By LIZ MARCHI
I was fortunate enough to be in the Leadership America Class of 1999. Corporate women from all over America spent a year learning about and exploring business and policy issues and hearing from successful women all over the country. Our class project was “Dress for Success.” One of the barriers for women entering the work place was appropriate attire so we took that on as a problem to solve.
As I embrace the changes of aging, working in yoga pants has to be one of the best!
My southerness was all about great clothes, in fact I was “best dressed” in my high school class. I am sure that is no longer a superlative category. But what’s great about yoga pants, other than they are comfortable, is that I don’t use any mental energy getting dressed on days when I work from the barn. Working to focus my mental energy on things that matter is like a new habit.
Working in Yoga pants is the minimum viable way to dress. So much we do in our lives and in our businesses doesn’t add value to our purpose. I work every day to think about what adds to the life I want to live as I age. This leads me to Christmas.
I have always loved Christmas. My girls will tell you that Elvis’s Christmas CD’s broke out the Saturday after Thanksgiving. My years at the ranch, I get out and put up the garland, the bows and the lights (wearing yoga pants) because growing up the south I could only dream of a “white Christmas.” This year was a struggle. I scaled down a bit but did spend all day Sunday, a high of 16, outside decorating.
Why? We have grandchildren and, although I haven’t come to grips with that role, I do know that I want them to see Nana Liz and Poppy Jon’s house as fun place to visit. I remember as a child, how much I loved to see the lights at my Grandmother’s house in the Alabama countryside.
So dressing the house for Christmas will continue for a few more years, if I am lucky.
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Liz Marchi lives on a ranch in Polson, Montana with her husband Jon. She is the Fund Coordinator for the Frontier Angel Fund and spends a lot of time thinking and learning about entrepreneurs, the economy and Montana’s unique place in the world. She has three daughters and a stepson and daughter and a grandchild. She graduated from Hollins College and is entering the final quarter of life…unless we go into overtime.