MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2021 - OUR COSTUMES

 MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2021 - OUR COSTUMES

I was thinking of Halloween costumes the other day.  Those that know me from my teaching know that I do dress up for Halloween.  The Round Rock Senior Center has a senior dance on the First Friday night of every month, and the theme for October 1st is Halloween and we are invited to go in a costume. So, I have a couple of weeks to decide.

(Aside, I’m remembering a student who had trouble differentiating between “costumes” and “customers” - and wrote a paper about “costumers” - meaning customers but using the basic word “costume”)

I’ve been Zorro (my favorites), clown, ketchup, farmer, the Great Pumpkin (from Charlie Brown Halloween), and more.  I have an idea - but I’m still thinking about it.  But, if I am going to be ready for October 1st, I need to get going.  I’m thinking of putting color in my hair (my friend last year had jet black hair and a witches costume - instead of her normal silver-gray hair and stylish clothes).  I’ll let you know!!

But, in my philosophical writings in this blog, I’m thinking of our daily costumes.

I have two friends who are bikers (aka motorcycle riders).  They had adopted a daily costume of being bikers.  One is in a Christian biker group and has the nickname of “Hoss” from the old Bonanza TV show.  He is a chaplain for his group and proudly wears his black biker jacket and rides his motorcycle.  His costume and being say "biker".

I have a few goth friends and their daily costumes are black and befitting their image.  Their costumes say "counter-culture/goth")

When I was a professor, I almost always wore nice slacks (or even suit pants), an Oxford shirt and a tie (I loved my cartoon ties!!).  Some days it was a suit - but I generally left the suit jacket in my office. That was my costume. 

In my three years at the University of Texas my co-teacher of the senior capstone class always wore blue jeans - and never a tie.  That was his costume.  

One of the pharmacy assistants always has her blue smock on, and I saw her in another location and my brain was working overtime - “Who is that person, and how do I know her?”, until I figured out she was Janet from the pharmacy.  

I’ve been a little reluctant to wear jeans too much. (Of course, summer in Texas is not jean weather, but calls for shorts).  

A lot of people know me from the Georgetown Recreation Center and Granny Basketball team, and to them, I’m always in shorts.  

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Going along with the concept of costumes in our daily life - do our clothes determine who we are?  If a lady wears a lot of pink, tops, shirts, heels, with perfect hair is she “judged” by her costume?  If a man wears a suit and tie, is he ‘judged’ by his costume?

How about masks?  Yes, I’ve worn a lot of masks in the past years - but mostly COVID masks.  But, do our faces become living masks?  I’ve had friends approach me and ask ‘is something wrong, you aren’t smiling?”  Is wearing a smile a mask for me - or is a smile a result of my inner being, my inner happiness?  

Do my eyes “smile” when I am wearing a COVID mask because my mouth is smiling?

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I know times that I am tiring and dragging, that my shoulders slump, and my head is bowed down some.  I also know times when my head is held tall and my backbone is straight and tall.  Is my attitude reflected in my “costume”?  Can I turn my costume on and off?  (You’ve seen that - maybe a clerk is bored and just waiting for somebody to check out, and when you approach the check out, their shoulders straighten and a smile returns to their face).  

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As we go through life, do our clothes, our attitude, our inner being reflect who we are?  Am I a different person in church than I am at the grocery store?  Am I a different person on the granny basketball court as compared to the symphony orchestra rehearsal room?

Do clothes “make the man” (or “make the woman”?) 

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I found some smile quotes that I want to share:

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“Life is short. Smile while you still have teeth.”

"You can tell if that person is special if no matter what kind of mode you are in, that person can always manage to make you smile.” 

“When I look out at the people and they look at me and they’re smiling, then I know that I’m loved. That is the time when I have no worries, no problems.” 

“Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.” – Mother Teresa

“I was smiling yesterday, I am smiling today and I will smile tomorrow. Simply because life is too short to cry for anything.” 

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Smiles, our ‘costume’, our being is a form of LOVE - and if LOVE WINS is my motto, I need to let my smile and being reflect my LOVE!!!

Karen