My Shoes Have a Story: May 2013

If shoes could talk, they would tell the best stories.

Aside from a few barefoot moments, a pair of shoes has participated in almost every momentous occasion of my life: traveling, graduations, adventures, running, exploring, churching, first dates, last dates, etc. If the pile of shoes in my closet could talk, they would have much to say about how they came into my life and the things they've witnessed in the interim.

So, welcome to a new linkup series on my blog!

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I'm teaming up with Victoria from Fashion Flirtation to start the My Shoes Have a Story linkup series. Once a month, I'll pick a pair of shoes from my closet and tell about the adventures and moments they've seen. Anytime during May, you can write your own shoe post and add it to the linkup below. When June comes, we'll start a new linkup for your next story. Feel free to grab the code to steal the image above and add it to your post. I can't wait to see what you all come up with!

Here's my first go at it...

"You're a real woman when you own red heels."

One of my best friends said it to me, when I was about 21 years old. Fact: I never wore heels in high school or college. I've always been a bit self conscious about being too thin, gangly, awkward, waif-like, lurpy, all knees and elbows and uncomfortably sharp hips. Not an ounce of me felt the need to put all that on stilts and display it to the world.

But one day, there they were. A pair of shiny red heels. Right on a day when I felt like my entire budding grown-up life was nothing but gangly, awkward, lurpy, all sharp knees and elbows. And suddenly the shoes were in my shopping cart. I think I had something to prove.

I had to grow into them. As silly as it sounds, I had to. I wore them in a way that someone wears their insecurities with a hopeful "please don't look at me but maybe just a little" unspoken invitation. I took the unexpected compliments in stride, eventually learned to walk without wobbling like a french string bean and ever-so-slowly grace-by-graced my way into owning the situation.

I showed up to church in the red shoes one Sunday after a boy broke my heart. My friend looked me up and down and said something like, "Girl, you've got an agenda today." She was right. I did. Because I had to show him I was keeping my chin up. Because I needed him to see I wasn't wobbling. Because I wanted him to know I was owning the situation. Because no matter how much I can casually throw them on several years later, the red shoes were always about having something to prove.

Your turn! Write your own shoe story and link it up below: