Don’t ask why I am writing about a dressing room because you all know I am not a shopper. And I was not (until recently) someone who tried clothes on in the dressing room. My focus seemed to be that of someone who wanted the pain and torture of shopping to end as quickly as possible and checking out different outfits in front of a mirror would just delay the already painful situation. So why do that? Right? We all want those things we don’t like to be ancient history.
Yeah, I know what you are thinking…you are wondering what horrible traumatic experience as to why I have this total dislike to shopping. You can guess all you want, and you will never get it. Unless I have already told you that secret…of wait, maybe that was me.
More about shopping and how it ties in a few…
But first, let me tell you a story about a little girl who did a lot of things when she was growing up…she played soccer, she learned how to play the flute (for a year until she broke it practicing her softball swing) and the accordion (but she only could play one song after two years of lessons), and she made it to the 4th grade spelling bee’s 3rd round. Softball, tennis, and basketball were all something she did also — and she was good at them too. This same girl spent a year in the Girl Scouts (she didn’t like the skirt and sash, but loves Thin Mints), was a Rainbow Girl (I have no explanation for this one), and even taught Sunday School (for four years because her little sister did not want her to leave her).
Have you tried a few things too?
Chances are you have. We all have. We encourage our children to try lacrosse or dance. Trying out for the school play or running for class president might have been something you suggested to your son or daughter too. What did you do when you were little? And how did that make you feel? Probably that it was a waste of your time and that you wanted to quit. You want to know why I picked the flute? Because it was the lightest instrument to carry to and from school. (However, the accordion is a completely random story that would never happen today…) Sometimes, we fell in love with something and stuck with it, while we let the others just fall away as if they have never happened. (Except for the proof on a Polaroid somewhere.)
What happens when we get older?
We stop trying new things!
The dressing room is our chance to try on what we fancy now, but we just walk into that store, grab what we came there for, pay for it, and get out. Fast. (Truthfully, this is how I shop.) But what happens if we take our time, and look around a bit. Maybe wanting to finally see how we look in some heels with that dress sitting in the back of the closet with the tag still on is where to start. How about trying some food that just sounds gross, but actually your fears were just a waste of time. (I tried oysters for the first time this week — pretty tasteless.) Failure might be the reason you don’t attempt something that sounds so difficult you ask others to do it for you. So you ask a lot of questions, knowing that the one answer you want to hear is, “You can’t screw this up.” I kept telling myself that this week when I made my favorite jelly by myself. Side note — I didn’t screw it up.
A few years ago, I promised myself to do at least one thing a year I never thought I would do. This could be anything, but never really anything that consumed my thoughts. I was just going to be open to the chances that came my way. I was not going to hurry and get out the store, and I wasn’t going to run from them either. Life is waiting for you to try a few things on, do some mixing and matching, and see what happens. Maybe you do it once and you never do it again. But you can say you did it. And maybe you like it enough to try it again. I was like that with running. Must be why I have all of this running wear. Now, I take every chance that is given to me. I may fall on my face or I may love every minute of it — laughing the whole time for either.
Live is about living…it is about experimenting and being open to the adventure it gives to you. Don’t hold back because you are afraid. Please don’t spend your time watching the world go by as you secretly wish you had the courage to try. What do you want to try on? We all feel uncomfortable when we are doing something for the first time. But we never know we like something or don’t until we try.
Standing in the dressing room is the best way to see what is out there for you. But you have to be ready to accessorize your outfit with a new set of shoes now and again, maybe a different colored belt, or even a set of pearl earrings. There doesn’t have to by any rhyme or reason. You don’t have to spend a fortune, but you do have to show up. Making it up as we go along is the best kind of fun. No one believes me when I tell them that I used to play a mean “Frere Jacques” on my Tiger accordion, but it is the truth.
Life is a party — what are you going to do when you get there? Don’t just show up to make an appearance and leave. Stay a while…try a few things on…and see what you like. You just might be surprised. No one said you had to look in the mirror, but we all do. We can’t help it.
“Everyone begins at the same place…at the beginning.”
What new thing have you wanted to try? How have you allowed fear dictate what you don’t do in your life? Does trying something new scare you? There is no limit on how many items you can take in with you, but no one goes into the dressing room without at least one thing… So take a few things in with you…try them on. See what fits and what doesn’t. I bet you find something that looks stunning on you.
Michelle A. Homme 2014 ©
