Who thinks up these things? lol. . . .
We don't, of course, wear hair shirts any more, at least not in their physical form, but I couldn't help but think about all of the ways that we modern humans metaphorically continue to wear our own personal version of hair shirts every day.
We don our hair shirts every time we beat ourselves up over stupid, trivial things. . . . .or feel guilty about things that we haven't even done wrong. . . . or hold on to beliefs about our self that serve no purpose except to undermine our positive self-esteem. . . .or absorb the hurtful words and actions of other people into our core identity as if it were somehow inherently true. And we continue to wear these metaphoric hair shirts every day, yet wonder why we feel like crap about ourselves or about life in general. And don't even get me started on all of the ways that we then deal with how we feel on the other side of all of the scritching and scratching from these very painful shirts of hair. . . .self-inflicted wounds, as they are.
I think it's time to stop the wearing hair shirts. . . .metaphorically, or otherwise.
However, it is no easy thing to take off one's hair shirt, especially when it's woven from the negative strands of human experience invisibly wrapping themselves around the beauty of our spirit. I know for me, I have become immune to the hair shirt I wear, so accustomed to the scritchy scratchy layer that I no longer even recognize its irritating presence, except for the hard and caloused skin that remains as a tell-tale life map leaving me ever guarded and vigilant. And I wonder if other people are as immune to their own hair shirts as I find myself to be with mine.
Yes, it is definitely time to stop wearing my hair shirt. . . .