The 100th post: Love

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Seems like a lifetime ago when Nine Cent Girl was born… The fiery hues of autumn had just subsided into a monochromatic black and white across my Vermont landscape, fickle sunlight and arctic air drove me indoors; it was during this introspective time of the seasonal circle that my blog became a trusty beacon, illuminating my direction through what dark days lay ahead as well as brightening the unforeseen surprises dropped along my path.

100 posts later I find myself once again at a crossroads, shedding the last of the winter chill and embracing the new warmth ahead. How perfect then for me to don pieces of the recent Prabal Gurung’s “Love” collection from Target to comprise my Spring Shoot! My 4 looks are inspired by this fascinating designer, the kaleidoscope of colors he uses contrasts the detail in his styling; but I also tried to uncover the dichotomy between the blooming right out my doorway and the remnants of what is dying away, to capture this elusive and complex season of Spring. For while we regal in all the newness Spring brings, we must also acknowledge the sometimes difficult letting go of the worn and comfortable. Ralph Waldo Emerson tells us, “There are no fixtures in nature. The universe is fluid and volatile,” while Philip Larkin echoes this sentiment in his short poem, “The Trees.”

The trees are coming into leaf
Like something almost being said;
The recent buds relax and spread,
Their greenness is a kind of grief.

Is it that they are born again
And we grow old? No, they die too,
Their yearly trick of looking new
Is written down in rings of grain.

Yet still the unresting castles thresh
In fullgrown thickness every May
Last year is dead, they seem to say,
Begin afresh, afresh, afresh.

In the full embrace of these opposing emotions visible in the Spring, when we shed ourselves of our old selves, I took to grove and hedge, adorned with nature’s bounty and Prabal Gurung’s collection, and danced with sunbeams, daring the light to make me new again!

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1st look

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“In nature every moment is new; the past is always swallowed and forgotten; the coming is sacred. Nothing is secure but life, transition, the energizing spirit…Life is a series of surprises…” (Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Circles”).

Rising out of the old, into this new day, one in which we perhaps have less control than we wish, I invite you all to join me for the next 100 posts as I continue to question, stumble and stand. As Prabal Gurung’s collection suggests, Love is undeniably worth all the energy we can devote; perhaps love is the only constant we can offer each other… xxoo

*** photo credit goes to my darling MJ, who always catches me in the right light…

28 thoughts on “The 100th post: Love”

  9. “Cone”gratulations (good word pun, eh?) on your 100th post! Awesome pictures, too. I wish I had a hat like that. I’d wow all the dudes of Manchester. Innit.

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  13. Reblogged this on Nine Cent Girl and commented:

    347… not quite 350, but awfully close. That’s the number of posts I’ve written. Hard to imagine it’s been years since the 100th and looking back I’m not sure where the time went, or where all the inspiration and thoughts came from, but I guess that’s the point of staying present. Ideas come, and if we can catch on to them and we remain in the here, they materialize. Funny thing is I always post on a Thursday, and even on the craziest of weeks, I hold myself to that deadline. I figure you all depend on my nine cents (that’s humor). This week, if you’re reading this post in real time, I’m publishing on a Friday. And it’s even a repost! Planning you see, from time to time, flies out of our hands. Something else happens instead, and when it does, we stop. Look back. Assess. Step forward. An interesting dance. Reflecting forward. Bringing forth a forgotten moment into the now. With love.

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