Romanticized Relics and First Date Oddities

A few weeks ago, I found this sweet and colorful time capsule. A moment in time caught inside this clutch that I guess I hadn’t used since last November on a first date. Opening this bag and seeing all of this caught me a little off guard as I was flooded with a mix of emotions and memories of my travels. Here was evidence of such an awkward, honest, and thrilling night so perfectly preserved. I remember how excited I was to get these colored mustaches and somehow tie them into this first date. I romanticized them. I ascribed meaning to them. I texted photos of different layouts of them to my friends as I nervously set the stage for that first meeting. (You can see the final layout below.) I still remember how giddy I felt when I bought them. What they symbolized to me. The way they made me feel. The way I let them make me feel. How the reason I had to buy them made me feel. I felt so clever. It was a shared inside thing, after all. And in the moment I so hoped they’d be a hit, they were completely overlooked. Not considered. Not that special. I missed the mark. Or maybe they did. Maybe that was a signal. Or maybe it was nothing at all. A mustache flop. Just me and my love of a little kitsch and romance. A love of the small things. A silly ice breaker. The quirky sweet efforts of budding crush manifest in a myriad of rainbow staches. 

And here I am. Thinking about them again. Considering them. Ascribing meaning. Romanticizing the relics. And rather than beat myself up for still thinking about them, I’m celebrating them with words. With their very own entry here and time capsule in and of itself. Cementing them and writing them down to set them free. And these words aren’t really even about the mustaches. They are about those connections and lasting impressions we consider meaningful. They are about the relics we hang onto to remind us the times we felt most free and alive. The moments that allow me to learn vulnerability and love while also continuing to learn about myself and my needs. And a reminder to stay open. A reminder to follow my yes’s all the way through.

So here’s an official offering of love to the moments that inspire a colorful stache of staches, and a kiss to the memories as they will inevitably fade with time. 💌

*While I wish I was clever enough to think up this post’s title on my own, alas it is inspired by Lady Miss Kier’s album, “Sampladelic Relics and Dancefloor Oddities”.