Simple Pleasures Week Day Four - Pretty Hands & Feet

It’s simple pleasures week on kalanicut.

Simple Pleasures Week is most certainly a dedication to me trying to live more in the moment and create my dream life every day.  As I woman I sometimes find that my ability to multi-task causes me more grief than help. I get so caught up in how much I should be doing, accomplishing and succeeding at that I make myself unhappy with all the pressure and dissatisfaction.

The people closest to me, who love and want to protect me most find this behavior of mine to be…shall we say silly, a waste of good energy, at times annoying when I get so caught up in completing something that I miss the journey in my impatience to get there. Surely I’m not the only woman who has experienced this…

My most recent pleasure should’ve cost me only $17 dollars or so, but once I got going I realized how long I’d cheated myself of this calming, peaceful pleasure. In my big city, the mani/pedi industry is highly competitive. You can get both a manicure AND a pedicure for just $13, a few dollars more to sit in a spa nail/pedi chair. This is an inexpensive, but important part of my self care routine that I have been ignoring a bit too much lately.

It's amazing how happy I feel looking at my hands and feet and seeing that they are shiny, smooth and beautiful. For a few extra dollars you can get shoulder, hands and feet massages and I went for it all. It surprised me to see how quickly I forgot about the mountain of laundry I was determined to get washed as well as a long list of other “musts” I felt I needed to accomplish that Saturday afternoon. I melted under the soothing care and attention I received.

I realized that these two hands and two feet are constantly serving me every day and making it possible that I can serve others: my coworkers, loved ones and friends. They deserve some care!

Yes beauty treatments can be an extravagance in the budget, but when you can buy yourself an hour of peace and get a big reminder that you need to relax more and let yourself feel pretty, that my friends is priceless. 

And even though quite out of the ordinary I have not worn sandals much this week, I am reminded every time I see my pretty toes that for my own sake and to the benefit of my loved ones and everyone I cross paths with, I need to do a better job at taking care of myself, making time to keep myself calm and sane, keeping myself pretty and well. If I’ve got myself together I have more to give, more ability to shine and be great in the world.

I remember reading that Isaac Mizrahi said, Look good, so you can feel good, so you can be good. That stuck with me and it’s a regular reminder to me that looking good, makes me feel happy and healthy and gives me more power to make a difference in this world.