FOR THE LOVE OF SHOES!

Addictions are always frowned upon. But when it is a 'shoe addiction' it is easily dismissed as trivial or just a demonstration of vanity.

 

I am a self-confessed shoe addict and I have no apologies to make. No I do not intend to go to a rehab and no, I do not think the addiction is cramping my style.

 

I am convinced that my fellow shoe addicts are in agreement with me. Nothing lifts the spirit like a good shoe, even on the dullest of days! I am not a morning person but sometimes duty calls and I have to leave the house when it is still pitch dark. I may grumble as I drag myself out of bed, to the shower and to the kitchen for my first liter of water before I leave. But the moment I stop at the shoe rack and step into my favorite six-inch red heels, my mood instantly changes!

 

A good pair of heels causes an instant surge of endorphins that make me dare to sing out loud in my terribly off-key voice in the car as I sit in the dreaded Nairobi traffic for two hours. My love for the heels does not allow me to ruin them while driving. Therefore, like any other rational woman in my shoes, there is always a flat pair of driving shoes under my car seat.

 

I totally respect everyone's choice of footwear but for me, the higher the better. The height of the heel is commensurate to the surge of euphoria elicited. It does not matter whether it is formal footwear or fancy strappy heels, or knee-high boots. It is a pity someone hasn't designed heeled bathroom sandals yet!

 

I know my orthopedic surgeon friends reading this have a long lecture lined up for me, but guess what? I already made peace with the fact that if I live beyond eighty I shall be on a motorized wheelchair. I am saving for it! Oh, and at sixty five years, my favorite undergraduate forensic pathologist professor, who played squash every single day of her life, did her post-mortems in six inch heels! There is hope after all.

 

Everyone has their oomph factor. The one that makes you stand up taller, hold your chin up and push you shoulders back even when you don't feel all that confident on the inside. Whatever it is, embrace it and hang onto it because as we get older, life can be tough sometimes. Smoothen that tie you love, pull up your 'good luck' striped yellow and black socks, tie that cute silk scarf you cannot stand parting with  and tell the world you are ready for the challenges of the day.

 

I perfectly understand that women like me shall remain the ever faithful slaves of the Manolo Blahniks, Christian Louboutins, Jimmy Choos and Valentinos of this world but we are truly happy to serve, whether intimately on my shoe rack or drooling from a distance for the moment!

 

 

Picture Courtesy of Pinterest Shoes