Sunday Scribblings: Hello My Name Is...Menopauseprincess

For years I have had an acrimonious relationship with paper name tags; specifically the ones that are in bright colors with the words: "Hello My Name Is......."

Now when I was younger, a teenager to be exact, I hated these things. I was a girl that was fiercely independent. One of my teachers opined that if everyone in the class were wearing a hat I'd feel duty bound not to, just to be different; and she was right.

Whenever I attended workshops or events where these monuments to convention were used, I'd pretend that I didn't see them, they were not meant for me. I would sit proudly in whatever group feigning indifference and forcing individual attention if I was to be addressed, because I had no insipid piece of paper saying "Hello My Name Is..."

As the years have gone by I've relaxed my stand on these badges; probably another sign of encroaching maturity, but I don't mind. I find that I've become a woman who is more often than not, happy to let others know me. When I see others, mostly always younger people, without name badges or with them applied in places that are improper to stare at, I have to smile.

Hello my name is Menopauseprincess and I'm Not That Girl Anymore.


This post was done as part of the Sunday Scribblings

Dress The Body You Have Now

"Apparelsomedayitis" is a strange disease that afflicts mostly women. The malady is insidious but can strike after the birth of a child, after use of some medications such as steroids, or as part of the aging process.

Some of the symptoms of "Apparelsomedayitis" are owning clothing in 4 or 5 different sizes, refusing to purge a wardrobe of smaller sized clothing because "someday you're going to wear them again", and the worst symptom: refusing to buy clothing in the size appropriate to the body you are currently in, refusing to dress the body you have now.

Do you have "Apparelsomedayitis?"

I have a dear friend who has gained some weight over the years, to be honest it's quite a bit of weight. Still, she is beautiful, vivacious, funny, easy to be with, and a victim of "Apparelsomedaytis" who displays the worst symptom of the malady, regularly. She refuses to make peace with the body she has, and her wardrobe shows it.

What she wears to clothe her current body is unattractive and not flattering to her body type. I made a suggestion once about visiting a store that caters to plus size-once. The chilly response I received, well let's just say that I am beginning to get over the frostbite.

I am no stranger to the disease of "Apparelsomedayitis", I was afflicted some years back as well. My joke was that I had wardrobes for 4 different people in my closet, but it really isn't funny. It seems to me that holding on to clothing that you haven't worn in years because "someday" you'll be that size again is cruel and an insult to the body that serves you now.

Some years ago there was a magazine that catered to plus size women called MODE. I find it interesting that the exact name and font type is now used on "Ugly Betty", but I digress.

MODE Magazine was wonderful, full of lush, beautiful, plus-sized, women, gorgeous pictorials, relevant articles, and fabulous clothes. It was really like a VOGUE but for full figured women, and I would eagerly await each issue. Each issue of the magazine would cause my head to lift, my strut to become more pronounced. I felt beautiful and there was a magazine filled with women who looked like me to prove it! Sadly, that magazine didn't last-- excuse me while I observe a moment of silence in memory.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that eating well and healthy and exercise don't have a place in the world. I am simply saying I refuse to dishonor the luscious, curvy, body I have now by not providing it with attractive clothing.

I am living in the present, not the future. I no longer have "Apparelsomedayitis". I'm not that girl anymore.