I like to people watch. I sit back from the crowd at places like airports and concerts, and consider the people who pass. Often when I’m doing this, I consider the way people look. I mostly look at how they present themselves: their clothes, makeup, hair, how they walk, how they gesture or talk, how they interact with their surroundings. As is demonstrated in <a href=”http://current.com/items/89199963_sexy-girls-have-it-easy.htm”>this video from Current TV</a>, people who are dressed nicely, with their hair and make up neat and tidy, have easier lives. They get perks and benefits, and are treated differently than someone who is less “put together”.

I’m not a neat and tidy person. I’ve often considered *why* I’m not that person. I’ve tried makeup, neat and tidy perfect hair, and perfectly pressed clothes. I hate it all. So why do I still contemplate what it would be like to be perceived as someone like that? I think it is probably because I think of the neat and tidy people as having their lives together, simply because they *look* together. I had a realization recently though, as I walked barefooted through the airport. I imagined what people must be thinking about me as I walked by with my naked toes and long shorts. All kinds of critical comments came to mind. And then I realized that I was happy. I felt fantastic, NOT running through an airport hurriedly in my heals, and not worrying about my dress getting messed up as I traveled. My feet felt fantastic on the cold tile, and I felt light and relatively care-free.

I’m not a neat and tidy person, and without a whole lot of work, I never will be. I am someone who prefers to be barefooted, a little ruffled, way more laid back, and ready and able to play on the playground with my kid or have an impromptu wrestling match with my friends. Sure, that may mean I don’t get things for free because people don’t see me as “together,” and it may mean that people think I’m a freak for being barefoot in a public place. But who cares? At least I’m not in heels and feeling miserable!