Shopping

 Thanksgiving has always been an important holiday for my family.  It is that one celebration that only requires you to show up, have a nice meal, share personal connection and maybe help with the dishes ----no presents required, just your presence.  Over time, life has scattered my family between SF and London making it challenging to always gather around the same table.  Still we hold tightly to our Thanksgiving traditions.

In the day, we traveled to a local California ranch for Thanksgiving, a tradition my parents started.  Everyone was smaller then, so it was easier.  A tradition I started with my children was making sure my children had a “fancy” outfit for Thanksgiving dinner.  I think that is why I like to dress for dinner when I go to a restaurant.  Dressing up was the least I could do to show appreciation and respect for the effort made to create the venue and hospitality (ok, paying the bill too).   Preparing Thanksgiving dinner at home feels the same.  If somebody spends all day preparing a dinner, it is important to show appreciation by presenting your best self. 

The ritual of something “Fancy”

I was recently reminded of the special nature of shopping for something new. The fun part of Thanksgiving was shopping with my girls for their special outfits.  This was an opportunity to go shopping for the whole outfit.  It was a fun event for all of us.  

Surly shopping is generally judged to be an extravagance.  Perhaps an air of irresponsibly, spending more than you should.  The central casting look of the beautiful woman breezing in with multiple shopping bags of expensive attire.  Think of the movie Pretty Woman.  Setting judgment aside and the guilt of spending money. Shopping, especially for clothes, can be considered an extraordinarily positive event of self-care.  Allowing yourself to reinvent yourself, to start anew, at least in appearance.   Don’t let expense rule or ruin the experience.  The feeling of renewal does not necessarily cost a lot.   It is the act of demonstrating your uniqueness.  Allowing people to see a new reveal, the surprise of something different behind the same door.  Shopping is the act of renewal.  The outward expression of you as someone complicated, intriguing, worth a deeper look.  It is too easy to see that new set of clothes as an extravagance.  See yourself as everchanging.

Help the world to understand you are not predictable --- you are worth exploration….

“Do you have this in a size 4?”