A Personal Experience with Psychic Barber
I first heard about Psychic Barber from Caitlin Goebel, who curated Cybercy, back in March. After she told me a little bit about what Psychic Barber is, she asked me, “Do you think you’ll do it?” I responded the way that I always do to offers I’m not quite ready to commit to: “I dunno, maybe!” At the time, I had been growing my hair for five years, after having shaved off all of it, with only an occasional trim and maybe two or three haircuts. Over the years of growing my hair, I had become intimately attached to it. It was the longest it had ever been, laying and swaying playfully at the top of my hips. Having long hair was an important part of my identity and my self-esteem—the longer my hair, the higher my self-esteem. My long hair helped me feel comfortable and safe, and I wasn’t ready to let it go.
For the next few days after my exchange with Caitlin, I entertained the idea of having short hair, but I was sure that it just wasn’t going to happen. Then less than a week later I found myself walking sheepishly into a beauty salon where I got about a foot of my hair cut off. I felt sad and vulnerable letting go of that part of me. In the weeks that followed I consistently wore my hair up, still uncomfortable with having short hair.
By the end of April, I had started to seriously consider participating in Psychic Barber. I tossed around thoughts like “my hair is short now, so why not go shorter?” and “this is a once in a lifetime opportunity” and “I’ll do it to show my support for Caitlin and the arts.” Eventually I decided that I would do it. It felt strange to be uncomfortable with my short hair yet completely surrendered to the idea that I might walk away from the experience with my head shaved. Whenever I would doubt myself I would just tell myself, “do it for art.”
On the night of the Cybercy opening, I rode my bike eagerly to GOCA, ready to accept whatever it was that was coming my way. When I arrived, there were three people signed up ahead of me. As I waited for my turn, I got to watch Caitlin’s experience in the Psychic Barber cube—it is seriously one of the most magical and tender things I have ever witnessed, and it made me all the more excited for my experience.
When it was my turn, I sat down at a quite table with Andye Murphy, still not knowing exactly what to expect. Within three minutes of the reading I was screaming to myself, “who the hell is this woman and how does she know so much about me even though I’ve hardly told her anything about myself?!” She understood my struggle, felt my pain, and told me that that it was going to be a healing experience for me—and it was.
After the reading, we stepped into the cube together. I felt nervous and excited. It was unusual but also thrilling to be surrounded by friends and strangers intently watching my experience. The nervousness went away when Andye told me to not look at them—it was just her and me. Andye asked me to keep my eyes closed for the duration of my haircut—it was an exercise in connecting to myself, my senses, and my body.
It felt incredibly vulnerable to not only trust someone with my hair, but to also have no idea what was happening to it, what it would look like, and to share that experience with anyone and everyone who was watching. Vulnerability is a character trait of mine that I have, more or less, always been reluctant to have, but I realize more and more that it takes bravery to be vulnerable, and my experience with Andye and Psychic Barber helped me to embrace that part of myself.
When Andye was finished I opened my eyes to see that the haircut she had given me made me look simultaneously like my mother and like my seven year old self. From an early age I have always felt like my mother didn’t accept me for who I was. I hadn’t told Andye about that particular struggle of mine, but there it was battling itself out through the hair on my head. For a moment I was sad to look like my mother, but then I remembered what Andye told me: “You don’t have to be mom.” And so I chose to be me—childlike, creative, playful, and free. I stepped out of the cube and was immediately greeted by smiles and hugs and compliments from my friends. I felt lighter and more free.
When I decided to participate in Psychic Barber, I thought that I was doing it for art, but it ended up being for me.
Christine Flores is studying visual arts at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs and just recently joined the GOCA team. Her favorite mediums are ink, markers, and watercolors. When she is not working on her art, you can find her climbing, singing, petting dogs, and taking care of her plants.
Have a Psychic Barber experience of your very own at Brilliant! The Psychic Barber cube will be activated again on Saturday June 24, 2017. Buy your tickets 🌟💖HERE💖🌟 See you there!
💇🏾✨ Learn more about Finishing School and Psychic Barber here!
It’s visually stunning, high energy, awe-inspiring, and delicious. It’s
And it’s happening in downtown Colorado Springs on June 24, 2017!
GOCA invites you to explore the ways in which the Internet has affected our movements, connections, and perceptions. The evening features the interactive exhibition CYBERCY where you can observe or receive a psychic reading and haircut, plus all your senses will be delighted by pop-up performances and craft tastings sprinkled throughout the night.
