“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” ― Lao Tzu

In my youthful years, I walked down the ramp several times. Designers loved to dress me up (“she can only fill half a yard of clothing”), play with my face (“today you wear vampy red lipstick and smoky kohl liners”), or dictate my walk (“sashay and glide will you, dear?”).

My glory days are soon forgotten. The supple body, lost within flabs of time. The confident calculated pout is now replaced with a generic, laughable, duck face selfie.

Nobody remembers where I walked, or sashayed. No designer clothes fit me like second skin anymore. Occasionally, the low self esteem rears its ugly head, consuming and overpowering…like a fart within a tight toilet cubicle. You can’t shake it off at once.

I playfully pose with a giant model ad in self-deprecation, remembering how I once was like her. While a tinge of nostalgia fleetingly washes over, it is time to move on and let go.

Just a reality check on youth, while waiting for my workshop participants in the mall.