Joshua Coombes

With so much wrong in the world, reading this gave me relief. It was good to read vignettes of people being kind to each other. Joshua's wandering barbering is a perfectly simple means of recognizing the humanity of the people he meets on the street and providing a little human care for those cut off from society. But it isn't a one way street. The unhoused people he describes offer their own kindness when they share their time, stories and sometimes even their homes whether that be a car or tent. It must take a lot of trust for these very vulnerable people to share so much and Coombes respectfully relates their stories. It goes a long way in showing the unhoused as full human beings struggling with catastrophic misfortune without a safety net.… (mais)

This has been an emotional book for me to read because my husband died this year and he and I had helped the homeless in several of the places we have lived. My husband John had been homeless right out of high school because he had a brain injury as a child and was in special education classes all through school in the 1950s. He was a talented artist but his reading and spelling kept him out of work or unable to get “normal” high paying jobs. He always helped and spoke up for people struggling believing that you need to put a face on it so that people recognize that this could happen to anyone. And that’s why I love Joshua’s book, he literally does that so that they touch your heart. Also I’m a hairdresser and have given cuts at a women’s shelter. Read this book and share your gifts with someone who cannot repay you.… (mais)

Joshua Coombes never planned on becoming a hairdresser. Through a chance opportunity in his mid-twenties, he landed a job cutting hair, which would ultimately lead to even bigger, life-changing opportunities.

"I learned how to talk less and listen more."

In 2015 he would start down a path that would soon lead to a worldwide movement, Do Something For Nothing, aimed at spreading kindness and compassion. While talking with a homeless man who he frequently saw on his way home, Coombes offered the man a haircut. While listening to the man's story while he cut, Coombes felt a sense of connection with the man, which led to the formation of a friendship. After meeting some of the homeless man's friends, Coombes soon found himself taking his supply kit around London, offering free haircuts to men and women living on the streets and, most importantly, listening to their stories.

Coombes set out to spread these simple acts of compassion throughout communities abroad, and this book takes us on his journeys around the world. We meet a family in Los Angeles living in a tent under an overpass while trying to maintain some structure for their young son; Zero in Denver asking for birthday wishes; young children in Mumbai with heartwarming smiles; the charismatic Eelco in Amsterdam who was optimistic about his future; and many others. Before and after pictures accompany each story, and you can almost feel the emotional changes through the after photos that a simple haircut can bring.

I'll admit that I've become rather cynical as I've grown older, but Coombes portraits of real people and the effects of a simple kindness at turns broke my heart and gave me hope for humanity.

Highly recommend.

Thank you to Akashic Books for sending me this copy for review!… (mais)