Trivializing Great Truths...or, um, cliches

Between my family and my near constant online presence, I come into contact with a lot of stuff that has no relevance for me or for any member of my larger family, to whom I often pass stuff on - my brother, sister and our combined 8 kids. Usually, I let this stuff just roll by me, but I just realized that some of it takes up residence in my brain without me realizing it.

Today, two of those things merged together to form a new truth. Unfortunately, instead of being about something important, something which will take me further down the path of enlightenment, my epiphany had to do with...my wardrobe.

I've turned into a person who thinks deep thoughts about shallow things.

Time to start getting out more.

For anyone interested in the intricacies of my thought processes, here's how it went. There is a piece of advice regarding Dress for Success that goes something to the effect of, "Don't dress for the position you have, dress for the position you want to have, so that people get used to seeing you as someone in a position of power." It so happens that no one in my family has pursued a traditional path through the corporate world, so we didn't need this one. I guess the part of me that pursued a degree in psychology, though, found it interesting enough to allow it to linger in the back recesses of my brain.

Next, like many people, I found it hard to avoid at least some bits and pieces of The Secret when it was making a big splash a few years back. Because I didn't look into it too closely, however, my understanding of it may have gotten it a bit garbled. I think at least part of it goes something like, "Assume your dreams will come true and live like they already have, then they soon will."

Do you see the similarity between those two ideas? I actually never thought about it, so they must have just wandered close enough to bump into each other in my brain. And since I have been focusing a great deal on wardrobe the past couple of weeks, it finally all went BAM!

Like a great crash of triviality in my subconscious.

See, I'm leaving on a trip in less than a week and, naturally, I've given some thought to what to bring. I've also been shopping end of season sales online, and finding great coupon codes to use on those sites, which have resulted in some phenomenal bargains - some of which I will be using on my trip, some of which will not be used for several months.

Now, you have to understand that I have not done this kind of shopping in several years. But I am in the happy place of having lost enough weight to warrant new clothes. On the other hand, I have not lost nearly the amount I want to, so I am not investing a great deal in a new wardrobe. It's mostly very inexpensive stuff from clearance sales, but there has been quite a bit of it. So, clothes has been occupying *much* more of my time than it has in several years.

Not that my shoe size would change much, but since I was seeing all of these great bargains, I figured I may as well take advantage of them.

Today, I got two new pairs of boots. Really pretty boots, that are also comfortable. Soft, suede-lined boots. As I usually do when I find something I like, I got them in more than one color. I've only had them for a couple of hours, and I probably won't wear them for at least six months, but I am already in love with these boots. And I am in awe that each pair was less than $27. They look, and feel, so much more expensive than that. I worry a little that they may fall apart quickly once I begin wearing them, but seriously, how long can it take to get $27 worth of wear out of something? I gotta figure I'll at least get my money's worth.

If I live long enough to wear them.

I cannot believe that morbid thought just popped into my head while I was thinking lovingly about my new boots. It actually rattled me a little. But there I was, picturing my sweet new possessions tucked safely away in my closet, waiting for boot wearing weather to return to these parts...and BAM! Talk about thoughts crashing. The thought suddenly jumps into my mind that, if I should die before fall, someone may find it so sad that I had these brand new boots waiting to be worn.

I sure as hell would.

Anyway.

Shaking off the morbidness, I realized that once all of my new loot is finished being delivered (probably by Tuesday), I will have a wardrobe that will be very nicely suited to packing lightly for a trip to Europe in the fall. Subconsciously, I had bought all the clothes I need - not for where I am, but for where I want to be.

The Secret of Dressing for Success...while traveling lightly.

Check this space in six months to see if my dreams really did come true. Or if I died. Except, I don't know how you'll be able to tell if I died. Okay, I'll make a deal with you. If I decide to stop blogging, I'll tell you. That way, if I dont, and if you don't hear from me in a long, long time, that means I died. Probably. I can promise you this, though. If I'm still blogging, or tweeting, in the fall and I'm actually going to Europe, You. Will. Hear. About. It. With photos. No matter how bad they are.