Monday, May 14, 2012

imelda, the excessive vs. mary, the extravagant



dear emily,

you probably are too young to have heard of dear imelda, and you are
certainly not in danger of her compulsion.    she collected shoes the way
my kids used to collect tadpoles.  her shoe excess was a vivid indictment
against her self indulgent life style.   she owned 2,700 pairs!



my kids just wanted to watch tadpoles turn into frogs.

when i first heard of her exorbitance, i made a promise to myself that i
would never accumulate 'stuff'.   this may seem like a small vow, but
there have been a few temptations.  can one really have too much
chocolate?

i devised the simplest formula to never hoard anything besides tadpoles:
if an item comes into my house, a similar item goes out.   easy, peasy.

here is an example:   i am perusing the shoe department at bergdorf's,
drooling over the louboutins*.   if i decide that i NEED a pair, then all
i have to do is give away a pair from my closet.   i usually imagine the
rattiest running shoes.

not all excesses are evil.   can we pour too much love or kindess on
each other?  will we ever be able to express our devotion and gratitude
to the Lord?  one of my heroes is mary, who "took about a pint of pure
nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped His
feet with her hair.   and the house was filled with the fragrance of the
perfume."  john 12:3

love,
lea

*as a colorful illustration only.   my conscience would never let me buy
these.


34 comments:

Cinnamon said...

I remember her. Yikes that was a lot of shoes. But I like your analogy. Can we pour too much love out to others? Sometimes it feels like it. When "self" gets in the way which is actually something I've been pondering of late.

Oh and yes I knew who you were in your comment but thanks for the extra one to clafiry :-) Yes my mom was thrilled at her post and the withdrawals have subsided she said :-) haha!

~Cinnamon

Felisol said...

I guess we cannot put to much love into people. It's in a way contradictory.
Nevertheless one should perhaps not concentrate all love to one person. Even the disciples got jealous as Mary anointed the feet of Jesus.
Children in particular are sensitive to not being the preferred or most loved one.
That said, I believe in love as a soothing, healing force.
Let's love each other like the Father has loved us!!!

Joan Elizabeth said...

Oh yes I remember Imelda but I had to look up louboutins. You might have guessed I am not much of a shoe person. Love your thoughts on excess, if only I would make my excesses be of that kind.

Emily said...

I remember Imelda. Wow, that's a lot of shoes! I feel bad just perusing Zappos and considering buying more than one pair while secretly wishing I could get about 15 of them :)

Vee said...

Hmmm...plenty to ponder here today...like how did I get away from the one in/one out rule and is it possible to spend too much love...

Anne Lyken-Garner said...

I'm exactly the same as you Lea. Exactly the same. I don't hoard, and each year I pack up clothes and toys not used that past season and give them to people I know. There's always someone who wants what you're throwing out.

I haven't been around because I've been working hard on editing my inspirational memoir. It's out on May 22nd, and I wanted to ask if I could send you a small description and the picture of the book cover to share with your readers. You can see some details of it here (link below) at a facebook event I created for it. Sorry about leaving this link. I'm not in the habit of dropping links on other people's blogs.
http://www.facebook.com/events/385124968204320/

Janettessage.blogspot.com said...

Good post..and my mind goes back to Debra Brown who just celebrated her 62 birthday in Cambodia with my son...one day the she sprayed her expensive perfume all through the sanctuary during praise and worship...pouring out before the Lord, as she is still doing...so yes, something we can never over do!

http://bitsandpieces-sonja.blogspot.com/ said...

I love that one in and one out theory, especially since I get to choose the outgoing!

This also makes me ok with my love for shoes, and I feel like a nickel shooter with my 'collection', she said as her halo slipped into place!

Farm Girl said...

It is so true, I think it is always best to keep giving away and giving away. Now I just wish my other people who live here would try it. :)

myletterstoemily said...

joan: i'm trying to imagine you in
louboutins scouting all over the
outback for photos. :)

Debbie said...

Oh I really like that theory of one in and one out. Why haven't I thought of that? Seems pretty obvious. At the same time I loved the thought that we can never give out too much.

Darcie said...

I remember stories about her! Enjoyed too how you brought "love" into the post. That is a story I think about often in the bible.

As for the author you commented on yesterday(J.P), she is good, touches on a lot of different topics. A lot of her books I have finished, but some I have had to close and walk away...not for me. If you know what I mean. :-)

Elizabeth "Libby" Day said...

Lea, I am so glad you found and visited my blog because how else might I have found yours! I felt like I was visiting with a friend from your first post. When hubby and I downsized five years ago, we agreed to only keep the things we loved - no plastic for this couple. We have so enjoyed our scaled down living and apologize to no one for using the good china and linen napkins. The only hitch was hubby's decision that I needed to toss a pair of shoes every time I brought in a new pair. I must send you the link to a posting on this very subject.

Again, so good to have met you and hope you will return to my Beauty Without Within blog some more, as I look forward to following yours.

Elizabeth "Libby" Day said...

Blog address I mentioned above: http://beautywithoutwithin.blogspot.com/2012/01/jackets-shoes-and-little-girls.html

Kathleen said...

My husband tells me she & I are related. I DO LOVE shoes!

When it comes to hoarding, I believe my fav is memories. I love making them & savoring them.

myletterstoemily said...

sassy: you win my favorite comment

you hoard memories!

Jenners said...

I actually have only four pairs of shoes. Sometimes I wonder if I'm actually a woman!! : )

And no ... you can never have too much chocolate. Or books.

Lea @ CiCis Corner said...

What a lovely post and oh, the truth! We can so easily become slaves to our stuff if we are not careful. I'm afraid that I have way too many pairs of shoes but I do clean them out regularly. :o)

Happy week!

Single and Sane said...

I'll confess that I don't clear my shoes out as often as I should, but I do wear the heck out of every pair I keep. I like the analogy, too. We can never worry about pouring too much love or kindness on others, or offer too much devotion or gratitude to God. There's always room for more of those things!

Love,
Margaret

Grandma Yellow Hair said...

Very nicely written honey. I had forgotten about her until tonight. Can you imagine anyone being that selfish or I guess sick to own that many shoes.
I have a close friend who is a hoarder and it has caused a lot of trouble in our friendship. Just so hard to deal with seeing her like this.
Thanks for writing this
Love
Maggie

Castles Crowns and Cottages said...

Ahhhhh....the tears of a repentant heart. The best footwear ever. Thank you dear one for your visit! Please do visit us for the party in June!! Anita

Unknown said...

WOW! 2,700...! Love the story of Mary and her generousity. May we all be more like her.

Lisa said...

Yes I do remember Imelda! We are dating ourselves, aren't we! LOL! The in one out one is a good rule of thumb. Or maybe in one out two would be better.;)
PS Go ahead. Get the shoes!

myletterstoemily said...

jenners: four? you are amazing.
do you walk?

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

I sooo remember her. I have the same theory on 'stuff'. If somthin' come in at least one thing goes out.

I love the way you transitioned all this to our Heavenly Father. What a wonderful post this was sweetie!

God bless and have a wonderful Wednesday!!! :o)

Together We Save said...

Thanks for stopping by. Hope all is well with you.

Champagne Macarons said...

I must confess.. I do love shoes. I do clean out my closet but not as often as I should. I think "maybe, one day I will wear this again". However, I do believe in giving what I can.

Thank you for stopping by and for your lovely comment. Your blog is a favourite also!

xoxo, B

koralee said...

Oh what a crazy lady...I like shoes but really...how many can you wear?
Love your in..out idea...I may just need to borrow that. Hugs to you.

Jenny said...

I think the only good excess is love...

And we can never, ever really give or receive enough of that.

We try to live fairly simply but sometimes and somethings just seem to accumulate against 'someday' in our house...

And sometimes I find myself clinging to something because the memories are so intense...

...but really...

...who needs to hold onto a Winnie the Pooh puzzle with three missing pieces?

Ahhhhh...

Jenny said...

PS. I have three pairs of shoes. I never buy shoes.

However, we will not discuss old pottery mixing bowls.

Because...

Well...

...

...

just because.

Maria said...

Hi Lea!
My husband has the same rule... We don't follow it as carefully as we should though!
As for shoes... I am forever in my Sketchers Mary Janes with Profoot liners. My feet, legs and back can not tolerate much else these days!

Thank you for your kind visits ~ I love to hear from you!
Wishing you a sweet weekend ~ Happy Sunday to you!
*Maria

Thistle Cove Farm said...

I'm pretty sure chocolate doesn't count as "stuff".
Just sayin...

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