[Flash] Wear the World Like a Loose Garment

Not rigid and beleaguered, a loose garment is flexible, flowing, and carefree.

Intriguing. If I “wear the world like a loose garment,” I might better adapt and improvise, staying open to the unexpected, unfazed by the constantly changing world, unbothered by others.

I tested the board’s advice during a recent travel fiasco when…

• My flight home from a conference was delayed by 10 hours due to storms, then canceled.
• The airline gave me a $20 meal voucher, which turned out to be worth only $0.20.
• The airport luggage handler wouldn’t store my luggage, boxes, and conference booth display, so I dragged them with me all night.
• The airline booked me into a hotel, but upon arrival, the hotel clerk informed me there were no vacancies due to a trucking convention.
• Stranded in Louisville at midnight, I dragged my luggage and conference booth materials back to an empty airport to wait 7 hours for the next flight.

With each roadblock, I whispered, “Loose garment. Be like a loose garment.” 

An altercation, a tantrum, or even venting would not have changed my situation, a confluence of events outside of my control.

So I stayed responsive and receptive, amenable to my shifting circumstances.

When I returned to the airport at 1:00 am, I investigated my sleeping options: a wooden platform under the stairs where a man was settling in, a deserted yet dingy carpeted area, and three brand-new, empty couches with electrical outlets!

Delighted by my discovery, I invited the man to upgrade his accommodations. We each grabbed a couch, and from 1:00 – 5:00 am, we dozed and chatted, without judgment or agenda. 

His name was Tom, a transient trucker taking refuge at the airport while his truck was locked at the convention center. Tom bears a storied past and an inconvenient present.

He was so grateful for sharing my couch discovery that he insisted on gifting me tchotchkes from the convention: two pens, a flashlight, and a fidget spinner shaped like a semi steering wheel.

At 5:00 am, I wished Tom well, checked my bags again, and trudged through security.

Here’s what I discovered:

• Instead of clinging to expectations, I danced resiliently through the chaos.
• Instead of judging other people’s situations, I focused on my own.
• Instead of should’ing, I practiced could’ing.

When we wear the world like a loose garment, we relax our grip, knowing that:

• Nothing is personal or permanent.
• External circumstances don’t reign over us.
• Success and failure, opinions and ideas, titles and jobs all change.

We can care about life, work, and relationships without allowing those to define or control us.

We can be engaged but not entangled. 
“One of the most reliable ways to guarantee we suffer
is to cling tightly to what is always changing
in a fundamentally unpredictable, nonnegotiable world.
You get rope burn.” ~ Pema Chodron, a Tibetan Buddhist and author.

© 2026. Ann Tardy and MentorLead. www.mentorlead.com. All Rights Reserved.