
I'm going into my thirties soon and I want to spend the next five to ten years getting better at something I've always been meaning to do but never had the guts to stay on course.
You're welcome to join me on this practice, voyage of discovery, or whatever you want to call it! Do take this as an invitation to write back to let me know if anything resonated with you or if you just want to start a conversation.
One day I hope to say that I wanted to become a writer and so I did.