the rise and fall of your favourite shirt
romanticising the past, new priorities and letting go
As one does when he has a plethora of tasks on his to-do list but a lack of drive and determination to complete these tasks, I scroll aimlessly through my phone gallery. Clearing out outdated screenshots, discarding videos that I once swore were “so important I needed to download,” and reminiscing over nights I can’t remember with some people I can never forget.
Amid this procrastination session, I came across an old picture from circa Autumn 2023. Bear in mind, it was almost 8 am, and I hadn’t gotten out of bed yet. Coincidentally, the shirt I was wearing in the picture was the same one I was sleeping in. An all-black graphic tee from a shop I don’t recall, and for a price I would rather not mention.
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I wanted to shed a tear. This lifeless companion had been a source of comfort and style. It provided many compliments over the years, and its crease-proof nature made last-minute weeknight scrambles out of the house a bit less stressful. I am grateful for your service. It felt like retiring a jersey. Iconic, momentous, but final.
I’m not sure if this is a common phenomenon or just something I go through. How shirts or other items of clothing have transitioned. Relegated from clothing you wore on nights out, to corner shop attire, to common house clothes, to pyjamas. If this is just something native to me, then I suppose this blog is a bit obsolete.
In different seasons, there are varying degrees of importance and worry.
I often reflect on the significance I once placed on certain events, deadlines, and people. What was a world-ending Avengers-level threat in one season is a #TBT #LOL #WhoRemembersWhen in another. I remember when the craziest issue in life was finishing my undergraduate degree. When funding my Master’s degree seemed like an impossible feat. The days when finding a grad job were reserved only for people with “daddy’s connections”. A time when meeting my benchmarks at work before the end of the tax year meant 20-hour days to play catch-up.
At one moment in life, these were all valid concerns. They were all the most important things in life. They were the finest apparel you reserved for nights out. Now they’re distant memories, only immortalised in ghost stories around campfires and in the depths of your Snapchat files.
When troubles come, you can literally say “I’ve been there, done that, and worn the T-Shirt”
Priorities and circumstances change. The issues I’m facing right now seem like they will be the death of me, but I’m constantly reminded that “this too shall pass”. Life has its ebbs and flows, mountains and valleys, peaks and troughs. There was a time you couldn’t go a day without speaking to a certain friend, and now you’ve seen their wedding proposal and wonder when they started dating. Life. In the good and the bad, appreciate the past and realise that it gave you the tools to overcome what you’re facing now.
I find it funny how fickle life is. Nothing is permanent, nothing lasts forever. Well, very few things are. Losing, demoting, or devaluing something that was once close to your heart can hurt. The white shirt I now wear as pyjamas pains me. It was once a glistening white colour, now a dull, faded off-white shade.
To be honest, I think this blog has gone in so many directions, so let me summarise what I’m trying to say:
The past is the past. We can’t go back. Appreciate it for what it was and the role it plays now.
Understand that past experiences are lessons to shape who you are and activate muscle memory in similar situations.
Don’t cling to what was once important. Sometimes you must be willing to let it go.
As I Grow Older, I remind myself that a) we’ve climbed this mountain before and b) the past is the past for a reason.
To the friends who went from groomsmen to “yo, long time no see”. To the situations that we thought would kill us but made us (whatever is a little less than stronger). To the shirts that have been demoted to home wear. This is for you. An ode to the past, but a refusal to live in it.
Love, Peace & Blessings,
Abs
Timely wisdom 🔥