Tuesday, June 4, 2013

When Your Underwear Starts Talking to You



So, this is going to be a deviant post. Not deviant in the sense of obscene, despite the use of the word underwear in the title (I despise the word panties), but deviant in the sense of skewing away from parenting, politics, disability or poetry. What I want to tell you is that while raising three teenagers and one very disabled teenager is not a job for the faint of heart, it's okay to be faint of heart and maybe not entirely on board with the ordeal or even not happy about it. Happy. That's the operative word. I'm struck by the irony of our culture being a sort of tyrannical one in regards to happiness -- the pursuit of happiness. We can, evidently pursue happiness, or it's our right to do so. We can also choose happiness and are often told to do so. We are to be grateful, and happiness follows. Happiness comes from within, we are told, even after a long journey to pursue it. As long as you're happy is a phrase perhaps over-used, in my mind. I only want you to be happy is a parent's prerogative, over-ruled by the scowl of you. Today, I sat on the toilet to relieve myself after at least three hours in the family car, and when I'd finished my quick bodily duty, I glanced down to pull up my underwear and read inside the waist-band, in large letters Every Woman Should Be Happy Every Day.

16 comments:

  1. Ha! I love this 'deviant' post! I laughed out loud at the end and it reminded me of the ad campaign one tampon company had a year or so ago (don't ask me which one - I don't pay attention to those things) that told girls and women to "Have a Happy Period."

    As if.

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  2. Oh Gawd! I'd like to see a letter you'd write to that company - in all your free time. Sweet Jo

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  3. What Jo said. Or maybe this WAS your letter.

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  4. I don't happy anymore. I think I want contentment now.

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  5. You are beautiful. And dare I say it? This post made me happy.

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  6. If I found that mandate in lingerie, I'd laugh...

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  7. Well, that's trite, isn't it? Of course, if it has to fit on an underwear waistband, I guess there's not a lot of room for original thought. I have yet to see men's underwear delivering any similar messages, but I suppose it's only a matter of time.

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  8. What Sister Moon said. You are so beautiful and yes, this made me happy, too.

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  9. The tyranny of the underpants! It is hard to imagine the discussion in the underwear board room about this -- did that group of people really think that all women needed to be happy was a reminder in their underwear? It boggles the mind.....and it is hard not to imagine the quiet underwear company voice scolding you as you pee ("Every Woman Should Be Happy....I am talking to you!").

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  10. I eagerly await every post; am so glad I found your blog. You capture what I feel, and what I try to write, but lack the ability. Perhaps one day I will have confidence to link my blog, and not sign anonymously.
    So, thanks.
    H-
    (mother of 2 disabled, and 1 not)

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    1. Thank you, H, for your kind words and your support. I hope you'll link your blog -- as you can see, our community is a supportive one, and I'm certain we'd love to have you!

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  11. I am happy that you could pull your underwear up!!! No really, let's just say that this post made me laugh out loud and that, my friend, makes me happy! I think I may be falling for you and I have already fallen for your girl and of course, the boys!
    Love,
    Terry

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  12. I have also always despised the word "panties." I can't even say it.

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  13. I hate the word "panties," too - it's just wrong. Ah, to have a world full of happy women...

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  14. It is not possible for us as human beings, to be happy all the time. I believe that it is actually this thinking that leads to a great deal of unhappiness in the world.

    I believe we sometimes confuse happiness with peace. Finding peace is finding a quietness within one's self without losing our important ability (and need) to feel and express negative emotion....peace allows you simmply to be (happy, sad, mad, glad, whatever works for the moment). It empowers and encourages you to express your unhappiness, to purge these feeling from the soul.

    I would argue that being unhappy is an important concept of finding "the truth" of happiness.

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