Dear Reader,
When you feel comfortable and you believe in yourself, you can do anything. But sometimes if you're not able to reach down inside of yourself and really BELIEVE, you might need to pretend for a while and you might even need some props to help you do it. I did.
I'm going to ramble a little--so hang on.
Years ago, I used to publish a business magazine. When I started the magazine I didn't really know anything about publishing, so for a while, I felt like I was a "pretender" in my business.
My husband and I worked together in the same office and one of the problems that I faced daily was whenever someone would come in and want to talk to the person in charge, they would always insist on speaking to him instead of me. After a lot of discussion, my husband and I decided maybe I was sending out the wrong cues to visitors. We had a small office, I sat at a desk out in the open, and I dressed casually. We concluded that people probably assumed that I was a receptionist, and that's why they passed me by. (Which was really interesting, because my husband always wore jeans to work.)
Nevertheless, my solution was to start wearing a suit to work and cut my hair short. This was when the corporate hair "bob" was in. My new look worked. Nobody walked in anymore and assumed that my husband was the one in charge.
I'm not sure how long the suits and I were buddies, maybe a little over a year--until I started to itch. It was bizarre. When I would wake up in the morning, I would start to feel an itching sensation all over my body. The itching went on for four days until I finally realized what was going on--I didn't want to wear a suit to work anymore. The first day that I dressed down, I was concerned my old problem would reoccur--but it never did.
When I thought about it, I realized that it's true, clothes do help make the person, and people do treat you differently depending on how you're dressed. But clothes hadn't really been my problem. I was the one who had changed. I finally didn't feel like I was "pretending" anymore.
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends like you.
* Congratulations to the winners of Bert and Mamie Take a Cruise by Guest Author John Keyse-Walker: Mary Beth T., Thea G., Joyce R., Nancy R. and Susan G.
Suzanne Beecher
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This month's Penguin Classic is The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe, Introduction by Rachel Syme. Start Reading and enter for your chance to win a copy of your own.
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