Hey heyyy! I’ve got a few things I want to cover today for y’all! First, I’ve been sitting on this outfit post for a couple of weeks now so, I wanted to finally get it out to ya, especially after seeing that Abercrombie is currently offering 25% off site-wide. It looks like the 4th of July sales are already starting to pop up! This striped babydoll dress is absolutely adorable. I feel like I’ve been gravitating more towards midi length dresses the last few years but, I also feel like the shorter ones are better in the dead of Summer when you need all the relief you can find! It comes in a few colors and runs true to size. I absolutely love these espadrille wedges because they’re really, really comfortable. I found them in a gorgeous green color that would match this outfit perfectly, as well, if that’s of interest.
My gorgeous butterfly earrings are by Jennifer Behr, who I’ve become recently obsessed with. I thought they were a really fun way to jazz up this outfit a bit, especially being that I knew the backdrop of these photos was going to be one of the gorgeous displays during the Chelsea Flower Show in London. Gorgeous flowers and butterflies go hand in hand so I thought it’d be absolutely perfect. She has a smaller version if those are more your style. My initial necklace is going to be a part of the Nordstrom Sale this year so be sure to put it on your wishlist [see this post on how to create a wishlist].
The straw handbag I’m wearing in these photos is no longer available but I found some other really cute options that I’ll link below for you. I actually think this one is going in my cart for our upcoming trip to Greece. I absolutely love it!
If you’re looking for more of a beach bag, I did a roundup of those kind of straw bags HERE.
Here are some other recent favorites from Abercrombie if you fancy shopping the sale but needing some ideas:
Next up, I wanted to share something that I’ve been thinking about lately. I recorded some Instagram stories sharing my thoughts but decided to opt to share in a way that always makes me feel more comfortable – the written word. Ha, funny enough … I keep tripping up on where to begin …
What I say likely won’t be perfect but that’s never the goal here. Honesty, kindness and being true to myself is so, here we go.
I received a message on Tuesday afternoon from a girl who has followed me for awhile. She’s always been nice to me. But, she was not happy about something I had said on Monday morning on my Instagram. I said, essentially, that I hope my audience has been able to take a step away from this app over the weekend because ‘its’ been a lot – pertaining to the news we all received and the subsequent response to it that we are all subject to digest if we open the app.
She said [without citing her verbatim] I needed to be saying more, not spending time away from the app, especially since I have a platform. She said I needed to be fighting for women and continuing to use my voice to raise awareness.
And her message didn’t sit well with me. I’ll just say that.
I sat with it for awhile to pinpoint what really pissed me off …
… and I came to the word ‘autonomy’.
The word ‘autonomy’ has come up a lot since we all heard the news last Friday. It’s a word I heard a lot in nursing school pertaining to how patients have autonomy over their care. They get to decide [as long as they’re cognitively intact and educated by their medical provider] if they want to go down for a test, have their blood drawn, have their medication that morning, or have a life saving procedure … or not.
I’ve been thinking about that concept as it pertains to my platform.
My platform is just that. It’s mine.
I have autonomy over it. No one else.
That is what bothered me about her message.
And it’s interesting …
I actually did say something about this issue on Friday night. And, by sharing my thoughts on it, I received messages from the other side saying things like ‘you’re going to hell’, ‘I thought you were a Christian’, ‘you need to read the Bible’, ‘I’m unfollowing’, etc. I think I lost over 800 followers to which I could care less.
I only share that to paint the picture that … I literally cannot win when these big events happen in the news that put divisive topics to the forefront of everyone’s minds.
No matter how I use this platform, I am triggering someone.
But the goal isn’t to win. My goal here is to be true to myself and make choices that feel right to me. Not anyone else.
If I want to say something about anything, whether it’s a hot topic or not, I will. If I don’t want to say anything, I won’t.
If I want to say a lot, I will. If I don’t want to say a lot, I won’t.
It’s wildly unfair to expect someone you follow on Instagram, who’s simply sharing what they want on their instagram, to fit into the mold that feels right for you at any given moment. We’re all different and, more than that, we’re all going through stuff. This commenter was basically saying I should have been saying more over the weekend about it but …
What if I was taking a family member to a procedure over the weekend and chose to focus on taking care of them instead of posting my opinion on Instagram?
What if I was grieving the death of a friend but didn’t want to share that publicly?
What if I have personally been battling depression and was having a tough couple of days?
What if I was just really tired from what we had going on over the weekend and couldn’t be bothered to digest all of the opinions flying around on Instagram and then contribute my own? What if I decided to guard my peace?
What if I decided to discuss this issue with my family at length over the weekend instead of talking all about it on Instagram?
And what if I’m just trying to legitimately wrap my mind around what the heck is going on in our world? It’s changing so drastically and so quickly. It’s a lot to process. Why is there an expectation to come out guns blazing and saying something about it immediately?
Let’s normalize respecting how we’re all wired different and we all have different capacities for advocacy — and that capacity can change. And also lets normalize not knowing everything about everyone, ha. Not all superhero’s wear capes so what if I want to advocate for the issues I’m passionate about without posting it all over instagram for applause? How much you post doesn’t equal how passionate you are about something.
Before letting you guys go, I hope you know that I think using your voice is an incredibly valuable and honorable thing. Openly sharing my opinion on topics that are deemed controversial has always been hard for me. I haven’t always understood the value in my voice and have been paralyzed by the fear of confrontation and people not liking me. Thankfully, over the past couple of years, I’ve let that fear go and been more open. But, something I’ve realized being that so many hot button issues have come up over the past two years, is that … it’s also okay if you don’t, for whatever reason, want to use your voice or speak on a topic. Using your voice and choosing your peace are both equally as valuable as the other. You have autonomy over that choice – whether it be on your Instagram platform or in your workplace. Remember that you can make a big impact whether your audience is a large crowd or the three little children you tuck into bed at night – and it shouldn’t matter to anyone else which audience you prefer to nurture.
The world is a lot right now. It feels a little unbelievable, at least it is to me. So, I guess the last thing I want to say … and the underlying jist of all of this is … do what you need to do right now and don’t give a flip if Sharon is okay with it or not.
Okay, I’m cutting myself off. I hope all of that made sense. I see you guys as my friends so I share all of this moreso as a vent sesh not as, like, a ‘you guys need to change’ kind of thing, hah! I write to you guys as if I’m sharing my frustrations with a friend over coffee so I hope that’s how it came out. I appreciate you taking the time to come and hang with me today! Hope you have a good Thursday! I’m off to watch a bit of Wimbledon! xo.
