The COVID 19 pandemic has brought about tremendous changes in how we interact as a society. After the initial lockdown, or self isolating phase, we were faced with uncertainty as to if and when we would ever return to a time when even the simplest of things such as going to a store would ever be possible.

Weeks turned into months as we waited for our officials in government to guide us to what measures would be taken to ensure our safety and help us “flatten the curve”. As time passed there seemed to be tremendous pressure and anxiety building up, often leading to depression and helplessness for some.

An announcement was made that non essential services would be closed down for an indefinite period. What defined non essential and who decided what was and what wasn’t necessary for us to live a close to normal life during this time? Grocery stores were given the green light to stay open, as well as gas stations and pharmacies. Municipal buildings, restaurants, clothing and furniture stores and even hair salons were deemed non essential at first so they soon followed with closures causing great fear amongst business owners.

In Schreiber the first signs of something going on was the closure of the municipal buildings. Services continued in a limited fashion and public works and office staff were mostly retained or given the option of being able to work from home. It was a quite different story for small business owners. Suddenly they faced the real possibility of losing everything.

Many opted in for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) as a temporary measure. One of the businesses at that first seemed superficial, or non essential, was hair salons. With nowhere to go for our usual grooming procedures, long hair and beards for men and functional but not very flattering hair styles for women, was becoming the norm. Was there a connection between mental health and looking good? Could a haircut really make a difference in how we see ourselves and alternatively, could how we see ourselves affect our ability to cope in a time of crisis.

It turns out there is a definite connection between how we feel about ourselves, our self worth a sit could be called, and how we handle the day to day pressures of life. Kim Krause, Schreiber Media Centre's local journalist, had spoken with mental health professionals earlier and a case was made for this assumption. A few weeks ago Premier Ford made the announcement that hair salons would be allowed to reopen with conditions in place. Kim set out to test his theory and made an appointment with our local hair guru in Schreiber.

Dominic Commisso of Bella Capella hair studios was just reopening and was taking clients so he made an appointment. He could only fit him in on Canada Day so he would be his only client of that day. After he worked his magic, they sat down and spoke about the effects of shutting down his business had on him, both financially and emotionally. The barbers chair had always been a place of conversation and healing as hair stylist were often looked up to as the next best thing to a psychotherapist. Kim says  "I walked out feeling very positive about the future, with the understanding that it is how we adapt to any situation that determines how we carry on with our lives."