{"id":1596,"date":"2016-04-04T19:16:42","date_gmt":"2016-04-05T02:16:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/?p=1596"},"modified":"2018-12-19T08:27:23","modified_gmt":"2018-12-19T16:27:23","slug":"mirrors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/mirrors\/","title":{"rendered":"MIRRORS"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"shoppingtherapy\"I call it \u201cshopping therapy.\u201d<\/p>\n

I jump on the \u201cconsumer bandwagon” and follow the sales to my local brick and mortar store. It\u2019s like a mini-vacation that I book on my way to a gig. I don\u2019t have to buy anything and usually don\u2019t. But there is something about shopping that gets me out of my head and into a kind of hypnotic trance. Well that\u2019s the way it\u2019s supposed to work\u2026<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"Steinmart,
Steinmart, Torrance, California<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

So here I am pushing open the doors to\u00a0Steinmart<\/a>. I\u2019ve got a fist full of\u00a0coupons<\/a>, an hour to spare and I\u2019m in the mood to\u00a0browse<\/em>. This store, along with Goodwill and Ross Dress For Less, are my go-to lodges for colorful distraction.<\/p>\n

I veer right toward the boutique part of the store and just like that, I am seriously staring down a blue ombr\u00e9 tunic dress. It\u2019s \u201chippy chic.\u201d Please know that I am not a hippy. Nor chic. But then very little makes sense to me in this life so what the hell. Just then a fellow shopper swoops beside me and exclaims — I mean she EXCLAIMS: \u201cThat dress is SO you.\u201d And she doesn\u2019t budge until I snatch the blue thing with its black crochet sleeves off the rack and drape it over my arm. This woman is so convincing I believe her. The short-circuiting has begun.<\/p>\n

After that encounter I wander through the rest of the store, drawn to the sale racks first, petites, hats, jewelry, shoes. This is so fun. I balance more clothes over my right arm and proudly dangle that hippy frock by its hanger as if I am a walking billboard for \u201ccool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Off to the fitting room I go. I\u2019m second in line behind another woman. She turns around and sizes me up.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs that dress for you?\u201d The words slither from her mouth as her eyes drift over the blue ombr\u00e9.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe<\/em>\u2026\u201d I reply, going all wishy-washy and noncommittal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s too young for you.\u201d She snaps.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not a bad thing\u2026\u201d I poof, feeling like I have to say something even though what I am thinking is F—K You!<\/p>\n

At that point I abruptly turn around and go back into the store to find more clothes. This is supposed to be \u201cCali Time<\/em>.\u201d Rest and relaxation and all that\u2026 But now I\u2019m descending into the caverns of unresolved psychological stuff. Yet again.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s review:<\/p>\n

Within minutes two different people share two different opinions about the same dress. Unsolicited. And thank you very much. But what if one of them is right? Even a little right\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"brain_image\"One of the gifts of getting older is that most of us reach a point where we don\u2019t give a hoot what other people think about us. At least most of the time. But these interactions at Steinmart, albeit brief, get to me. They slice a little, like a paper cut. I want folks to like me. I want to feel like I belong to a tribe and this is what my\u00a0lizard brain<\/a>\u00a0hears:<\/p>\n

Woman #1: \u201cI like you.\u201d
\nWoman #2: \u201cI don\u2019t<\/em> like you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wait a minute! We are talking about a\u00a0dress<\/em>. That\u2019s all. A dress. But isn\u2019t it interesting how a whole chapter in our life story can rise out of some mere trifle like this\u2026<\/p>\n

The truth is neither of these women know a damned thing about me–my tally of gain and loss; what scares the hell out of me and what makes me giddy; what I value and what puts me to sleep. They don\u2019t know my name.<\/p>\n

Yet both of them make snap judgments. Lordy, we all do. And based on what? One of my music teachers was the “deep thinker\u201d type and often likened us to mirrors, we human being people. When we look at each other we are really seeing flashes of ourselves.\u00a0You spot it, you got it.<\/em>\u00a0Could it be that those two women were seeing reflections of themselves in that dress? In me?<\/p>\n

And visa-versa?<\/p>\n

To be honest, I enjoy the first encounter more than the second! She seems like a pal, a girlfriend. The other woman has a \u201cboss lady\u201d vibe like \u201cI know best.\u201d Or worse \u201cI know you.\u201d Well screw that. We are lucky in this life if we finally begin to know ourselves, much less anyone else. Being a human is THAT complicated. And mysterious.<\/p>\n

Finally I lock myself in a fitting room and pull the dress over my head. I turn\u00a0this way<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0that way<\/em>\u00a0in front of the mirror. Well it’s cute and fits perfectly.<\/p>\n

BUT\u2026<\/p>\n

On me the blues and blacks look like something Morticia from the Addams family would wear when she\u2019s harvesting this week\u2019s stash of mushrooms in the dark cellar of the old homestead.<\/p>\n

What was I thinking?<\/p>\n

The truth is both women are wrong. This dress is not \u201cme.\u201d No matter the year I was born. I can hear my inner fashion guru again–the whispery voice that knows only two words:\u00a0Yes<\/em>.\u00a0No<\/em>. Her batting average is not perfect but it\u2019s pretty good.<\/p>\n

\"heartearrings\"I buy a pair of fakey-silver heart earrings. With my coupon I get a whopping 75% off. That\u2019s $4.32 out the door. I love hearts. I\u2019d like to think I\u2019m an open-hearted person. A kind person.<\/p>\n

\"heartearringonbalcony\"<\/p>\n

Until some pushy b-i-t-c-h comes along and tells me how to dress.<\/p>\n

Damn those mirrors!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

___________________________________________________<\/p>\n

\n
\n

PROGRAM NOTE:<\/strong><\/p>\n

My next\u00a0“OnGoing Ukulele Workshop & Jam”<\/p>\n

AND<\/p>\n

My\u00a0“Five-Week Ukulele for Beginners”<\/p>\n

BOTH start\u00a0Saturday, April 23, 2016 at\u00a0Boulevard Music<\/a>\u00a0in Culver City, California. Make music\u2026make happy!<\/p>\n

The flyers are below and a big hug of thanks to all of you!<\/p>\n

\"ONGOING<\/p>\n

\"BEGINNERS<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I call it \u201cshopping therapy.\u201d I jump on the \u201cconsumer bandwagon” and follow the sales to my local brick and mortar store. It\u2019s like a mini-vacation that I book on my way to a gig. I don\u2019t have to buy anything and usually don\u2019t. But there is something about shopping that gets me out of my head and into a kind of hypnotic trance. Well that\u2019s the way it\u2019s supposed to work\u2026   So here I am pushing open the … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogentry"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":2,"label":"blog entry"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"Cali Rose","author_link":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/author\/crbauthor\/"},"comment_info":23,"category_info":[{"term_id":2,"name":"blog entry","slug":"blogentry","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":138,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":2,"category_count":138,"category_description":"","cat_name":"blog entry","category_nicename":"blogentry","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1596"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1611,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1596\/revisions\/1611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}