Think Pink

On days like today, when the weather is rainy and grey, it's especially hard to roll myself out of bed. Wouldn't it be so much better to stay curled up with blankets and hot coffee (or tea with honey and lemon) and alternate reading Renaissance dramas and early modern history with fashion magazines and blogs? Unfortunately, neither my dog nor my teaching schedule allow me to shirk my duties just because the sun is hidden away behind wet, gloomy clouds. I do find that on days like this wearing a favorite colorful outfit or a fun, colorful accessory really helps to elevate my mood. Today I chose to wear pink for cheer and in celebration of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. (Perhaps I was also thinking about breasts because of that article in the Chronicle of Higher Education about cleavage and the job market.)



Here I'm wearing my pink and wine colored John Fluevog boots, pink stockings, which I have somehow magically managed to run in two years of ownership, my uber soft and comfy grey dress, a pink scarf that I salvaged from an old blouse that no longer fits, and my pink jacket from Zara. Armed with my pink umbrella, I went out to face the world, to read student drafts, and to teach class.

While I have yet to purchase anything from The Breast Cancer Site Store, I do try to remember to click for free mammograms on a daily basis and have registered for numerous Susan G. Komen events and will no doubt continue to do so. I also think there's a bag of pink peanut M&Ms calling my name.... These are small ways to make a difference. Call it idealism if you will, but I like to think that we do make a difference, when we show compassion, when we support charity, when we teach a text with enthusiasm and insight, when we hold the door for someone, when we say thank you, when we think pink.