Thursday, 4 June 2015

Change the pictures in your head

Walk Off The Earth
Walk Off The Earth (image taken from their website)

These good-looking guys and gal are one of my all-time favourite bands everWalk Off The Earth. I love them fiercely and passionately, which I am known to do - I'm easily excitable. This love has been going strong for over two years, ever since a co-worker showed me one of their videos on YouTube. Thanks Joe!

Wanna listen to their latest song while you read this?
Great idea:


Anyway, I want to talk about something in particular today: our tendency to ruin a perfectly great day.

Like I said, I have been a fan for some time.
At the beginning of this year I sat down with a workbook that I bought to outline the goals I have for 2015. One of the exercises in the book is to write down 100 things you want to do in the year. Do you know how hard that is?? Despite my best efforts I have only managed to write down 45 so far, which is embarrassing. Am I that uncreative? Apparently, yes.
One of the 100 things was to see Walk Off The Earth live. No big deal for most of you seasoned concert goers out there, but semi-big for me - I rarely go to concerts. The reasons are manifold: Too many people, they sometimes take freakishly long, I'm a homebody... boring, I know.
But I knew, should WOTE come to Vancouver, I would go. It was on The List after all, and all the things on The List have to come true!

Bearded Guy - Walk Off The Earth
Beard Guy double-take (image found here)

Low and behold, they did come to Vancity, last Friday. I had wrestled a promise from my husband to come with me, despite him not being as big a fan as I am (or a fan at all, for that matter).
Kids, compromise is the foundation of a strong marriage! Write that down.

Friday dawned bright, warm and sunny, promising to turn into a perfect summer-like day.
To say that I was excited was an understatement - I felt like a little kid on Christmas.
I had bought a new dress for the occasion! This dress was fitted on top with a swingy, short(ish) skirt, a style I love.
Everything was planned out: the dress, the shoes (powder-blue high-heeled slingbacks), the nails (neon orange), the purse (huh, I seem to like that combo). After I got out of the shower, freshly shaved and moisturised (I was gonna go into the city after all!) I slipped on the dress.

Expectantly I stepped in front of the mirror - and my heart sank. What was up with that belly?? I looked like I was 4 months pregnant. My mind automatically conjured up perfect bodies, Pinterest-worthy modelesque women wearing this dress - and I was falling short by a mile. Shit. What else could I wear? Nothing, that's what. You know how it is when you have decided upon an outfit - if that doesn't work, nothing else will either.
I cursed my bloated belly, the Nutella-sandwich I'd had for breakfast, the half watermelon I had snacked on that made my tummy look like I had swallowed it whole - everything.

My mood teetered dangerously on turning gloomy. But then, luckily, I decided to fuck it and wear the dress anyway, belly or not. Here is a grainy picture taken before we left (notice the purse strategically placed in front of my belly? I'm no amateur):
Most unblog-worthy photo ever. You're welcome.
Rich didn't notice anything and told me I looked beautiful.
Boyfriends and husbands, take note: Compliment your women often. Daily is best. 

We drove into the city, found a good parking spot and a great seat in the theatre where the concert was to take place. We still had some time before the start and I did what I love to do: People watch.
The crowd was mixed, with people of all ages present, kids to people in their sixties. Perfect people-watch conditions. I commented on the outfits (as one does), complimenting a couple of girls who were wearing really cute dresses. And it struck me at that moment: Their bodies didn't matter. I admired their style, and liked that they were obviously having a good time. Did I care if they were bigger or smaller, had flat tummies or rounded ones? Not one bit.

I decided in that moment that next time when I was getting ready, I wouldn't compare myself with the "perfect" pictures that still occupy my head (get out, "perfect" pictures!).
Instead, I will think of the event ahead, of all the different people with different bodies, outfits, and hairstyles that will be there. Variety is the spice of life!

Because here is the thing: I like formfitting dresses. I like Nutella. (And bread, wine, sour candy, meat, cake, vegetables, fruit, salads, gelato, pasta - the list goes on.)

And I am convinced that they can all coexist together.

The concert was spectacular. So much fun, high-energy, and entertaining! We both had an excellent time, with me loving them more than ever, and Rich liking them, too.

After the concert we strolled through downtown, taking in the scene, enjoying the warm (pre-)summer night, talking about how awesome it was.

Such a great night! My belly had a good time, too. ;-)

        



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14 comments

  1. Oh my! I love them, too :) I didn't know them until I saw them at a 1-day festival a year ago, and I fell in love with them straight away. They were just incredible and I had a big, happy smile on my face for rest of the week!!! It's always nice to find out that someone I appreciate appreciates something I like very much as well :)
    Bisou

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  2. Glad you had so much fun! I'll have to check this band out!

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  3. I'm so glad you both had a great time!

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  4. I totally hear you on the outfit thing. I put something on and if I've eaten even the smallest bit of garbage that day, I see it all over my body. It's a tough thing to overcome, not focusing on the areas that we might not be the most proud of. But just like you said while you were people watching, seeing someone bigger belly, or arms or whatever, makes absolutely no difference on whether or not they are enjoying themselves!
    Keep up the positivity!
    -Linds

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  5. I always say compromise is the key to a happy marriage too!
    I can relate with the outfit thing. I recently wore a fitted dress (black and white funky pattern with waist rouching) It fits great but I could see my belly. I thought about changing but I really wanted to wear it. So I made myself stand up straight so not to slouch which makes my belly stick out. My neck and shoulders were SO sore the next day. I did have a small mental debate about putting on a body slimmer. But watching my posture instead made me feel more confident (and more comfortable too).

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  6. P.s. your legs look smokin' in that dress!

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  7. I love everything about this!! I have (confession - can we still be friends?) never heard of WOTE, but I'm LOVING this song that you linked to, so I'm going to learn more about them. Hopefully that makes up for the fact that I haven't been walking the same earth as them thus far in life. ;-)
    It's totally true that when I notice outfits and style on other women, that's what I notice - their style, their energy. I couldn't tell you a thing about their bodies! Yet I'm hard on myself when something doesn't fit as well and as I thought it would in my head. We're so weird, we women, aren't we?
    Also, I second Lindsay's comment - those legs, gurl! Damnnnn.

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  8. That's so true, I love that too!
    I was thrilled that they're live just as good as they are in their videos - they still throw their instruments through the air and they're such great entertainers! You can tell they really love what they do.

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  9. Watch a few of their YouTube videos (I linked their channel in my post), they're brilliant! And just as good live. It was a fantastic night!

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  10. We did! Best date in a long time. WOTE is my spirit animal ;-)

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  11. I will! No more body negativity and focusing on the "bad" areas. It's SO hard though to get that negative voice to shut up for good. Just when you think it's gone for good - bam, it hits you with a particularly bad insult. But the more we manage to love ourselves, the better we will get at loving our bodies!

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  12. Woohoo, awesome girl! Posture is so important, our moms were definitely right about that one. Standing straight, with boobs out and belly in makes you immediately look slimmer and more confident. Good for you!

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  13. Thanks girlfriend! You guys are so awesome. ❤
    We women really are incredibly hard on ourselves, it's so dumb. No more negativity!

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