Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter
Kissing Frogs
I need comfortable shoes. But I’m afraid. I don’t want to wear cheap shoes anymore, but I know that sometimes the shoes that feel perfect in the store don’t stand up to a day in my life. So what’s a girl to do?
I’m gonna have to kiss some frogs.
Huh? Maybe you remember when I wrote about letting go of your shopping mistakes, but that was about letting go of impulsive purchases that you never should have made. This is about letting go of the frogs, the mistakes you make in the search of something that you actually, legitimately need. And if you think that comparing a pair of comfortable yet attractive shoes to a prince is a stretch, then you probably don’t live in New York.
I see this issue a lot with my clients: Three nearly identical black leather bags that weren’t quite right shoved into the back of the closet; the half-dozen underwire bras they never wear, bought in the search for the two that they love.
It’s important to love your stuff. Stuff is useful: the perfect bag that totally works for us, the shoes we can walk in all day, the bra that looks great under the clingiest knit… these are like mini assistants that help us accomplish what we want to do. But sometimes there’s a period of seeking, and in that period, where we try and fail to hunt down the bag that will fit our lunch without breaking our back or looking like a weekender, or find the shoes that will look great with a suit but can still make the trek across town, we make mistakes. And it’s OK.
Yes, the answer is the same as it always has been: Let it go. Keeping the pair of shoes that you bought to walk in but that you can’t walk in only compounds the mistake. Cut your losses. Donate the shoes. Move on.
After all, you’re never going to find your prince if you have a bunch of frogs hanging around.