I am wearing many layers here and it feels so very reflective of my life at the moment. There is an unpredictable part that is mirroring the weather as I look out my window and see snow this second day of April. Layers become an adaptation and way to cope with uncertainty. There is a heavy part which is a very consuming university project that was not anticipated nor sought after but taken on to assist an unexpectedly and seriously ill colleague. It is overhead every day like a dark cloud until I can get through it. It pushes me against a wall. It is not letting the promise of Spring shine through. My new camera and my sewing projects have been put to the side. I always feel resentful and frustrated when I do not have the time I need to thoughtfully create. The care and feeding of an Instagram, blog and Facebook project without the benefit of a team must happen alongside the rest of a busy life and so my apologies for no Weekend Fashion Bibliography. Let’s just say I gave everyone a bit of a Spring break.

In this look there is a small pop of color like the sun that is playing hide and seek. No socks in defiance of a relentless winter. Sunglasses return, smiles disappear. I wear Yohji, CDG  and my beloved Schai returning to familiar favorites that provide both comfort and warmth. Black returns to the color palette reflecting my stormy mood. I have many choices about what comes off and what stays on. What would I ever do without my clothes that express how I feel more eloquently than I ever could?

I find myself longing for Spring, warmth and lightness. I long to shed a few layers but fear what I will find inside, a neglected body not treated very well lately by me.  Or scary decisions about what work stays or goes.

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Shedding is quite the perfect word to describe the process I need to attend to this April. It can be used in various ways and can mean different things. I like the way it pairs getting “rid of” something not wanted or needed  with “natural process”. It creates room for emergence. Whether it is cleaning out the closet, dropping a pound or so, exfoliating that winter dry skin,  letting go of old ways to make money and finding new, changing my mind or attitude or even allowing the room for a new insight or epiphany there is lots to explore around shedding during this transitional month.  I look forward to something new and unexpected but I need to make the room for it first.

Is there anything you are thinking of shedding during this month of transition?