the enmeshed lineup of the nomadic jeans

 

It's a process.

Take, for instance, the pair of jeans I put on a few night's ago that I hadn't worn since last spring.

I loved those jeans. They were my constant companion while the temperatures were below 60 degrees. Even though I'd never been a jeans kinda gal, for some reason I started wearing these and wondered what the heck I'd been thinking all those decades.

But when I put them on after a few seasons of disuse, they felt funny because, see, I'd gotten another pair a few months ago that had taken over the number one spot without me really realizing what was going on.

The new ones felt so good and fit so well that I just kept reaching for them in my closet, ignoring the older pair.

So when I finally consciously chose the old reliables again, the difference in how they made me feel was a bit of a shock.

I really wore these, all the time?

Really?

They just didn't fit me anymore, if they ever did. They must have at one time, but not now.

I remember feeling good about them, having fun in them, thinking that I would wear them until they were threadbare.

Kinda like the thoughts we entertain, swirling around in our heads.

Many of them have choreographed the essence of your days for years, showing up by seniority and not necessarily merit.

Thoughts about the products you buy, the television shows you watch, the people you do or don't like, the belief system you hold near and dear to your heart (or not), The Thing That Happened yesterday or years ago.

You might be surprised at how tenaciously you hold on to any one or all of those thoughts, having bought into the assumption that they are true and time-tested and perennially accurate.

Unfortunately, we don't usually get the opportunity of a natural hiatus from those thoughts that would allow us to re-examine them from time to time for worn spots and facets in need of replacement or repair.

Mostly it's circumstances and events that feel like they are from out of the blue, like a punishment from god, like a cross to bear, that contain the grain of sand that irritates the oyster of your heart that produces the pearl that entirely turns your life around in a way you could never orchestrate yourself.

No way.

Go, try on your jeans and see if they still fit you the way you think they do.