This day begins the last week of the fall semester and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Starting with my mother being ill; emergency after emergency; lots of great Accidental Icon occurrences; the strangeness of having warm weather even in mid-December; my life of being a partner, mother, grandmother, sister and friend, ending with my academic life as teacher, mentor and colleague it has been a non-stop blur of time and space. At the end of this week I embark on a month long break from the halls of academia and my challenge is to slow everything down. What good is life if it becomes only a blurred, fuzzy memory and you are tired down to your bones?

What I most yearn for is the time to daydream. I feel an internal poking and prodding, like a chick starting to peck and crack its shell. For me this is a surge of creativity that wants to come out and move me in new directions. I have soft shapes of ideas wafting through my brain but no time at the moment to catch them and give time for their details to emerge like a polaroid photo. Reading papers, grading and end of the semester tasks are pushing everything else off the table. But I can see that light…

Recently I have been asked to do a number of interviews as the “Accidental Icon”. Because of the skill of the interviewers these session have carved out opportunities for me to reflect on, and articulate my vision.  They forced me to take time. This vision is also informed by the comments of my readers and the seriousness with which they engage with my questions. As you know it is also informed by my relationship with my clothes.

I was totally exhausted by Saturday afternoon, crawled into sweats and lounged but that did nothing for me. Yesterday I got up early, prepared for a meeting and decided to dress in an outfit that for some reason lately has been making me feel like my deep and true self. That and the sunshine helped me to “shine” in my meeting and to make a decision to take the rest of the day for myself. I relished having a very nice feature that came out Saturday on Who, What Wear, got some well needed exercise and had the pleasant experience of having Kim France, the founding editor and former editor-in-chief of Lucky Magazine, recognize the Accidental Icon and approach me on the street to introduce herself.

So I am already plotting what I will wear on my break, knowing how what I wear will help me to make the time, lead me to the new experiences I need to have and help me get introduced to people I need to meet. So think of me this week as my eyes are bugging out from reading papers and get excited with me about what is coming.

What do you wear when you want to attract new experiences and people?