ASC SPEAK: THE POWER OF LINES
I love fashion. It inspires me!This past weekend, I aspired to create an outfit that would be light, comfortable, and attractive. It being that Summer is still in full swing, I chose a light cotton/rayon blend with black and white blotched lines, to create a modern silhouette. Normally in fashion, vertical, linear lines are not often used without some form of interception to create silhouette illusions. However, in lieu with my usual process, I wanted to try it anyway.
In my experimentation, while I did implement a few angles for construction purposes, I appreciated that the use of vertical lines gave me some height, and made the outfit flow very nicely. And I got to thinking about lines...not just physical lines on fabric, but lines in life. I often have a hard time saying no. The way my personality is set up, I often have felt that if I have it to give, as in time, energy, talents, money, food, resources, etc., that I should give it. 
I am learning that summation is not only often incorrect, but detrimental. Refusing to allocate yourself to people or situations/things does not mean you do not care, do not love someone, or feel that things are beneath you. I have learned that it means that you understand that you are valuable as a human being, and value your contributions to the world.On the opposite end however, this is not a license to "finger-wave" a "you tried it" at every request. I fully believe that service is our number-one purpose for being on this earth; however, taking care of one's own physical, mental, and spiritual health must also be a priority. 
Basically, we must draw lines in order to be healthy, happy, and efficient people. We'll talk more about this in an upcoming ASC Book Club episode on the power of saying no. Unless you say no, of course. But I hope you won't. 😉 Happy Thursday, friends! -AB