Pink Power

So I'm sitting here wrapped up in my coat, thinking of how this evening did not go as planned. A friend sent me a link on FB earlier this week, inviting me to an Islamic spoken word event. I was so excited about going. I made arrangements for a babysitter days ago and went there straight from work. I expected to truly enjoy myself. After all, I'm an artsy/literary type. Though I haven't written a poem in years or done much writing at all, I felt it was time to get that particular "swag back. This spoken word event seemed like it could be the best of both worlds. I could meet and network with other Muslims and hear poetry in a halal environment, and eat Eritrean food. Could it possibly get any better than that?

Of course that's not what happened. I arrived right at the beginning. Maybe being punctual was a mistake-who know. But the vibe there was very 'cliqueish' and closed. I don't know if everyone there attended the same masjid or knew each other from previous events. Either way it felt like they had their own social circle, and Muslim or not, others were not getting in.I stayed for about fifteen minutes, looked at my horrid nails and decided this child-free time would be better spent at the nail shop. So I grabbed my bag and left.

It had been a month since I had my latest full set put on, so I was in desperate need of a fill. I wouldn't be able to make it to my regular nail shop by the time they closed, so I stopped at another instead. I always feel a twinge of guilt when I don't go to my regular nail shop. However this time I was glad that I tried a different nail salon. The nail tech that did my fill was the truth! She made no errors with and kept control of her drill. She didn't even nick me once! I had selected a very pale, iridescent shade for my nails. But while she was putting the final touches on my fill, I saw a lovely hot pink that I had to have. I grabbed the bottle on my way back from washing my hands and ditched the pale shade. I was very pleased with the result; the vibrant pink made deep brown skin glow even more. As I watched my nails draw under the UV light, I reflected on the sad fact that I used to avoid pink and all bright colors. I never wore pink at all until I was 25 years old. You see as a child I had been told that dark-skinned people were not supposed to wear pink or anything bright. Bright colors would just call attention to the color that we supposedly had the misfortune to be born with. Well the folks that told me that were VERY wrong. If anything, certain shades make dark brown skin glow! So now, pink is my favorite color. You can find a diverse array of pink in my makeup case and in my closet. Eyeshadow,lipstick, shoes, hijab-if it comes in pink, I've got it. I'm a firm believer in pink power!