May Challenege

"Only do what your heart tells you."

--Princess Diana

The world today is a jumble of messages and demands. We are bombarded by a plethora of ads, emotion stirring images, personal advice, and peer pressure each day. The radio, entertainment industry, television, magazines, and computer ads are all trying to sell you on the image of the cool, prefect, fashionable, desired lifestyle. But have you stepped back to think of what you really want? Are you subconsciously following trends and opinions of what is cool? Do you want that print because you really like it or because of all the hype others are making about it?

This month I am dedicating to self-reflection and truly listening to my heart. For the past 3 months I have completely ignored the main egl community, lolita forums, and my local lolita Facebook and I have been extremely pleased about my fashion choices. I noticed that my lolita file on my computer was overcrowded with pictures of different popular fashion trends that I actually had no desire in trying. All the excitement of eye popping bright prints, split wigs, and small animal bags had apparently hypnotized me. I decided that I would delete the files that did not interest me. Once I cleaned out the folder only 40% of the pictures remained. I was amazed at how much I had been effected by the opinions of others. And I was determined to continue this purge of unwanted influences not only in my fashion choices but throughout the rest of my interests.

This challenge has nothing to do with being a special snowflake or belittling others that like popular trends. This month is about finding out what makes me happy and cutting away the excess influences. Another reason I chose this quote for this month was in belated celebration of the first annual National Princess Week. I wish I had known about this last week. But I will be prepared for this next year though. I wish everyone a Happy May and good luck in all that you do.  





image from:Confessions of a Seeker