STUDIO H

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending the Wellness Celebration and Rally at the Spokane Convention Center. The entertainment for the afternoon was an ‘Extreme Makeover’ fashion show featuring a variety of local women who had accepted the challenge of not only a complete makeover, but displaying their new look on the catwalk in front of over 200 attendees from the Spokane community. 

While as a casual observer I would have been mildly aware of the courage it took for the participants to take part in such a personally revealing event, I had an inside view into the process that gave me a deeper perspective than just a mere spectator.

I have always been proud to say that Hara Allison and I have been friends for 20 years. What a wild ride it has been. I too, at one time, painstakingly rehearsed how to pronounce my dear friend’s name.  

When I first met Hara I remember thinking how she fit her name…. Unique and hard to define. In the course of a 20 year friendship I have seen her redefine herself numerous times as a mother, as a business-owner, and as a person. I tease her that every few years she completely overhauls something big in her life and indeed she does. Her fearlessness has inspired me on multiple occasions and I have silently applauded every achievement I have been fortunate enough to witness. However, as I watched her yesterday I was able to applaud LOUDLY this most recent and beautiful metamorphosis.

As an admitted girly-girl I never attempted to recruit Hara to the team. I have always admired the fact she can leave the house in 15 minutes looking beautiful and on numerous occasions have glanced enviously at her comfortably Converse-encased feet as my own feet retaliate LOUDLY to my addiction to 4 inch heels. So when Hara first told me about her impending makeover I was not only surprised but wondered who on earth was going to manage the process. I relaxed a bit when I found out it was the illustrious Linda Davis. I knew that Linda would not try to make Hara into something she was not… Just make her a more defined version of her beautiful self.

In the course of just over a month I saw my friend work incredibly hard to release her inner peacock. She worked out religiously, had her colors & make-up done, bought a wardrobe that incorporated color, had her first manicure in 10 years and cut her hair. I also saw her overcome the fear that lies in all of us. To put ourselves out there to be ‘judged’… perhaps the most terrifying component of any change. But I also saw her making these changes by being authentic to herself and to who she was at her core.

I saw all of these element in bits and pieces but was still not prepared for the moment I saw them all come together. I can only describe it as a moment of overwhelming admiration for not only her transformation, but for the courage it took for my traditionally behind-the-scenes friend to stand confidently on that runway. 

I soon became aware that every woman on that stage had friends and family in the audience feeling the same emotion. I saw husbands and sisters and children and parents in awe of their own peacock working that catwalk. The mixture of pride and awe on a cold, rainy Thursday afternoon was so unexpected, and to me that was what made it all the more precious… a seemingly ordinary day that became full of extraordinary people who had fulfilled an extraordinary experience. At the end of the day I found myself exhausted just by the sheer emotion of it all.

It reminded me we all have the ability to release our inner peacock. For some of us it may be a makeover… for some it may be embracing and living an authentic life… for some it may be finding the precious beauty in something seemingly ordinary. No matter how busy our lives become I challenge you to find something every day that ignites your colors or allows you to ignite the colors in another. Do not be afraid of judgement or failure. Choose to be boldly beautiful in your OWN way and on your own terms. Life is a catwalk… Get out there and work it.

Kristi Erban