About six months ago I joined my local timebank. Honestly, I wasn't sure I'd use it. Time banking involves accruing hours by offering services to others, and spending those hours by "buying" a service for another person. In time banking, each person's hour is worth every other person's hour; that is, an hour of cleaning bathrooms is equal to an hour of legal services or massage. Every person's time is equally valuable.
The first hurdle was shyness about meeting people. When I attended the orientation, I did a one-on-one orientation with a board member because I was too shy to go to a big group meeting. We met at a coffee shop; she explained to me all the principles and logistics involved in our local timebank, and I earned my first hour just by drinking coffee and listening. I decided to bite the bullet and post a request right away. I didn't think I needed a personal trainer, but I sure could use someone to meet with and walk with, so I posted a request for a "walking buddy" to meet at a local park and walk. Everyone in the timebank is vetted through a legal background check so I was comfortable enough meeting a stranger. The woman who answered was delightful. She was a retired person who was extremely active in the volunteer scene and delightful to talk to. My second experience was in earning hours. I saw a request for resume editing. Because I've had so many jobs, resumes are something I've become expert in. I helped a woman with her resume and met her in person, and earned a couple of hours. I earned more hours by helping with a garage sale, and by tabling for the timebank itself at a couple of summer fairs. The greatest bit for me is that I didn't have to trade my skills one-on-one with someone who had the exact skill I was looking for. I could bank hours and then "shop" the services for a haircut, a massage, a consultation on closet organizing, and (the one I most often desired) walking buddies. There are over 300 members of my local timebank, so that's a lot of talent to tap. I found an ukulele teacher, who not only got me started on playing but also taught me how to pronounce "ukelele". I found a woman who is teaching me to sew. I found a woman who refurbishes cast iron, and a man who offers a nonjudgmental listening ear. That last I wasn't sure about, but he worked the same garage sale that I did, and I noted how peaceful he was with other people, and how much listening he did at the time. So I booked an hour, and just got to complain and kvetch to my heart's content (to be fair, I told him that's what I was going to do and gave him a chance to back out). The session wasn't much like therapy, but it was really healing for me. Being able to talk about my problems led me to seeing solutions I hadn't considered before. As I move away from a money-based economy, time banking has a real place in my life. I'm looking forward to doing more, and spending my hours on those services I used to spend money for.
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Hair is one of my biggest expenses. I have a friend who is a professional high-talent stylist in a lot of demand. He cuts and colors my hair on a sliding scale, but still $35 or $50 is hard to come up with, even if I am getting a couple hundred dollars with of services. I've enjoyed having expensive hair -- red, blond -- he makes it all subtle and lovely and natural. He's worth a million dollars in my book. But it's still a standing expense that I need to let go of. When I was in my 20's and 30's I cut my hair. I got pretty good at it, but I had just one cut that I did -- a razor-assisted pixie cut (the most forgiving of cuts). Sure, there was that one summer I shaved my head, but I found the maintenance on a shaved head is a LOT of work if you want to make it look good. And I got tired of standing next to bald men who wore it better than I did. So that was an aberration. Anyway, the point is: I'm not scared of cutting my own hair. But maybe I should have been more cautious yesterday. I watched some DIY videos of people cutting their own hair. It looked pretty easy. Make a ponytail of all your hair in front of your face so you can see what you're doing, then chop, then make the edges less distinct by . I decided to do a variation. I made two ponytails -- one of the shorter hair in front, one of the hair in back and on the sides just on top of that. The plan was to do two different cuts -- the first to determine the length on back, and the second to determine the length of the bangs. That was the plan. I'm not sure what happened. Maybe I was impatient. Maybe I was impetuous. I certainly had little impulse control. But I took the (kinda dull) scissors and started hacking away, and somehow I got both pony tails at the same time, and when I shook it out I had a mostly even shape in the back and sides, but the front was mangled. I looked like the 90's-era love child of Mia Farrow and Andy Warhol. I did some more shaping on the sides, and razor-cut everything to blend. The shape isn't bad, but it was still a bit of a mess. So I checked out Timebank. I looked at my profile. I had 8 hours banked. I searched through the database of skills, and yes, there is a local woman who offers free styling as one of the services she'll earn an hour for. I sent a message to her, and within an hour I had an appointment for a clean-up haircut. But lesson learned. There will be mistakes along the way. Always. What is important isn't whether I do anything perfectly or not, but how I can turn to solutions, and think of alternatives to spending money. And if I hadn't had any resources to fix my hair? I'd have adapted to a life of bandanas made from repurposed boxer shorts. There is always a way. Also: it's just hair. It grows back. |
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ArchivesAuthorVirginia Lore enjoys living life as an experiment and frequently steps out of her comfort zone -- when she's not hiding out in her room with the covers over her head that is. You may email her: [email protected] |