Can a coffee cup improve your style?

A couple of years ago, a woman wandered into the shop I was working in. After a few minutes of browsing, she paused and picked up a coffee cup, gently moving it around in her hands while she admired it. 'I wish I was the kind of woman who drank her coffee from a beautiful cup', she stated.

My interest was piqued immediately. 'What qualities does that woman have?' I ventured gently. She brushed off the remark with a hurried shyness that implied she had revealed more than she wanted to.

I love those moments.

Those ephemeral little windows into our psyche.

Without us realising they let slip our inner most feelings about ourselves.

Momentary.

Fleeting.

Fragile.

So who is the woman that drinks coffee from a beautiful cup? And why was my customer wistfully wishing to be her?

Hidden beneath our skin are layers of beliefs we hold about ourselves. Beliefs we formed in childhood. We may not be aware of them, but they are there, running our thoughts, our decisions, and our behaviour.

These hidden beliefs form your self image and that self image dictates what you are worth, what you deserve, what things you are allowed and what things you are not. Your self image informs how you are.

It tells you whether you are a woman who deserves to drink coffee from a beautiful cup or not.

Until we become aware of the hidden beliefs that inform our self image, they remain sub-conscious.

Have you ever heard yourself say things like: 'I could never wear that' 'Maybe if I was thinner' 'Oh to be young again' 'Why bother dressing up, no one is looking at me'.

These comments are the little open windows that allow us to peer into the hidden reality of our self image.

They form the subconcious script that plays out everyday. The script that tells us who we are and what we deserve.

But what if this script prevents us from being the person we really want to be, of being our authentic self?

This week, I want you to pay attention to your 'I wish I was the kind of woman who...' thoughts.

When you catch one, take a pause. Ask yourself, 'What is this thought revealing to me?'

Then, do one small thing that woman would do. Drink your coffee from the beautiful cup, wear the incrdible outfit, say no when it feels right, take the dance class.

I was profoundly grateful for that interaction with my customer. As she opened that little window to her self image she opened one to mine.

I realised that I too drank my morning coffee from an old, unremarkable cup. So I went out a bought myself a handmade cup from a local gallery.

I cannot express how much pleasure it gives me. Knowing that someone made it with their own two hands, spinning it on the wheel until the shape was just right. The stunning glaze, the way it feels in my hand. The time it took to make.

A coffee cup seems like such a small thing. Irrelevant even.

But it's in the tiny, daily steps that change is made. Every morning the coffee cup tells my sub conscious 'This is who I am' 'This is what I deserve' 'I deserve this beauty' 'I deserve this pleasure'.

You start stepping into the woman you want to be, the woman you truly are, your authentic self.

Have you ever started a sentence with 'I wish I was the kind of woman who...' Hit reply and let me know, I'd love to hear from you.

Julie x