Trophy Wife Manifesto

Many years ago my mom was visiting and we went to get our nails done. I picked this pretty metallic teal/turquoise color.  As I was clutching the square, little Essie bottle while I waited for my pedicure, I noticed the name, Trophy Wife.

Yes, I thought, I want to be a trophy wife!

I had never considered myself trophy wife material and I wondered what it was about the idea that was suddenly so appealing to me.  Was I enamored of the concept just because I really liked the color?  What did being a trophy wife mean to me?

I decided to define what being a trophy wife meant to me.  Here is my Trophy Wife Manifesto:

#1 A Trophy Wife Takes Care of Herself

This means that a trophy wife makes time to look after her physical and psychological well-being.  Making a point of taking time for working out, self-care, reading, meditating, creating art, whatever it is that makes her feel centered and confident.  A trophy wife knows that these things are not frivolous, they are critical for living her best life.

#2 A Trophy Wife Prioritizes Her Relationships

This means that a trophy wife makes a point of being available and fully present to spend time with not just her husband, but with those people who are important to her.  She’s not too tired for date night; she doesn’t miss her loved ones’ important occasions because she is too busy.

#3 A Trophy Wife Doesn’t Work Because She Has To, She Works Because She Wants To

A trophy wife enjoys what she does for work.  She has made a choice that if she is going to take time away from looking after her relationships and herself, that it is going to be because she has a passion for what she does.

Even if she doesn’t have the luxury of not working, and/or doesn’t have her dream job, she finds something every day about her work that she appreciates and makes the most of her situation.  She isn’t trapped in a job that she hates because every day she knows that she has made a choice to be there and by doing so she has committed to herself to find something meaningful in what she is doing.  She might not be curing cancer, she might just be making a point of being nice to the receptionist.  That matters too.

If you’re thinking that this must have been the beginning of my trying to crawl out of my cave of workaholism, you would be right.

I bought my own bottle of Essie Trophy Wife nail polish.  It was my nearly constant toenail color and a touchstone for me, for a long time.

This last time that I went to get my nails done, took my little, old bottle of Trophy Wife with me and we were able to make it work.  I was reminded about how beautiful the color is and I feel very inspired and empowered when I look at my toes.  Who knew that nail polish could be so powerful?

Do you have anything that serves as a touchstone for you?  What is it and what are you trying to remind yourself of?  Would you want to be a trophy wife?  What would that mean to you?

3 Replies to “Trophy Wife Manifesto”

  1. Forget the communications marketing thing you are looking for… send this article in to O Magazine… your writing is GREAT!!! 🙂

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