the phenomenon of fabulous footwear

As most women know, nothing lifts your spirits like a good pair of shoes and usually that means a good pair of heels.  Still, I am a practical woman who knows my feet can only handle so much.  I already put them through enough torture dancing so I try to wear sensible shoes as often as possible.  And by sensible, I mean a pair of black one-inch heels, which are still semi-fabulous.  I keep these shoes at the office so I have something to slip into after commuting in my no-nonsense walking shoes.  I’ll still bring another pair of heels from time to time depending on my outfit, but I always have my go-to shoes under my desk.

Except when I don’t have them.  And as most women know, nothing dampens your spirits like not being able to find your go-to, feel-good shoes.

You can imagine how put out I was this morning when I realized I had forgotten my shoes.  I took them home over the weekend on the off-chance that I might want to wear them.  The shoes were brought back on Monday morning, but were nowhere to be found today.  I wore a different pair of heels yesterday so I didn’t even think about my little black pumps until I sat at my desk this morning. 

I couldn’t find them anywhere!  I racked my brain trying to retrace my steps on Monday.  I must have worn them home, I concluded.  The theory didn’t make sense to me – there was no reason to wear them or take them home – but that was all I could come up with so I went with it.

My spirits really needed a one-inch lift today, but instead I had to mope around in dopey flats (And believe me, I looked dopey – the dress I wore today is much more flattering in heels). I lamented my situation to my co-worker when she came to relieve me for my morning break.  She was extremely empathetic when I said, “There’s nothing worse that starting the workday on the wrong foot… or in my case, in the wrong shoe.”  

When I sat down at the desk after my break, I noticed something shiny behind the garbage bin.  I took a closer look.  MY SHOES!!!!  There they were!  I hadn’t taken them home!  (How silly of me to have thought that!)  I don’t know how they ended up back there, but I didn’t care.  I had my shoes and that’s all that mattered.  I slipped them on and sighed as I fell back into my chair.  I knew that my shoes wouldn’t eliminate all my daily dilemmas but said dilemmas were much easier to approach from the right foot which was on a solid foundation one inch off the ground, as opposed to the wrong foot.  

It sounds pathetic that my attitude toward the day changed based on my footwear, but it did.  What can I say?  It’s a mystery; a feminine phenomenon that I may not understand but have chosen to embrace.  Yes, all is well in my world thanks to a practical and semi-fabulous pair of heels (Well that… and the fact that I went to Mass this afternoon…)!

This post is dedicated to all the women in my life who love and appreciate a good pair of heels, and to Karl who I know appreciates this feminine phenomenon.