Turning and Turning: Leiphe Lessons

October 15, 2003

Leiphe Lessons

1. Do you like to shop?

It's funny; Ethan has always been the one to bargain hunt or trawl the malls for shoes or clothes or gear for vacations and things, but because I am the one with more free time, it often falls to me to purchase household goods. To say that I like shopping is a bit of an overstatement. I do like being able to make a list, walk into a store, and walk back out again with a minimum of fuss. I didn't come from a very wealthy household (we weren't dirt poor, either, as far as I knew), but I did learn the value of a dollar, and how not to let impulse buying rule me. Somehow, I still have lots of (art) clutter, but I've never bounced a check over it.

2. If you were dropped into the middle of a shopping center, where would it be? Is it crowded or empty? What color is it painted? What types of stores do you see?

I think there would be just enough people that I could walk through unhindered, but still have the feeling of humanity surrounding me. Soothing colors like mauve and dusty green and pale yellow, deep reds ... I don't know. It's hard to say - so much of the presentation of so many stores is about thwacking you soundly about the eyes with neon signs and loud placards and branding. It's this huge network, you see, all clamoring for attention and time. Very draining! I see stores that are well-established and homey, in my ideal shopping center - less of the plastic and formica, and a bit more of real wooden door frames and etched glass. Walkways wide and lined with live foliage, lighting less of the garish fluourescent kind, more warm. The stores are selling foolscap and luxurious writing pens, sheets of music, blank and printed with favorite songs. Clothes that are real and useful and look even better with a little wear and tear. The air is not clogged with orange julius and rancid hot dog smells, but is fresher, green.

3. Do you stay and walk around or do you just leave? Do you do any shopping? If so, what do you buy? How does it make you feel?

I will stay for a little bit, in this idealized place. It's far more pleasant to me than the blatant plastic consumerism that passes for shopping malls these days. (Although, when were shopping malls ever pantheons to the people, instead of the big corporations?). I will do a little shopping; whatever's on my list is fair game. After that, I might treat myself to a new book, or maybe a new piece of music to try and decipher (I'm getting better all the time with sight-reading!). I feel stressed still, I think, because I'd rather be productive than wandering around looking for ways to spend money, but in this fantasy place it's a thousand times easier to deal with.

4. Is there a food court? Do you visit it? Do you get anything to eat? If so, what is it?

Maybe for an ice cream cone. I allow myself to have an occasional weakness for a really good dark chocolate ice cream, or something with orange or cinnamon in it.

5. Have you ever spent more than $500 on one visit? How did it make you feel as you left? How did you feel the next day?

Yes, once or twice recently, as I've really been in the swing of music (no pun intended, I swear!) over the last many months. Musical instruments cost money, as do sheet music, metronomes, pianos (!!), etc. Don't worry; this is stuff we've saved up for - I mean, Ethan and I hardly knew this was all lurking under the surface for me, but we've been good about being frugal where it counts while still living as full and rich a life as possible. We're still trying to keep more aside, and again, it's not for anything in particular, even though I feel like I am still waiting for more to come forth and bloom in my life. Buying those first music-related items was joyous and heady and so, so scary. Walking back to the car, I almost turned around and walked back and returned every single thing in my arms. But, the next morning? I awoke feeling more grounded than I had in ages, and I had finally had a night's sleep (mostly) free of the intense (somewhat disturbing) dreams I've been having over the last couple of years. I knew then that I had made the right decision, and that this was an investment not to be taken lightly.

Posted by dina at October 15, 2003 6:48 AM