The importance of warmth

So I mentioned a couple of days back that I’ve been feeling starved of colour for the last couple of months. 

It seemed to be like the easiest way to inject colour into my life all winter was to buy a colourful scarf. That’s easy to do right? Wrong.  I agonised over what to buy. Everyone knows that more choice leaves us less happy. In my case I have loads of choice, until I make the choice & then there is no backing out.

 All the choice and nothing to show for it or no choice forever (ok for 7 months – but it feels like a long time) =Torture. The challenge has delivered me loads of great things over the last 5 ½ months, but it’s also reintroduced me to my old friend indecision. And even though indecision and I have been estranged – she’s wormed her way back in there pretty successfully and is now my constant shopping companion.

Honestly. I’ve needed a scarf for weeks. I must have looked at EVERY SCARF ON THE INTERNET. I became a total scarf bore. I knew exactly what I wanted – I had a really clear picture in my head but I couldn’t find the real thing anywhere.

And what I would normally have done if I wasn’t doing this challenge was picked something ‘near enough’ to see me through until Plato’s higher scarf presented itself. But since I have to stick with whatever choice I make this year, I put it off. I went out day after day and night after night in my thin mac with my neck exposed until surprise surprise I made myself ill. 

I was a full on snot factory last week. It was disgusting. I had a sore throat, earache, blocked nose and all the associated headaches. My husband got no sleep at all as a result of my rambunctious snoring. And I don’t deserve any sympathy at all because I did it myself with vanity.

You know how Kate Moss once said ‘Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels?’ (at least the internet says she did. Kate if you didn’t I’m super sorry for mis- quoting you, and if you did – stick around – cos I think you’re eating the wrong food). I have a problem with that phrase – it’s patently untrue. I mean maybe if you eat in a really self punishing way potentially, potentially unsweetened granola with skimmed milk doesn’t taste as good as skinny feels, or a plain bowl of quinoa with no veggies. But mashed potatoes? Apple crumble and custard? Cheesy beans and waffles? They all taste at least as good as skinny feels as the hips and bums of our nation’s women will testify.

I know what I’m talking about on this. I got dysentery in Nepal 9 years back and got super skinny. And you know what? It felt alright – I knew I looked good in my bikini. But it didn’t feel as good as homemade peanut butter and chocolate sauce pancakes taste – which explains why I’d put it all back on within two years.

Anyway I digress. What I wanted to say is that I’ve come up with a new and much healthier saying, from what I’ve learnt from letting myself get sick out of vanity, and here it is:

“Nothing looks as good as warm feels”. And it’s totally true. On Sunday I realised that I couldn’t research scarfs forever. So I gave myself 15 minutes at Spitalfield’s market to find and buy one. And it’s not my dream scarf- but actually it’s pretty close and today all day I’ve been warm. Which is priceless.

Come on gang I made myself sick for the challenge that’s got to be worth some sponsorship?