~ war paint ~

Here's a topic that I feel needs to be addressed: mistakes.  They suck, don't they?  There's no denying that.  Whether it's small (drinking coffee at 8 PM and not sleeping that night) or big (telling someone how you feel before they're ready to hear it) or ginormous and life-altering, a mistake can certainly take a smile off your face very quickly.  But here's the thing: most (except for the really big ones) are only a passing situation.  That perm will eventually come out, you can always repaint the bedroom (princess pink might not have been the best idea), you can return the shoes that you thought were your size, send back the dinner that you thought was dairy-free but wasn't.  Even the majority of the bigger ones can be forgiven, corrected, forgotten or found funny 5 years later.  So why do we beat ourselves up about having a temporary lapse of judgement or not thinking things through?  Maybe it's because we set standards for ourselves, sometimes even harsher than the standards we set for the people we surround ourselves with.  When something doesn't go as planned, we hold ourselves responsible and call it a mistake: something to pick apart, analyze and dwell over.  Well here's the thing - people think that if you are constantly aware of your mistakes, you won't make another.  But sometimes you are so busy thinking of the past (where all your mistakes live) that you miss an opportunity to avoid a mistake in the present.  Even set yourself up for a mistake in the future.  So try this next time (and there will be a next time, I assure you): forgive yourself.  It might sound cliche and impossible, but it takes less energy than beating yourself up.  Understand that you're only human and treat each mistake as an opportunity to build yourself up, instead of tearing yourself down.

Put on your war paint, hold your head high and MOVE ON.  It's not healthy to get so stuck on past mistakes that you forget to truly live.  So here I am.  Admitting that I've made mistakes in my seventeen years (some big, some small), putting on my brave face, and carrying onward.  

~ side note: my war paint happens to be eyeliner, which is surprisingly hard to draw on in a straight line ~

 So, do we have a deal?  Forgive yourself.  Let go.  Move on.  Don't let the past keep you from experiencing the present and looking forward to the future 

A negative mind will never give you a positive life 

~ the greatest show on earth ~

I've always had this fascination with circuses, despite harboring an intense dislike for clowns (blame the one time a clown followed me around a circus when I was 4 years old).  There's something about the saturated colors, the sounds and smells, various unhealthy (but really, really good) foods that don't taste the same out of that setting, the beautiful costumes, and the interesting people that has always mesmerized me.  But I'm not talking about just any type of circus.  I'm talking about vintage circuses.

After visiting the Ringling Circus Museum in Sarasota earlier this month, my obsession has intensified.  Before I even unpacked, I ransacked my closet looking for anything I could make into a circus costume!  I found an old wedding dress, took it apart, dyed it powder blue, and put it back together again.  It's my dream costume!  I don't think I'll ever take it off.

So here you go.  A photoshoot representing everything that I love about circuses plus some of the photos that will always inspire me to keep life weird and interesting!  Enjoy.



~ the detail on their costumes is beautiful! ~



~ I love the similarities between these two photos, despite the different time periods ~



~ my take on it all ~







~ different kinds of stripes ~







~ a balancing act ~



There you have it, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls!!  I have a feeling my circus obsession is just getting started.