"Wear your inside out."

This morning I chose to hear the lyric from "Mercy Street" spelled like that because lately as usual I've been thinking about my inside a lot. As someone who values authenticity in whatever emotional shape it takes, the above appeals to me as a command or a motto. But conversely, as someone who often wishes to avoid inflicting my internal state onto the world, it also serves as a warning. My outward appearance can't always be a manifestation of any inherent qualities and more often than not, it shouldn't! In spite of myself, however, I quite often look exactly how I feel. Or how/who I am.

"OK, now be completely, brutally honest," I demanded. "Uh-oh..." she replied, suddenly feigning an intense interest in the childrens' clothing we passed on our way to Shoes. "I'm serious, it's reallyreally serious!" I continued, "Do you think I should go back to shorter hair?" She was quiet for a moment. "I think," she proceeded with caution, taking refuge behind a rack of adorable little sweaters, "you either need to get it cut shorter or if you're going to keep it that length, take the time to do something with it..." "Yeah, that taking time thing probably realistically isn't going to happen." "Mi'ja. Right now you look like an absent-minded academic." Inside out, indeed.



¡¿Absent-minded academic?! ¡But I'm supposed to be a pirate!