Today, I sold one of my favorite Lilly Pulitzer dresses. It’s a beautiful and perfect piece of clothing. Vibrant, pink and green, intricate detailing, it’s everything I love in an article of clothing. It’s glamorous.
Even from four years ago I knew all the glamorous name brands and departments. I could roll them off the tip of my tongue: Yves Saint Laurent, Michael Kors, Kate Spade, Lilly Pulitzer, Louis Vuitton, etc. I’d stare at the meager <$100 in my bank account and wish and wish for a day when I could afford these things. Soon, I started getting some solid money in and it was like my dreams were coming true. I went ahead and got those Kate Spade pumps I’d been staring at for years, that Lilly dress I adored, the perfect YSL lipstick shade, the staple Longchamp bag, I got it all. I had an image to cater to, I wanted to be glamorous, fabulous, and beautiful. And, people noticed. I was complimented left and right, people ooh’d and ahh’d at the materials I painted myself in.
Four years later and I’m proud to say I’m a different person. I realized, pretty shockingly, that my material possessions had been blinding me. Even worse, they’d been inhibiting me. I had worked so hard on my exterior that my interior had been neglected, the golden qualities only a heart can hold had been fading away. So I vowed to put aside these things that were distracting me from what I truly longed for. A true treasure is a golden heart, one of kindness, humility, patience, and love. That gold is something that cannot be sold, cannot go out of style, and cannot take your money.
I still greatly value keeping up a neat and charming appearance. But, it’s different now. I don’t aim to blind everybody with the glamorous items I can cover myself with. Glamour to me is handling difficult situations with poise. It is lending a generous and helping hand. It’s maintaining calm and perseverance to take a handle of my dreams.
I am glamorous when I am my best self, confident and stable in my identity. I still treasure that Lilly dress and by no means does owning one mean that your heart is in the wrong place. I’ve let it go because I no longer need it to represent what kind of person I am.
