The illusion, that engine

Says The Emotional, a wonderful book that explains to children what each emotion is like, that the illusion It brings us closer to our goals and dreams and provides us with happiness and joy. These days of confinement and confinement, when we feel caged, restricted in our freedom, powerless in the face of the lack of activity and with fear and uncertainty about what is to come, that no matter how many experts speak on TV, I believe that no one will know with certainty what that will come because such paralysis of the world has never occurred before. Well these days, I said, there is something that moves me and that, call me deluded or unconscious, even produces a certain euphoria. And it is nothing other than that, the illusion. that engine.

We are autonomous, we continue to have expenses, we accumulate invoices for merchandise that is already in the store, sitting in a warehouse, we have not received a single euro of aid from the Government and we have paid our tax payments. Nobody knows how or when we will return to normal, we fight for our elders to be safe and cared for and we experience uncertainty like a second skin. I would be lying to myself if I didn't confess that I live with a knot in my stomach that prevents me, for the moment, from eating chips or beer and maintaining my weight. And it doesn't fit me.

But among all that accumulation of uncertain and maddening emotions in many moments, that other one emerges strongly, very strongly, that makes me smile, that makes me get up every morning and that manages to sit in front of this screen to write, to publish photos, to tell you how we are and to feel that more than ever I am dying to work. Yes, we are autonomous. Today poorer and more afraid than a month ago. But, at the same time, with a certainty that perhaps at that time I did not feel so clear: I love my job. I love that store, that one Old Iriarte, like a son. It is where I have met most of you who read these lines, where I give free rein to all my creativity, where I enjoy putting up shop windows, where I can make a person happy by advising them to make them look prettier, to make them like each other, where I live together. with my mother and my sister always trying to give the best of ourselves, where I live a neighborhood life in a wonderful neighborhood. And like a loved one, I can't wait to see her again, to meet again with enthusiasm and to work. I can't wait to change shop windows, to dust off the shelves and show off the beautiful shoes that have arrived for this season, of long and bright days. How many ideas are piling up in my head, how much I want to see you, to tell you but, above all, for you to tell me, how much I want to get dressed, to choose what I will wear every morning, to dress you.

And the illusion, that engine, means that every day when I wake up the first thing I do is select a photo from my archive to post on Facebook and Instagram. Why I choose one and not the other depends on several factors. Sometimes the choice is dictated by my mood. Others the day it is, whether it is raining or sunny, whether it is hot or cold. Sometimes, it's the color of the clothes that moves me. There are blue days and white or yellow days. Also blacks, there is a place for everyone and that's fine. I also take into account who stars in the styling. Thursdays are mom's and the rest of the days I alternate between Vane, Lu or me, so that no one takes center stage and tires the audience. Between them, I sneak a bag or shoe that allows you to admire the details and beauty of the items. I also alternate the brands, so that they all have visibility and space.

After this operation, I have breakfast with my daughter or with my parents, it depends on which house I am in since my father is not mobile and we have to be with him 24 hours a day. I alternate a week in each one. And then, I answer. I don't leave a single comment unanswered. There are many of you who write (allow me to use the feminine plural because the majority of you are women, since the store is for women, but some men also interact and we love it), those who give your opinion on the styling, those who encourage us to continue and assure us that everything will return to normal, those of you who commit to coming to buy when all this happens, those of you who have already placed firm orders with us and even paid for your purchase by transfer even though you will not pick it up until... May?. It has also happened to us that people (and not institutions) have offered us their help. Like our landlady who, on her own initiative, has considerably reduced our rent, or the factory owners, who have postponed paying bills until the situation improves. These are clear and effective actions. The kind that makes you trust human beings.

Then I come up. The complaint is reasonable and in these circumstances completely legitimate but it gets me nowhere. Yes, I am scared, but you have made us, you make us, feel so supported, so understood and so loved, that the complaint has taken a back seat to the excitement, the hope, the desire to work and the joy.

We have the best clients you can have. We have you. And with your hand, we are conquering fear. Thank you for keeping us going. We will get out of this. And it will not be thanks to the Government. It will be thanks to you, our work and the delusion. that engine. Therefore, we will continue publishing, writing, dreaming and smiling.