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Emperor's New Clothes.

I looked down at my work schedule today. The regular shifts: Monday and Tuesday off and a long shift Wednesday. Saturday and Sunday I’ve surrendered yet again to the grips of Customer Service. What a strange change from doing nothing at all to having no time left to sit and do nothing at all. Alas, I steal a few minutes away from my slaving job, kids and/or housework to just curl up by myself and do what I love most.

I stepped into the depths of my closet this morning before I headed off to work. Tucked away in the back I found a pair of jeans I bought when I was in grade school. I tried them on: they still fit (I have a little trouble getting the zipper up now). I must say it’s nice to pull back the drapes, stretch and let the sun cast light on my life. What has changed? The pants still fit me, but they are not a part of me anymore. What piece to the puzzle has shifted a quarter-inch to throw the entire mosaic off center? It is time to clean out the unwanted and sweep up the useless.

After rummaging through the closet and tossing all of your old clothes on to your bed; trying on a few, cringing at others and laughing at the rest, we rediscover the experiences we've had. Those expensive pumps you bought for your first date, that reliable old sweater that permanently smells of cottage country, those old jeans that have been to hell and back on your caboose... One might say, "I used to wear this?" or "acid wash? Really?"

Who we are is a product of where we've been. Experience, albeit a giant, arrogant bitch and always the first to laugh and say, "I told you so," is the best teacher. Frayed edges and worn out pockets are souvenirs of the lives we've led and the times that Experience has caught us with our heads down. Perhaps it's a good job science cannot figure out how to change the past; to change the past is to reshape the present. If we cut out any one experience, we also cut out the lesson we learned with it and we are damned to make the same mistake again. King Henry VIII married six women in his lifetime and still died miserable. The lesson to be learned here is mistresses, money, power and guillotines do not equate happiness. Mistakes make for great personal growth as long as we are willing to see what our mistakes were.

There's a period between the time which one realizes they don't like what they've got (perhaps tie-die, while still awesome in every way, just doesn’t faire as well with the bossman as it did when you were doing keg stands with college mates) and when they've replaced the old with a new wardrobe. I believe this period is called, "Growing Pains." Now, you step in to an old relationship, where you looked great in any lighting just to find that you can’t get the zipper up anymore. Such as in life, we outgrow situations and people. Some people you spend your whole life with, and some are mere accessories to a chapter in your life. King Henry spent his whole life trying to complete his perfect outfit: a wife and son. Six women later he died obeise, heirless and lonely. However, Napolean's dieing word was the name of his one true love, "Josephine." No matter what the case, whether we are made for one person, one friend or many of both, there is always a time where we need to throw open the curtains, stretch and rejoice in ourselves and the love we deserve. If the sole is missing, it's not worth holding on to.

Sometimes things are hard to throw out. But cleaning out your closet makes space for the things that deserve to be in it. As kids we grow up with one or two people that we plan our weddings with. The reality is, unless their names are Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda, they probably won’t be at your wedding. Somebody else- perhaps not better or worse, but definitely different- will be at your side wiping tears away from the other brides maids’ eyes.

Wherever life takes you be sure to bring two things- piece of mind and a belt. The world is fluid and people are apt to change. And belts will hug you no matter what happens.