Thursday, March 19, 2015

Calling

    For many of us, we bear, as I have said before, an inborn seeming desire to elevate ourselves in some way, through the use of the complex language of Attire.  We want to be thought more beautiful, more powerful, more wealthy, more intelligent, more talented, more sexual.  And so we use the nearly infinite number of words the language offers, to enhance what we have, or mask what we wish others not to note.
    But for some of us, this desire goes to an entirely other level.  For a few of us who have the courage, and the vision, we desire to create ourselves as unique pieces of inhabited, mobile art.  For these few, who have no fear of social disapproval, their bodies become the blank canvas onto which they can project whatever intensely personal dream they have.
Sometimes that dream is of themselves, perhaps an ultimate narcissism drives it.  Perhaps that self dream, is of how they have chosen to free themselves from social constructs they dislike; and so it becomes an act of rebellion.  Or perhaps its driven by a personality so strong it cannot be expressed in off the peg clothes that conform with everyone else.
    Whatever the reason beneath it is, we, as observers, get a special chance to view that dream they bear on their backs.  Its likely the messages presented will be of rococo complexity. But we can still comprehend some of their vision, even if we can't grasp it all.  It gives us, the observers, an occasion to see further, and deeper than normal attire choices allow; creating, if we choose, a better chance for understanding.
    And there is of course a darker aspect to this phenomenon.  For some, this dream is a constant, inescapable nightmare.  The only way that some can even in part deal with their inner turmoil, is to manifest it on their bodies; wrapped in layer upon layer of randomness.  To my eye at least, it looks as though those piled on layers were a visible expression of whatever is at the root of their pain.  And for those who wish to help these people out of their difficulty, some understanding of the Attire language could actually help, in finding a path to what disturbs them most, so it can be relieved.
    Whichever path, bright, dark, murky or clear that these few with a vision use, it amounts to a calling that cannot be ignored for some of us.  In the process of expressing themselves they become the most profound users of the Attire language. They give us not just a phrase, or a paragraph, they give us a vision of their entire lives, rendered in cloth.



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