Author Archives

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A Mile in Your Shoes

No, I’ve never walked a mile in your shoes
I would like to walk the next mile or two with you
I want to see what you see
Hear what you hear
Listen to you speak
Learn what makes you laugh
Wipe your tears when you cry
I want to walk a mile with you
I’ll have to do it in my own shoes
Other wise your journey is not unique
Your shoes were custom-made
It’s your journey but I’m here
Lean on me when you are tired
Hold my hand when you need comfort
I want to walk a mile or two with you

-Alicia

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Guest Blogger’s Response to The Misunderstood and Underestimated

One of my friends decided to write a response to my post The Misunderstood and Underestimated. I encourage you to respond, discuss or contemplate as well. I will post your responses to my blog or you can be a guest blogger with your own topic as long as you practice responsiblity and respect. This evening, our guest blogger is a new friend but has quickly become a dear friend.

I present to you Ms. Abiquail. (insert canned applause)

Objects are defined by their usefulness. Shovels are used to scoop, ovens to bake and flashlights to illuminate. We structure every item in our lives by what it is used to do. But what happens when an object is warped for a new purpose? The author of this blog recently posed an interesting question about one such repurposed implement, the wire hanger. She sought to understand the “stigma surrounding wire hangers.”
I think the stigma comes from what people use wire hangers to do.
Wire hangers are used to beat, to torture, to steal and to break. They are twisted from their original form and utilized to cause pain. People rarely conjure positive associations with them; after the author revealed the subject matter of her latest blog my first thought was of the hanger scene in Mommie Dearest (1981)! Although fashioned for an innocent purpose, wire hangers are manipulated into something they were never intended to be.
We are also defined by our purpose.  Some instruct, some counsel, some create, some conquer and some make others laugh. Each of us has been designed with gifts we are to use to affect those whose lives we touch. But what happens when we allow those gifts to be manipulated by our selfish desires and the desires of others? Much like wire hangers, what we are created to be can turn into an implement for pain and destruction. And if we do not consciously use our talents to improve the lives of others, we will reap a similarly unfavorable stigma. Are you walking in your purpose, or are you allowing your gifts to be warped and used as something for which they were not intended? Are you a wire hanger?

Bravo Abiquail, bravo. Let’s talk later about this scary image you have of wire hangers. Much love and admiration,

Alicia

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The Misunderstood and Underestimated

I was just thinking…

Why is there a stigma surrounding wire hangers? I mean really? What have they done? Who did they hurt? I can’t understand why people have this thing against wire hangers. So we buy plastic hangers. We buy plastic hangers that are not biodegradable. You would never put a marshmallow or hot dog on the end of a plastic hanger to roast over and open fire. You can’t use a plastic hanger to make a cool wreath. You can’t use a plastic hanger to stick in the antennae once the original one breaks in half. You can’t even use a plastic hanger to jimmy the lock on your car door it you lock yourself out.

I see wire hangers as a sign of wealth. In order to acquire wire hangers, you need to take your clothes to the cleaners. Who can afford to take clothes to the cleaners? Who buys clothes that need to go to the cleaners? We are a wash and wear society. I for one refuse to buy more plastic hangers. I will no longer throw away or hide my wire hangers out of shame. I will use my wire hangers and use them proudly.