Thread: SRS is No Place for Egos

I just realized something about myself this morning while shaving with my str8. I don't want to have anything but the perfect shave! And, because of that, it is making me subconciously use more strokes or more pressure that my skin is ready for.

Yes friends, my ego was willing to take on the ungodly sting of my Alum block just to say that I got a great shave!

So, I stopped, thought about it, was willing to get a little less in the shave and guess what? No stinging, and I still had a damn good shave.

Makes me wonder how many other things in my life I have been inadvertently torpedoing.

You know, I think that is a good observation. Prematurely pushing the limits can lead to a lot of discomfort and frustrations. Slow and steady wins the BBS

Thanks for sharing and enjoy your journey to shaving nirvana

Good point

Its no BBS if the Alum stings!

Use as little pressure as possible, work on stretching insted.

Same here man I'm fanatical about getting a bbs, I rub my hands on my face afterwards searching for that lone missed hair. and if I find it, I lather up and go again.

I feel the sting of Alum for this sometimes too, but only when I rush, if you dont rush and prep well, you should be golden, as others have said 'light touch" is key.

Best of luck in your search for perfection, I'm right there with ya hehe.

David

Originally Posted by Otto

Use as little pressure as possible, work on stretching insted.

+1 Otto,

That stretching is really key. You can't shave a whisker close without a lot of pressure if it is lying flat on your face. I can't tell you how many times I go to take a stroke and the only stretching I am doing is some facial contortion.

My dear Alembic,

Nietzsche said: "Humility has the toughest hide."

I humble myself before the straight razor every time I pick it up to shave — and we get along swimmingly.

Your perfect shave, if such a thing exists, will come in time. Patience, care, discipline and, yes, humility will show you the way.

Enjoy.

Regards,

Obie

I think this is true of any dangerous tool that humans learn to use.

So much of that has been removed from society. We are trying to make everything safer and safer, surrounding ourselves in a bubble.

When I took up fencing, I didn't just learn how to stick people with a long pointy object. I didn't even just learn the psychology of a dual.

I also learned about the gravity of holding a weapon. And that taught me a lot about who I am as a person. I once (and only once) entered a dual with anger in my head and in my heart. I lunged so viciously that I broke my blade on the chest of my opponent, and in the process sliced open my hand as his blade flew past me.

It wasn't merely the fact that I injured myself pretty badly that kept me from doing that again. It was the idea that I had quite nearly seriously injured someone I cared about and that I had not taken the gravity of my weapon seriously. In the process I had endangered everyone around me, including myself.

I learned a lot about my own tendency towards impatience and emotionality. These things become clear when you are using a dangerous tool. It teaches you who you really are - the good and the bad.

I'm still a newbie with a straight razor, but even in my single failed attempt thus far I have learned something. I've learned that great tools must be treated delicately, and that my lack of respect for my tool was what lead me to fail.

One of the good aspects about me, evident in both my fencing and my experience so far with straights, in my persistence. But it does little good if I am not respecting my dangerous tools, respecting myself, and being a patient and thoughtful person.

Living in a bubble prevents us from improving ourselves. Perhaps that fact that SRP is such an incredibly kind and thoughtful place stands as a testament to the value of venturing outside that bubble.

great lesson to be learned, thanks for sharing

I don't know how ego comes into play here, but SRS is definitely no place for impatience. Or assumptions for that matter. As soon as you think you know it all BOOM.....