Our Own True Selves

   What does it take, really, to express your own true self?  Out of the endless seeming variety of options before us, what is most like us, most apt to inform others of our reality, or otherwise, our sublime fantasy of ourselves?

    Do we go to Target, and sort through racks in search of something that speaks, at least a little, to our sense of self? Many of us do, all the time.  Do we go to second hand stores looking for that special thing that says, ME above all others?  Many of us do, myself included.  Do we scour department stores, and boutiques, looking for those unique things that tell our story in a manner we wish it told? We do, if we have the wherewithal.  And finally, do we, if we have the means, stop at a couturier and have them make up something custom fitted to our specifications? We do, if we can.

    The point is this. We all want to speak ourselves.  If we live with food stamps, or have multiple homes, and dozens of personal employees, we all want the same simple thing.  We all want to be able to tell our deeply personal story, through our apparel, even if we don't think we do with our conscious brain.  The reason we do this is buried deeply in our past. We have been at this process for so very long, many millenia at least; and as such, its so ingrained, so much a part of how we face our world, its nearly impossible to side step it, or deny it. So, we find ourselves standing in front of a rack of incomprehensible things, trying to find meaning there.
   

For some of us, speaking ourselves manifests with cowboy boots and Wrangler jeans. for others its an etsy bought dress, and a pair of Doc Martens, for others still, its a simple cotton frock, and a cap, because that is what their religion requires.  However it manifests, we have an inborn, unquenchable need to shout out to the Universe, "I AM!".  Even if we are introverts, and shun society, we need this thing, this method of being separate from others.  We need to know, at the end of any day, that we have been seen as unique, and special.  We need to know we are valued, and honored, even for tiny things.  So, we search, and search, and search, hoping that this time we will find that garment, that look, that pathway that will let us speak out ourselves to the rest of our community, and let them know who we are.

    Because this language of Attire, like all other languages, is lastly, most importantly, about sharing our vision of ourselves, real or fantastical,  to others.  For without community, language is valueless, and a waste of time.