In 2020 there will be so many words.
Writer with a capital “W” and Author with a capital “A.”
There will also be style, costume, touring…but the predominant activity of 2020 for me is the business of publishing and preparing to celebrate the 42nd Anniversary of the publication of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
So how do I distill all of that into a word? Three words? A motto? A mantra? One thing that sums up how I will keep 2020 focused and on-track?
Why, I pick a lipstick.
Stay with me. This gets romantic.
Years and years ago before I was married, I had a talk about makeup with my boyfriend (fiance-to-be, now husband). He doesn’t like it. He told me he doesn’t like anything that makes me look “not me.”
Fast forward to our wedding planning. I asked him if there was anything about my dress or appearance that was important to him about our wedding. His response was very specific (though I admit I’m paraphrasing).
“Don’t wear too much makeup. I want you to look like you. I don’t want to marry a complete stranger because you’ve changed the way you look.”
Fair enough. So over the next few months as I went to makeup stores for “practice” faces and to learn about products, we would critique things together as “too much,” or “weird,” or most often, “Do they not know what “natural” looks like?”
My husband made an offhand comment I will never forget, both because it was so sweet and also so ridiculous:
“It’s too bad they don’t make a lipstick the color of your natural lip color. That would be perfect.”
(You see why I feel lucky to have married him.)
A lipstick the color of my natural lip color.
A revolutionary idea.
And an important one, since as we age we tend to fade, the pigment in our skin and hair decreasing over time.
Knowing this, for years I have been looking for lipstick that is the color of my natural lip color. It can’t taste or smell funny. I don’t want it to smear, or get on my teeth. I don’t want it to bleed or dry out my lips. It must have none of the annoying properties I associate with lipstick.
I found it. It is not a perfect match, but it is essentially the natural color tone of my lips, shifted a half-shade. It’s what I call a “dry” lipstick, meaning the way you use it is to paint it onto dry lips. It comes with a clear-coat to lock on the color and keep lips moisturized. Once it drys, it doesn’t wear off. PERFECT!
And the name of this amazing lipstick color: Content.
Now I do not know if the cosmeticists (not a word) who scienced-up this hue intended the name to evoke contentment or substance.
Since I am in search of both, who cares? This color could not be a more perfect message for me.
So here’s to 2020: A year of creating a substantial amount of meaningful content in a state of content–ment.
Because I think it looks damn good on me. SMOOOCH!
What do you think?