Cycling and Politics

One of the most liberating aspects of the change in my professional life is that I can cycle to work. And it is a political decision.

For the last year, I have been putting on weight, and I have been advised by kroket-eating, beer drinking, slim-looking Dutch people that the solution is cycling to work. My response (defense?) was always "I can't - I have to wear a suit and tie to work, and I get sweaty after cycling 45 minutes. It's just not possible". And I carried on eating krokets, drinking beer and getting gradually fatter.

Now I feel no need to wear a suit. Suddenly, last week I made the decision and began to pack a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a sweater into my bike bag and cycle to work in an old t-shirt and tracksuit.

This morning, a conversation with a colleague made me question why I had always felt the need to wear a suit and a tie? I realised I was making a political decision. I felt before that I needed to make a certain impression on those around me, and that as a part of the persuasion process to convince all that I am a person to have confidence in, I was relying on appearance to get the message across. Even on Fridays, when most people in our office dress down, I felt the urge to make a political statement by wearing bright red ties and black shirts.

A freeing part of finding that my job may come to an end is the total removal of political obligation. I am going to do my job in the coming months based on work, not image or presentation. It doesn't mean I won't wear a suit in my next job, or make that political decision in the future. It just means I want to find out what it feels like not to.

And I hope I will lose more than just the weight of obligation in the process.