Monday, October 3, 2016

No Longer Hiding (A '31 Days' Post)

We're only three days into this and I'm calling myself all sorts of a fool to even join in on the 5MFW project! Probably a better approach to this 'wardrobe' prompt would have been to write about what a country bumpkin of the blogging world I am as evidenced by my rustic blog "wardrobe." This was a tough one for me, but I continue to learn from fellow bloggers and one point that came in very helpful today was the convention of using the double forward slash // to indicate where I started and stopped writing in my 5 minutes of free writing. Since I wasn't able to get much of anything out in five minutes, but did begin a big line of thought, there is a bit more that follows after my initial five minutes.

// The first “wardrobe” was the direct result of the first physical death in a newly fallen creation. An animal was slaughtered to provide covering for the sinners who brought the fall about. Thus shame and nakedness were covered at the cost of innocent life. And one of the first pictures of the gospel message was given to announce the hope to come.


Since then clothing has developed, presumably first of necessity as better and better options were devised and executed. Later it became a form of art and clothing was not only a necessity but a display of creativity and an active celebration of beauty. In the midst of that clothing has also become a form of self-expression and… a vehicle of idolatry. Now we hide behind our clothing, not to hide our physical nakedness which we all too often flaunt, but to hide our spiritual nakedness, covering up the lack we feel in every area of our lives. //


We want to present an image of “having it all together” or being beautiful or not caring what people think or being outdoorsy or leading an active lifestyle. We want to find validation in what we see when we look into the mirror or what we hear from the lips of other people. We want to be noticed and approved of and we often turn to our clothing to achieve those ends.


I’m not suggesting that we should not care about our clothing or be conscious of the image we put forth with it. Neither am I suggesting that we should not appreciate beauty, even in the form of our wardrobes. But it has been enlightening to me to muse on the idea of “wardrobe,” considering its root and looking at what it has become. 


We don’t need clothing to give us identity, worth, or to cover our brokenness. We have a much better covering for our shame and nakedness already. We can enjoy creativity and beauty in the art of clothing and stop trying to cover our real selves with the image we want to portray. We can use our wardrobes to celebrate rather than to hide.

I'm joining the 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes project this year for some inspiration and a kick in the pants to just write something, anything each day. It is a challenge for my "recovering perfectionist" self to plop down words as they come to mind for 5 minutes (only!) and let them loose on the internet with little to no editing. But I hope the process will free and exercise my brain to express with greater ease and clarity the many vague thoughts that long for more definition and development, however imperfect they are. 

For more '31 Days' Posts click here or on the tab at the top of the page.


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