The Journey IS The Destination

I've posted one of my favorite poems below, and the reference in the title is a line I read in Mireille Guilliano's French Women Don't Get Fat. They both say that our life, our endeavors are meant to be treasured for what we learn and what we become along the way. Our experiences, good and bad, are what shape us so that we are wise and happy by the time we come to the destination. We become the journey.

Building a wardrobe works best in the same regard. Personal style is not something you can buy from a store. When you are younger, experimentation is a wonderful way to express yourself. You may even figure out what style fits your personality best. But if you're like most people, one day you become frustrated and realize you don't know what "your" style is. So begins the pursuit and desire for a silver bullet to figure it all out for you. But it's not that easy. It takes time.

So often we (that's me too) are trying to rush ourselves along in having the perfect wardrobe right now. Maybe you feel like rushing right out to get the latest in the shop window. But that is not the way style works. Being truly stylish is sometimes as elusive as truly knowing yourself. Chanel said "Fashion changes, style remains." We also aspire to be stylish, not trendy. As you find out what gives the most pleasure from expression through clothing, you will start forming your own personal style.

I want to help you get going in the right direction so you can begin building your own style. That means removing the things that are blocking the view. Here is your Closet Mission:

INTERVIEW YOUR CLOTHES:

Take out of your closet what ISN'T you. This really is the easy part. If you haven't worn it all summer, now is a great time to say bu-bye. Don't pack it away again for next summer. Now, also is a really great time to wear what you think you wanted to keep, but haven't worn yet. Take it out, plan an outfit and wear it today or tomorrow. If you can't bring yourself to wear it, say bu-bye. If you wear it, and it doesn't fit right, or the color looks bad on you, guess what, say bu-bye. Keep a bag going all the time so you can easily take it to a friend or charity.

Next, we will look at what to do with what remains in the closet. Enjoy the poem and YOUR JOURNEY.

ITHAKA by Cavafy
Translated by Edmund Keeley & Philip Sherrard

As you set out for Ithaka
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon-don't be afraid of them:
you'll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon-you won't encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope your road is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you enter harbors you're seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind-
as many sensual perfumes as you can;;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you're destined for.
But don't hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you're old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you've gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn't have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Itaka won't have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you'll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.