And let me just say - you look great today!

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about our personal interactions with my fellow humans, particularly in relation to my philosophy of life that everything is about validation and connections. And I never realized before, that when I refer to “connections”, I’m not entirely thinking in terms of say, who you know to get a job. I’m talking about, as I mentioned above, personal interactions with each other.

Seems weird to have to qualify the word interaction above with the with word personal. One can interact with humans electronically, and although those count to some degree, I’m talking about face-to-face-type stuff. In Jamie World, even a smile to a passerby means more than a business phone call, no matter how cheery. (I admit that I dread the phone though, so I’m not impartial.)

Anyway, rambling on here…I read an article (seen here) in which the author encourages us to share a kind word as often as possible with strangers regarding their fashion choices. My favorite quotes from the story are these:

“My Kentucky grandmother used to say that the easiest way to make yourself happy is to make someone else happy. The stress of the world is made easier by ‘stirring some kindness into the pot.’ And it makes us feel better to have friendly interactions with strangers.”

I certainly agree with that, particularly the last sentence.  I’m sure I’m not the first to observe that the decline of human interactions and neighborly connections began with the introduction and widespread use of air conditioners that drove neighbors off their front porches where they could more easily interact and connect with neighbors, and into their cool living rooms.

And it’s only gotten worse, way worse, as we spend more and more time on our phones, televisions & laptops, gaming, streaming, reading, scanning, youtubing and absorbing all manner of what I’ll call electronitrash.

But the reason I find all this blogworthy goes back to the article that encourages us to comment positively on each other’s physical presentations.  I’ve made it a point to no longer do that and this article has me rethinking that. I’d stopped doing it, somewhat successfully, because I didn’t want to perpetuate the idea that physical appearance is in anyway of primary significance.

I especially use that approach when teaching middle schoolers, as I’ve been doing for two years now. I don’t want them to think that being judged in their appearance is so important.

But now I’m thinking I have that all wrong. Validation really is what we all seek and at no age more than in our early teens. An emphasis on our sartorial expressions has likely been important ever since the first fur was draped over a shivering cavewoman’s body or loincloth affixed over a man’s pelvic region.

And nothing I do is going to change that.

So henceforth, I resolve to go back to putting Fashion Falidation in my human connection repertoire.