For the past two days, I have woken up, checked my email,
and found requests from one of you to respond to Matt D'Avella's latest video.
Well, really, to respond to some of the COMMENTS that were left
on Matt D'Avella's latest video. Comments such as:
"Unfortunately, this could not apply to women in our society - too much judgment."
"I feel like this is significantly more socially-acceptable for men than for women."
"I think guys can pull this off easier than women."
"Somehow, I feel like only a man could do this without being seen as lazy or cheap."
Oh man... I mean...
I was gonna release my van tour video today,
but it seems like I should give a more timely response to this.
So, um, Matt - I hope you don't mind if I address these for you.
Hello. I am woman. And I have worn this t-shirt for the past 1000 days - to this day!
Exactly 1000 days.
I started this practice on January 22nd,
2018, and I remember that date SPECIFICALLY, because it was the last week at my old job.
After that week, I moved across the country, started work at a new office building, and yes -
you heard me correctly. I don't have a stay-at-home job.
Again, I work in an office building, I am a woman, and i wear the same shirt every day.
Well, to be as clear as possible, I wear the same STYLE of shirt: I own eight of them.
It's the "Roger Slub" in black from Nudie Jeans.
It has a heather weave, it's 100% organic cotton,
it has rolled seams on the sleeves and the bottom edge,
the neck is designed with kind of this stretched-out look, and back in December of 2017,
I found myself always reaching for this shirt first on the morning after doing my laundry.
I only owned one of these shirts at the time, but all of my other shirts felt inferior,
and much like Matt, I figured out one day that if I owned seven more of this same shirt,
I would never have to wear an inferior shirt ever again!
And since I was changing my job, I used that opportunity to change how I lived my life,
and to teach the new people that I was with that this is just the standard of who I am,
from the very start.
People sometimes ask if I get bored by it, but here's the thing - it's still my favorite shirt.
So no, why would I choose anything OTHER than my favorite?
It's not so much about avoiding decision fatigue for me
as much as it is just making an easy decision.
For something else, like eating your favorite food every day,
maybe that's not sustainable or healthy,
but for a t-shirt? Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.
Now, it's not that I don't care what other people
think - it's that I don't care what they think about my clothing choices.
I do care about them thinking that I'm kind and hardworking.
I want people to feel like they can trust me and rely on me.
I want their opinions of me to be good - but I really
don't mind if they also think I'm a bit eccentric.
The point is that it's up to YOU to decide what matters to YOU and
then focus all of your attention on worrying about THOSE things.
Your values should not be dictated by others - you are not helpless or a victim -
even if you're a woman, what you care about is under your control.
It's simply a choice. What are you going to choose to care about?
It can't be everything - that's where decision fatigue comes in.
If you're trying to care about everything, you can never fully care about anything.
Personally, although I do wear the same shirts every day, I don't wear the same shoes every day.
And although I try to stay away from makeup as much as possible,
I do play with other aspects of my appearance -
such as my fake nose ring or putting my hair up in different hairstyles.
Again, the point is that the freedom and power
is in your hands - even if you're a woman - ESPECIALLY if you're a woman -
only YOU can decide to live by your own values rather than live by someone else's.
YOU decide if you want to focus on supporting brands you believe in
or on saving money by just shopping the bargain bins at your local thrift store.
No one can decide on or act on your values for you - and here's hoping that seeing some
"same t-shirt wearing weirdos" like Matt and I on the internet
will help you feel a bit more free to take ownership over your own choices in your life.
Because it's not about the shirt.
It's about taking responsibility and control
of the fact that you have a choice to decide what to pay attention to,
what you're going to value, and then aligning your actions with those choices.
And apologies if you wanted to see my van build today,
because it's gonna have to wait 'til next week, but i guess i'll see you then.
'til next time!
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