"Adornment is a reflection of the heart." - Coco Chanel
I'm sure Coco Chanel was referring to fashion...but perhaps that's not all she was referencing.
On first glance, this quote may seem shallow...as though it's saying looks are all important.
I believe she was saying that our outer circumstances and environment merely reflect what's going on inside.
She's implying - or stating, rather - than the outer has a strong tendency to reflect the inner.
I harp on environment - both internal and external - precisely because it's so important.
This doesn't mean you judge people by their looks or by a designer label or lack thereof.
If we define adornment as your dress, the way you care for yourself, the kind of environment you choose, your friends, your business...the way you choose to live your life, then we'd certainly hope that adornment is, indeed, a reflection of your heart...and your heart's desire.
Fill your life with the things you love and adore - and steadily remove those things that don't suit you or make your heart sing, and that goes for things, people and situations.
If you don't create your life the way you want it, who will?
With cancer, I think it's important to stand up for yourself with environment in terms of surgery and the doctors you choose. I had one provider imply that I was vain because I wanted to know how bad the hole from the lumpectomy would be.
(It wasn't vanity. I just wanted to be prepared. Going through cancer, you already feel a loss of control. I just wanted to know what to expect, so I could brace myself.)
That said, I do think that it's important to feel beautiful, especially while going through something like cancer.
That's one of the reasons the Look Good, Feel Better program works and is successful.
Anything that makes you feel more powerful and puts you in touch with your inner strength is a bonus.
I joke about one of the upsides of cancer was that I got a new - and bigger - set of knockers...and that they look amazing.
The truth is, it's not about the bigger boobs. It's about the fact that I still feel beautiful, that I see the scars as signs of an amazing strength that I didn't know I had before hand.
The new knockers are, for me, an outer sign of an inner strength...an adornment of the heart - and a very humble heart, a heart that knows every day is a gift.
Choose your environment and your at-tit-ude, ladies.
Your attitude is the most important "adornment" you choose...one which colors how you see everything.
Here's one last quote from Chanel that reflects her broad definition of beauty, adornment and fashion.
"Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening."
- Coco Chanel
