Be the Rainbow

Starting tomorrow I will be continuing my decorating rampage of my apartment.

I have finally chosen colours for the remaining rooms and soon I will be living in a rainbow. Well a rainbow minus a couple colours. Which I guess means it isn't a rainbow at all. Whatever.

I've never liked white walls. They have always seemed barren and boring, leaving the room with which they are in feeling very empty and unfinished. I am a great lover of colour. And beauty.

I try to ensure that everything in my life is beautiful. I take great care in choosing my outfits, making sure that the cut and colour of my clothing is flattering, that my jewelry accents appropriately without drawing too much attention. I spend more time on my hair, makeup and skin in one day than most people I know do in one month. Even my D&D dice are colour coordinated. So that when I pour them all out, they present a pleasing colour compliment to eachother.

Ok, so now I sound a bit off my rocker. But seriously, if more people did this, wouldn't we live in a much more beautiful world? The time and effort one puts into themselves and their surrounding tells a lot about them. If you can't be bothered to ensure that you look your best, what else do you skimp on in your life? And believe me, this is not about vanity. In most cultures the way that you look plays a big part in your life. In almost all cultures in fact except for Western. It is terribly sad to see people walking down the street, eating at a restaurant, even working at their place of employment; looking like they literally just rolled out of bed. Why is it that we as westerners accept this? What on earth is so important in our daily lives that we can't spend 15 extra minutes to look our best?

Oh sure, there is all sorts of excuses with that question. 'I don't have time', 'I don't know how', 'I'm no good with matching colours'. Or the one I hate most of all; 'I think personality is more important'. Most people fail to recognize the intrinsic link between our outward appearance and our psyche. Bottom line is this. If you don't have time, make time. Get up a few minutes earlier. If you don't know how, find out. We live in the information age, where anything you want to know is readily available if you have the mind to look for it. If you're no good at colour schemes etc. find someone who is, usually the person who is employed at your clothing store is very good at it. And the last one... your personality is indeed more important than the way that you look, however if you walk around in ratty clothes with unkempt hair and skin then to the casual observer you will appear to have a less than admirable personality. Most people with whom you would wish to converse with won't even consider speaking with you unless they have to. And no, it's not shallow. You wouldn't eat a hamburger covered in dirt, even if logically you could just remove the dirt. You wouldn't even consider it, the hamburger is now spoiled, and it could be the most flavourful and juicy hamburger ever created, but now no one will ever know because it's outward appearance is less than pleasing. It's burned deep into our psyche as humans.

If you don't care how you look, it only stands to reason that you don't care about a good many things in your life. Which in my personal experience has proven to be absolutely true. Some may disagree, but the ones that do are usually the ones that don't care how they look.

And I'm sorry for the rant, but this is a sore spot with me.

So here's the thing. I challenge everyone to look their best. It's not hard, it does take some effort and a little time, but ultimately it is worth it. By doing it you will find your interactions with others more enjoyable, you may have people talk to you that normally never would. And most importantly, you will feel better. There is sense of accomplishment and happiness that goes hand in hand with looking your best. Your step is lighter, you smile wider and everything seems that much better. When you look like a million bucks you feel like it too.

Don't believe me?

Try it.

Peace.