Backstory: Back in the day (high school), I would allow as much as two hours to wash, blow dry, set in hot rollers, and style my hair.
Sure, right.
That doesn’t happen very often these days, and “forcing” myself to do this will definitely be outside my comfort zone. However. Through some previous Nudges, I’ve realized that when I pull myself together, I feel better, and I carry myself better. I even included this practice as one of the things that might help me get my mojo back.
Let’s “do” this. 😉
What Happened:
Monday: Never so much as brushed my hair.
Tuesday: Threw myself together with kind of a fun and slightly messy bun. I’m no Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, but it worked.
Wednesday: I don’t have time for this sh*t! Geez! I work, I support friends and family, I keep the house standing. And somehow I’m supposed to make time to be runway ready?! I got myself to the gym and showered in the morning, then went straight to work. I had to run a couple of errands, and went out without makeup and hair that looked like it had been styled by Thor (the god who controls lightning, not my husband). I was That Woman in line at the market praying Please don’t let me run into anybody I know. Please. I’m begging. Happy to report my prayers were answered on this one. But geez. I felt like a hot mess, and I wanted to be invisible. That evening my husband had a work event, so at 4:45 I plugged in the trusty flat iron and rallied.
Thursday: Got a free pass today as Second Day Hair looked good with no special effort required. (I love my flat iron). Felt slightly better about myself when I went to the market. That afternoon, I caught up with a friend, another writer who also works from a home office. She mentioned she’s been feeling out of sorts lately, uninspired, unmotivated. So she took a cue from FlyLady (I love FlyLady) and tried dressing for work. Today, for example, instead of staying in yoga clothes all day, she put on nice slacks and an office-worthy cardigan instead of the ratty old thing we pull on when we think “Only the dog is going to see me today.” She brushed her hair, swiped on some mascara and lip gloss, and slipped into actual shoes…and had her most productive day in ages.
Friday: Got up early and gave myself a decent blowout, which made me sweaty. What a pain! Dressed for a business meeting off site—sweater, straight skirt, tights and boots—I checked myself out in the rearview mirror and thought, “Lookin’ good, Kath.” The meeting went well, and I had a productive afternoon. Toward the end of the day, I noticed I wasn’t slumping. I was sitting up straighter than usual for late on a Friday.
A Good(ish) Hair Day
Ah-Hah: I must confess, I’ve been in a deep, dark funk lately. There was one day last week when the only thing that got me out of bed was I needed to feed the dog. I’m not sure what this is. Maybe it’s the change in seasons. Maybe it’s the overabundance of rain (dammit) we’ve had this year. (I’m a Southern California, “69 degrees is cold”, I need my sunshine kinda gal). Maybe…I don’t know.
But I’m not throwing in the towel, and I’m returning again and again to my Mojo prompts to get through this. This doing my ’do Nudge is part of my efforts, and it was inspired in part by Elizabeth Gilbert.
In her book about living a creative life, Big Magic, she talks about how you should dress for work the way you would dress if you were going to meet your lover. Think about it. If you were dashing out, all excited and breathless, for a romantic rendezvous, you wouldn’t schlep about in yoga pants and a faded, stretched-out T-shirt. You’d dress in your very best, from the lacy underwear to your fanciest perfume. So, how are you meeting your work? Maybe it’s time to show it some respect, to demonstrate that it is your greatest passion.
I’m going to keep at this. I’m going to continue to do what I can to present myself to the world—or just to the dog—in a way that makes me feel my best. I’m going to do this for my work. Better yet, let’s do this for ourselves!