A friend of some friends of mine has a blog, and as a lover of blogging myself, I try to read all the random blogs of people I know, including hers. Most people write blogs in the hopes that someone besides themselves will read them – that’s why it’s on the internet and not in the pages of a journal. Anyway, it’s linked over there on the right. She posted recently about what it is to be a woman, particularly what it is to be like Audrey Hepburn. I will admit that Audrey Hepburn was beautiful and that women who have style icons would call her a style icon. I think she was classy, and I like pearls, too. But what troubled me about this post was that it was a list of things to do to make yourself feel like Audrey Hepburn – to make yourself feel as classy and beautiful as she was. I tried really hard while I was reading this post to care about being like Audrey Hepburn. I tried really hard to imagine a world where what I was wearing was important. It just wasn’t working. She was listing some pointers out of a book called “What Would Audrey Do?” and so I am going to list for you now what Casey would do. As much as I would love for my list to parallel Audrey’s (and by parallel I mean be the opposite of) I found that that was pretty hard. Because I could only think of three things that I do that have anything to do with fashion and beauty at all:
What Would Casey Do?
1. Go out without makeup on whenever she feels like it (hint: really really often).
2. Wear sweatpants to the grocery store. Hell, wear sweatpants wherever she wants to wear sweatpants.
3. Not even know if what she’s wearing is “in style” – more importantly, not even care.
4. Shower only every other day (to conserve water and sleep).
5. Smile whenever she feels like smiling – and not when she doesn’t.
6. Tell her friends she loves them every time she thinks about it – even when they get annoyed.
7. Spend time reading about things in the world that matter – politics and theology, not fashion and celebrities.
8. Watch movies and television shows that supplement her intellectualism – The West Wing and Philadelphia, not He’s Just Not That Into You and Jersey Shore.
9. Not be defined by her relationship status, particularly when it’s “single.”
10. Like Breakfast at Tiffany’s just fine, but prefer something more along the lines of The Usual Suspects.
11. Drink a tall, dark beer.
12. Have a really messy apartment.
Okay, so I’m already bored of this list because I’m just listing random activities, now. But you get the picture. My dear women of the world – take a step back for a second. Recognize that decorating your apartment, following celebrity break-ups, being fooled by “seasons” of fashion, and obsessing over your eyebrows are all unimportant activities, in the scheme of things. Love yourself for who you already are – not who you can idolize. And putting on some mascara and checking your hair before you leave the house does not make you who you are. I love who you are. I love who I am. Let’s blog about that for a second.