Dressed to Impress?

 I love it when the autumn leaves which have fallen on the paving,

leave these delicious impressions of themselves behind when they get blown away.

They are mere traces of the real thing yet have a beauty all their own.

This morning they led me to think again about the impressions we make

 as we pass through life.

I wonder am I more interested
 in the impression I make than I ought to be?

Though I know I'll never make any best dressed list,

 I am always aware of that twinge of disappointment when I see myself in a photo.

Surely I looked better than that?

I really thought I did when I stood in front of the mirror before going out.

Admittedly I was probably holding my stomach in and standing at just the right angle then, 

but even so the reality comes as a bit of a shock.

Vanity, vanity, all  is vanity.

Lets face it, as long as all the necessary areas are decently covered
 nobody else cares a jot what I look like.

Even if I had an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction
 I'm sure others wouldn't notice it as much, or remember it as long as I would.

I say this because I have just remembered the time
 I had made a complete circuit of the room at a wedding party
 before some kind soul took me to one side
 and un-tucked the back of my dress from my knickers!

I'd put that outfit together with care,and had really felt good until then,
but even I could see the funny side of it, and the irony of feeling good whilst
walking around unknowingly showing my nether regions was not lost on me.

What else are we unknowingly showing when we are out there trying to impress I wonder?

The lines,

Let holy charity mine outward vesture be
And lowliness become mine inner clothing;

come to mind.

The words from the old hymn fall strangely on the ear, 

 and I guess we would call holy charity,

holy or chaste love, these days.

 Being clad with holy love

would find me more interested 
in enabling others to feel good about themselves than about me.

It wouldn't leave me fretting about what impression folks had of me, but

 would leave

 whoever I met feeling

 more valued, accepted,

and loved,

than before.

Now that is an impression I would be only too happy to leave behind me.

Be Blessed

If you are unfamiliar with  the hymn "Come Down O Love Divine", from which the quote above is taken, you can hear it here, sung by Fernando Ortega