Superheroes wear uniforms

As promised, this is my sequel to "I look good naked". I actually created this little meme (that looks giant on your screen) well over a year ago and therefore before the other blog post. It showed up on my Instagram, where I had to retrieve it to write about it now.

It is a simple thought really but like most things, I should go back first. Talk about where this all came from. Plus, my own tangential process has always delighted me. When you write and you don't know who is actually reading it, you must do it, in part, for yourself. Plus I'm a practicing tantrika. Pleasure is life.

I've been a "green girl" for about 12 years now. I got a tailwhip from Mama Gaia one night on my first trip to Costa Rica. I had already received a spiritual awakening, one that sent me down a path of metaphysics and into the cosmos, but this one would bring me back to the divinity and splendor of the Earth. It was a ferocious kaskade of understanding. It was beyond a shower of subliminally fast image-information pixel-drops. Too much information really. A dump of understanding. Yes, more of a levy breaking atop my head. An epiphany that all the current operating systems of the modern world were not operating in a sustainable way. That the basic underlying theories were wrong. And so consciousness split between "this is so beautiful" and "holy fuck, what do we do?". Well, I had already decided on the superhero/ine path, if you will. So for me it was (thanks to yoga) easy to look at myself, my own life, say "how am I contributing to this? How am I perpetuating these models? What can I do?".

There's more to that story but I'll get to the point. It was a difficult journey to identify the path and then enter the lair of the dragon of my unconscious desires. Consumerism was well on its way to consuming me. All that intention behind the capitalist and consumerist world was fodder for my dragon and it indulged on that feast without question for many many years. I didn't kill the dragon but I fucking tamed it for sure. I didn't skin it, I made her a Skinny Bitch ;)

So shopping and the desire for clothes (remember this blog post is about wearing uniforms) was scaled back and joyfully after really looking at the impact the Fast Fashion industry has from furs, to worker rights, and toxins in the manufacturing process itself.

Here's the lead in line from Fashion Revolution site regarding Fast Fashion:

So last year I saw the "Wear 30 Campaign". It was started by Livia Firth (I don't know who she is and yes I know I can Google her but I don't want to - it's more fun to just like something sometimes because you like the message not the person starting it). So what is it? Here's a blogger I found, that will describe it for you:

I didn't necessarily have rules with my dragon. Mostly I kept things until they were falling apart on some level or for whatever reason I thought they were totally unbecoming or I had the chance to give them away at a clothing swap (a favorite community building event amongst fellow green girls). So in keeping clothes for a long time I was not confronted with buying them often. But I began to wonder if I should have more intention with any purchases I had. Not just something of a certain quality or that tickled my desire that I thought I would wear at least 30 times. Inspired by a doctor friend who has a wardrobe of uniformed scrubs and basically one suit, and also Alex and Allyson Grey (who mostly wear all black), I realized I could, and maybe should become, more uniformed myself. Superheroes, after all, wear uniforms.

So what does that mean? For me it was a look. Raver J wears blue and checkerboard, so I decided that I would sort through my wardrobe and retain only blue, black, and white clothes. I ended up making an exception for pink as she has pink elements. I did pretty good for awhile until I was gifted multi-colored leggings but it goes with the whole rainbow warrior concept and rainbow brings me joy. Of late, due to reverence for the Goddess, future plans to build a Goddess temple, and my Goddess inspired night of yoga, I have adopted some red. I also have one purple item. Purple is my life-long favorite color. Overall I think I have done well. I have a much smaller wardrobe than in what I consider "my unconscious life". And it feels good to have some rules, although as a tantrika I would say break them if it brings you (what you believe will give you long lasting) pleasure.

But what about costumes?! As a transmedia, living cosplay experiment, raver, and performer, having a uniform has helped cut down on a lot of unnecessary purchases and potential fashion waste over the last decade. For all those pretty raver girls out there, I say give it a try. I choose wisely. I feel good knowing I have somehow contributed to less suffering in the world because of my choices. And (this is where it ties back into my last post) what really matter is when we know "we look good naked" anyway.