I'm having a reflection moment and I would like to share it with ya'll. Today at our homeschool co-op, we had "Clash Day". We dressed up in our tackiest, clashiest clothes and tried to outdo each other. I took this as a competition and had a blast getting dressed this morning. I wish I had a pic to add, someone took one, if she sends it, I'll add it later. Anyway, I put on 2 dressy items and a mishmash of other things and I looked a real mess : ) My 4 year old said, "Mom, you look so fancy!" Her perception of mommy was that because I had on a skirt and shiny shirt and a necklace that I was fancy. My 9 year old looked me up and down and said, "Mom, did you know you had 2 different earrings in?" I guess she thought I was just being careless by not wearing the same earrings, she apparently hadn't noticed the fall colors bejeweled "fancy" shirt and the black and white flowered skirt I was sporting. My son on the other hand thought I had lost my mind. He actually dropped his jaw and I had to explain it was school spirit day for co-op.
I arrived at co-op and had fun laughing with my friends because we all just looked so silly. But, you know what I heard over and over?? "LaShelle, I just can't take you seriously in that outfit!" Now friends, I took absolutely no offense at this, please don't worry. But it did get me thinking about how our clothes really do make an impression on people's perception of who we are. My friends know me and they had trouble listening to "serious" talk from me today because of my mixmatched clothes. How much more would the general public have perceived me? What would have happened if I had stopped at Food Lion on the way home? Would people have thought I was crazy or just a HUGE Cyndi Lauper fan? I know I have talked about clothes before and my pet peeves but this is different. First impressions are forever and our clothes are such a huge part of that impression. They shouldn't be, but they are. I am not a very good dresser, I try, but I often fail. I prefer converse tennis shoes, jeans, and a zip up sweatshirt to age-appropriate clothes. Eventually, I will start having to wear nicer things all the time because I am attempting to build a career as a classically trained soprano. I wouldn't want to run into a choir director or conductor in my chucks and jeans because in all seriousness, they may not take me "seriously" as a singer. I know there are tons of people out there who don't care what people are wearing and I commend those people with a big high five. *slap*
I'm going to tell one brief story about an unnamed person but hopefully it will make an impact on your own life. I had a friend who wouldn't go to church, no matter how many times he said he would. Eventually, his young daughter convinced him to go so he decided to come in with a bang. He wore his Harley Davidson shirt, ripped blue jeans, huge shiny belt buckle. Probably had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He walked in the door probably hoping they would chuck him right back on the street. Instead, the pastor came running to meet him, hugged him, and told him he had been waiting for him to come. That was more than 30 years ago and that man has been a Christian ever since. What might have happened to that man if the pastor had made his impression based only on his first sight? What if he had passed judgement and treated the man like a roach? Who knows.
I guess what I'm saying here is that society has deemed some people more "acceptable" than others based on what they wear. Anyone who went to a public high school can tall you that. We can make a difference in just one person's life by accepting who they are, by not judging them by what they wear but by what's inside. I know we all have our pet peeves on what is acceptable to wear in public and that probably won't change, but don't judge someone or lose respect for them because of their apparel choices. Who knows what others are thinking about you.
Have you ever been in a situation when you were judged by your appearance? Or if you judged someone based on their look?
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