My Favorite Shirt | Teen Ink

My Favorite Shirt MAG

January 19, 2008
By Anonymous

Love. It’s a simple but overused word. I love you. I love this song! I absolutely loved that movie! The word doesn’t mean much anymore, not to most. Some people scoff at it. We throw it around like a used shirt, wearing it because it’s comfortable, safe, and secure, but never truly understanding why we have it. We lend it out, forget about it, and years later, we think, “Hey, I really liked that shirt.”

But do we care? No. It’s probably gone now, thrown away because of a rip or sold for $3 at a garage sale. We forget; it doesn’t matter after that.

Then we see the world fall apart. From the safety of our living rooms we watch amateur video on the news or Internet, and sometimes we feel so helpless and alone we’re not sure what to do. We cry for the inhumanity, scream for the injustice, and wonder why the world is this way. We think we can change the world; we know we want to help those who need it most … then we remember that T-shirt we threw out years ago.

We want it back; we fight and scramble for it. We go out and buy new shirts, try them on, but none seems to fit. We’ve lost it – we’ve lost love. We are unnerved for a bit; we sit alone and beat ourselves up for letting it go. Then we just we shrug it off. We say, “I’ll do it later” or “I’m too busy.” I’m guilty of it too: “I don’t have the right resources” or “I’m too young” or “No one will care.” And it seems as if no one does. With high school students only bent on the next party or who’s dating whom, you wonder if, in the end, their shirts were ever worn.

Is my generation going to save the world? We try, a small group of us, but our shirts are faded among the bright colors of greed and the everyday and the wanting. We are pushed into the background. We try to push our way through the crowds, and we truly wonder: where has the love gone?

I don’t want my love to fade; though my shirt is tattered and worn, I wear it daily. I am honest and open, and when I say that simple, dead, four-letter word, I mean it. I know I’ve made mistakes with it in the past and I almost threw my shirt away; I carry it carefully now. It’s close to my heart, where it’s meant to be. I do lend it out every once in a while – I let those who need it try it on and feel the safety that I feel. I leave them pieces when I go, but my shirt never seems to tear. It stays just as simple as it ever was.

When the time comes, I will stand alone in this world and stare into the eyes of those with the shirts of greed and want and lust, and I will know that even though mine is not the most beautiful shirt in the crowd, it’s among the best.



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This article has 258 comments.


on Apr. 23 2021 at 1:58 pm
funnybunny93748, Wincheseter, Hawaii
0 articles 0 photos 2 comments
I love this :)

Shyguy233 said...
on Mar. 15 2021 at 1:51 am
Shyguy233, Sydney, Other
0 articles 0 photos 9 comments
I honestly disagree the word love may get overused but it never truly leaves us I myself am in love and it is amazing I don't know about you but I think that love is wonderful

PizzaJohnson said...
on Oct. 10 2018 at 8:32 am
PizzaJohnson,
0 articles 0 photos 2 comments
agreed!

jaimebarnes said...
on Sep. 11 2018 at 11:00 am
jaimebarnes, Linesville, Pennsylvania
0 articles 0 photos 3 comments
same.....

on Sep. 11 2018 at 10:58 am
vanessawaring, Linesville, Pennsylvania
0 articles 0 photos 6 comments
:/ wow.

on Sep. 11 2018 at 10:57 am
vanessawaring, Linesville, Pennsylvania
0 articles 0 photos 6 comments
This is so true. Thank you so much for this.

Because of this story, I 'liked' it instead of hitting 'love it' I really did enjoy the story Good job! :)

Kip.lu SILVER said...
on May. 5 2017 at 2:36 am
Kip.lu SILVER, Tirana, Other
5 articles 0 photos 32 comments
Incredible, made me really take a look at myself... and my shirt

on Feb. 28 2017 at 6:33 pm
madvballchamp7 BRONZE, Penryn, California
1 article 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
"never love anybody who treats you like your ordinary." -oscar wilde

beautifully written :)

KingTida said...
on Jul. 15 2016 at 9:01 am
KingTida, Houston, Texas
0 articles 0 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot; I should&#039;ve known if all was good at home<br /> I wouldn&#039;t of grown<br /> I put it in poem to show em a better way<br /> Something abstract and clever I let em stray<br /> Break bread, make good awaken, we taking this hip hop back to self creation &quot;.

I like how you start off by saying love is a "simple " word ,then begin to support your claim by giving examples as to why it is " simple ." I like the parallel structure between the word "love" and the "shirt" . I like how you gave the word "love" attributes resembling to what people do with their clothes ,more specifically " a shirt " . Like the word love , people can give meaning to their clothes . I Like how you mention loosing love . and how people pay more attention to the way their shirt looks , opposed to whether or not hey know what love is . I Like that you pointed out that people may use the world love , so much , comfortably , and may never know what It actually means . I would say that about the human body and the Earth itself. I live on the earth and communicate with other people . I use technology that I do not fully understand . There is a lot in the world that i do not understand . Yet i sit here commenting on your creation , not really knowing just how much harm I cause to the earth . I want to educate myself on my self and the earth , and How I can make decisions to shape my environment and myself as well in a positive manner . I think a big part of it is to be encouraged opposed to being discouraged . Things like throwing away your trash , should not be looked down upon . But I would like to say that conveying messages is important , because if they are not done effectively , There may be conflict . For example I would say that whenever I tell my friend to stop littering , I do not yell at him . I do not bark at him . I would tell him that He should throw it away , and if he did not I would go do it myself. My friend has seen me go throw away his trash before . Now he knows that I am serious about it , Because the point is not to "get mad or upset " the point is to convey messages to people cohesively . Sorry I am bad at writing and making sense But I try . Have a great day :D

Wrg1223bnj said...
on Apr. 29 2016 at 3:02 pm
Wrg1223bnj,
0 articles 0 photos 2 comments
Stupid what ever your nameis

Wrg1223bnj said...
on Apr. 29 2016 at 2:59 pm
Wrg1223bnj,
0 articles 0 photos 2 comments
Hello guess who it is

on Apr. 26 2016 at 10:29 am
emparente PLATINUM, Cooper City, Florida
22 articles 5 photos 9 comments
this gave me chills, beautifully written. :)

on Feb. 20 2016 at 11:30 pm
Because of this story, I 'liked' it instead of hitting 'love it' I really did enjoy the story Good job! :)

Marla SILVER said...
on Jan. 29 2016 at 7:43 pm
Marla SILVER, Central, Utah
5 articles 0 photos 8 comments
Thank you so much for this. I truly believe that love is something so precious and rare and its not a joke. Its something few understand and the way you have explained it is completely beautiful.

LexieM said...
on Jan. 29 2016 at 1:39 pm
LexieM, West Grove, Pennsylvania
0 articles 0 photos 3 comments
I love how you related the over use of love to a shirt. I agree completely about the overuse of love and think we should be more conservative with the word.

Just a dude said...
on Aug. 25 2015 at 12:41 am
Nice. I enjoyed this.

on May. 4 2015 at 1:05 pm
LittleRedDeliriousPrince SILVER, Parma Heights, Ohio
7 articles 0 photos 100 comments
That was.....amazing. So honest and open and passionate. This is real writing. Great metaphor, too. :)

on Mar. 5 2015 at 12:38 pm
sassyunicorn BRONZE, Chatham, Other
3 articles 0 photos 18 comments

Favorite Quote:
&#039;If you can imagine it, you can achieve it, if you can dream it you can become it&#039;:William Arthur Ward

Really creative symbolism. Well done!

elissascano said...
on Dec. 28 2013 at 12:14 pm
wow this was really amazing. Good for you :)