Monday, 1 August 2011
The wisdom of a broken heart
The journey into love is the biggest adventure possible. It questions everything. It shakes everything. As a guide, it teaches us to meet ourselves. Love is like an inner fire - the more I surrender, the more it shows itself. With gentleness it sees my inabilities and failures. It shows me patiently, with love, what is not love.
When your heart is broken, you find yourself inhabiting a different planet than the rest of humanity, one where tears erupt at the slightest provocation, hours (and hours) can be spent on fantasies of revenge, reprieve, and regret, and every single thing that happens in the course of an ordinary day becomes either a good omen or an awful one in your quest to heal your heart. Waking and sleeping, heartbreak becomes your whole world. Sorrow pierces you to the core, as does joy of others or indeed yourself. You are keenly attuned to the presence or absence of love. Things that used to trouble you are revealed as inconsequential. Any certainty you had about the future is gone and you have to let go of the past.
The paradox is that we need to activate love from our own reserves in order to access it. We have to give it away in order to recognize that we have an endless source inside of ourselves. There is nothing rational or logical about this process. We have to take a leap and trust something beyond our perception – something we cannot see yet.
If we are willing to stretch ourselves, something shifts. Discovering the source of love in this way is inevitably painful to endure, however this kind of hurt does not damage us. Instead, it makes us stronger and more resilient. We have to go through some discomfort, and we have to learn to use painful experiences to grow and expand ourselves.
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. - Eleanor Rooseveldt
Saturday, 10 April 2010
Sometimes it does you good to take a step back
Sunday, 21 March 2010
20,000 leagues under the sea
Alexander McQueen, or 'Lee' as he is known to his friends, has always been one of my favourite designers. His work has often been described as "Schizophrenic with sharp wit", and this is exactly the reason for which i admire him. People these days seem to be so scared to experiment for fear of getting it wrong, and the value of ones own expressionism seems to be an idea that has escaped our current society, but not for McQueen. He respects no limits over what a fashion show can be, presenting his work in churches, assylums and even padded cells. In addition to this, he has also been known to make models fly, walk on water and find their way through blizzards. It is this unbelievably strong sense of passion, courage and innovation sparkling through all his work that makes me adore him even more as a designer.
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
There is a thin line on the runway these days. Literally.
“You look REALLY thin,” Andy said, as she and Emily were arriving at the Runway Gala. I started a new diet,” Emily replied. “You see I don’t eat anything at all, and then just before I think I’m about to faint, I eat a cube of cheese.” This exchange of conversation comes from the well known, family friendly film and book “The devils wears prada”, and was what called for me to express my feelings on what seems to be the biggest trend of the noughties; Size 0.
As a natural born shopoholic, I have always been increasingly aware of the fact that my curvy shape limits the styles of clothing I can wear. We all long to fit perfectly into those tiny size 6 jeans without having to breathe in or crash diet for a week before hand, and with the media bombarding us with images of the size 0 craze; how is it surprising that Anorexia numbers are at an all time high. Models today, are striding down the catwalk at the lowest possible weight, creating such misleading physical role models for women all around the world.
As a teenager, I myself had the misfortune of experiencing Anorexia first hand, and so my perspective on the size 0 debate may be somewhat stronger and more personal than that of my friend’s. People don’t seem to realise that it’s not easy to maintain such a low body weight. The months and months of endless starvation, lack of energy, concentration and excessive pain staking daily mental battles are not exactly as glamorous as the fashion world makes out. It seems that happy and healthy isn’t ‘in’ right now. The flat chest, the non-existent bottom, bad breath and brittle hair alongside yellowed skin; what is attractive about that? It certainly removed any feeling of femininity and confidence from my self-esteem at the time. When we see the likes of Alexander McQueen, Joji Yamamoto, Christian Dior and Marc Jacobs to name a few, sending models down the runway sporting this appearance, its hard not to feel compelled to create ideals based around them. Designers telling us the reasoning behind it being that the clothing hangs better on models of such a small frame, only pushes us further into believing this is the way we all should look.
Being an avid fashion consumer, I have realised that it is so easy to become immersed in ones own appearance and forget that age old saying “its what’s on the inside that counts”, but in the real world, I think that motto is actually all that matters. Happiness, love and good health are the 3 key components in life that shine through our personalities and make us attractive, make us admired. No two people are the same, and I truly believe that “having the strength to be Yourself, in a world that is constantly trying to make You something else, is the greatest accomplishment” – Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Fashion Phenomenon
Ever since my first purchase of 'Pop' magazine last year, i have become obsessed with watching the progression of 13 year Old blogger Tavi Gevinson from suburban Chicago, otherwise known as "Style Rookie". Her fashion blog attracts half a million hits monthly and she is taken so very seriously by the industry itself, that she even earned front row seats at all the biggest shows during New York Fashion Week, where editors and celebrities could be seen respectfully watching over her shoulder. Her own ‘Style Rookie’ blog was created in 2008 when Tavi was just 11 years of age. Her writing illustrates such a strong understanding of fashion that it was initially assumed to be a fake created by experienced fashion insiders. It has a professional feel and features deep analysis of various magazines and photographs of her quirky daily outfits. Indeed, it appears Tavi Gevinson is beginning to emerge as quite a phenomenon.
Her very first experience of paid journalism was for Pop’s website, giving her thoughts and opinions on New York Fashion Week.