In the past, it was normal for me to go shopping weekly at the malls and especially at certain boutiques where I was a regular customer. There was always an event to attend, a planned outing, a dinner with my partner, or a birthday, and I liked to buy special clothes for each event. To be dressed to the nines, appropriately attired, in new clothes, and to awaken not only the admiration of those around me but also my own satisfaction.

But that stage is behind me, not only because I realized that it was a real waste of money to buy clothes for every special occasion, but also because I realized that it was not the clothes that made me stand out among others, but my posture, my behavior. When I understood that, rather than worrying about wearing expensive or new pieces to a meeting, I started to focus on taking care of my personality, cultivating my intellect, my spirit.

Of course, sometimes I long for the pleasure that having a new dress, a pair of shoes in a different color, a designer handbag, a delicious perfume gave me. I miss entering stores and forgetting for a moment the economic situation of the country and swiping the credit card without any remorse. That immature, superficial, and a little intelligent behavior relieved my stress and released a ton of dopamine as if I had eaten all the chocolates in the world.

Buying in bulk and without control is part of the trap of our societies. Feeling that you must have the latest fashion is such a widespread discourse that if we don't repeat it, we are on the sidelines and people look at us strangely. I remember the last time I took a pair of shoes to a store to be fixed, and the girl who helped me simply looked at me with boredom and said: "Rather than fix them, you should buy new ones. These shoes are no longer in style."

If maybe the girl had told me that my shoes were beyond repair or that they didn't have the material they were made of, a very nice Italian leather, I might have considered getting rid of them and removing those leather shoes that have been with me for over 15 years. But her argument to convince me to get rid of those shoes was: they went out of style. If I let myself be carried away by this premise, I would have to throw away 80% of my closet.

The time when my clothes validated me is behind me. Today I am what I do, not how I look. I buy clothes if I need them, not out of whim or fashion. I buy what looks good on me, what makes me feel comfortable. I must say that people still admire my way of dressing and I even receive compliments, even if I've worn the same piece a thousand times. Because remember: cultivating our spirit makes it show in your clothes.