Nail Polish

The use of nail polish is seen as a way of beautifying one’s hands.  The styles and colors adorning many fingernails are admired by people across the world.  Often painted to match outfits, seasons, and holidays, decorated nails are trends universally appreciated by many aesthetically driven folks.  It is an outward symbol of an internal value as it takes time, effort, and money to keep up groomed hands, even those that aren’t professionally maintained and are upkept at home.

Beyond prettiness, another benefit of manicures is that nail polish reduces the likelihood of getting chipped, broken, or snagged fingernails.  It acts as a buffer from elements that otherwise weaken the nail.  Some people can’t grow long fingernails without the aid of nail polish (I am one of those unfortunate souls).  That’s why polish can be clear without color and still play an important part of a grooming regiment. 

Because my natural nails are tragic at best, I was intrigued by the gel nail polish trend.  It requires an LED lamp to set the specialized nail polish to the fingernail.  What results is a longer lasting and more durable paint.  As someone who previously couldn’t grow their fingernails, this has been an astonishing and fun discovery.  The UV light essentially cures the paint and provides my nails with strength not found alone.

Nail polish reflects a lot about how life can work.  Sometimes a clear coat is what is needed to provide a transparent and thinner buffer.  It also acts as a method of highlighting what is naturally there.  Other times, colored paint helps augment the mood, message, or tone.  And still other times, gel polish that is cured, strengthened, and set through light helps deliver the best results.  It might all fall under the category of nail polish, but the form and function vary considerably.  Light, color, and transparency all help aid at different points with the message and strength of what lies beneath. 

Maybe we need to be nail polish to someone in our life, or maybe we need to receive the gift of nail polish.  It can take what is already there and augment it to what it isn’t on its own.

Changepoints:

Look around you and see the varying types of nail polishes around you:

·      What subtle and bold messages are conveyed by what you see?

·      How does nail polish act to improve the fingernail and in what ways could this be translated into your own life?

·      What assumptions do you make about the fingernails you see around you, both good and bad?  Where do those assumptions stem from and how can you learn from these thoughts?

·      In what ways can you act as polish, or a support, to those around you?

o   What areas in your life could use a transparent coat to boost what is naturally there?

o   How can you work on strengthening what you already are at your core? 

Nail polish is a simple metaphor that can be used to teach us how to look at the mundane in a new way, and how to bolster what we might take for granted on its own.  We just might have the ability to be the light, strength, and transparency for the world around us.

outSIGHTin, LLC: Creating awareness as a changepoint for improved organizational results.