monday thoughts: here's to perspective

A friend just gave me a card with a sweet inscription: "We raise our girls to reach for the sky...but sometimes it's still just about the dress." Now, this friend is an incredibly sweet, funny, wise person who gives honest and thoughtful advice about matters both large (family, friendship) and small ("the dress"). And her card, which commemorated no particular occasion, couldn't have come at a better time. I needed someone to think of me unexpectedly; I needed a little reminder, ego boost, virtual hug—whatever you want to call it. I also needed to get over myself and have a little laugh and gain some perspective. Sometimes it's about the dress, indeed. You see, I've been obsessing about an imagined slight from a family member; I've been worrying about my kids' emotions at the beginning of the school year; I've been stressing (months in advance!) about holiday plans. But it all fades, at least momentarily, when I rest my eyes on a lovely print, or yellow mums for the planters on the front steps, or something new and fabulous to wear. In other words, sometimes all you need to feel better is a great dress.

It's been a long month, to tell you the truth; I've been feeling sort of bored and creatively depleted and in need of momentum or surprise or...something. And there it was. Perspective is always a good thing.