Retail therapy provided a necessary service for me. Two years ago when my doctor told me that I had 2.5 - 5 years to live, I hung up the phone and thought, as my body decays I'll be damned if it appears so. Immediately I went online and bought a dress. I shopped for clothes every day for three months. And then I shopped for airline tickets and excursions and toured Europe for five weeks. By the time I returned I was ready to face whatever. I enrolled in a clinical trial and did what I was told. The need for shopping lost momentum and living each day as fully and present as possible gained. A year later the clinical trial proved successful. The FDA is set to make the announcement and prepare the drug for release, at which time I can cross the word "terminal" out of my identity. I took the one month shopping moratorium. It felt fabulous to delete COS, Everlane, and Banana Republic from my email. (I kept Vogue, of course, because...Vogue.) Am I sorry about the money so freely spent, the purchases made, the wardrobe that can make at least 10 capsules? Nope. At the time it was necessary to get me from shock to grieving, There are stages. Sometimes shopping is one of them.
Thank you so much for sharing such a beautiful and personal story. Certainly there is a time and a place for shopping - I believe the key is intentionality. Sounds like retail therapy was a very conscious and productive choice for you. And so glad your trial proved successful! x
Retail therapy provided a necessary service for me. Two years ago when my doctor told me that I had 2.5 - 5 years to live, I hung up the phone and thought, as my body decays I'll be damned if it appears so. Immediately I went online and bought a dress. I shopped for clothes every day for three months. And then I shopped for airline tickets and excursions and toured Europe for five weeks. By the time I returned I was ready to face whatever. I enrolled in a clinical trial and did what I was told. The need for shopping lost momentum and living each day as fully and present as possible gained. A year later the clinical trial proved successful. The FDA is set to make the announcement and prepare the drug for release, at which time I can cross the word "terminal" out of my identity. I took the one month shopping moratorium. It felt fabulous to delete COS, Everlane, and Banana Republic from my email. (I kept Vogue, of course, because...Vogue.) Am I sorry about the money so freely spent, the purchases made, the wardrobe that can make at least 10 capsules? Nope. At the time it was necessary to get me from shock to grieving, There are stages. Sometimes shopping is one of them.
Thank you so much for sharing such a beautiful and personal story. Certainly there is a time and a place for shopping - I believe the key is intentionality. Sounds like retail therapy was a very conscious and productive choice for you. And so glad your trial proved successful! x