They say spring is coming and I’ve started thinking about
buying some new clothes. I don’t do that very often compared to most women I've known. I have clothes that are old enough to
collect pensions, but I could use a smaller size. I do have some things in boxes that will fit but they’re up
high on a shelf. However, unless my orthopedic doctor changes his mind when I see him
next week, that’s where they’ll have to stay until the end of May when my
post-surgery restrictions are lifted. A decade or less ago I started writing
the year I purchase a new garment on its labels. Why, I don’t know. I do crazy
things like that and try to justify my actions later on. Later hasn’t landed
yet and until it does, I’ll keep dating my clothes---that sounds weird. Blue pantsuit, would you like to go out for
dinner sometime?
Since I need some new clothes I thought I’d do a little
research. God knows I could use a style concept that doesn’t include sweat pants
taking the place of the “little black dress”---good for all occasions by
dressing them up or down with accessories. Should
I wear the black tennis shoes or the hot pink ones? Okay, I don’t have a
pair of black tennis shoes but not for lack of trying. Some of the color
combinations those companies put on running shoes are god-awful. My feet are
not my best feature why call attention to them? If my foot doctor had his way I’d be wearing running
shoes them 24/7. Get this: he actually wants me to put them on just to go the
bathroom in the middle of the night. If I took the time for that---well, you
know where this is going. Not going to happen. Needless to say, my wardrobe
choices are strongly influenced by my shoes. No sexy high heel shoes for me. No
strappy sandals. I do cheat and wear a lot of Crocs and when I do I hope Mr. Good-Looking-Podiatrist
never sees me out in public.
In my research of what’s hot this year I ran across
something called “personal branding.” What? I’m not Jessica London, Jackie
Collins or what’s-her-name---the lady who turned her big butt into a brand all
its own. Okay, that was cattie. Bad, Jean!
Bad! The point is why do ordinary people living ordinary lives need a personal
brand? One website that sells workbooks for you to figure out what your
personal brand is claims a personal brand is like a calling card, it’s “how
people will experience you.” We’re supposed to “deliver our brands clearly to
make it easier for others to get to know us.” Okay, isn’t that just another way
to say we need to be authentic? The workbooks help you to discover your unique strengths
and talents, your values, passions and purpose in life. I’ve got news for workbook people: if I don’t
already know these things about myself, it’s a little too late in life for a
trip inside myself to do any good. I think the idea of creating a personal
brand is silly. We’re always evolving, always changing so why should we
pigeonhole ourselves? And if I wanted to brand myself as a deep thinking what
am I supposed to do, sit around naked like Rodin’s The Thinker sculpture? That’s not the kind of wardrobe change I have
in mind. Note: It’s only in my warped world that wardrobes and personal
branding are used interchangeably. A wardrobe can enhance your branding but it not
your branding.
The newsletter from the senior hall came in the mail
recently and that always prompts me to sit right down and read all fourteen pages
so I can get my RSVPs in right away. They get filled up quickly. My April and
May RSVPs include: a restaurant hop along Lake Michigan, a day trip to an
underground railroad museum, two luncheons, five lectures (on the following
topics: baseball during the Civil War, making granola, selling and buying a house, President
Lincoln, and the history of the Detroit Tigers) and I signed up for my first ever
an “off Broadway” musical, a Beatles Tribute at the preforming arts center. I also signed up to help with
spring cleaning at the senior hall and I volunteered to help with the
May luncheon. There were so many things to choose from it was hard to narrow down
my choices! You can't do everything the senior hall offers and still have time to do what needs to be done in the other areas of your life.
The temperature tonight is supposed to dip to two above but temperatures
in the 40s are in the ten day forecast. I can almost taste spring coming even
though the world outside my window is still a blanket of white. Makes me glad I
don’t live in Russia. With my tendency towards writing irrelevant and irreverent things I’d
probably get banished to Siberia. Wait! Did I just brand myself as an
irrelevant widow with bad feet, a closet full of old clothes, and a desire to sit naked on top of a block of marble? ©
