Spread Too Thin? Here's Your Reminder that Style - Like Life - is a Buffet
Credit - Selfie, Sarah G. Schmidt. South Centre Mall
It’s been a minute since I have posted. I’ve been racking my brain trying to articulate exactly why that is. Sure work gets hectic and you always have the demands of home life and loved ones. All that to say, so what? Usually sharing my thoughts is a priority. It’s not hard to see that even that former truth is shifting.
I certainly feel spread a wee bit thin. The notion of what get’s priority when you feel nearly maxed out is an interesting concept. For some folks, that mean the housework slips and maybe the laundry isn’t put away. For others it’s not calling their mom back right away like they normally would. Others it’s shifting their appearance to a get up and go type level of effrort. Please know that I’m not judging, I am a participant. We all find our way to cope and get by.
As am older millennial, I have to remind myself to challenge my upbringing. Counter to adults tell me I can be and do anything I want, I tell myself over and over, “No Sarah, you can’t have it all.” That’s impossible. At the very least, not all at the same time. While we all have the same 24 hours in a day, we all need rest.
Stay with me a little bit longer, I swear there’s a worthy pivot. Indulge me.
I am continually intrigued by the nuance of catch phrases in the English language. Sayings like,
You can love someone but not be in love with someone.
A house isn’t always a home.
Make a mess but don’t be a mess.
It may be simple, not always easy.
Everybody dies, but not everybody lives.
And, as mentioned, you can have everything you want, just not all at the same time.
Is now a good time to remind you that I’m a Pisces? Ha.
Then like a fog lifting from a body of water after dawn in the Qu’Appelle Valley, Beyoncé’s’ “Break My Soul,” dropped and I got it. Got it, got it.
I felt it. I was totally in synch with that sentiment. While I know we don’t have to have it all figured out, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to. That’s not going to happen. Ever. Not to fret, I know in my bones that I can be certain of some things and totally clueless about others. There’s value in the limbo state.
Break My Soul - Beyonce
…Release ya anger, release ya mind
Release ya job, release the time
Release ya trade, release the stress
Release the love, forget the rest
…
If you don’t seek it
You won’t see it
That we all know
If you don’t think it
You won’t be it
That love ain't yours
Trying to fake it
Never makes it
That we all know…
We’re all spread thin, yes? There’s simply too much going on right now and a lot of that is absolute dog shit. And while that is very serious and we have to hold one another accountable I remind myself, “not everything all at once.”
This emotional teeter totter is influencing more than our thoughts. It’s in our actions and reactions. It’s how we dress, certainly how I dress. While I need an undeniable level of put-togetherness in my looks, I do need it with a tiny bit of silly, too. That is one change I’ve noticed personally. The kids are shifting too. They have shifted. Adults, the change is a little slower.
Some fashion writer once said that style is a buffet. Apologies, Elaine Lui said that in regards to gossip. “Gossip is a buffet.” The theory still applies to personal fashion choices and critiques.
Wear heels / don’t wear heels
Wear skinny jeans / don’t wear skinny jeans
Get a matching tie dye sweat suit / don’t get a matching sweat suit
Don the logos all over / Don’t wear the logos
Wear a print / Only wear solids
Crop that top / keep it long
Wear those sandals / never wear sandals
Wear gold / wear silver/ wear both / neither!
Or wear it… sometimes.
Please find comfort in knowing I’m the only one who cares about your fashion journey (if you’ll choose to share it with me) is me. No one else cares. No one.
Do you. Experiment, play, try things and if you get it wrong, take it off and try something different the next day.
What does matter is you. Be truthful. Do you. Be you. There’s only one of you out there in this whole hot dog mess of a world so we want to know who YOU really are. Can you be brave enough to show us?
Fashion friends, as we continue to shift and evolve, please know that what you wear and why you wear it is a choice. It’s a buffet. And if done right, you’ll be satisfied from the inside out.
