Vintage Coats & Rainbows

Christmas shopping inspired me. I was making merry in one store after another, carrying on a long-standing tradition, for me at least, which is: one for you, one for me! Shopping paradise! And random and needless purchases for myself. Note "needless" - I truly do not need a thing. I have a beautiful home, closet full of very wearable clothes and shoes, plus a pantry, freezer and fridge well-stocked. Real "need" was not the reason for my purchases. Want, yes. Need, no. Because I can. Because it's a bargain. Because I might need it. Because I want to. Want...


So for this past year, I chose not to want to. My behavior seemed so mindless and habitual, I had disgusted myself into making this choice about mid-December/shopping season. My final week of shopping eligibility was spent in the Grand Canyon National Park and Las vegas, NV. As my swan song to habitual spending, I considered a blown glass ball ($12) at a Venetian Hotel gift shop. I already own eight or nine blown glass balls...I do love them....

What about a rainbow maker ($36) from FAO Schwartz? I have always loved and been grateful for rainbows in my life, be they real or symbolic. As a teenager, I painted a pastel rainbow on my wall, then nestled my white iron bed in thte center. When Lucy was born, I painted a sparkling rainbow that spanned all four doors of her double closets and finished it with a pot of gold on the farthest door. We have enjoyed rainbows from the Canadian Rockies to the Emeral Coast of Florida. I cherish seeing rainbows. Somehow, now, purchasing a rainbow maker just felt wrong.

I did not purchase a final anything. That seemed to only perpetuate the behavior I was attempting to change.

Earlier, when I mentioned the "closet full of clothes," I neglected to mention that I also have a separate coat closet stuffed with coats. I adore coats, especially vintage ones. I inherited several and have bought several more.

My new year got underway, and I began to settle in to my year of buying nothing and/or mindful purchasing. I put a sticky note on my dashboard: "buy nothing." I wrote it on my shopping list, along with detergent and dog food. I didn't want to forget my vow in the frenzy of clearance sales.

As I packed away Christmas decorations, and re-arranged my year-round tchotchke's, I pondered a crystal candlestick. It holds a taper candle...its mate is m.i.a. Before I put it in the Goodwill pile, I took note of the prisms dangling. I put the candlestick in the unorthodox place of the kitchen winder. Viola! A rainbow maker! All morning, as the sun rises, slivers of rainbos appear all around my kitchen. Confirmation.

In late January, I joined two friends for dinner. As we were in the parking lot, one friend opened her trunk and presented me with an absolute treasure: a mint-condition, 1950's poodle-weave coat that had belonged to her mother! She knows I love vintage clothes (at the time, I was wearing a sweater that had belonged to my mother), and would enjoy wearing it. Further confirmation.

I am learning to keep my eyes and heart open. I have all that I need. I just need to learn to move the candlestick from the dining room table to the windowsill and rainbows will appear.