I absolutely adore Audrey Hepburn. My daughter is named Sabrina, and I can recite lines from Breakfast at Tiffany’s while describing exactly what Holly Golightly is wearing down to the last pearl in her necklace! Her character is the archetype of the lost run away desperate to find her way home to her heart and her true self.
We all have a little Holly Golightly in us. We all have moments when we feel a little (or very) lost and uncertain, longing for something we want to name but can’t. Some of us seek confirmation of our belonging in the people we surround ourselves with, or in the value of the things we collect, or in the success of our careers. We can go to extreme lengths to avoid hard truths in our lives if they will separate us from the image of ourselves that we we have been so dedicated to creating. But the truth is that more we avoid and deny, the more often we find ourselves right back at our own front door.
“What I found does the most good is just to get into a taxi and go to Tiffany’s. It calms me down right away, the quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there, not with those kind men in their nice suits, and that lovely smell of silver and alligator wallets. If I could find a real-life place that made me feel like Tiffany’s, then I’d buy some furniture and give the cat a name.”
– Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany’s
What is your Tiffany’s? It could be the ocean, your yoga practice, hiking in the woods, the rhythm of your breath, paddling along still crystal water, lazy Sunday mornings spent in bed reading, the quiet aisles at the library, your garden……
Our true nature and the pleasure of what we love is our Tiffany’s Store filled with gems and gifts just waiting to be found. It is solid and open enough for us to arrive home into, a safe harbor waiting for us to simply stop running and filling ourselves up with the illusion that we can protect ourselves within a character our own design. This true and authentic self within us is a sanctuary as real and safe as Tiffany’s is to Holly. It is a cab ride away, calling to us to arrive, be still and just be. We are all of us seeking to to find our way home and how absolutely lovely to recognize that we may already be at it’s doorstep……
