People talk about this topic periodically, usually when someone lets them down or doesn’t turn out to be who they thought they were. I’m writing about it tonight, from a different perspective. But first, what do you think? Can a person fundamentally change? I see people who’ve experienced a radical religious conversion and am not sure sometimes, well, I think it’s too good to be true.
And then I think about myself. And it’s no road to Damascus event, but this week, I was in Bicester, for work. I was literally 5 minutes from the outlet shopping centre. Where Orla Kiely has just opened an outlet shop – last weekend in fact, because I saw the tweet about it! And I didn’t go. I can’t work out why?
Is it because I thought to myself “I don’t need any more Orla bags / purses / things” ??
No, because you can never have enough Orla and I want a leather bag at the moment from her collection.
Is it because I thought to myself “We can’t really afford this” ??
No, because we could if I wanted it.
Is it because I didn’t have enough time?
No, because I was over an hour early.
I don’t know why I didn’t go, to be honest. But I was thinking about how much I would likely spend there – at least £100, if not £200. And I just thought to myself, that it’s not what I wanted to do any more. To spend £100 on a bag that I don’t really need. But I didn’t know what else I would want to spend it on either, which was equally confusing! I know. I’m still in shock over this. I love pretty much all things Orla – my first bag was when I was 19 and it cost me one of my student loan instalments at University. Yes, a whole student loan installment ( !!!!!! )
But something had shifted in me. And I don’t know what it is. I didn’t feel the pull that I used to. The urge to go there and “just look” even. It’s a strange experience. I don’t know quite what to make of it. Maybe I’ve actually got exactly what I need these days. Maybe I don’t ‘need’ anything else?
Aside from the consumer aspect, it made me think that I shouldn’t be so black and white about some things. Perhaps leopards can change their spots after all? What do you think?
*Flickr image used under CCL
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