Wearing It
Last night, just as we were falling asleep, my husband drowsily remembered a conversation he had earlier in the day.
“Oh,” he murmured, “I talked to that guy from the committee.”
“Which guy?” I asked.
“You know… That guy… He wears a limp.”
My husband was only semi-conscious and that probably explains his weird phrasing.
But I kind of liked it.
The man wears a limp.
A limp as something you wear.
Think about the control that gives the man over his limp.
He owns that limp. It doesn’t own him.
It makes me want to think about other conditions that we experience as something we wear. How differently we might consider our issues, problems – our very bodies – if they are just Something We Wear.
We could wear our health:
“She wears some arthritis in her fingers.”
“She’s wearing her third pregnancy.”
“She wears a stroke on his left side.”
“He wears a few acne scars.”
“She’s wearing another round of chemo.”
We could wear our situation:
“He’s wearing a difficult divorce.”
“She’s wearing her birthday today.”
“He’s wearing unemployment right now.”
“She’s wearing her new promotion.”
“He wears military service.”
“She’s wearing recent widowhood.”
We could even wear our feelings:
“She’s wearing a new love affair.”
“He wears loneliness most days.”
“He wears such joy in his grandchildren.”
“She wears confidence.”
“She wears a great sense of humor.”
*
What I am most hoping that we wear is
KINDNESS.
May we wear Kindness every day. Kindness to others. Kindness from others.
May we wear Kindness to ourself.
notquiteold 
Your husband is a genius! I like the idea of wearing things as well and not just for the reason you said but to state that we are not a limp or arthritis or acne scars, we just happened to be wearing that. ❤
Diana xo
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I like the idea that some aspects of us are just part of our accessories.
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Wise words from Maya Angelou and from Nancy Roman.
I think I will have some fun with the terminology a bit. As in, “I am sporting a brand new limp”.
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“Sporting” – I like that idea. How about, “I’m modeling the lastest in chemo” – ?
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That works,too.
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I like this. In the words of Rod Stewart, you also can “wear it well.”
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Yes…. they may be handicaps or ‘conditions’ to some – but many times we do “wear it well”.
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Yes, if we wear things then we have an option to take off the less positive ones. 🙂
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Maybe if it is something we can’t take off, at least we can take of the burden of it.
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Interesting subject. Instantly thought of “wearing one’s heart on one’s sleeve”. There is a website (look under “W”) showing many common phrases, and their origins.
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/403000.html
Unfortunately some of your invented ones don’t appear there.
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I did a post recently about wearing my heart on my sleeve. I guess I have come back around to it.
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Interesting point and extends the thoughts around wearing a mask which Maya Angelou also wrote a poem about. Wearing kindness may lead to people becoming the living expression of kindness and we definitely need more of both.
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We all can use more kindness. And be open about showing it and receiving it.
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Absolutely
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i’ve worn a limp from a car accident for 45 years; this is the nicest it’s been characterized; i’m sending the link to soepne else who wears one too.
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I’m glad the idea works for you.
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Reblogged this on World4Justice : NOW! Lobby Forum..
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Fabulous concept! What a smart man that husband of yours is! And you, too, because you expanded it on it. You wear your cleverness well.
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Thanks. It just struck me as an interesting – and maybe kind – concept.
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I love that you found a wonderful blog post topic in a 4-word phrase that your sleepy husband said! What a neat concept the two of you have imagined….and You Wear It Well is my all-time favorite Rod Stewart song. It’s on my MP3 player for my walks!
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Thanks. I love that song too. I just didn’t make the connection!
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The image of someone wearing a limp made me laugh
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I am wearing a smile right now 🙂 after reading this post!
Thanks!
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Your husband’s best thoughts come to him when he is barely conscious. I want to be his friend.
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Reblogged this on Living: the ultimate team sport and commented:
I like Nancy’s take on labels. In this instance, labels seem to be a darn good thing. Thanks, Nancy, for this fresh insight.
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As William Wordsworth also says “The best portion of a good man’s life,
His little, nameless, unremembered acts
Of kindness and of love.”
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