This thread has, believe it or not, triggered my own personal Shoe Revolution.
When I was a kid, I got a new pair of sneakers once a year, or whenever my old pair was outgrown or decrepit beyond wearing. As a teenager, when I had my own money, I learned about thrift store shoes (BLESS THEY LITTLE SOULS!) and as a young 20-something, I went right ahead and spent all my wage-slave espresso-shop money on nice shoes if I damn well felt like it. As a single mom, though, I learned that I didn't have money for such frivolity if I wanted to have electricity and running water, so shoe-buying became a game of thrift-store happenstance... if a good pair of shoes happened to show up in my size, I bought them whether I'd been loking for them or not. I also bought clearance shoes as I happened upon good deals. The last time I bought brand-new shoes for myself was at the Adidas outlet store on my 30th birthday with the assistance of my friend Ana's employee discount card.
Tonight, I revised the rules a little. I gave myself permission, for the first time in almost a decade, to buy new shoes if I want them. This is HUGE: I now have the freedom to *go looking* for a specific pair of shoes, and to buy them when I find the ones I want.
The corrolary to that is that I have forbidden myself to buy shoes just because they're "a good deal". I am now permitted to *only* purchase shoes I genuinely want to own and wear!
The final freedom I have acquired in this process is the freedom to
*finally* get rid of shoes I rarely or never wear, which I've been holding on to on the basis of "when will I be able to replace them if I need them?"
I don't need them, and if I did, suddenly, need a pair of say, cream flats, I now have permission to buy them. Not just the ones I happened upon on sale years ago, but ones I *want* and would actually wear.
I feel so free! Not only that, but since I couldn't find *exactly* the pair of red Mary Janes I wanted, I bought *none at all*. I can wait, because I have permission.
-Kalera
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