Window shopping like a champ & knowing what you want

Written by

alyssafun

in

Happy Saturday!

We live a block over from one of Europe’s most coveted streets for retail storefronts, Calle Larios.

While strolling home from grabbing a delicious cup of decaf this morning, I noticed a few of my favorite stores had changed their window displays.

Then, because most of my best insights come to me while walking or showering, today’s insight plunged into my mind, and it was all I could do to hurry up the two flights of stairs without spilling the scalding hot Americano all over myself, so I could let the words fly through my fingers.

Today’s Insight

I’ve never been one to window shop, mostly because I hate malls more than cleaning my toilets. However, the Málaga version of me loves window shopping. 

Walking around town when the shops reopen at 5:00 pm and looking at all the window displays has become a new ritual of mine.

Instagram is like window shopping, but it’s missing one key thing—the ability to try stuff on in real life, which significantly screws up our perceptions. 

It’s easy to see things and think you might want them (a lifestyle, a relationship, a vacation, clothing). But unlike when you’re window shopping and get the urge to acutally buy, you can’t simply pop into the store and try on an alternate lifestyle in 5 minutes.

And the trying on is the most crucial part because what we think we want and what we actually want are usually two different things.

Often, after squeezing ourselves into the tiny cubes we call fitting rooms and looking at ourselves under the worst lighting possible so that we see every imperfection as if a highlighter-loving, overachieving high schooler marked us up like a textbook, we decide we don’t want the outfit.

And then we move on. 

We’ve tried it on and know it’s not for us, so we’re free to appreciate how our favorite shirt looks on us and peruse others that could look equally great once more. 

Instagram doesn’t afford us this same opportunity. 

We dream about what we think we want, maybe even start to operate in the direction of that desire, only to find out six months (or years) later that we don’t actually want what we thought we did.

Knowing what you want is a superpower.

It helps you move with purpose and play with possibility. And it directs our attention, which is the most powerful resource in the Universe. 

We can’t control time, but we can control our energy and how we use our time. 

Knowing what you want, backed with a dose of courage and the skill of asking for it, makes you unstoppable.

Inspiration

Your wants are valid. Even (and especially) if you were taught that hiding them is how to get along in the world.

Life isn’t like your fourth-grade classroom. 

You no longer need a permission slip to leave your chair and do what you want.

Instigation

What’s something you want today? What’s something you’ve been wanting but have been avoiding articulating?

“What we can mention, we can manage.” 👈 This is my forever rally cry and why I created Make it Mentionable.

Want more instigation? Here’s more of me on the topic of knowing what you want:

Invitation

If you’ve been desperate for clarity and it’s still as elusive as the snow leopard, it’s likely there’s a subconscious cloud getting in the way. 

Subconscious clouds often appear because of a story you’ve told yourself for years, a part of you with a different agenda that accidentally grabbed the mic in your mind, or emotional baggage clouding your ability to see clearly. 

I want to help you see the specific cloud getting in your way so you can clear it. 

Here’s how today’s invitation works: 

  1. Hit reply and let me know you want to clear the clouds. 
  2. I’ll send you a payment link for $150 and a form with thoughtful questions to help kickstart the winds that will ultimately shift the clouds.
  3. You send it back to me, and then we hop on a 20-minute call where I’ll guide you through a custom clarity session based on your answers. 

Are you ready to clear the clouds keeping you from what you want? Hit reply and let’s get started. 

Just want to share a thought? I’d love to hear from you.

With so much love,
Alyssa, xx

P.S. I told Geoff last night that I was going to write a short email today. Clearly that didn’t happen, but it is short(er). Maybe I’ll try for short again tomorrow. 

P.P.S. I’m over here waiting to see if the sun will pop out so I can walk to the beach and start my pre-wedding, avoid tanning beds and spray tans at all costs but look like a glowing goddess in white, tan mission.

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