{zara} pencil skirt

When the child has grown up and has ceased to play, and after he has been laboring for decades to envisage the realities of life with proper seriousness, he may one day find himself in a mental situation which once more undoes the contrast between play and reality. As an adult he can look back on the intense seriousness with which he once carried on his games in childhood, and, by equating his ostensibly serious occupations of today with his childhood games, he can throw off the too heavy burden imposed on him by life and win the high yield of pleasure afforded by humor. – Dr. Freud, Creative Writers and Daydreaming

This is basically how I look after a long day among serious adults . Like a pet rabbit who’s finally been taken out of its cage. I sometimes literally leap with joy. And, I love these shoes. They too have a sense of humor. My feet are a rather large 9 so they are grown-up shoes. But I enjoy the youthful flower on the front and the superbly comfortable soles.

The other day, I finished my time among serious adults and, stretching my cotton Zara pencil skirt to its maximum girth, I ran over to the Sculpture Garden near the National Mall.

One of the sweets of living in Washington, DC is a series of free concert performances in the Garden, hosted by the Smithsonian. By the time I arrived, 15 minutes before the show was due to start, there were no seats on left around the Basin or on any patch of grass around it.

I stood for a while, waiting for the band to drum up. I don’t remember the name of the band  but I do remember that the MC thought highly of it and so I was optimistic.

I love jazz music when it is accompanied by vocals. I like classical jazz less because it makes me nervous. I always feel, like the music, that am careening off a high place. This band, however, was nothing like that. This was very, very soft jazz. It was the kind of jazz some folks call a “jam” while they tap one foot methodically. The kind of music they put in the background of Viagra commercials.

So, depending on your disposition, the music was either lurid or lulling to you. I found myself very excited for a nap.  As soon as someone got up to leave, I popped my shoes into this abysmal Modcloth bag and ran to the water.

Being around that basin was like being around a campfire. Everyone had checked their stress factors at the door and just let the water hypnotize them. I don’t know what it is about a bowl of water that has such a pacific effect on the human body. But it does.

In the middle of the chaos of downtown rush hour suddenly there was a pool of tranquility.

Do you have any tips or tricks to wind down after a long day of work? Share them with us in the comments! 

anthropologie