The other day a very sexy married Grandpa came up to my register and was so thrilled by my red lipstick he said, Wow look at those lips! They make me want a kiss! And as he walked away he said, You take care of my lips for me!
My red lips have become my staple as of late. I adore makeup. I probably have more lipstick than the average ten women combined. But red, red is like a tall, debonair, handsome man; it never goes out of style. And red lipstick seemed to hold a power to move people in a way I couldn't explain. People I've never met have something to say about it and that always makes me chuckle. Ladies have asked me the brand and the color before. And when I reveal that it's Chanel sometimes their reaction is comical. You work at Starbucks, how can you afford Chanel? And I had this thought that many people feel that way about a lot of things.
The truth was that even at $27 for one tube of lipstick, and even if worn every day, applied with a lip brush, that $27 tube of lipstick is going to last a long time. I would calculate it exactly but like I said, I have so much makeup that if I never bought another cosmetic item again I would still never use all the makeup I had. And why would I stop buying sparkly new makeup? That's just crazy talk!
But You can't afford Chanel made me wonder what else we convince ourselves we can't have. I know many beautiful, smart, talented, capable women who seem to always end up with men who treat them like Cinderella the chimney sweep rather than the Cinderella in the ball gown. And they think that they should take what they can get. Some of them secretly believe they deserve to be treated with such contempt. And if these women who endure such mistreatment ever miraculously escape their prisons when they finally do meet someone who treats them right there is this awe and disbelief. They simply can't wrap their brains around such chivalry because they'd never known the real thing. Their relationships had always been fake Fendi's.
I think that we mistakenly replace delight with distraction. We want something and we want something now. Waiting takes patience and who has time for that? I even joked recently that I didn't want to learn from my errors and grow and mature. Can't I just fall into another relationship like so many women do? And Mother wisely pointed out that the plan for me involved a great deal more than just being another woman hopping from guy to guy without ever pausing to wonder why she'd wasted her time.
The truth was, having fewer things but of the highest quality was worth so much more than a plethora of designer impostors. Wasn't having one tube of vibrant lipstick better than having 10 cheap ones? Wasn't saving to buy the real bag more satisfying than picking up one of those fakes wrapped in plastic? Wasn't it worth the cold, lonely nights to wait for the man who would treat you like the goddess you are instead of settling for the one who just deigns to sit next to you?
Life was too short for a fake Fendi, for a fake anything.
I certainly had learned the hard way that more just turned into junk, it cluttered, it impeded my space to grow. And I wanted what was genuine, not simply what was blowing up my phone.
"I could really be with you. And you should have everything you want."
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