It seems we are all waiting for an answer. An answer as to why that one terrible thing happened that one time, as to why we feel the way we do, as to why we are nervous or afraid when it comes to that thing, as to how can that person be the way that they are, as to how we are supposed to live, as to how we are not. We have about a billion questions and whether we know it or not, we are all desperately hoping that the answers to all of these nagging questions will come and find us and drag us out of the darkness of confusion and anxiety and into the light of clarity and peace.
Nasir Sobhani, self-proclaimed "Street Barber," has certainly known his fair share of dark times marked by all those unfriendly and unanswered questions that sit unhappily in our hearts that we just previously spoke of. Nasir used to be a drug addict saying that he "didn't care about anybody else" during those dark years of his life. But these trying times served a purpose for Nasir. Nasir bravley faced rehab and was left feeling unsure about where to with his life after he got out. Nasir's parents suggest that he start cutting hair again, something he used to love to do for his friends when he was younger. Nasir now works 6 days a week as a barber and does something extremely extraordinary on his 1 day off; Nasir goes out into the streets and offers haircuts, conversation, and love to those in need. His claims that "serving others is the best high [he] has ever felt" and that "sharing the voice of the unheard is his new drug." Nasir offers each client a look in the mirror after their haircut, which some find hard to do. Sometimes its hard to face realitly, all of those unawnswered questions, and ourselves, Nasir claims that there was a time in his own life that he could not look in the mirror without crying. But no longer, through offering new perspective to others he has created a new perspective for himself as well. It seems that this call to serve others was not only an answer for Nasir, but perhaps also for those he serves. Sometimes an answer comes in the form of simply feeling clean again, of feeling loved, of feeling fed.
I cannot be sure, but I am almost certain that Nasir never expected that giving haircuts in the streets would be an answer for him, that it would be his next and final "fix." And perhaps we don't expect where our next "fix" will come from either. And that's okay. It's okay as long as we trust the answers will come. Even if the answer is that there is no answer, we can still find peace in this. Even in the mystery there is an answer; there is peace. Perhaps it will be the changing of the weather, a song on the radio, the forgiveness of a friend, a warm meal, flowers from a lover, a quick hug, a smile from a stranger, a kind handshake, a "you look nice today," a long late night conversation with your mother: who knows what your next answer will be. Sometimes we dismiss these beautiful answers handed to us gently from above because we don't know how to accept them. We cannot let our fickle hearts trust in something so simple can we? But we must. We must trust in the simpleness that is called good. We must that our trials and questions will one day turn into answers and something so beautiful that we can't even picture it just yet.
Maybe your answer is to accept that it isn't your time to have an answer just yet, perhaps it was hearing Nasir's story. My heart would rejoice if the words in this article brought you any source of comfort, any sort of "fix" for today. I hope that your heart is open to the questions you struggle with and that you patiently and joyfully await the answers, no matter how simple they might be. Because as beautiful and as special as the answers themselves might be, it is in asking the question and facing the trial that the beauty truly comes from.
If you want to learn more about Nasir Sobhani, "The Street Barber," visit his website http://thestreetsbarber.com where you can watch videos about what he does and can gain access to his other social media platforms.
