Week 21 Writing Prompt: Dressing for Your Future

“‘We must dress well, or the future will not take us seriously’, Goodbye had said.” – Catherynne M. Valente

I’ve always been fond of the Vonnegut quote: “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” I find it to be really true. I was a role playing game (RPG) dork for most of my twenties. I preferred White Wolf over

Dungeons & Dragons–as many of you know. Over the years, I have played a lot of different characters and I have found that it is a being a therapeutic way to work out my inner dramas.

However, when I tried to pick a character as far away as possible from my actual self, (teenaged assassin with leukemia, anyone?) I found that I actually had more in common with the character than I had thought. I learned a lot about myself playing other people and learned a lot about where my shadows and my strengths were. This is far from a foreign concept in magic. Grant Morrison wanted to be as cool as James Bond, a goal that seemed impossible for a bald Scottish comic book writer. But, with magic and his writing, he made it happen!

We’re coming to the end of this course and we’re almost half way through 2012. You laid down the groundwork for the goals you wanted to accomplish. Do you still feel like they’re just out of your reach? It’s time to start faking it ’til you make it, kids. In other words, start acting like you’ve achieved your goals now to help you actually achieve them. Does that mean you should go out and buy a Porsche Boxster? No. Of course not! But, you could test drive one!

Things to consider:

* What fictional character represents your goal achievements? Why? How can you incorporate that into your life? For me it’s always Joan Holloway from Mad Men. She’s smart. She’s sexy. She’s working even
though she doesn’t really have to. She goes after what she wants, and she’s charismatic–like, whoa! She’s not real, of course, and she certainly has her flaws. But I’d like to be more like her. For me, thinking practically, what this has meant is to be as organized as she is, to learn to love my body just the way it is and to add some figure-flattering retro styles to my wardrobe (including a pen necklace).

* What do you see yourself doing in your picture of success? What are you wearing? What are you eating? What are you drinking? Where are you going for fun and for business? What do you smell like?
Start doing those things!

* Outlook still unclear? When in doubt, pin. Using Pinterest can really help you visualize what you’re trying to go for. It helped me distill all my faux French wankery into some key notes. It helped me figure out my wardrobe for nannying and après nannying. It helped me visualize my wedding. My boards can be found here: http://www.pinterest.com/akasha124

Cheers,
Deborah

Deborah Castellano

Deborah Castellano's book Glamour Magic: The Witchcraft Revolution to Get What You Want is available for purchase through Amazon, Llewellyn and Barnes and Noble.
Her frequently updated catalogue of published work is available on Author Central.

She writes about Glamour Magic here at Charmed, I'm Sure. Her podcast appearances are available here.

Her craft shop, The Mermaid & The Crow specializes in old-world style workshop from 100% local, sustainable sources featuring tempting small batch ritual oils and hand-spun hand-dyed yarn in luxe fibers and more!

In a previous life, Deborah founded the first Neo-Victorian/Steampunk convention, SalonCon which received rave reviews from con-goers and interviews from the New York Times and MTV.

She resides in New Jersey with her husband, Jow and their cat, Max II. She has a terrible reality television habit she can't shake and likes St. Germain liquor, record players and typewriters.  

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