Saturday, February 5, 2011

A place of possibilities

It’s Saturday morning. The house is quiet and I have coffee. I woke to NPR’s Weekend Edition. I’ve a brain crush on Scott Simon, his commentaries and his laugh. I miss his weekly dialogs with Daniel Schorr. Funny, anytime Mr. Golightly has an author who’s been interviewed by Scott Simon sign a book, he has the author write a postscript, “P. S. Your husband’s better looking than Scott Simon”. This happens even if the interview was not done in person in the NPR studio in DC.

I think I’ll hit the neighborhood Goodwill when it opens. Sometimes I wish I lived near my friend Apron Thrift Girl so that Saturdays would be filled with estate and yard sales in Sonoma. I need a friend to jump about the county in a car. Truth is, I don’t like cars and didn’t own one until I married Mr. Golightly at 27. A car is a heavy thing to carry around and hell to park when in the city. Then, I was in the accident in 2003, which makes me dislike cars even more.

A quick aside, I wrote a college thesis on estate sales for a sociology major but rarely go to them. My other major was Biology. It was a small liberal arts college and there were but a few biology majors. We were a tight group, hanging out in lab till midnight with a few beers iced down in the lab sink. Hey, it was college! My peers went on to be doctors and one veterinarian. I didn’t have the guts for medical school. I studied biology out of ultimate fascination; completely awestruck.

Denver’s not a hot spot for year-round yard sales and given that I do not like driving much I stick to thrift.

My family went to the mountains a few weeks back and I bought a magazine to read. It was the January edition of O, one arranged around channeling creativity. This edition offered a "Five-Step Un -Quiz" to readers, asking for submissions. One un-quiz step was to think about things you need in life and designate a place to that contemplate that need. They asked readers to make a simple sign for that spot.
We all need possibility. I’m going to ask the manager at our neighborhood thrift if I can place a sign in the store that says, “This is a place of possibilities”.
If you can dump the retail mindset, the thrift store truly is a place of possibilities, many within immediate grasp. Next time you visit, take a deep breath at the door and prepare to open the mind. Reflect, visualize a future, have hope. Basically learn to meditate in the thrift store and the possibilities will present themselves.

Godspeed in your journey to your place of possibility.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

1. I have a non-sexual crush on Steve Inskeep. I love his little NPR jokes.
2. I have been craving a trip to my local thrift store - between a new baby and an icy winter, I haven't been in over a month. Is it possible to become to excited about thrift store shopping? I really miss it!

Shopping Golightly said...

Vicki,

Have you not heard of thrift withdrawal?

Steve Inskeep is funny but I'm a Bob Edwards fan through and through.

Willo said...

I miss Daniel Schorr too.

Maeve's Momma said...

I miss Daniel Schorr, and have a big ol NPR crush on Jab Abumrad, on Radiolab. Miss Golightly, check out the podcast if you haven't heard it -talk about science nerds!

I'm in thrift withdrawl, too - thrift is my "fun" spending, and we're in deep saving mode right now, so no thrifting for me for awhile. *sigh*

Junky Jen said...

Love this..."This is a place of possibilities." If you don't mind I would like to use this quote in my classroom...perfect!!

Shopping Golightly said...

JunkJen,

There are many places of possibilities. We've just become so rushed and hung up in social media and conventional shopping we don't look for them.

I couldn't agree more a classroom is a place of possibility movement.

Anonymous said...

I love this! I do the little skippy-hop as I approach those Archer doors....wondering what treasure I'll find on that visit! I'll look for your sign! :o)

By the way, whatever happened to the thigh-jiggler?

Shopping Golightly said...

Oh, I'm still working on the jiggler. Perhaps I should do like the women in the vintage photo and serve myself up a drink while jiggling to ponder it's future. There was a change of plans.

grace said...

I'm a thrift-rather-than-sale girl, too. Partially it's a lack of sales where I live (at least as far as I am aware) and partially it's my inability to leave a sale without buying something, even if there is nothing I want, because I don't want to hurt the seller's feelings. Thrift stores are less personal and therefore safer!

Anonymous said...

I absolutely love Apron Thrift Girl's blog - she just seems like the nicest girl in the world with such a keen eye for everything vintage! Did not know you guys were friends. BTW, my radio crush is Marketplace's Kai Rysdal. I have learned a lot more about market economics simply by tuning in to HIM, lol.

Shopping Golightly said...

I spoke with the manager at the neighborhood Goodwill. No signs allowed. Not even if it's a simple sentence with no intended marketing. Bummer.