Clothing Crisis Understood

The other night before I headed out I was having one of those moments where I put on clothes, take off clothes, put on something different and try something different to dress it up or down or sideways.... I had no frickin' clue what to wear. I tried to think back of the first outfit that popped into my head to wear and I couldn't. Usually that's the one I end up wearing out. Trust my intuition.

So I ended up just going casual, which for some people is like bumming around. Jeans, a plaid shirt and my Converse. I was comfy. My other option was jeans, a nice black top and heels. Not so 'comfy' per se, but definitely looking good.

So in the process of doing this I realized I had this dilemma of sorts. I was fighting between these two 'looks' and wondering which was better, worse, cute, sexy, over done, under dressed and as I sat on the bus to the east side I got it. It's not an issue I have, but it is something I am working on. I like to look put together. I like to wear heels, on occassion. And when I do I feel a bit sassy, a bit sexier and a bit more powerful. And THAT, that powerful, is what I am struggling with. I want my inner strength and power to be visible regardless of what I am wearing and I want to feel it regardless of the kind of shoes I'm wearing. And I DO. My concern, which is totally BS is that others won't. My concern is that others will judge based on what I'm wearing. And to a certain degree I feel this is something I'm shifting in the world. Because I'm very curious, regardless of what people wear, I want to know who they are and what they do. Granted, I do make assumptions and then often I am pleasantly surprised when they are proven wrong!

So I suppose, which I have from the beginning, that it really doesn't matter what I wear because if people are shallow enough to make assumptions based on the outside without asking questions about what's on the inside then those aren't the people I want in my life anyways.

This also goes the opposite way. I have many people in my life who are highly influential and in their time in order to be taken seriously you had to look a part and behave a certain way (well sorry to tell you this, but the new children of the world - my generation and younger - we think that's a load of crap) and to a degree that still applies. And yet when I am playing the opposite role of being the powerful woman in my heels and nice black top, people are often surprised if not relieved that at the end of the day I can thrown on my flip flops and some yoga pants and do whatever.

So why is it that our society, over time, has made our outer appearance the indicator of who we are. Why do we need to look 'put together' if that's not who we are. Why do we take jobs that have dress codes...It's a part of understanding who we are and who we are not. Everything in our lives is an opportunity for us to ask ourself - Does this allow me to express who I am within? Does this hinder any and all processes of expressing who I am? Sometimes even in a monkey suit, actually especially in a monkey suit, we are able to express everything that is within because it doesn't matter what we wear, it matters who we are.

I vote that the entire world and work place takes a shift and dresses from casual to business casual on a regular basis at the workplace. Let's all just relax a little! Life is good :)