When things go wrong as they sometimes will, when you're stressed or unhappy, or when it's raining and you can't go back to the office because you have no umbrella... what do you do?
I hit the shoe stores. Charles & Keith in particular, where the heels can be five inches and you still feel like you can run to the copy room for a print-out that's needed five minutes ago.
People think I have a couple dozen shoes hidden under my workstation. I don't. But the shoes I do have are pretty ones, and none of them have heels below three inches. The last one I bought last week, white, wedge, and has a funky white buckle, has... let me take out a ruler... 4.5 inches! Lovely!
I bought the white shoes last week because I was due to report in MBA class that night, I wasn't prepared, and the professor asked tough questions. So I figured if I had no chance to finish the presentation unharmed, at least I had pretty shoes while I was doing it. Ha ha.
I don't buy shoes every time I'm upset. Most working mothers out there can tell you that they usually equate a purchase with what they could buy for the kids. Me, I usually end up thinking that a pair of new shoes would be equivalent to two cans of baby formula. But I go to the stores anyway, and I check out the new ones on display. I would scheme about buying one, and how soon I can get it if I just eat Sky Flakes for lunch for three weeks. If I end up dreaming of the shoes on weekends, you can bet I'm on my way to acquiring it. Some conditions must be met, though: (a) it should be able to match at least five outfits in my closet; (b) it should be a color I don't yet have; (c) it should have at least three-inch-heels.
I used to raid the book sales when I'm down. But it's difficult to gloat over five new novels when you're dreading an MBA class presentation. The shoes, well, they're different. You see them on your feet and you feel good about yourself. The books would probably come after the presentation is done.
What I'm driving at is, when you're down, you should have some pick-me-up thing. Some people run to clear their minds (run in marathons-- not run from the problems). Some people get drunk. Some people will do videoke for thirteen hours straight. I look at shoes. Life will not always give you good times, but there are always Band-Aids for little hurts.
I'm beginning to wonder how many pairs of undeclared shoes there will be when my thesis defense comes around.
