Today’s reason is a tough one for I have recently dealt with the ugliness of this truth. I had to change places and the brands I shop for clothes because my income has drastically decreased for me to pursue my dream. In the transition, my heart was exposed to a lie. I believed that a brand defined my look and when I could no longer afford that brand, I felt like a fish without water. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I started to ask myself the question, who am I? I thought, what is wrong with me? Am I going backward? I believed if I didn’t have that brand than I wasn’t me. When I was truly honest with myself, I recognized it had all to do with how important it was to me how other people saw me and nothing to do with how I saw myself.
In my early career, I worked in an office on Michigan Ave and every day I would walk past the luxury stores and daydream about wearing these beautiful clothes. I knew one day it would be me buying those clothes. Little did I know I was slowly buying into a lie back then, that I wouldn’t arrive until I was wearing these designer clothes. I daydreamed so much that I found myself purchasing these designer brands on credit before I could actually afford them. I told myself as an undergrad graduation present I will buy a designer bag. Then when I went for my masters, it was like a drug, every time I finished a semester I purchased a designer brand. I received so much respect and admiration for wearing those designer brands that it became an addiction. I convinced myself that I earned it until it all eventually collapsed on me and did major damage to my finances that I am still slowly trying to unravel.
Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with designer brands, I still to this day absolutely love them. I believe God created some amazing designers with incredible talent to create beautifully tailored outfits with gorgeous materials. I truly admire their beauty. Designer brands are not a bad thing, they are a gift to the world. What is wrong is believing that I am not enough without a designer brand. As a fashion blogger, to this day I still daydream about wearing some beautiful designer outfits. If God chooses to bless me with an income to afford these designer brands in the future than great, but I will no longer believe that I am not successful and not enough without possessing them. Clothes do not define me, I do. I will continue to enjoy my passion for clothes in the season I am currently experiencing. I have recently discovered that I can have a beautiful and polished look at the same time of staying within my current budget.
Be confident in your look….. because you are enough!
Love in abundance,
Jamie
Action requires knedwelgo, and now I can act!