What Elegance Isn't

Today I wheeled child #3 and a basket of groceries out into a glorious morning. The persistent gray drizzle that pervaded the past three days had let up and the sun had just broken through the clouds. As I walked to my car, I felt marvelous. I smiled at the woman walking toward me and she gave me an ear-to-ear grin, full of warmth. Her fluffy peroxided hair and bright fuchsia 80's silk shirt drew a stark contrast to the lingering gray of the morning and to the gray of her sweat pants. Not exactly an "elegant" outfit, but who cares what a person looks like when they treat you like your very existence has brightened their day. Just behind her was a lady dressed in the season's latest from New York and Co. I, feeling full of sunshine and human kindness, smiled at her too. She looked past me with the squint eyed sourness of the self-proclaimed sophisticate. I shriveled a bit inside.

Now I am not saying that stylish dress begets sourness. On the contrary, elegant dress and things and experiences often bring out the best in people. And marching to the beat of an off-beat drummer (stylistically or otherwise) does not guarantee a soul full of sunshine.

My point is, that this morning I was given a powerful lesson as to what elegance isn't. Style devoid of substance is empty, not elegant. Stripped of story and warmth and joy, no person or thing can attain true elegance. But the quirky, the off-beat and even the flat out odd exude elegance when they possess that "je ne sais quoi" that gives joy and light to those around them.