Mythos & Marginalia

life notes; flaws and all

j.g. lewis

original content and images ©j.g. lewis

a daily breath...

A thought du jour, my daily breath includes collected and conceived observations, questions of life, fortune cookie philosophies, reminders, messages of peace and simplicity, unsolicited advice, inspirations, quotes and words that got me thinking. They may get you thinking too . . .

Mondays are just young Fridays

One year since. . . 

   The death toll rises each day in this certain uncertainty. A geopolitical conflict, its consequences spilling out across this planet and onto the streets of my city. Distanced from the direct atrocities of another war, it is more than tension we feel in the neighborhoods where we live.

   Every day the headlines speak to me. Every day there are more questions than answers.

   How many bombs?

   How many dead?

   How many prayers?

   How many times, in my lifetime, have I heard about the possibility of Middle East peace?

   I, still, can only try to understand.

   I too live with the fear, the grief, and the polarization of it all.

 

10/07/2024                                                                                                                j.g.l.

It’s not nothing

I would like to think it is nothing, at least I’d like to try. I know I can’t, but I will fool myself into believing it was less than what it is (I’m gullible that way).
   Still I know, deep down, it was more than what I was expecting. Certainly it was more than what I was prepared for.
   It’s always something; really, anything is.
   There is something in anything, worthwhile or not, that captures your imagination or sends your soul circling.
   Nothing matters then.
   It is always more than what you were counting on, even when there is nothing to compare it to.
   Always unlike anything else, you try to twist and turn it into something familiar, or something you can relate to, all the while knowing that nothing has been like that, or felt like this: ever.
   Yeah, it’s like that.
   It’s not nothing, but it can’t be everything. . . or maybe it is.

© 2017 j.g. lewis

a deeper conversation

Ever the questions, 

no response, until now. In the wake 

of all that happened all that time ago; 

even recently, as details were 

unearthed convincingly.

Negligently we accept responsibility 

for secrets and sins unacknowledged.

The government, the Church, 

the children. The shock of it all. 

Tears now stain history books. Truth.

A deeper conversation. 

We talked about it, yesterday.

Too long society, 

more specifically “we”, have turned

a blind eye to ways of a world 

we thought we never knew.

Lord knows what they were thinking 

and did nothing.

 

10/01/2024                                                                                                             j.g.l.

 

I'm like a pencil;
sometimes sharp,
most days
well-rounded,
other times
dull or
occasionally
broken.
Still I write.

j.g. lewis
is a writer/photographer in Toronto.

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Button Up Bliss

Posted on March 2, 2016 by j.g.lewis Leave a comment

M+M

People put a lot of thought into what they wear every day, but how much consideration goes into what is worn each night?

Some people strip down to nothing, while others fall into bed wearing what is convenient or clean (or not), but like anything else, whatever you are doing, it is important to always dress for the occasion.

We dress for success, adhere to a dress code at the office, or dress up for a date or social function. We may adorn our Sunday best for a more formal event, or dress down for the gym, but fashion and function no longer get the nighttime attention they once did, at lest as far as men are concerned. I recently shopped one of the oldest, and largest, department stores in the city, and could not find one complete pair of traditional pajamas. It’s enough to cause a sleepless night, particularly with this retailer’s fashion-forward focus.

Humans spend a significant amount of time in bed — sleeping away approximately a third of our lives — it’s only fitting that you dress for the time. For some people that means yesterday’s sweatpants and a threadbare T-shirt, togs more appropriate for yard work or painting the fence.

Why on earth would you dress like that for something as important as sleep? I wouldn’t dream of it. Your body craves rest as much as it does comfort. We all know how a bad night’s sleep can affect a good day at the office. Old workout clothes won’t cut it for me, I dress for the purpose in pajamas you see.

I won’t pass comment on those who chose to sleep in the raw. I do; have; and will again, sleep in the buff (depending on company and circumstance) and I will not argue that sleeping in the most natural state is truly pleasurable, unrestrictive, and quite necessary on certain occasions (summer’s heat and humidity being just one example). But for all intents and purposes, I am a pajamas man.

And I’m not at all trying to perpetuate any sort of playboy image. Hugh Hefner was famous for his smoking jackets and silk pajamas (he claimed to work at night, a lot, so the clothing was most practical), however I have not the budget, nor the affection, for silk (not on my body anyway). I like pajamas for the practicality, 100 per cent cotton that breathes and becomes more comfortable over time. Pajamas will last forever; if used solely for sleep there is little wear and tear as most of your nocturnal activity is mental and not physical.

I’m speaking, primarily, of men’s sleepwear here; the silk and style of women’s negligee has little to do with pajamas and purpose, at least in the present context.

Replacing the more unisex nightshirt in the late 1800s, the two-piece pajama option became a staple of a gentleman’s wardrobe by the 1930s. For the longest time it was not thought proper for women to wear pajamas, until Coco Chanel changed it up in the 1920s (about the same time her fabulous #5 perfume was introduced). Like many of her early designs, Chanel modeled her PJs after the men’s version; proof that the traditional nightwear can be quite fashionable indeed.

From the jersey knit Star Trek-styled PJs of my youth, to my present button up preference, the nightwear has been a part of my sleep routine since my mother’s ‘get ready for bed’ instructions included bath time and my jammies.

I used to travel for business, frequently, and PJs were essential when packing for a week on the road. Sleeping in strange beds night after night — hotel sheets never quite feel right and the mattresses were not always to your liking — you could always count on pajamas to make a bed feel more like home. The feeling of something familiar against your skin can make a great difference in both the quantity and quality of sleep you receive each night.

There is also a psychological advantage in dressing for bed. In removing your clothing you strip away the demons, dogma, and detritus of the day. Following a shower or bath, after scrubbing off all the sins and sanctimonious bullshit that has stuck to your skin, you button up freshly laundered PJs, slip between the sheets, and take the first steps from daytime busy to nighttime bliss.

Pajamas prepare you, mentally, for a few hours of sleep, and if you are lucky they dress you up for your dreams.

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