Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Mantra: I have many shoes...I have enough.

2:30p.m. Check email.
Shoe sale at Nordstrom's!


I immediately check out the pumps, there are two absolutely fantastic pairs. [See?] I email Courtroom Cowboy - maybe he'll enable me to make another shoe purchase.

Phone rings.
Back to work preparing exhibits for an upcoming deposition. Saved.

Over dinner tonight I was telling CoffeeShop Girl about these shoes. Her comment to me, "some people wear lots of different hats. If you think about it, you wear lots of different shoes. Aren't you trying to pare down, do you need to add more?"

I looked at her, took a sip of my PBR, and I blinked a couple times.

CoffeeShop Girl was right.

In the book Living Your Yoga: Finding the Spiritual in Everyday Life, Judith Lasater ends each chapter with a series of modern day mantras. These are not the long chanting mantras of Sanskrit. Lasater’s mantras do, however, reach to the core of the philosophy of a Mantra.

My understanding of a mantra is that it is a short phrase that brings a depth of thought and emotion, leading to focus, lending itself to clarity, comfort, and healing.

I have a feeling that the true meaning of a mantra has been pretty much lost on the majority of our society. How many of us have begun and ended a yoga class with a resonating "Om!" and had no clue why we were doing that, blindly following our teacher?

The "Om!" is a unifying force, bringing teacher and students together.

“I’m fine” is not a mantra. This statement purely suppresses and crams a blistered and hammer-toed foot back into the same uncomfortable shoe. It might look good, but it will eventually hurt like hell, if it doesn’t already.

“I have many shoes… I have enough.” I would consider this something of a modern mantra. I am content with what I have and all the different shoes I try to wear. I now think of those beautiful red suede Stewart Weitzmans, purchased at the end of last July, that I could wear all day and long into the night.

How often have I worn those?
Once.

What shoes am I wearing tomorrow?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Those red suede shoes ARE fabulous. Every girl deserves a pair! Enjoy your shoes today!

Emily said...

I remember those red shoes. They are beautiful. Perhaps I will wear my new stuart weitzman black sandals on friday :)

I love that your blog is shoe-themed!