No More No Rules November

Last week I published a statement that’s been agitating me ever since. Regarding No Rules November, I said, “As mentioned in my Saturn Return post, I’m a stubborn goat. (A Capricorn.) There’s no giving up now. I will power through to the rule-breaking end.”

That statement stuck around - an annoyance in the back of my brain. A little twerp that kept pacing back and forth and interrupting my silence. Slowly, over the week it grew, until I could see it and identify why I was so agitated. I was agitated because THAT’S STUPID! Powering through for no other purpose other than stubbornness is dumb! It wastes time and benefits no one. Better yet, identify what isn’t working and then move on! Quitting isn’t necessarily quitting if you launch into something better.

So, last week I quit No Rules November.

I had envisioned that breaking fashion rules everyday would fill me with the vigor and motivation I’d lost since returning from our honeymoon. I thought that pushing boundaries with what I wore would inspire me to push more boundaries in my daily life. At minimum, I expected it to light even the tiniest fire under my ass.

It really didn’t. It didn’t at all.

I’ve considered why this fashion experiment on steroids didn’t work out, and what I’ve come up with is this: it went against my nature.

I like to sit around and think about stuff before I do it. I love rehearsing. I love contemplation. No Rules November allowed for none of that. With a rule-breaking outfit everyday, but also a busy life, a hefty portion of my outfits were thrown together at the last second. This meant that often they were uncomfortable, lame, or inappropriate for the occasion. It’s hard to feel like pushing boundaries when your pants are pushing into your guts.

(I also didn’t consider that, post-Thanksgiving, I’d prefer an elastic outfit over an exciting one. Nor did I acknowledge that some weekends are the stay-home-in-sweatpants-and-do-laundry kind. It comes down to balance. My fancy fashionable outfits feel that much more fancy and fashionable after a cozy day at home.)

Ultimately, my previous format, where I give my rule-breaking looks substantial thought, has proven far more fruitful. I’m pretty sure those posts are more interesting to read, and those outfits are much more interesting to wear, too.

But that doesn’t mean this experiment won’t keep growing! I’m not hunkering down into the status quo. I want to keep playing around with the idea of rule-breaking, in clothes, in social situations, in auditions, in cooking, and I want to keep writing about it.

No Rules November didn’t work out for me, but it wasn’t my journey alone. How did No Rules November pan out for you? Did you find balance far before I did? Did you have any rule-breaking, boundary-pushing breakthroughs? I’d love to hear about them!

I’m running face first into the next project! I’ll be back with something entirely new on Sunday!