TRY SLEEPING WITH A BROKEN HEART

As she waited at the gate, she scrolled through instagram and  thought of  how amazing her summer had been. Somehow, 2 months in Sydney seemed not to have been enough. The Australian weather had been miraculously cleansing!  It was roughly 45 minutes until boarding and she was ecstatic about meeting her family and friends back at home. To be honest, she was totally missing my boyfriend. They had tried to keep in touch everyday, however, somedays she rarely heard from him. That was so untypical of him.

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"Hi Helena,  how was your plane ride?", said Jeff. They drove for an hour in silence. There was literally no sign of excitement on his face. When they did arrive at their shared apartment, Jeff helped her take her luggage out of the trunk. They talk about everything and about nothing.

Friends came over in the evening and they threw a party comparable to only that of the rich and famous. Loud music threatened to perforate their eardrums and alcohol was spilt all over. The next day, Helena went to visit her family at the other end of town. She was showered with so much love that it was infact suffocating.
Things came back to normal pretty quickly as they geared back into their regular rotine. However, the spark that had first characterised their romance had vanished into smoke. They compensated that with excessive lovemaking. Yet, it felt odd and out of place.

"Bae, could you get the popcorn." She said. He brought two large bags full of popcorn, sat down and wrapped his arms around her. His phone kept on ringing but he was not picking up. "Aren't you going to get that?".  Helena became really uncomfortable and picked up his phone when it rung the again. It was another girl calling. "Who is Veronica?". What followed the question was deafening silence.
"We need to talk".  He was overwhelmed by guilt and in sheer stupidity, he confessed to cheating on helena. "Why? Was I not enough for you", she said. "How long has this cheating been going on?". "Almost 2 months".

She was fuming and could not bear the sight of him. "How can you even look at me. It's Over! Get out!".

She locked the door, coiled herself into a corner of the rooom and cried her heart out. She tossed and pulmetted on her bed a thousand times but sleep evaded her. She had never felt pain as excruciating as this one. She tried but couldn't sleep with a broken heart.

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.Still smiling in the dream world...

ELEGANCE IS AN ATTITUDE

After spending one too many hours glancing through pictures of models and reading about the weirdest beauty tips in pretty much a pile of ancient magazines, I realised how fluctuating beauty standards have been over the years. As sipped my iced tea, I recounted these famous words of Audrey Hepburn, "Elegance is the only beauty that never fades". While superficial aesthetically pleasing features may not stay the same, elegance radiates and lives longer. It is more than external presentation, it is an attitude.

In psychology, attitude has three components that are represented in the ABC model as: A for affect(emotions), B for behaviour(actions) and C for cognition(mind). Elegance being an attitude means that it is beauty of the mind, emotions and actions. Hence, it comes from inside to the outside. Elegance denotes traits of inner beauty such as manners, grace, respect, kindness, simplicity, refinement, wisdom and maturity. It is, thus, not surprising that the famous Swiss luxury Watch brand Longines has its slogan as "Elegance is an Attitude".

Some say elegance opens doors of opportunitities. Looking at the lives of elegant women like Aishwarya Rai, Princess Mary of Denmark, Kate Middleton, Michelle Obama, just to name to few, I couldn't help but conquer with this saying. Elegance makes one look feminine, attractive and matured. It exudes classiness! Elegance says I am growned, not grownish; matured, not childish. Elegance creates this aura that invites the right kind of atttention and the right kind of people to one's life.

I particularly enjoy watching classic movies like Princess diaries, Anastasia and My fair lady. One thing I have learnt from these is that elegance can be learnt. It starts by having the right mindset, and having the right thoughts. Earl Nightinhale once said that "the the human mind is the last great unexplored continent on earth. It contains riches beyond our wildest dreams. It will return annything we want to plant". In essence, for beauty of emotions, cultivate beauty of the mind by having the right thoughts. Like they say, " a thought precedes an emotion".

Indeed, in my fair lady Cockney had Proffesor Henry guiding her and in Princess Diaries, Mia had Queen Clarisse giving her princess lessons. However, not having access special ettiquette lessons should not be a hindrance. From the Bandura philosophy, we learn by observing and imitating. Begin by selecting one or two elegant people, observe who they interact and accord dignity to everyone around. By doing so, you harness the beauty of your actions.

Although elegance is innate, it is important to note that appaearance communicates something. To be elegant, you have to look and feel the part. Work on your posture, accessorise strategically and dress appropriately. In effect, elegance is being the best version of yourself each and every single day.

While I pulled clothes out of my closet and dresser drawers, lyrics of Enya's "Orinoco Flow" echoed from a vintage music box sitting at the corner of the room. A few minutes later, I slipped into my floaty dress which stops just above the knee, touched up my red MAC lipstick,  picked up by crossbody bag, donned La Grande Classique de Longines and whispered HELLO ELEGANCE!

With love,
Elizabeth.

Still smiling in the dreamworld...