April Is A Promise
Do people really change? Is print really coming back? And is there such a thing as too many frozen margaritas?
The monthly recap is a short diary of the memorable things gone by. It includes my favourites, a particular piece of media I’ve consumed, a thought-inducing topic, and whatever struck my mind as I was busy going through life. Enjoy!
In the past four years, April has been a month of endings. Finishing assignment season and the end of the academic year meant that by the time April was over, so was all my hustling; time for summer and relaxation.
Things are not ending like that right now. Although I’ve just enjoyed an agreeably long Easter holiday, the thought or sight of a summer holiday is far away. But I’m enjoying myself – now I just need to find someone to spend my days off with, other than my family.
May is at our doorstep, and April has certainly promised that change is well underway. A lot is different from a year ago – in ways that I couldn’t have imagined then – however, I also realised recently that some things don’t change, no matter how much time has passed. And that is people’s perception of you.
A few nights ago, I reluctantly went out to a school reunion. I was sceptical that the evening would turn from a nonchalant catch-up to a questionnaire. I debated back and forth on whether to go or skip out; the fear of being boxed up in classroom stereotypes again almost kept me at home, but my curiosity got the better of me (I blame my education).
I was right and wrong. The best combination, as it meant that I was right – and I love being right – but I also ended up having a rather fun night with laughter and easy conversation.
I got to talking to someone, and soon it became frightingly clear that it’d been quite a few years since I had seen him and the others. Longer than I remembered, time had flown by. I mentioned that before arriving, I was unsure if I would recognise everyone. He asked if he had changed, and without hesitation, I asserted “no”.
He was teasingly stunned. I then quickly added that I probably hadn’t changed either, and he agreed.
“I don’t think that we change as much as we like to think we do.” This he agreed with, too.
I have seen so much change and growth in me that I’m proud of, that I want to show off, that I want to be remembered for. But for the most part, I think I’m seen for the person I was the last time we met. For better or for worse.
Once again, I had a few favourite outfits in April. I’m working on getting more. Already now, with Indyx, I’m getting a sense of what I tend to go for, but the April Favourite was an outlier – for good reasons, though.
I’ve realised that this segment, my monthly favourites, is a little reminiscent of a magazine. Consciously done or not, I’m having fun making a little curation of the things I appreciate and take note of (inspired by an article from my old uni newspaper and Gabby Whiten’s
). It’s good fun and acts as a diary and lookbook for the small things that are easily forgotten or dismissed.I’m also aware it includes things that some might consider luxuries: the privilege of spare time to enjoy TV shows, buying and using beauty products and clothes, and having the means to devour multiple frozen margaritas. (What is too many? Asking for a friend.) But that is what they are, small luxuries.
The New York Times is arguing that the print magazine is making a comeback. More specifically, the independently published, niche magazines. They credit the newfound fame to the print magazine’s symbol of status. They are high-end products. They are relics to be collected.
I think this is true. But I also think the interest in owning print magazines is a symptom of the lipstick effect. In times of economic hardship, consumers still spend money on small luxuries, i.e. women buy lipsticks. Basking in the slight reflection of a magazine’s glossy pages is most certainly a luxury.
The question remains: are my monthly favourites a sign of a recession at our hands, or a joy of the small things in life? Time will tell.