Day 3: It Was Red (this is not a Taylor Swift song)

Unlike my more thought-provoking introductions, I choose to write about something more pressing in my current life. Or perhaps pressing is the wrong word here. It's more like throbbing. Yes, throbbing is right. And so I should preface this post by familiarizing you with my accident-prone nature. I am and forever will be a klutz. Bumps on sidewalks and sharp corners continuously take victory against my soft flesh leaving me alone with the bluish-black feeling of internal bleeding. Rest assured, however, these daily challenges don't keep me from going out and living my life. My klutziness hasn't gotten me killed yet... Or so I thought. There I was at the top of the staircase at my house thinking this would be just your typical trip down to the first floor. In simple terms, wood floors + shoes with very little traction + me = new way of traveling down the stairs: sideways. I took my first step and the next thing I knew I was on the landing, face on the floor, arms flailed, and my bare shin slammed into the sharp corner of the metal post attached to the railing. Cold wood, hot blood, the smell of dust... And then there was pain. It was a kind of pain that possesses your body so quickly you have no idea of its existence until it's too late; you just have to sit there and wait for it to finally exit your body, leaving you a heap of lifeless exhaustion. It's the pain that leaves you with the heartbreaking thought of the discrepancy between your life now and your life two seconds ago. And then there was red. A deep crimson darker than the dress I wore today. Crimson. And I wasn't sure if it was the actual pain spreading through my body or the sight of my olive skin turning a violet-fusia color that provoked me to scream; scream and cry. And I cried like it was the first time I ever felt pain. The kind of cry that turns your face into a work by Jackson Pollock and leaves your throat feeling dry and raw. It was the type of cry that makes you cry more just from hearing the sound of your own voice–broken. The last time I remember crying like this was the first time I got stung by a bee. It wasn't so much the pain of the poison in my palm that hurt but rather the inability to comprehend, the lack of reason. I wanted a "why" but life just gave me an "is". I'm not sure how long I stayed there on the floor of my landing. It was long enough for the pain that consumed my leg to be replaced with the tingling sensation that comes when proper circulation is hindered. It was then that I decided that my future home will be designed similar to that of a padded cell.

Halvsies?

Skirt: Nordstroms, Belt: Papaya, Boots: Marshall's, Vest: Forever 21, Necklace: Forever 21

I like to think that we live in a balanced world and that when something terrible happens to you something good will follow–or at least it should. And it turns out that when God pushes you face-first down a flight of stairs, He provides you with tickets to Coachella. So now my good friend and I get to spend spring break in Indio for the best music festival ever! (I still find it a little unfair that I had to suffer cuts and bruises for these tickets and she got them without a scratch...) Regardless, April should bring awesome music fest outfits. As for today's outfit, I took an idea from a good friend of mine and wore my red "high-low" skirt as a dress. To give it shape, I took an elastic belt and fastened it around my ribs. The new "dress" was not very busy so I wore an elaborate golden beaded necklace to give it more life. To finish, I wore a floor-length crocheted vest to hide the clasps in the back of the belt and calf-length, brown, cowboy boots (which I won't be wearing again for a long time). The colors of this outfit reminded me of the leaves in the fall–red and brown. Even though spring is officially here, I find it fitting to wear fall colors during this time of year. I think of it like complementary colors. With the bright green grass and light pink flowers blooming everywhere you look, it's nice to see a little red–a remembrance of the autumn time. Wearing this outfit today made be feel very innovative. Though I have worn this skirt countless times in many different ways, I never thought to try it like this. It is that feeling–the feeling of innovation–that I love most about creating new outfits. And with my goal in mind, it will challenge me to always strive to be innovative, unconventional, and creative.

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