Dec 20, 2010

Clothes Make The Man

(originally posted Feb 7, 2007)

I tend to wear the same kinds of clothes most of the time. To me all clothing is a uniform. A uniform has functional use and signifies ones function or role. So, for me to change my clothes, I have to be willing to change into another part of me.


So, on Sundays if I'm digging the church ministry vibe (how's that for slang) I stay in the outfit that I wore to church. Especially if it feels like Sunday. By the same token, I don't want to wear my jeans out to landscape or do lawn work. I put on my "grubbies". Those are my clothing set aside for painting or for lawn work.


I wonder if that's why some of us Aspies will tend to just go to bed in our clothes. It's the transition. There have been times that I've gone to bed in my clothes and gone right to sleep. Then later, when I wake up at about 3 am (which I do about every night), I change into sleepwear. On those occasions if I would have changed into sleep wear right then, the transition from one me to the Time To Sleep me would have stirred me up a little. I wouldn't be as sleepy then. I don't do that every night.


We are very careful not to let our children sleep in their day clothes, because you can imagine that it could easily become a habit. If I wake up in the morning in my day clothes, I feel very strange. It's as if my sleeping didn't quite count because I never put on sleeping clothes.


Sounds weird huh? It's that whole Aspie thing in which internal things need to be externalized in order to be managed. I'm still coming to understand it.


Please post comments or questions if you would like. I'm curious if any others have had these experiences.

Adam

1 comment:

  1. Thank You! From one Aspie to another, I can relate to a lot of what you wrote. I have everyday clothes and then when I have to go somewhere, I call it "putting on my costume".
    Nope, you do not sound weird at all. I agree with the transition thing and often do the exact same thing of falling asleep in my clothes and changing at about 3-4 in the morning(which I also do almost every night..I also tend to have a snack about that time).
    Yup, I also have grubs!
    Nice post!!!!!

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