We bought a birthday card for my brother. The woodsy image spoke to what is rather a standard trend these days, even though I have always had a love for plaid. On the front, a bearded gentleman, no gray mind you. Although a beard that you can envision having been tended to by one of those beard kits, consistent of oil, beard shampoo, and a wooden comb. His arms are crossed out in front of him, showcasing a red plaid button up that somehow no longer looks only like Christmas, even though matched perfectly with an olive green beanie hat. If royalties weren’t an issue, I’m sure the name “Carter” would have otherwise been threaded through the front. Of course there is a well decorated birthday cake sitting on the stump of a tree, even though we certainly know this guy most likely had nothing to do with an ax, and the cake was crafted in a local bakery that keeps a captive Instagram following.
Image. A look that we want to project where more effort is put into visual appeal than on personal values.
I recently came across our original Lucrezio band photographs, captured on a cloud day on the roof of my Chicago city apartment. Our expressions were moody, the cement dramatic, and the clouds perfectly intense. Although there I was, my small town, classically trained self wearing a knit green sweater with big loop hole buttons. I absolutely did not fit in fashion the image we were trying to project in musical style. Actually, if you listen to our music from that time, our band photos were probably spot on, as our recorded sound was just as confusing. This pretty, trained voice unequally matched with heavy guitars and rapid drum rhythms. Although I am immensely grateful for having pressed into a style that let me express my independence as a young 20-something, Jordan and I agree that we began to find more of ourselves in our music when we stripped down to acoustic, by nature of our time spent touring. From there we were able to work back in those deep, yearning undertones of the guitar and a dramatic layering of strings. Although I have long since sent that green sweater to the donation pile, our music at last matches my image, and I feel myself in both.
Very often what we are about is shown in the way we present ourselves. At least in a scratch the surface sort of way. Drape yourself in velvet and you might be able to identify with the lackadaisical demeanor of George Costanza. When studying music at Martha’s Vineyard for a semester, I showed up on move in day in a black track suit with red ticking along the sides, and a classmate later told me that he thought I was the athletic type by virtue of my seeming running apparel. I was not, which he discovered when I did not wake up at 5am every morning to go running, nor did he catch me juggling a soccer ball randomly in the middle of our dormitory cabins.
Now granted, I wasn’t trying to convince anyone that I was an avid athlete, just as George was not intending to emanate his laziness (or maybe he was).
Though more often than not we absolutely do use our outward selves to present our inner values. Or at least the values we find worth projecting, even if they only make up a small percentage of who we are.
Let’s go back to our hipster happy birthday. Really a recycle of what at one time simply represented the lumberjack, which is why we are enthralled with Colorado and Alaska. We want to project an awareness of the earth, an ability to use our hands to provide for basic needs, and an appreciation of the simple life.
Though instead of burning firewood for warmth, we burn up gas and recycle craft beer bottles. Instead of baking our own cake, or a simple loaf of bread, we buy the overly priced, organic loaf at Whole Foods and lovingly support a local business that understands the importance of baking powder. Tiny homes express our longing for simplicity, except for the fact that we are merely storing that Crate and Barrel sofa in a Pod for when we’re slightly over minimalism.
The beard: purely for show. Even though it gets mighty hot in the summer time and you can readily drive to Meijier for razors. And although the outdoors sound nice, you feel a piece of you die when losing cell service, not to mention that these quarantine days had you buying a Nespresso machine since coffee without steamed milk, though rustic sounding, is like drinking burnt toast.
Okay an unfair example perhaps, because the red plaid and Carter hat are far beyond anyone assuming you drink black coffee. On the contrary, your craft beer drinking, latté pouring, beard polishing self is exactly the image intended. Any supposition that you have an admiration for creation is juxtaposed by the fact that you live in the city, so planting a garden to live by or finding ways to solar power your home is rather inaccessible, so you throw some money at the polar bears and grow marijuana for “medicinal purposes”, when really your extent of knowledge around healing essential oils is lavender, and most of the time you’re popping Tylenol.
I’m rubbing real hard, so before we go on, please hear it from me that not only do I love Crate ad Barrel, but I have absolutely made the effort to project an image, even this image, without it necessarily lining up. I love essential oils, but only know the effectiveness of about five. I was graciously given a pair of Keens that I apparently felt inspired to post to Instagram, when most of the time we are adventuring solely around the pond in our backyard.
know I’m not the only one. Leggings and Under Armor tell of our love for health, when the struggle to eat our greens is as much for us as for our children. Skin care products that speak of an appreciation for taking care of the body, when far more coffee is had than water throughout the day, and we know the concern is rooted in a fear of aging on the outside over health on the inside. Designer clothes that gives us a sense of feeling put together and able to engage our strong-willed, independent side, when we wouldn’t dare wear such articles anywhere but eating out with girlfriends so as not to let our children spill milk down the front of a favorite shirt.
Here’s the point, and remember, I don’t exclude myself from this thought in the slightest. As many of my musings go, they stem from an intentional look inward. Here’s what I have seen in myself, and culture continues to seep into this understanding.
We have a propensity to position ourselves in such a way that tells of a story, even if that story is saying who we want to be and not necessarily who we are. The beauty now is to discover how the craving to be what we admire can meet who we are becoming.
EXPOSITION: What image are you trying to project? What of that image is a representation of who you are? Of what you value, is it found here?
RISE: Now to enjoy bridging the gap and letting the values you admire flourish.
DENOUEMENT: “Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load.” (a letter to the church in Galatia)