The trouble is with this virus thingy that everything I write is rapidly out of date and in some sense irrelevant. But then again, in the spirit of carrying on, I’m sending out this previously written blog. I have no doubt that there will be further virus-related blogs but, for now, here’s one I made earlier that has no virus references other than the above of course.
A slightly odd thing happened as I was writing Friday’s blog. But then these are odd times. Like Topsy, it grew and grew. As a result what had started out as a short Friday blog on downsizing ended up at over a 1,000 words and hence more suitable as a Tuesday blog. Are you following this? This meant I was in good shape for next Tuesday but now lacked a Friday blog. Consequently, I was browsing the Sunday papers for another idea.
Here it comes. You’ll have heard of lateral thinking. It’s been around long enough to become something of a cliché. But don’t let that fool you. I used to try using something similar when working as a psychologist and finding we were stuck for a way forward with a particularly challenging child. But that’s not the point for this retirement blog.
The point is that if you want to have regular ideas for a weekly, and sometimes twice weekly, blog you need to have, at your disposal, some kind of lateral thinking strategy. Let me tell you that no thinking could be more lateral than that I am about to employ.
The article in question had the unlikely title of ‘Wardrobe Workout’. I wouldn’t normally have paused to read such an offering but I was intrigued by the fact that this article, well more a short insert really, was written by Dawnn Karen who was described as a ‘fashion psychologist’. Again not my usual reading fare but I was needy (for a Friday blog) and there she was.
Dawnn offered 6 pieces of advice for stress-free dressing. Now you’ll be quick to spot that, at the age of 71, worrying about what outfit I should grace the day with is not high on the list of my thoughts for the day. My biggest worry is worrying that I am not worried about what ‘outfit’ I am about to put on. If the first act of the day is walking the doggies the look of my ‘outfit’ is even less of a concern.
However, and this is where the lateral thinking comes in – at least I hope it does. Her first bit of advice doesn’t make any connections – briefly remove any item likely to cause upset. For me the only items of clothing likely to come under this heading are those items I can no longer get in to.
The second offering was, there is no shame in having a ‘style’ uniform. I don’t feel guilty about having a style – jeans dirty boots, thick socks and warm fleeces. If I did then Dawnn tells me not to be ashamed of what might otherwise seem to be a small weakness in the choosing how to dress column of retirement. Not allowing ones standards to drop probably should be a concern to the retired person but it’s not the topic for this retirement blog.
The next one relates to ‘mood enhancement dressing’. Do you want to perpetuate that mood or enhance it? This puzzled me a bit because they seemed like the same thing. However who am I to question a bona fide fashion psychologist? I would have thought you simply have to decide a) what your mood is and b) do you want to change it or enhance it. But, as I say, what do I know.
By now you’re thinking, oh yes I see what he’s doing, he’s using the article to take the mickey out of the advice given. But you would be wrong. Witness items 4 and 5 on the list. So four, the brief version of which, is to ’figure out your personal brand or trademark’. Five, ’identify a limited number of key essentials … to remind you of your look/s.’ And finally, six – Dress for your personal brand or mood and don’t try to diminish yourself by wearing a style that doesn’t feel like you.’
So by now you’re thinking something slightly different. Namely he’s advising retired people to identify their look and stick to it in order to reduce stress. But no, wrong again. What I’m trying to do is make a lateral connection between this article’s advice on stress-free dressing and having a new retirement identity.
My point, at last, is if you want your retirement to be stress-free make sure you have a clear idea of your identity as a retired person. That identity that has positively and powerfully replaced the one you left behind when you gave up being a brain surgeon or whatever you were before you retired. You’re not just a retired person you are ….
I just thought it was interesting that fifty percent of the advice given, about reducing stress, should relate to the idea of knowing your identity and in this case, dressing (or in our case acting) in a way, that is consistent with that identity. You’re probably thinking this is a pretty thin example of lateral thinking. And you’d probably be right. But then again this is a Friday retirement blog. But now it’s not it’s Tuesday, it’s a crazy world we live in.