An eager man at a mall kiosk insisted I must purchase his $300.00 hair straightening iron and products because, he claims, “Your hair is your calling card.”
I haven’t heard that expression “this is your calling card” in years. Informally, the phrase means any mark, sign, trace, characteristic, or the like by which someone or something can be recognized. So a hairstyle, signature clothing, shoes, or even manner of speaking becomes your “calling card.” It’s what we more modernly call a brand perhaps. I think of celebrities we can pick out simply by their hair, mode of transportation, or phrases they use when speaking.
Did I want my hair of all things to function as my calling card, that thing I’m most readily recognized by and know for? If not my hair, then what? When people think of me–and you–what trait or characteristic comes to mind? What would you want to come to mind?
I don’t want it to be my hair. I’d want my calling card to be the way I always spoke encouraging words or knew scripture or helped people connect with God.
I don’t want it to be my hair.