Beauty and the Boots

purple boots

I’m thinking more about the confessions in the Patti Smith article in Harper’s Bazaar.

She invests in coats and boots which has been my game plan in recent years.

The idea that your fashion gives you freedom resonated with me. Boots aren’t traditionally sexy when they’re the type Smith wears.

This is what cheers me as a cisgender woman. That you don’t have to wear stilettos to make a statement about who you are and what you stand for.

The boots above I bought in December in a shoe-buying frenzy. I decided that boots were going to be my thing since I really don’t care to totter in stilettos and pumps.

I”m not keen to wear classic pumps. Not after having worn them for 9 years to legal and corporate office jobs in the 1990s.

A lot of guys on internet dating websites express an interest in meeting a “sexy” woman. The definition of sexy is erotic. I don’t want to walk down the street with everything hanging out for men to see.

It gives me hope that if Patti Smith had a husband and was an iconic rock star that I can meet a guy without having to wear a skintight cleavage-baring dress with a slit up to there.

I’ve decided to wear booties and boots on dates. Mid-heel black booties and the purple ones shown above.

The Bazaar article is right: fashion gives you freedom.

On the cusp of 55 today I think about how we can use fashion as a means of expressing who we are and what we stand for.

There’s a beauty in expressing your Individuality. That’s the ticket to living in health harmony and happiness.

I want to talk more in coming blog entries about searching for Mr. Right. A person that in my case should be Mr. Left in terms of politics.

The Beauty of Individuality

The online Merriam Webster definition of stigma is “a mark of shame or discredit.”

I’m not keen to use the term stigma to describe what is in effect a lack of compassion for people who are different, who might not look like you, who might have an illness.

Too often the word stigma is framed as the cause of people not seeking help for mental health issues.

My memoir Left of the Dial chronicles my own fear of not being normal.

In 2020 I would like to be part of the solution to what’s going on in the world.

For too long narrow-mindedness has ruled in society.

I can identify with individuals who were subjected to “conversion therapy.”

I can relate to people who were told to conform and give up their dream of being an artist.

What I’d really like to do is contribute to the dialog about how to heal from stigma.

No one should feel guilty or ashamed because they don’t fit the mold of what other people think is acceptable.

It’s so easy to fall into the trap of internalizing this stigma.

On the cusp of 55 I’ve decided to promote individuality as the remedy.

The only way to succeed in life is to be who you are not who others would like you to be.

In coming blog entries I’m going to talk about the beauty of individuality in more detail.

On Individuality

As I roll into another birthday all of this resonates with me:

How repressing our Self leads to ill health.

How what makes us different makes us beautiful.

How daring to be vocal about what’s not right in the world is not only necessary it should be expected when we reach mid-life.

My literary agent is working with me on a book proposal project. She edited one sentence. She replaced the word Visionary that I used and changed it to radical.

What I write is radical at times. I write things and talk about things that no one else is writing or talking about.

I’m often the first one–and the only one–doing this.

As 54 beckons, and I look around and see what’s happening outside around me I can’t help but think that courage is warranted.

We need to have the guts to stand up and shout about it when something’s not right.

We need to have the courage to stand tall when other people refuse to treat their fellow human beings with dignity.

It’s sad that acting true to yourself is seen as courageous.

It should be expected and accepted that every one of has the right to be ourselves.

This struck me more so as an inviolable creed after riding a crowded city bus one night.

I came home and realized that the way to live is to have no fear.

So I would like to tell readers of this blog: Dare to be You.

God broke the mold after he made you. God doesn’t make junk. God doesn’t make mistakes.

Whether you are Christian or not and whether you practice some kind of actual religion or not I trust you can understand the underlying theme:

Basing how you live–even so far as deciding how to dress–on fear of what people think, on fear of standing out, on any kind of fear is not the way to live.

The older I get with my life getting shorter I think:

“You don’t have time to waste trying to impress people who are cowards.

You’re the only one who has to accept and be impressed by yourself.”

It’s a fool’s errand trying to conform to what other people tell you is the only way to live, act, be, and dress.