{Day 352}

“All the other kids with the pumped up kicks ya better run better run…”  That one line of lyrics from the song Pumped up Kicks by Foster the People kept skimming through my brain as I was looking at these blue sneakers of mine.  It’s a catchy song but honestly I don’t even know the lyrics except that one line.  Because it’s so upbeat I was humming the tune one day when someone mentioned that the song was about a shooting…I was pretty surprised.  And then there is the pose of that first picture of this post.  I’d remember seeing it somewhere and I was pretty sure “somewhere” was a Michael Jackson photo but wasn’t 100% convinced.  Until after the shoot I googled it.  Sure enough it’s a pretty neat and classic Michael Jackson picture.  I couldn’t tell you when or where I first saw it or any time I’d seen it for that matter.  Yet it was stamped on my subconscious.  Here’s the crazy thing: we may not think that the background and noise of what we see and hear everyday has an effect on us.  But it does.  In fact it’s quite powerful.  And it can pop up unaware.  It’s exciting and concerning to me all at the same time.  It’s exciting in the fact that our brains are capable of so much.  On the other hand it’s concerning to think of what’s being put on the hard drive so to speak.  Let me illustrate in other way.  Someone had left a stack of cd’s in my car and since I rarely get new music I had started to listen to these cd’s on repeat every time I got in the car.  Fast forward a few months and I was wondering why I was feeling down all the time.  There was no reason that I should feel gloomy but I did.  And then it dawned on me that the music I had been carelessly feeding my brain was on the depressing side.  I stopped listening to that music and started listening to uplifting music and sure enough my spirits rose.  Pretty crazy right?  But I’ve seen it happen over and over and not just with myself.  Ever notice how an upbeat song makes you want to dance or a slow melancholy ballad can make you want to cry?  We obviously can’t control everything that goes into our subconscious but what about the other things that we thoughtlessly look at or listen to?  Does it matter?  Do you care?  I’ve realized that I want to care.  I want to make an effort to consider more aspects of my life and how I can change and grow and be a more thoughtful person about what I let into my life.

Today’s outfit came about because I’m running out of ideas (and clothes!) to showcase on here and I figured maybe it was time for a low key outfit that’s more casual.  I used to live in jeans, sweatshirts, sneakers, and a slicked back ponytail but NOT in a cute way.  So this is my cute, comfy, casual, grown up look of the version I used to wear all the time as a geeky kid. 🙂  Oh and while I was trying to imitate that Michael Jackson pose (that I by no means executed perfectly…) a song of his started randomly playing on Christa’s mix…it was pretty funny.  And I said those Puma sneakers are practically vintage because I’ve had them for over ten years. 😉

(Photos by: Christa Taylor)