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We’ve been “phucked” and we’ve “unphucked” ourselves too. Maybe we’re all still unphucking ourselves.

I realised I was phucked during the first pandemic shutdown, sitting on the floor of my room, looking through photos of myself from the past couple of years. I had just gone through a hard breakup with the longest and only partner I’d had, and it had ended messily. As in, no contact, blocked on everything, asking my aunt for advice messy. The phucked-up I was encountering had less to do with that breakup and more to do with all the buried need for change it dug up. I fear change. It makes my skin crawl and that nervous smile of mine crawl up my face. I always want to be in control, and if I’m not, I obsess. Perfect, perform, grapple for control by manipulating how others see me and my imperfections. So when I realised my gender identity didn’t fit me anymore, it dropped like a stone through my fragile ‘do what looks best, fear change’ mentality. For the second time since ‘coming out’ I was really having an epiphany about who I might and might not be, and of course, imagining how people will react. Was I changing who I was? Was I faking this? I was phucked. I’d spent so much time and energy in my life trying to conform to the womanly ideal, and now I felt that that gender identity was deeply incongruent to what my soul wanted, craved even. I wanted freedom. Limitless. Something expansive and all encompassing without a label. That is, unfortunately, QUITE a stretch from control. I wasn’t the curated beauty standard I showed others, and now that I’d faced that realization I knew I couldn’t go back to pretending the ‘Woman’ label made me feel good. So I unphucked myself…and sometimes it phucking sucked. Only this time, it was the kind of suck that was filled with bravery, truth and more transparency between myself and the world around me. Every time I fell down I knew I fell trying to be me instead of who I felt pressured to be, or what I thought people felt more comfortable with. I was telling the world one small brave change at a time that I was deserving of love and acceptance exactly as I was, and that they didn’t have to get it. That I was pretty phucked, and still amazing because of it.

So yes, being phucked brought me here, and now this barbecue is a chance to give back to the community that helped me put my pieces together when I needed it most. -Indie.

“A SOCIETY THAT FORGETS ART RISKS LOSING ITS SOUL” -Camille Paglia

Acoustic and rock and jazz, oh my!

Bay Barbers Club is getting patio ready! We are preparing for our live music nights featuring local artists such as Miles Cakebread-Kraus who will be performing on Mondays starting at 5:30 all summer (June-August.) Miles has a 12$ cover charge and we’re LCBO licensed so come down and get some dancing juice if that feels right for you. If not, come for community connection, summer patio vibes and some great artists. Or don’t. We can’t force you.

If you’re reading this and thinking “oh hey, I could do that,” or someone you know might be interested in joining our band list, maybe reach out to us at baybarbers@mail.com and join in on the fun. Music brings people together, invite a friend and bring them along to support the artists that hold up our society.

-Indie

Bay Club is throwing a BBQ….We’re all totally “phucked.”

Well, maybe you’re not so phucked anymore, but chances are you have been at some point in this life. If being phucked is past tense for you, maybe it means you’ve UNphucked yourself to be here with us. Perhaps you got the help and support you needed, and mustered the determination and love for yourself it takes to get out of a phucked up place in your life. No matter where you might be on that journey, Bay Barbers will always have a place for you at our table. We’re letting our community know, we’ve been there, and in creating a space to be safe, and by sharing our stories, we can be brought closer together. This summer we would like to take this togetherness a step further and help others at Thousand Islands treatment centre on their journey through unphucking themselves. What better way than with a summer barbecue? On August 6th at 12PM we are throwing UNPHUCKED BAY BBQ, right here at Bay Barbers Belleville location complete with live music, cold drinks, barbecue, and an amazing crowd.

We’ll see you there, friends.

-Indie

How Are You?(Why Not: Who Are You?)

I feel the need to write about what is happening inside. What is currently being examined, dismantled and rebuilt as a concept in my mind is most important to get out, while it’s still fresh to human experience. If people only shared things they've mastered, I believe our world would see a striking drop-in art. If we made sure we were completely ‘right’ in our opinions and ideas, unable to vacillate or grow with newfound experience, we might not experience growth at all. I always find it’s best to make the art while the art is making you.

All this being said, one of the thoughts being examined in Bay Barbers is surrounding deep conversation and small talk. Each time we have a client in our chairs it is an opportunity to connect. We want to know if the deeper conversation is proven to make people happier (Epley, A.P.A), why do so many people dislike it so much? I find it difficult to write about this topic for exactly that reason. I believe there is no right, or wrong way to socialize, and what works for one individual may not work for others.

Vulnerability must of course be acknowledged. It is not an insignificant feat to open up to another person. Even discussing how many kids you have, or what your last vacation was can be a daunting idea to some and disregarded as ‘unprofessional’ to others (I could write an entire post surrounding that word.) In truth, it’s just plain scary sometimes.

Why?

I believe one of the main causes of our surface-level conversations stems from an insecurity about our importance in life. We get lost in the thick weeds of “why does this person care about my life or what I think?” If we examine our relationships, often the closest are built on sharing thoughts, feelings, interests, opinions and/or deeper debating. I believe when we engage in conversations with the (possibly unconscious) belief that others don’t want to hear about us, and that we will be rejected if we attempt to break the mold, we miss out. What would happen if we consistently gave ourselves permission to show up with the assumption that others want connection just as much as we do? How much could all of us heal in this increasingly digital era if we actively committed to getting deep with others when we feel impelled to?

As Bay Barbers commits to understanding how we revolve around this foundational piece of interpersonal wellness, it's important as ever to remind our people that you are always worth the bravery it takes to open up and connect. You always have a space here for your depth, and if or when depth feels right to you, we are here to listen. Let's all do what's right for us.

-Indie Liebau

Is our Esteem Enough?

“We don’t have to wait until we are on our deathbed to realize what a waste of our precious lives it is to carry the belief that something is wrong with us.” -Tea Brach

The concept of self acceptance in comparison to self esteem is one we may very well spend all our lives continuously bumping into, brushing up against and perhaps occasionally tripping over (been there). In a barbershop, a great deal of people enter quiet and drawn into themselves and leave with a smile on their face and a swagger in their step. Maybe even momentarily existing in a space that promotes acceptance for who we are, like we hope Bay Barbers does, is what leaves us with that contagious sprinkle of confidence.
What perplexes me is when the people who we see to be successful and who may even describe themselves as confident, also feel undeniably insecure. Isn’t that a paradox? How can both of these things exist at once? Confident and insecure, proud and ashamed? It could be a paradox, but I believe it is a matter of the language we use to define our feelings of confidence. Self esteem is often defined as “the feeling of confidence we have towards ourselves when our successes or achievements are measured up well against our values.” Self acceptance, however, is the embracing of all of ourselves regardless of successes or achievements. The difference in these explanations, I believe, is how confident people can hold deep insecurity. It feels true to me that we can carry both a high self esteem or overall image due to our successes in life, but a low level of acceptance for flaws, faults and mistakes. However, if we know what’s wrong then perhaps we can make our way towards improvement by catching ourselves on our self-talk or our toxic praising. We can begin to stop measuring our self worth with achievement. All of these things discussed are not necessarily our fault, but it's up to all of us as individuals to decide if it’s our responsibility. Will we be the ones to own our insecure default behaviours, or will we continue with what we know?

-Indie Liebau

The Lone Wolf

“If I have to be you, I’m fitting in. If I get to be me, I belong.” -Anonymous

Remember that trendy “lone wolf” catchphrase? You know the one, it’s usually said in a really macho Hollywood movie? Yeah… aside from the fact that people who use it don’t know much about wolves (come on, where are your animal kingdom trivia skills?) they also don’t know much about humans. The tricky truth is: there is no ‘lone wolf’ kind of person. We are biologically hardwired for connection and belonging. I believe the belonging word is key, because it holds the interpersonal connection we have when we feel seen, safe and accepted as ourselves. Maybe for you that feeling is warm and subtle in your chest or perhaps a more bubbly excitement. In contrast, when we are trying to fit in, most of us end up feeling…incongruent. Sometimes our longing to fit in can drive us to words or actions that don’t feel aligned with our values (cognitive-dissonance is your $10 word here) and things just feel a little off. Maybe way off. Perhaps you’ve had enough practice at knowing when you’re trying to fit in, or maybe you’re showering a week later and the realization hits you. I find the home remedy for this incongruence is seeing people who let me show up exactly as I am and blasting some good music. It’s no coincidence that Bay Barbers has both those things available for you.

At Bay Barbers connection is what we build our space around. You have, and will always belong here.

-Indie Liebau

Don’t Bother Others with Your Boundaries.

“Boundaries are the distance at which I can love you and me simultaneously.” –Prentis Hemphill

Boundaries. Sometimes even reading, hearing or speaking the word out loud can bring up uncomfortable feelings in a person. We live in a world where we are constantly bludgeoned with messages like: 'take care of others before yourself,' “boys will be boys,” “just smile and be nice,” or “but they’re family” and so many more. Even if we might not have heard these exact phrases directly spoken to us (though many of us have) the message is clear either way: “self-sacrifice is how you should measure your own worth. Don't bother others with your boundaries.” This kind of conditioning is especially prolific in how we raise our girls, but no one is unscathed. It doesn't take long to think about how these messages affect us. People unable to file for divorce- despite being deeply unhappy in their marriage, letting your boss belittle you in front of coworkers, saying “yes” but wanting to say “no.” What I find truly interesting about this conundrum is that we cannot have good relationships with others without boundaries. Oh the irony. We spend so much time trying to fit in and have people like us that we let people step on our feet and in doing so, ruin our relationships with resentment. At the barbershop the relationship between the client and barber is crucial to every single cut. Boundaries are a pillar within our four walls. If each person prioritises their own wellness and establishes the boundaries they need we can cultivate lasting, meaningful, connective relationships with each other and in consequence create a truly loving space in our lives. Boundaries are not narcissism, and the only people benefitting from that narrative are those who gain from the making-small of others. Boundaries are a beautiful thing to celebrate, because ironically, they actually bring us closer. In the chair, behind the chair, and then out in our communities with a fresh haircut, we can see a wholehearted change. Those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind, the bother boundaries bring.

-Indie Liebau

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