Wear your collar to work Week!

I wore my clerical collar to work today!! Oh my. It took me forever to get dressed because I wasn't sure what to do with myself. The last time I wore my collar was while I was doing CPE - student chaplaincy in a hospital. That was 2 summers ago!

Part of the problem is that clerical shirt companies still can't seem to figure out that women's bodies are different than mens! Hmmm, tough thought huh. I'm told that Women's Spirit now has a shirt that actually fits. The shirts I've ordered or bought in the past either have pleats down the front to make room for the part of the women's anatomy that men don't have or they're just bigger all over. At any rate, I always feel like the Vicar of Dibley (BBC show, also on PBS in the States, about a woman vicar in the UK). The other problem is that the shirts are also expensive.

I tend to wear a 'janie'. Maybe this is more than you want to know, but I thought I would share anyway! For you non-going to be a pastor types, or men pastors who don't have to deal with this. A 'janie' is like a dikie, but you can attach a clerical collar and wear it under a shirt. Since I tend to wear solid collar nice short sleeve or long sleeve shirts on most occasions, this works well. Plus, I don't feel like the Vicar of Dibly, but myself.

But, this morning, I tried to wear this 'janie' that I had gotten from someone, but it wouldn't work. The white collar part kept popping up and doing weird things. Eventually, I got my other janie to work, but uff da! All this for a collar.

Plus, there's the psychological struggle of putting on that collar. Everyone will know I'm a pastor!! What will they think, will people stop me on the street. How am I supposed to act? It was cold enough this morning, though, that I wore a scarf walking to work. This is why I'm wearing my collar for at least one week per month though, so that I can work through all these struggles, and to get more comfortable wearing my collar.

On my way home though, I had my scarf on, but was not so paranoid about my collar, but almost had a sense that people knew I had this thing on that identified me as a pastor.

If there is a textile designer out there though, could you work on the plastic collar part! It kind of sticks to your skin, and is not so comfortable. In a book i'm currently reading, one of the characters refers to clerical collars as dog collars. I have to say that at some points today, when I was physically uncomfortable with the collar, I had to agree with her assessment. Currently, my collar is being shaped into a more circular shape, so it hopefully will not try to form weird shapes while encircling my neck.

We'll see what tomorow brings! I meet with the youth in the evening. It will be interesting to hear their reactions.