manifesto point #10

 There is Never a Good Excuse to Not Take Care of Yourself or Your Surroundings.

This nearly all is specific to a raging sore in many personalities everywhere. One has to wonder at what point did the entrance of laziness overtake (healthy)pride in the self and (healthy)pride in surroundings and environments. I will most certainly admit my room is a disaster area and my hair and makeup in a mess half the time... I'm definitely not immune to this point. However, there is self dignity that I've been trying to cultivate, making sure this isn't the case 9/10 times.

There is never an excuse to not take care of yourself. There really isn't. Laziness? The perceived freedom in being able to do absolutely nothing for yourself? There's really nothing noble in being a slob who doesn't bother to shower, let alone put on a clean pair of pants and make sure your nails look decent.

Lack of just giving any sort of damn about this is also unfortunately pervasive. "I just.don't.care."-- really, what sort of excuse is that? If you think that you're being judged solely on the content of your character, as far as modern times are concerned, it still a work in progress. People will first and foremost take a look at you, think to themselves "Damn- he/she looks like crap. WTF is wrong with him/her?"-- and bam, judgment. No one is above it, and frankly, its part of our times and way of life.    

I'm not trying to advocate being overly fussy and a macaroni. Just please be careful to take pride in the self, pride in your appearance, and as the saying goes "PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD." Everyone can take the time to put their best foot forward.

 

I love this quote from Dita von Teese about this topic (she probably puts it nicer than I do!):

"I always believe in taking a little bit of time. I'm telling you, the day that you decide not to brush your hair, or the day you decide just to put on a pair of sweats that have a stain on them and you don't wear any makeup, that might be the day that you run into that one person you don't want to run into when you look like that. So I have a rule about making an effort in the morning before I leave no matter where I'm going."

This point also is a reminder to take care of your things; they'll last longer if you do. Slow down. Consider how you like/need/admire this item, and how the life span of it will change dramatically if you actually care for it.

There is never an excuse to not take care of your surroundings. Pick up your trash on the street. Don't walk in the grass if there's pavement available. Recycle when you can. Common sense. Its unfortunate that so many people just shrug their shoulders or give lip service to this point. Is it really that annoying to not throw your garbage on the street? Really now, that's just stupid. Don't be a douche and ruin something beautiful.