Verdi

Action through inaction is one of the concepts I try to live by, in business as well as personal situations. It doesn’t apply everywhere, but it’s basically allowing things to take their natural course. I learned it during my studies of Taoism, which I often refer to when troubled. I even have the words Wu Wei tattooed on my arm to remind me both of the significance of this concept, and of the importance of Taoism at that time of my life. Consider water in its natural environment, doing what water does without effort. If it’s in a river, flowing toward the sea, and it encounters an obstacle, it flows around it and continues along its path. It doesn’t make any overt attempts to remove the obstacle or reshape it, although it actually will over time. Now consider one’s beard in its natural state, and this is what I’m here to discuss today.

A man’s beard will grow of its own accord. Only through overt action can a man prevent this natural occurrence. Shaving is very non-Taoist. So if we were to take action through inaction, our beard will ultimately makes it own course like the water in the river. Patiently allowing this to happen is difficult, but the challenge is a worthy one as it will instruct one in the power of Wu Wei and its essential impact on inner peace and harmony. Because I’ve been removed from my Taoist studies for so long, it took a while for it to dawn on me that my bearded journey was causing undue stress and uncertainty when it was actually taking shape completely on its own, as it should.

I’m a fan of BeardBrand and owe much of my current state of beardedness to their support and encouragement, as well as their prolific online content and bearded spokesmen. When today’s new video surfaced, I of course settled in to watch it, not knowing that it would be as meaningful and impactful as any I’ve observed along the bearded path. The video featured founder and current “Beardstache” enthusiast Eric Bandholz discussing the various styles of full beards. As he went down the list, from stubble to terminal length beards, somewhere around the middle of the pack was the Verdi Beard, named for its originator Giuseppe Verdi, a 19th century composer.

As I heard Eric describe the Verdi I felt a stirring in my follicles. I scribbled Verdi on a nearby notepad and was soon searching the web to get more information about what seemed suddenly like an important discovery. Sure enough, my beard, in its current state, is in fact a Verdi. On its own, it grew in this exact shape and proportion. Note this poetic description:

The rounded bottom of the Verdi resembles the rounded bottom of the ducktail beard – the areas that lie lower on your face are thicker and fuller than those areas higher on your cheek. The latter should be slightly shaven to show off the Verdi’s distinctive mustache. Also, be sure to keep the edges of your beard neatly trimmed and tidy.

The mustache, which is separate from the beard, is a big part of the Verdi look. It should never extend below the corners of your mouth and, in most cases, is styles so that its outer edges curve upward. You must always – always – keep your mustache immaculately trimmed if you want to be a true carrier of the Verdi banner.

Confirming this description in the official World Beard and Mustache Championships category guidelines, I bolted from my chair to the nearest mirror to inspect the hedge growing from my face.

The chin and underlip area are full and naturally rounded. In fact, I often consider trimming to try and shape some of this natural roundness out of the chin area, only to have it grow right back to this shape in a few short weeks. The mustache is my strongest feature, growing full and thick more quickly than the rest of its facial neighbors. My cheeks are my weakest area, even with the ongoing Minox treatment to attempt new growth, once again naturally meeting the Verdi’s need for a thinner cheek.

A burden has been lifted from me as the nebulous future bearded state I awaited to occur has already occurred. I, urban beardsman, sport a true stylized sprouting of facial hair upon my countenance called The Verdi. I have arrived, while taking no action at all to get here.