File this one under “humor, mild” and “realness” and “masculinity” and “being.”
I am thankful for skinny pants. I like the way they feel and look and am thankful they exist and that I’m wearing them right now.
“Oh, Stan… stop being silly. How random!” Not completely.
A couple of years ago… hell, maybe even a year ago… I wouldn’t have worn skinny pants. Or skinny jeans.
I remember when some friends or colleagues would say to me sometimes,
“Are you wearing skinny jeans?!”
and I would reply, appalled,
“No, of course not—they’re just slim fit.”
I would never wear skinny jeans. Because—
—wait, why, exactly?
Well, because I’m just not the kind of person who wears skinny jeans. Only certain kinds of people wear them. Like girls. Or feminine gays. Or hipsters.
And I am certainly none of those.
Or am I? And what if I were? And why is there so much mental energy spent on the clothes I wear or any other outward expressions?
Because… misogyny. And judgment. And other societal rules and regulations, spoken and unspoken—more or less so depending on the subculture in which you grew up.
And because people like to see and experience the familiar—the expected—the accepted.
Sucks, but it’s true. Ever see a gal in a suit and tie? Cool beans. How about a guy in a dress and heels? Totally different reaction.
Because… misogyny. And judgment.
So today, while it may seem silly to some, I’m thankful for my skinny pants and all the other manifestations of my personal growth over the last couple of years that led me to this point of being really comfortable in my own skin…
…of learning to not only allow my own innermost being to just be and express itself in this human body and beautiful world—but to appreciate the diversity in every person on this earth and how their truest selves shines through their skin…
Because when we are all free to live our truest lives as our truest selves, the world will be its truest, most beautiful work of life art in motion. And that’s the world I want to live in.
I am thankful for love, life, laughter, family, friends, community, art, and beauty. I am thankful for every moment that has brought me to this one, and pray I am ever present in each moment to come—eyes, ears, nose, mind, soul, and arms wide open, ready to experience life in its truest, fullest form.
This post originally appeared on StanRandallBlog
Photo credit: Joel Bedford, cc.
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STAN RANDALL is a lover of life, people, religion, humor, and the Oxford comma. If you move quickly, you can find him at his apartment in Brooklyn, New York, where he’s patiently sitting at his laptop waiting eagerly to receive the email notification that you’ve started following him on Twitter and Instagram at @ItsStantastic, and at StanRandallBlog.WordPress.com.
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