If you've read The Appearance of Power, you are familiar with the idea that clothing is communication.

If not, here's a quick summation:

The aesthetic value of clothing is much less important than the messages it communicates.

We can use things like our clothing, grooming, body language, and other visual signals as ways to communicate things like who we are, who we're not, what value we bring to the world, what we in ourselves and other important messages.

If we want our communication to be understood and we don't want the medium to distract from the message, it's important to know how to dress aesthetically - regardless of the meaning we're trying to communicate.

Think of it this way - whether you're writing a novel, a column, or a simple note - not knowing the basic rules of letter shaping, spelling, grammar, and punctuation, will impede your ability to communicate your message.

Those simple rules, on their own, don't mean much, but without them, what you're attempting to express can be muddle, misconstrued, or not even remotely understood.

What you'll be learning this week is the equivalent of those basic rules of writing. By knowing the basics, you'll be freed to up to express whatever it is you want, free from worry as to whether or not you're able to adequately express what you want to.