...Is what I wish I could say when I look at my pre-spruce-up state or even post-spruce-up state in the mirror. Like most women I am not immune to becoming fixated on some aspect of my physical self that I cannot change without a disposable bank account and a penchant for plastic surgery.
Fixation on the imperfections of various parts of my body seem to change with the wind, for example, one day I'll think my baby toenail is too symmetrical (yes I know what that means, I'm trying to be ironic--I think!) then the next day I've forgotten about my toes and now think my knuckles aren't as graceful as I wish they were and that's when I know I am hung up on these things because I'm a lunatic woman who's too obsessed with her looks. And then I decide to break-up with myself because I'm horribly superficial.
After deciding to talk things over instead of kicking myself directly to the curb, I ask myself "why do I let these stupid things bother me? Why do I ever let myself feel subconscious while gazing upon a photograph of myself I took an hour before because if I looked that good then how could I possibly be living up to such amazingly hard to reach astronomical standards now?" So I decide to stop and say to myself, "*e*u*i*a" <<that's me disguising my incredibly long and hard to pronounce first name>> I say, " you are beautiful, and if nothing else you are as beautiful as you are going to get. Work with it, use it to secure favorable blog reviews, and then chuck away all thoughts of physical appearance in situations in which beauty and outter appearance hold no weight. So pretty much I could stop thinking about my looks and how people perceive me when I went to bed every night--just kidding.
^^^That my readers was a random rambling tongue-in-cheek digression the likes of which you shall never see produced by a sensible young woman ever again!!
Getting to the point of this post, self image is a very important aspect of our inner selves and with some people, particularly young women, it's a cause of heartache and depression and has lead many women into drastic methods to fix what they don't like through surgery and such. Instead of focusing on our few imperfections (believe me, they're tiny) focus on things about ourselves that we do like, every woman should be taught by their mothers that to feel good about themselves--exude confidence and play up the assets. If you didn't know- now you know- once again, be confident, play up the assets, but most importantly, be more than your looks for Pete's sake.
Believe that you are worth about a million percent more based on what's inside of you. The things that make you smile and the things you say that make others do the same, the way you talk friends down from ledges after the stocks plummet or the way you speak to homeless people who corner you at the gas station, we are all people with these insides full of quirks and glory and happiness and meanness and hopes and dreams and expectations, we're so full of all this great stuff that someone's gonna love and they can't see any of it with their eyes.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE MEDIA'S ROLE IN STOMPING ON OUR SELF IMAGE???!!!
Good question bolded red words, the media has its fist so deep down our throats that its knuckles are splashing around in last night's oxtail soup. We can't escape it the media! It invades every pore of our society--so much so that I'm being a sellout just by using this blog engine powered by Blogger owned by GOOGLE to write about the negative affects of media and our attachment to it.
I watch celebrites glitter and shine as they traipse down plush red carpets, I follow gossip rags and salivate at couples I would give one article of clothing to be one half of, I do it all!!! Forwhy? Because it's so damn entertaining! It takes the mind off things that are probably not as entertaining, but a billiioncajillionvermillion times more fun, meaningful, productive and satisfying than watching this week's episode of HOW DA HELL DID DAT GUY DO DAT?! on insert three letter network name abbreviation here.
I'm not talking about movies, they are the technically under media's expansive shroud but you watch the right film, that movie is a piece of art, it makes you think, it makes you appreciate the movie itself--the actors, the way it was made--the cinematography, the lighting, the editing etc. (see this post of mine, it's not as in-depth as I could have gotten but you get the gist) So I'm not really referring to movies but I am referring to some of the tripe we watch that is unforgiveably laced with an onslaught of advertisements/mind control. Now I can't completely bash advertising because I know it's neccessary to sell products and keep the economy (especially this one) running, but we are shown a lot of commercials.
For instance, advertisments are full of impossibly beautiful women and men. Celebrities look so perfect that it seems like they could break under the weight of our direct stares with their symmetrical, beautiful glowing faces! Sadly most human beings who are womb-built are not perfect and perky and smooth. Anyway, now that I'm on my high horse, I'll say it, I came across a website full of photographs of normal breasts. That's right real boobs, not the impossibly round saucers stuck to the chests of almost every woman bounding across our television/movie screens; normal, beautiful, big, small, even, uneven, real, breasts. It was a wonderful site and if I didn't want to appear to be peddling pictures of naked breasts, I would post the link. If I one day get comments and someone asks for the link, after a long and painful screening process I will provide you with it at the price of an open mind.
The site made me (as I often do) think about how media warps the minds of men and women everywhere in regard to their self-image. They see themselves as less than an image of the human body that is not only rare, but attainable only through extreme means while failing to be the actual, attainable, real standard of beauty. It's all a farce, and it's effing our heads beyond repair.
The challenge is to enjoy the media outlets since we can't hide from them (and we kinda don't want to) while keeping in mind we are beautiful men and women of content and thought and shining soul.
Before you turn on the television to become the sponge the media seeps into as I do when I watch the tube, remember you are wonderful just the way you are, all the imperfections, large feet (I wear a size 10! A size 10!! Jeez! I know! Yes I'm a woman!!) and thin eyelashes. Because goshslammit, like me, you look good. Don't get it twisted.
Now if only I could glue this blog post to the back of my eyelids so I can stop all the obsessing.
PEACY WEACY!!
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