straight razor shaving and normalcy

[steveg]

No, not that kind of normalcy. I would like to speak about the kind of normalcy that George Burns talks about to John Denver in the movie "Oh, God". Burns' character tells Denver's character that when you do not feel normal, just do something normal. I am just three days on this side of double bypass surgery. I stepped up to the sink with Wade and Butcher in hand and shaved on my second day home. I can't tell you how good that wave of normalcy felt after my time in the hospital. I had thought about that shave for 6 whole days and much of many nights. It grounded me and put me in the place where healing begins. Many of you are familiar with the concept of the "happy place", but for those of you who are not or would like to hear my definition, it's a place I go in my mind to escape all but the most inescapable of things that might be happening to me at that moment. Kind of a mental mat slapping by a wrestler who does not want to feel the pain of the other wrestler trying to twist his arm off. I have many "happy places" I might use for these times, but as of the last year or so, straight razors have occupied such a huge place in my life that when it came time for my surgery I immediately headed for my shaving "happy place" to be away from all of the prodding and poking that attends these things. I mentally got out my stuff and proceeded with my routine paying as close attention in fantasy as in reality. I must have shaved a dozen times over the ensuing hospital visit. I have to tell you that I never felt a needle (although more than once I peeked out of my "happy place" to overhear something that sounded like " I can't find a vein, we'll have to do it again" and things like this). My surgery did not go with flying colors and I spent some time on different machines under the influences of some of modern medicine's most powerful drugs, but let me tell you, as soon as I had a lucid thought or was in any way aware of my surroundings I was right back in my "happy place", mentally shaving away my cares and woe. And it worked...quite well. A lot of you fellas know what I'm talking about here, but this is for you fellas who have heretofore been lucky enough to avoid the need of a "happy place". If you should ever need a "mental taxi" to speed you away from the pains that life gives us to bear, I highly recommend that you get out your gear and start that "happy place" shave of which I speak. And don't forget the "happy place is designer friendly...my shaves are all of the most intense lemon-lime and the face in my mirror bears a striking resemblance to Robert Redford. I'm on the mend now, and in a few short months I'll be back to my old ways and habits (with dietary changes of course) but I know that if life throws me another set of painful curves, I'll have the "stuff" to bear through it. I'll miss those baby butt smooth "happy place" shaves for now. I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with plain 'ol reality. How cool is that?

[nzFuzzy]

Welcome back
Nice to hear that virtual shaving got you through a trying time and even better to hear that you have progressed back to the real thing.
All the best with your continued recovery from your plumbing job - hope the new pipework serves you welll for many years to come.

[livingontheedge]

Glad you are still with us and I hope your recovery is fast and without incident. I had a heart attack April 19 2010 (I was 39) and can somewhat relate to your expierance, while recovering from surgery I had many imaginary shaves and in some way they made me feel normal and helped vanquish the utter helplessness I felt. I have 60% blockages in my arteries and am told that if it gets to 70% I will need more surgeries. Shaving and SRP have been a savior of sorts for me, it helps me forget and feel like just 'one of the guys'. I was at work and felt terrible but not like I'd ever imagined a heart attack felt like, if I wasn't at work I probably wouldn't have survived, I would not have gone to the hospital on my own accord and if not for my co-workers practically dragging me kicking and screaming to the hospital I would have went home and gone to sleep. Please remember that 80% of heart attack survivers will suffer from some form of depression and it is in no way a sign of weakness to ask for help. For me when my cardioligest said I'd survived a "widowmaker" I was at first elated but that quickly faded and left me feeling like "whats the point anymore" I'm never getting back what I lost and it's all downhill from here, so why bother trying. I let it go for too long before seeking help and I alienated a lot of friends and family don't let it happen to you. On a side note it it really difficult to stop even a tiny nick from bleeding profusly while on Plavix so be carefull and, good luck.

[steveg]

nzFuzzy and livingontheedge, thanks for your kind responses. My reason for posting my narrative was to help others who may be placed in a similar situation at some time and may not be familiar with "redirection of pain". I have been taken off Plavix so it is now a non-issue. I am well aware of the dangers of depression but with close to 25 razors to restore and being a generally happy go lucky sort of fellow I figure I'm in pretty good shape. I have a wonderful wife of 29 years, 2 beautiful Burmese cats, a full powder horn and plenty of flints. Life is good , my friends.

[Ryan82]

steveg,

I'm not a praying man, but my thoughts and prayers are with you. Your words are quite touching, no matter what your creed. I'm glad that you found a happy place routed in our passion, and hope for a speedy recovery that I'm sure will happen with the love and support of your family. On behalf of SRP I say good luck and enjoy your shaves in good health!

[JimmyHAD]

I cannot read long posts that don't have a separation between sentences or paragraphs every so often.

It is too tiring on my old eyes.

The way to accomplish it is to hit the "enter" A.K.A. "return" key and the cursor will drop down to a new line.

Like so ...... Now your text is on the new line and the post overall is

easier to read .....

If you were to do that every few sentences even though it is a long post it wouldn't be difficult to read it.

Just IMHO...... YMMV

[thebigspendur]

I've been around long enough to realize the Human Body is designed to last around 50 years and without modern medicine many folks wouldn't still be around much longer than that. I know I wouldn't.

I used to believe in the "when your number is up it's up" theory but I don't anymore. For most folks taking care of yourself properly and knowing when you need help no matter the issue goes a long way to living a long healthy life. I've known loads of folks who died young from many causes and it all could have been prevented.

I wish a full speedy recovery to our members here and a change in lifestyle to go along with that recovery.