Dress to Cope
I admit it. I can be a slob.
I’ll also admit this: I just said that to be dramatic and get your attention! But it is at least partly true. I work at home and it’s easy to avoid shaving and to wear old jeans and a t-shirt that has seen better days.
I just completed a not-so-fun round of 24-hour something-or-other; maybe it was food poisoning, maybe it was a bug of some sort, but I was sick as a dog. I'm rarely sick, even with all of the traveling that I do, so it hit me all the harder. This morning the stomach ache was gone and I felt better so I puttered around the house doing what I normally do but I still didn't feel quite right. After I showered, though, I felt GREAT! That's when it occurred to me: I feel better when I'm neat and clean... DUH! And I can easily see how this can help us cope.
When my wife was in the middle of her cancer treatments, I didn’t really care what I looked like when I was working around the house. I felt grubby, and didn’t care because I had more important things to do. But maybe I did.
When I feel “unkept” and I haven’t shaved for a while and my hair is askew, I’m not operating at 100 percent.
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Dave,
I work at home, and I start early in the morning. It is so easy to get up, grab some coffee and get to work on the computer wearing the T-shirt and shorts or sweat pants that I wore to bed. A few hours later when my shift is finished, I usually have chores that need doing around the house -- kitchen chores, cleaning up the yard after the dogs, laundry, etc -- and it seems weird to dress better for those! It's only when I'm leaving the house to run errands or meet a business person that I am conscious of actually cleaning myself up.
But you are SO right in how it makes me feel when I do. Before, I've thought "It's just me, what's the point?" Now, I will try to think, "I should, because it's just me!" I will give it a go. We feel more professional and more a part of the world when we have cleaned up a little, even when we're not going out.
Food for thought. Thank you!