Recently, I was checking out my Facebook Newsfeed in order to suss out the life and times of other people, when I came across this image:
Those of you who are particularly observant or a lover of celebrated author Roald Dahl will note that this is a picture from the famous children’s novel The Twits. While this isn’t my favourite Dahl novel by any means (that would be Matilda, hands down), I’ve always loved the visual imagery that Dahl created with his use of language and simple illustrations. This excerpt is a particularly great example.
To a certain extent, I believe that Mr Dahl got it right; your outlook on life greatly affects the way in which people perceive you. If you treat people the way you’d like to be treated, then it’s more than likely that you’ll get the same sort of cosmic energy, positive karma, or whatever else you believe in sent back your way. This isn’t a fool-proof method of course; some days are just really crappy, no matter which way you look at them, but I like to believe that if you project yourself as a happy and confident person, then you’ll get similar vibes back from other people.
Well, that’s a lovely sentiment Analiese, you may be thinking, but what on earth has this got to do with fashion, beauty, or your blog in general? Well, allow me to tell you the story of how my day began and you can judge for yourself….
I had to get up fairly early this morning for an informal meeting, which was made more difficult by the fact that my brain decided that it would have some sort of epiphany at 4am. You know the sort; you’re awoken at some godforsaken hour with your brain shouting “HI! YES, HELLO! I’VE JUST HAD A BRILLIANT THOUGHT!” and you just can’t get back to sleep for ages and when you do eventually wake up the next morning you’ve completely forgotten what your original thought that kept you up half the night was even though you’re sure it was probably the best thing you’ve ever thought of.
ANYWAY, despite not really wanting to go anywhere, I got up and got dressed. I originally was just going to run out the door in whatever was clean and available but then I thought, no, I’ll put a little bit of effort in to my appearance because it’d be disrespectful if I didn’t. Hastily, I put on my green Glassons dress that I bought a few years ago and applied a bit of makeup. Immediately, I felt better about myself, the day ahead, and the world in general.
I got to the bus stop and sat down to wait for the bus. And wait I did. Auckland public transport is notoriously bad, so the bus that is meant to run ‘every 10 minutes’ really runs ‘every 25 minutes, if you’re lucky’. That’s okay, I thought. I’d be forgiven for being a little late. So I waited patiently and read the news on my phone.
Suddenly I heard someone talking to me, so I looked up. A bus had appeared; not the bus I was waiting for, mind, but a different one. No one was getting on or off the bus, but the driver, an older gentleman, had pulled into the stop and opened the doors:
“Hello! Yes, you! I just needed to stop and tell you how great that colour looks on you! Perfection!” he yelled at me whilst gesticulating wildly.
“You have a great day! Bye!” He yelled, closing the door and driving off with a bus-load of very puzzled looking passengers.
A dramatic reenactment of me, my dress, and my puzzled expression. Also, hello! This is my wardrobe!
Now, I don’t know about you, but I found the whole thing strangely flattering if not utterly bewildering. I’m not certain if there’s such a thing as being positively confronted but, if there is, then that’s definitely what happened.
You might see where I was going with the beginning of this post. It’s tenuously linked, sure, but it’s a little like that Roald Dahl quote; if you’re happy and you’re feeling good about yourself and the world, then perhaps other people in turn can really can see the good in you.
What do you think? Am I reading too much into this? Has a stranger ever politely confronted you before? Tell me here because I (and the rest of the Internet) love a good story!
My Flatmate's Wardrobe 
Once a random man got off a bus to tell me how beautiful I was, and I was just in jeans and a hoodie. It was the best compliment of my life. You look beautiful AND are a lovely lady.