Team colours

Some people are passionate about sport, or space travel, or wine, or dinosaurs, or insects. My passion (other than Welsh mythology and tea) is of course.... shoes, and I wore my "team colours" today - shoe earrings, a shoe top, and shoes... yeah I added the and shoes and thought well duh, but, pointing out the obvious is sometimes necessary to create a list.

This t-shirt cracks me up, because of course I need to remind myself sometimes to keep calm when my workload is a little nuts, and there's a lot going on with me personally too (like a ridiculous pelvic/back/shoulder issue and a little baby dog who doesn't feel well). When the make up is off lately I've got some epic dark under eye circles going on (briefly remedied with this insanely expensive eye cream sample I got and concealer) and I can't seem to fall asleep before 2am, and then won't stay asleep for a full eight hours. My mind is full of thoughts - some creative, some problem solving, some from fantasy land, others rooted in insecurity and upset.

I try a lot of things to get my mind to settle - tossing and turning myself into a burrito, a wheat bag, Sleepy body cream, breathing exercises, mindfulness activities like colouring in, turning off electrical devices at least half an hour before bed, drinking chamomile tea, doing gentle stretches. Nothing seems to be helping with my monkey mind.

At least in life there's fun things like rose print skirts and fun jewellery, and sweet nylon scarves to dress up a tired face and long Friday. And shoes, my beloved shoes. This pair of wedges I've had ages and I've forgotten how comfortable they are, being a cork base. They always seem so specific in my mind with their colours and print, yet I think in this case they really work.

Shoes have the power to transform an outfit, this we all know. But they also have the power to shape how we feel about ourselves and our environment. We've all had those days when our shoes were horrendously uncomfortable, when the balls of our feet throbbed, or our toes lost circulation, or rubbed us into a blistered, bleeding state. And no matter what you're doing, this painful betrayal by our shoes taints our enjoyment. Shoes also have the power to elevate us (figuratively and literally). There's something powerful about wearing great shoes and strutting down the street, and knowing people are looking, or standing up and feeling confident to do your best work. A new pair of shoes certainly make me smile too, not that I buy that many anymore! Yes, shoes are a friend I wouldn't trade in for another passion, not even while sleep deprived and definitely not for dinosaurs. And wearing these shoes today definitely filled me with springtime optimism and a little joy.

Wearing:
T-shirt: gift
Skirt: Retrospec'd
Nylon scarf: Daisy Jean Floral Designs
Shoes: Seychelles Footwear
Bangles: Dinosaur Designs
Earrings: Gorman