A Word from 1 Peter 3: 3-4
“Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.”
Over the years I have thought a lot about expectations regarding appearance. Both men and women face those expectations if they want to be accepted in society. I mean, most people have responsibilities to tend to. Work, running errands, date nights, and more!
As a seamstress I have focused much of my path on clothes. It gets me thinking a lot about the way I show up in the world. The truth is I’m really low maintenance these days. Something about turning 40, then 45, and now 46 has me shrugging off the pressure to look marvelous all the time. Yoga pants, hoodies and t shirts have replaced the way I used to get dressed to the nine’s for my day to day life.
Part of the aging process is fighting off the effects of time! There is make up and every lotion and potion imaginable. There is pressure to get plastic surgery and hold on to youth for top dollar. There is so much pressure to conform to beauty standards or face ridicule. You might even be written off completely if you don’t look just right! But looking just right changes depending on who is looking at you. One person likes a woman to look this way, another that. Pressures among groups of friends also run so high.
The great thing is you can dress how you want! If you want to wear make up and do your hair every day…that’s great! If you want to throw on a hat, (like I do), and not put that much effort in…that’s your choice. There isn’t a right or wrong way to show up in the world. Just showing up is enough! And it isn’t your job to dress to impress other people. That’s also a choice you get to make. It can be a form of resistance to wear sweatpants sometimes instead of getting all dolled up.
What are you wearing these days? The most important thing is to please yourself! Regardless of whether you dress to the nine’s or wear the same clothes day after day…treating others like you want to be treated, and lifting others up is what truly matters! Some of the worst looking people have hearts of gold! And some of the best looking people are the most heartless and cruel. Wear your he(art) on your sleeve and just do you!
