Deluxe Barbershop: Special in the Ordinary
by Chad Weber
Production assistant: Ian Fleming
Sometimes the special can be found in the ordinary, routine parts of life.
Notes from the filmmaker
As filmmakers - we can tend to be drawn to the most extraordinary stories from the edges of the earth.
Whether it's about climbing the tallest peak in the world or an athlete with a record setting performance. The more dramatic - the better. It's obvious we're supposed to feel the importance and largeness of these stories.
However - I think it can be harder to value the more routine, ordinary parts of our lives. And the relationships formed there.
Grabbing lunch with our coworkers. Chatting with our neighbors. Sharing a smile with a stranger at the post office. Or sitting down for a regular trim at the barbershop.
It can take an extraordinary event that tears us out of our routines to fully appreciate the value in these everyday occurances and relationships.
Deluxe Barbershop's role in the community was never more evident than during the pandemic.
As a place for people to gather and feel grounded in the community. As a place for conversation, human connection, and platonic touch.
These were no longer normal parts of our lives. Isolation became the new normal - as we all tried to figure out our first pandemic together.
Yeah - it's obvious we appreciate things when they're taken away. But I think it's valuable to consider and appreciate the ordinary things. The routine. And the specialness that can be found there.
Sometimes the impactful moments of our lives happen in the journey. In the struggle. In pushing ourselves outside our comfort zone.
But sometimes they can come in The ordinary. The routine. The comfortable.
Sometimes the task of getting a hair cut - can provide a place for these valuable experiences to take place.
To have someone to chat with about life experiences. A routine checkpoint to catch up on life events and take inventory. A place to see others in the community and hear about local goings-on. A place for safe platonic touch and human connection.
I think many of us realized the importance of the human connection during a time of so much isolation. Myself included for sure.
Somebody cue the Boss.
-Chad
