Today I drove past a store that sells guns and gold. A gun can be a lot of things, one of which is the most useful thing in the world—given the wrong situation. Gold is about survival, especially now. If the economy collapses further, as many economists predict, gold may be a safe place to keep your money.

The pairing makes sense like chicken and waffles does. Two totally different products that are both used by much of the same demographic.

Across the street was a billboard. I followed the rusty post up to the fresh advertisement at the top. “Niemann Marcus at The Domain! Manolo Blahnik! Gucci!”. Against the pink background were giant car sized images of expensive stiletto heels.

My gut reaction was shock and a tinge of disgust. Who BUYS this stuff?

Well, me for one. Not anymore, but I used to go to Niemann Marcus every week. I’d spend an hour or two going through all of the new arrivals, particularly Cavalli. I would buy nearly anything made by Cavalli, sometimes even if it didn’t fit me.

I was so into it.

That changed when Life Nomadic came into the picture. Even if I didn’t change my mindset, I knew it didn’t make sense to buy clothes I’d be leaving behind. I slowly tapered off buying new clothes.

My mindset changed when It was time to sell everything. I brought beautiful expensive clothes to the thrift store. They gave me pennies on the dollar. Shirts I had spent twenty minutes deliberating on were given a glance and thrown into a pile after being tacked with a “$5” tag.

And that’s when I had my epiphany. This stuff is worthless.

I have only one pair of pants now. They are grey brushed nylon and they zip off at the knees to make shorts. Because I wore them as shorts in the sun so much,the pant legs are a bit darker than the shorts part.

I have three shirts, one plain black, one plain blue, and one plain red. They’re identical other than the color.

When I told a long time friend this today his immediate response was, “Wait… you’ve been wearing the same pants all these times I’ve seen you in the past few months?”

Yup. Know why? Because IT DOESN’T MATTER and no one really even notices. People are way too busy evaluating whether or not they look okay to actually judge how you look.

Pop quiz—what was your best friend wearing yesterday? Can you remember what anyone was wearing yesterday?

I’m not saying fashion doesn’t matter at all. It does, and I’m glad the industry exists. My shirts fit me well, and that makes me happy. I like that my pants are relatively slim. I think it’s great to have clothes that you enjoy that look good on you. Having a unique style that reflects your personality is an excellent thing.

And I’d be lying if I told you that my pulse doesn’t quicken just a hair when I see a girl who is dressed perfectly.

What bothers me is the pervasive attitude of caring SO MUCH about one’s image. And of course I’ve been a sucker for this worse than 99% of the people. I just had to have a Mercedes and designer clothes and a Rolex and all that garbage. I was focused on it.

I see people now who are so obviously OBSESSED with what they look like and I feel this deep pity. I know that I could try to explain all this to them, but they wouldn’t care. I wouldn’t have cared either.

What I’ve learned is that people don’t care who you LOOK LIKE, they care who you ARE. If your clothes give a hint about who you REALLY are, that’s great. If they’re pushing you as someone you’re not, you’ve got a major problem on your hands.

Focus on what matters. Image is an easy way to feel like you’re improving yourself without actually having to do it.