In My Shoes

I love shoes. The perfect pair all merchandised up in a fancy boutique has been known to trigger some fairly strong reactions in me; from child-like joy, ie.) prancing around the shoe store in the perfect leopard print, peep-toe stiletto sling-backs with a slight platform; to utter despair at the sheer unattainable exclusivity of a certain pair of fringed and fabulous satin, scarlet-soled Louboutins. I wanted to cry, but didn't because I know one day they will be mine. 

I don't love shoes just for their obvious beauty. They are like sculptural, wearable art to me and which ones I choose really helps to paint a picture in my mind and captures the essence of the event to which I wore them. Also, shoes complete an outfit in a way nothing else can. Shoes can can take a simple black pencil skirt from zero to sexy in about 10 seconds flat. Maybe the most important thing to love about our shoes is the way they make us feel. Confident. And confidence is one style that never, ever goes out of fashion.

It seems my shoes of late have been doing little to build my own confidence. After a stint as a stay-at-home mother I have a whole new set of footwear- sneakers, Uggs, flip flops and gumboots. Practical, practical, practical in stark contrast to my beauties lovingly stored in stacked, labeled boxes. Even the shoes I once wore to work allowed for a little sassiness. I could look down in the middle of a drab work day and have a little hit of fabulousness. Not so with the "mom shoes."

Now I am at a cross roads in my life... yet again, ladies. Do I want to spend all my time raising kids and wearing runners and feeling in my deepest heart of hearts a wee bit unfulfilled? It pains me to admit that, it really does. Or do I want to take a step back from that world, put my heels back on and go for it? Do I want my children to reflect on their own childhoods and say: "My mum was always there for us?" or, "My mum showed me how to follow my dreams by following her own?"

It's a big decision. All I know is I am on a journey and I am getting to know myself. And you can never really know me unless you've been In My Shoes... whichever pair they may be.