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.