The Flair Index

I’ve been a long time subscriber of the fashion blog The Flair Index, and recently Gwyneth Paltrow highlighted the website as a must-read or go-to, or some such compliment (and well-deserved too). I don’t put much stock into the alleged character traits of celebrities, but what I liked was one artist complimenting another one. Further, Gwyneth’s endorsement allowed Jennifer, the writer behind “The Flair Index,” to reiterate what her blog is about and what she is about.

Jennifer writes about the meaning behind her website’s title and delves into the definition of flair: “to make use of what you have.” To have flair seems to mean we are operating under the assumption (perhaps, the confidence?) that we have a plethora to choose from and use. The world seems to scream, “If only you had (insert gadget, mindset, attitude, characteristic, something financial, something IG-worthy).” I think I’m going to choose flair instead, because thanks to Jennifer (and a nudge from Gwyneth), I believe I already have what I can use.

So much of creativity — perhaps all of it — stems from who we are, what we love, what we fear, the questions we have, and the responses we offer to those questions. To be illuminated by another person who we respect and admire, I think, gives us a dose of courage to keep doing what we’re doing.

I am writing this prompt on a Thursday morning, sitting cross-legged in a patch of sun in my backyard. I’m out here because my dog, Corby, who I am sitting next to, loves to be in this spot and will be here all day if we let her. And we do, or, we have, but recently she’s taken to catching — and I’m sorry to say, killing — squirrels. She’s not doing it because she wants to kill them. She thinks she’s playing. Nevertheless, if she’s outside, we need to keep an eye on her. She’s also had a serious infection on her foot, and we need to keep a boot on it — one that usually comes off the moment she moves. Also we have a skunk living underneath our deck.

So I’ve taken the day off from work because Jesse is out of town and Corby can’t be at doggy day care due to her infection, and she just wants to be outside. I’m sitting next to her, in the dirt and in the sunshine, and thinking about making use of what I have.

I think it takes strength to have flair. It takes strength to carve out a place for yourself on the ground, in the dirt, to share your notebook with a tiny red spider, to watch the different shades of green the sun and the wind make on the maple leaves overhead, to listen to the squirrels and birds chattering and to believe that somehow this will be enough for a story.

It takes strength to believe who you already are, what you already have, can be put to use. To believe you, all of you, are worthy of flair.

Try It:Flair Poem

What part of you, your day, or your life is waiting to be put to use? Where can you bring out the flair? Write a poem sharing your flair with the world.

Photo by pbkwee Creative Commons, via Flickr. Post by Callie Feyen.

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I have been a fan of Callie Feyen’s writing for quite some time but I finished this book in almost one sitting. If you have ever been in 8th grade, fallen in love, had a best friend, or loved reading, you will love this book. As the mother of an 8th grader, my other genuine hope is that my son will one day have a teacher as gifted as Callie.

—Celena Roldan

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Callie Feyen

Callie Feyen likes Converse tennis shoes and colorful high heels, reading the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins, and the Twilight series. Her favorite outfit has always been a well-worn pair of jeans and a white T-shirt, but she wants hoop skirts with loads of tulle to come back into style. Her favorite line from literature comes from Sharon Creech’s Absolutely Normal Chaos: “I don’t know who I am yet. I’m still waiting to find out.” Feyen has served as the At-Risk Literacy Specialist in the Ypsilanti Public Schools and is the author of Twirl: my life with stories, writing & clothes and The Teacher Diaries: Romeo and Juliet.

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