The Red Shoes:My Struggle for Self Acceptance

"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation." ~Oscar Wilde, De Profundis, 1905


My recent series , "The Red Shoes" explores my struggle for self acceptance and my recent discovery of my strength as a woman and as an artist. For most of my life, I deliberately masked my femininity in an effort to seek invisibility. At nearly 47, the mask is off .

There is a power in owning one's femininity.I am writing about this subject in greater depth .The red shoes are purely symbolic and will be gifted immediately to my daughter who will be much more comfortable in wearing them. Feminine accoutrements are not my style although I appreciate them on others. I own two dresses and one set of heels ,all of which I could do without. Jeans and tees suit me fine. Again, the "red shoes" are symbolic for women being comfortable in their own skin. I was raised to believe vanity was a sin...physical beauty was superficial and yet as an artist I am consumed by the physical and the visual. Physical beauty is a gift that can be taken away at any moment, but it is a worthwhile gift all the same. It forces me to pause, as I would for a spectacular sunset, an autumnal tree aflame with warm colors or a child's face. I stop, awed with wonder and admiration because beauty is fleeting and that is why it is all the more precious.

However, with maturity,I have learned to value a more genuine beauty  that often lies beneath....beauty not so easily seen ,but deeper, richer and everlasting. The women and men that I love most, possess great passion, intelligence , kindness and a sense of purpose that make them truly beautiful.There is no denying however, in this world, that physical beauty,for it's own sake, is obsessively valued.Women especially ,I feel , become more attractive and sensual with age. They should be celebrated as such. I intend to celebrate them and explore in greater depth physical, spiritual and intellectual beauty and their inextricable connection to oneanother.

"To me the definition of true masculinity - and femininity, too - is being able to lay in your own skin comfortably. " ~Vincent D'Onofrio

We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others that in the end we become disguised to ourselves. ~François Duc de La Rochefoucauld