The verdict is in...
I'M KEEPIN' IT!
This thread and bag have given me so much to think about -- and for that, I'm truly grateful.
Can I have an honest moment? I grew up with a single mom on welfare and was always the "poor kid" at a school with many wealthier students. I'm 30 now, and have had the unexpected fortune of starting a business in my mid-20s that has become very successful. It is a strange thing to suddenly live a lifestyle that is very different than the one you grew up with.
I find that one of the hardest things for me about accumulating wealth at a young age is that so many of the people in my life live a more modest lifestyle. I think I've feared that if those around me see me indulging in luxury, I'll lose my identity as someone who is humble, kind, and generous. Of course, that's not necessarily true at all! There are plenty of people who both love luxury AND are kind and generous -- they're not mutually exclusive. But it's a fear that has kept me small at times. I had this same experience last year when I bought a nice car. I bought it because I thought it was gorgeous and it's so fun to drive, but I was anxious about what others might think about me for wanting something luxurious, and nearly purchased a car I liked far less, simply because it was more understated.
So, I feel like this sunshine bag is my "coming out" of sorts. "Coming out" as someone who loves what she loves, and is unapologetic about it. Something I'm realizing more and more is that all of us have received so much conditioning from our families and society that often limits us from being our truest selves. What I'm working on now is letting go of that conditioning and discovering what *I* truly want, instead of negating my desires to please the people around me. I absolutely love this bag and will wear it with the pride of knowing that what the world really wants from me more than anything is for me to be myself. That's it. That's more than enough.
Thank you for all your responses! Truly have appreciate hearing your perspectives.
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It’s a beautiful bag, sunny and happy! You sound like a thoughtful woman and your ideas about not flaunting your wealth around your friends and family are refreshing, charming and elegant. It is so much easier to be bratty and self-involved and no doubt you have seen and heard that all around you in daily life, from celebrities to TV to people you see or know that say, “I don’t care what anyone else thinks or how anyone else feels, I deserve it!”
You are fortunate to find yourself in a position to be able to indulge your desires and it also sounds like you’ve worked hard and probably still do. In order to not lose your identity as someone who is humble, kind and generous, it will be an adjustment, not in denying yourself the things you want, (like pretty yellow Birkins
) but as your wealth increases you’ll probably also find the need for equally increasing measures of grace and wisdom. It is a bit of a dance to know what is appropriate when and where and with whom, but you care and you’ll figure it out. That will keep you connected to those around you, which is the important thing. And then maybe everyone you come in contact with throughout your life will discover that it is not and never was about the things—either the not having things or the having things—that it is about the love and connection. And that will make you truly wealthy.

You are fortunate to find yourself in a position to be able to indulge your desires and it also sounds like you’ve worked hard and probably still do. In order to not lose your identity as someone who is humble, kind and generous, it will be an adjustment, not in denying yourself the things you want, (like pretty yellow Birkins

