Rebecca's Ribbons

Who hasn't wished for something they don't have? We are made to recognize beauty and our eyes are drawn to things that appeal to us. Sometimes, it is a desire for something we need.
Sometimes, it is a desire for something we want. If you trace your life back to what you first wanted and think about what happened when you either got it or didn't. It tells you a lot about yourself.

Growing up, I couldn't have anything Gucci, not because we couldn't have it, but conservativeness was considered a virtue. If I didn't wear the right shoes, I would probably be pitted against the haves and the have nots. So was there a place for the in - between who could have anything by making a wish perhaps? Or by having a personal genie? lol....

Fashion makes people enamored with the beauty of objects and either creates a desire to want those items or creates a sadness that one cannot attain them. I don't think it is necessarily bad to want something. What happens inside you while you are in that state matters...

It can become an addiction to overspend or put you in debt. Or it can be something comforting, stating to you that you like it, and that you have good taste and fashions an identity. A friend once told me when she couldn't afford Dior, she created patterns and wore them. She was inspired!

I have written a poem about an early wish for something I did not possess. It is called "Rebecca's Ribbons." (Note: I chose the name for the purposes of sheer alliteration...)



Rebecca’s Ribbons

The leader of the girls’
red brigade
could be recognized
by the colors of her ribbons.
When we saw her,
beaming inside,
we little six-year-old girls all
cheerfully waved and gleefully
sent kisses of kind wishes
We did not always greet the others
who wore other colors
Green or Blue
For pride for our group
For posterity’s sake
Our leader could beat up your leader pride
Our ribbons were red
And glowed in the sun
Like no other ones I had seen.
Yet one day, I made a wish for blue
ribbons, as blue as a sun-lit sky
pure and blue,
and nestled inside
loops of braided black
and when we went to buy ribbons,
I looked at blue and wished for one.
But I was told, you need red ones.
They matched our shiny red belts.
so I forgot my envy until
I ran alone in the sun one day
and found one waiting patiently
outside in the golden sun
glowing with a diamond radiance
and I folded it gently and pocketed it
deep inside
where no one would find it.
I still wore red ribbons
as according to duty
though I did get a wish to come true.


This song is symbolic of this experience:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqv9djr5oOg


It is red, because that is what was my reality before the wish.