Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Don't Forget to Play! The Brooch, the Birds, and the Beauty

 

As you may know, my last post, was about healing from sexual abuse, and was pretty heavy. In fact, it was very heavy. It was also a lot of work to write! I don't regret it. It had over 600 reads in less than a week so I think the hard work was worth it. But one of the pieces of advice I give in it is to remember to have fun. This post is about that, about a day when I had some fun.
It was actually shaping up to be a tough day. I'd been recovering some new memories about how Smother reacted with rage when I tried to say no to sexual abuse. This morning, I woke up with a sense of dread, knowing that I was going to therapy and would need to talk about Smother's rages and their cause.

Bleh. Just total bleh.


But, before I left the house, these new-to-me, vintage, Weiss earrings arrived in the mail and life started looking up a bit.


Jewelry lover that I am, I'd spent two evenings on Etsy and Ruby Lane, searching for earrings to match my new-to-me, vintage, Weiss brooch. I wasn't sure that the earrings were a match. With the wonderful iridescence of both the brooch and the earrings, these pieces seem to be a different colour every time they're photographed, so there was just no way to tell if they matched until I saw them "in person." I even wrote to the seller and sent her a photo of my brooch, and she couldn't tell either.

I took a chance.


They're a perfect match! It may seem like a small thing. In fact, it is a small thing, but I get a lovely, sparkly happiness from such little things. I consider that one of my great good fortunes: my ability to find joy in small things.

Dress and tights: Mod Cloth; Hat and cape: boutique; Shoes, clutch, earrings, brooches, and bracelet: vintage

Of course, as little time as I had, and as much as I dreaded therapy, I simply had to whip together an outfit to showcase my new demi-parure. I figured this forest green dress, which you have seen before, would go well with its autumn colours.


I then paired them with this gorgeous, vintage bracelet whose colours echo those in the brooch and earrings.


The other day, my insurance company finally approved my long term disability claim and I bought this green brooch to celebrate. When I put it on, Beau was a bit scandalized, saying, "You're double-brooching?!" Sure I was. Why not? Okay, the two brooches don't go together perfectly all that well, but some days just call for double-brooching. To hell with the consequences!


When Beau picked me up after therapy, he was quite resistant to taking photographs for the blog. He just wasn't in the mood. Fair enough. After all, he isn't my personal photographer, not officially anyway. 

He said he'd just take a few photos of my great shoes as I stood over one of my favourite metaphors, the lightning-bolted "KEEP OUT" plate. It's a nice image for a sexual abuse survivor, a nice message to send: "Keep out, abusers, or risk electrocution!"


So I posed my feet perfectly and waited. I didn't realize he'd Beau had changed his mind and was taking a whole bunch of photos of my whole outfit.


When I realized what he was doing, it was somehow very funny to both of us and that's when the day got extra special playful.


I vamped a bit.


I nearly fell over trying to show how my shoes and tights matched the foliage on the wall.


Beau casually pretended that he didn't know his new tattoo would show up in photos. (If you're curious about his tattoo, wait for his upcoming guest post, in which he writes all about it.)


I made funny faces.


And Beau amused himself by photographing his sexy "cleavage": his word, not mine.


I was more amused by the silly double entendre of the Mr. Lube sign with Beau in the foreground.


Who names their shop Mr. Lube?! Someone pretty smart, I guess. It's not a name people easily forget.


Plus, the yellow of the sign matched my tights.


And the swirls in the mural matched the curls in my hair as they blew in the strong wind.



You probably noticed that I'm dressed quite warmly in these photos. It was an uncharacteristically rainy, cold, August day, such a wonderful, blessed respite from this summer's relentless heat. I actually needed my cape and hat. They were not just fashion statements.


I'm sure the cool rain added to our sense of giddiness. Nobody was complaining about the weather. Beau had bad vertigo this week and went to the doctor about it. The doctor says he's seen a lot of that this summer; people here are so unused to extreme heat that their electrolytes are out of balance and they're getting sick! The cool day was most welcome.


Even the birds were huddling together for warmth. I spied this little row of bushtits through our mudroom window. They believed themselves to be perfectly hidden in the thorny branches of our huge rose bush/tree so I was able to take several photos of their little row before they noticed me.


Isn't that the cutest thing you've ever seen?



Despite everything, it was just that kind of a day:




... a playful ...




... we can get through this ...




... don't forget to laugh kind of a day.




A tip of the hat to remembering to play and have fun. It's the stuff of healing.

qwerty

2 comments:

  1. That brooch is beautiful against the hunter green dress. I am so afraid to wear colored tights, they are such a tough thing to style for me. Thank you for joining TBT Fashion link up and hope to see you Thursday.

    Alice
    www.happinessatmidlife.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think I'm turning into one of those eccentric old women who just piles on the colour. Oh well, that's okay.

      Delete