It’s late Saturday night. My roommate and I just saw The Avengers and we’re walking back to our apartment.
My roommate says he likes Scarlett Johansson with red hair. I definitely prefer her as a blonde.
And just like that my heel snags on the edge of my jeans and I face-plant onto the driveway.
You’d think after watching Scarlett kick some serious bad-guy butt for the last three hours I’d follow her cue and know to drop, roll, then bound right back up to my feet in a fighting stance, right?
Not even close.
But give me a break.
I’m clutching my newly thrifted Charles David handbag in my right hand.
I’m gripping a bag of In-and-Out burgers AND juggling a vanilla milkshake in my left hand.
I know I’m going down and I sense it’s not gonna be pretty.
SMACK! CRUNCH!
My chin hits Mother Earth and my teeth knock together.
My roommate rushes over.
“Oh my God! Are you okay?”
“I think so,” I say, as I slowly peel myself up to a standing position, verify I have no broken bones and confirm that there are no spaces in my mouth where incisors used to be.
“Yeah, well the food isn’t.”
He stares longingly at the bags of Double-Double burgers I just flattened. They’ve cushioned my fall and undoubtedly saved me from a bruised pelvis at best or a broken pelvis at worst. (Thank you In-and-Out. I’d pledge to forsake all other burgers but as a vegetarian I ALREADY forsake all burgers.)
Then I realize my chin is dripping.
I’m hoping it’s just spattered vanilla milkshake but no, it’s blood.
“How big is the cut?” I ask my roomie as visions of stitches dance in my head.
“Not big.”
Whew!
“But it’s way deep. I can see bone.”
Fabulous.
He’s a chivalrous modern guy so he immediately volunteers to chauffeur me to the emergency room of my choice.
I’m a modern self-employed gal with crappy health insurance so I opt to take my chances with Neosporin and Liquid Bandage.
“You know, it could be a whole lot worse,” my roommate observes later while he scarfs down his cold-and-smooshed Double-Doubles and I ice my throbbing jaw. “You could have broken your nose. Or got a concussion.”
Definitely.
And because for me a fall is never merely a sign of clumsiness, I start thinking about what this latest stumble means in the grand scheme called MY LIFE.
When we start experiencing a higher-than-normal rate of illness and accidents, I interpret it as a clear signal that something in our life is out of balance and that a shift is on its way.
And in just the last six months, between my wrist injury, my car accident and my two-week bout with the flu, I’ve been swallowing more ibuprofen than the last six years combined!
Surely this latest injury is the clearest sign of all that it’s time for me to get grounded.
(And interpreting this one doesn’t require genius. This time the ground literally rose up and punched me in the face!)
So it’s clear what I need to do. But that doesn’t mean it’ll be easy.
You see, if getting grounded is about feeling balanced, being rooted to your authentic self, and being entirely comfortable with who you are and what you’re doing…
if getting grounded is about living in flow, being present and enthusiastically embracing the now…
then it’s definitely time for me to take a nosedive into that scary, uncomfortable abyss called CHANGE.
After spending tens of thousands of dollars and countless years building a vintage brand, it’s time I confront the ugly truth.
I just don’t like selling vintage clothes.
Don’t get me wrong.
I LOVE collecting vintage, writing about vintage, advocating for vintage, and curating vintage. I just don’t like SELLING vintage.
So I’m gonna kill my baby.
I’m shutting down the e-commerce arm of Zuburbia and liquidating all my remaining inventory this weekend. Maybe I’ll resurrect the urge to sell again someday but for now I want to explore other creative projects and create the next iteration of ME. For instance, I’m publishing my first children’s book soon and — call me crazy! — I just committed to doing my own one-person show.
But don’t worry. I’m not abandoning Zuburbia entirely.
Note that the tagline now reads Curation + Inspiration. (And don’t be surprised if that transforms again someday because Zuburbia is a Work-in-Progress just like I am a Work-in-Progress. And you are too, by the way!)
“Green Vintage” will drop from the logo as soon as I can figure out how to make that happen. (A techie I’m not.)
But I remain a Vintage Crusader. Vintage will continue to have a role here. It just won’t have the starring role moving forward. It will be more of a bit player.
The VPOD and eBay Roundups will remain. In fact, starting next week, the VPOD will return to its roots and be a daily post with simply an image of the item plus its purchase info.
All my musings, rants, commentary and what I hope are sometimes-inspiring insights will be separate blog posts. They’ll continue to focus on fashion and style along with eco issues, conscious living, self-expression and what I like to think of as Life-Styling.
And boy-oh-boy do I have more that I want to share with all of you!
Like interviews with interesting folks I find inspiring and noteworthy. Quotes that lift me up and get me thinking. Insights from the great books I read every week. Maybe even some of my favorite healthy recipes and posts on the cool day-to-day products, places and tools that make my life flow better.
I want to share more of what inspires ME with all of YOU and I want to hear from all of YOU about what you’d like to see more of here at Zuburbia.
Please drop me a line at [email protected] or leave a comment below.
WELCOME TO THE NEW ZUBURBIA! I hope it inspires you to fully express all that YOU are.
