Scattered Me

 

 SORRY...DID YOU SAY SOMETHING?

Often when people are talking to me, I’m not listening. My brain has already wandered off to some foreign valley where dreams are born and wishes come to be. I stare blankly at their faces, smile and nod, but am not really paying attention. I’m in flight on the back of an eagle feeling the rush of the wind as it washes my body clean from the filth of the ordinary. I’m rolling through the grasses of a long forgotten glen, carelessly absorbed the sweet freshness of the summer’s innocence. I’m totally enthralled in the book I read yesterday, as still it takes my mind into the dark depths of unknown caverns exploring the cracks and crevices that lead to the Earth’s core.

I see your mouth moving and watch the spit dangle from your bottom lip. I wonder if you know you have a piece of black stuff caught between your teeth or that you already lost me when you said hello. "Sorry...did you say something?"

OATMEAL

How would the consistency of oatmeal be defined? A conglomeration of sticky oaten goo that is neither solid nor liquid. It is a suspension that defies a description, a mainstay for the down and out in the 30’s and 40’s, yet still consumed by the affluent then and now. Wouldn't it be fabulous to wiggle your toes in a gigantic bowl of pasty, pooled porridge? Put that on your list of things to do!

 







I AM HISTORY!

Don’t you want to be remembered? I sure do. I want to be in those history books that students dread studying. Those yellowed pages that hold ancient information waiting to be absorbed into the sponge like grey matter of that young mind. I want to be the person that has done something so great that the brain of a youngster develops more and more wrinkles because of the vast amount of knowledge or exploration I have achieved. Teaching, learning, giving life to a new imagination, forcing knowledge into a dark, spider infested closet of a brain, eagerly waiting to be swept clean of the dust some poor teacher has left settle. My exploits and adventures will wash clean the grime of the boring school master, the mold of crabby school marm. New light will shine through the windows of a fresh, young mind. Every crack will beam with the promise of new thoughts and unknown possibilities breathing a fresh life into that young persons mind. Lend me your thoughts, in return I promise to give you back more than I borrowed. I choose to live this life and will leave a legacy.

I'M CONFUSED!
 

Take a look at the Mona Lisa. Take a long, close look at her. She has been the epitome of beauty for more than 400years, and yet society bombards us daily with an overwhelming amount of advertising that is convincing us that beauty and success can only be achieved if we are thin. Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Rembrandt painted portraits of beautiful, healthy, voluptuous women, having pleasing curves and ample bosoms. They are considered history’s geniuses, inventors, and visionaries. Their women were full of life and gave the world a feeling of control and stability. Women that could weather any storm, not blow away with a gust.

The statistics are heart breaking. 1 in 3 women hate their bodies, their temples, the givers of life, and the sustainers of the population. That’s our mothers, our daughters, our best friends, and our mentors. It’s the silent bully that stares us in the face day after day after day, glaring back from that mirror of paranoid nonsense. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, ‘90 % of those who have eating disorders are women between the ages of 12 and 25.’  In North America, the average dress size is between 12 and 14. Yet clothing seems to be getting tighter and smaller. Most fashion models are thinner than 98% of North American women, still we strive to become this so called ‘normal’ image. How can we possibly live up to such confusing and unrealistic expectations?

In 2006, the US weight loss market was worth $54.4 billion and was 60.9 billion by 2011. These numbers include weight loss supplements, sugar free products and weight loss programs. Sure, in this world of cook-it-quick packaged lifestyles, it has become increasingly difficult to cut calories and commit to healthy choices, but wouldn’t the issues with self image be better served with mind changing programming instead of or in addition to weight loss programming? It is interesting that schools and communities have taken a stand against poor eating habits and physical education programs, but seems to be missing the core of the self demoralizing issue; poor confidence and ability to love and feel accepted in one’s own body. Maybe changing the image of beauty from within can help change the perception of beauty by the media.

When will the fashion industry and the human ideas of beauty understand that a woman shouldn’t feel guilty for being what she is, a woman. We need to realize that women come in all shapes and sizes. We need to learn how to love the way we look and focus on the parts of our bodies that are truly magnificent, not dwell on the bits that aren’t. It’s time to evolve into what nature intended us to be, real women with real bodies size 0 to 36. And we are beautiful!

 THE DOLLAR STORE DILEMMA

So today I was in the Dollar Store wandering around the crafty area, when about half way down the isle I meet up with a family of 4, mom, dad, boy around 4ish and a girl around 6ish.

As I was perusing the section looking for number stencils (which are apparently the hardest thing to find in stores, anywhere. I mean I looked in Winners, Michaels and Walmart and these things can not be found. Are kids just learning their alphabet now and not numbers?) when the dad started belittling the boy, telling him to 'shut up' and that he better stop whining or 'I'll slap you right here.' This person was raising his voice and making a pathetic scene beside me, and as he was demeaning his child his wife chatted away as if nothing was happening, often adding fuel to his fire. I lurked for a bit, making sure that this was actually as far as the situation was going to go, and then grabbed my paint and got the heck outta there.  I took up my spot at the end of a very, very long line right behind a mother talking down to her 11 year old daughter, and was quickly joined by the nattering father and his son, still belittling and lecturing the kid. When did it become alright for parents to be so obnoxious to their children? Is this parenting?

I took care of my purchase and left the store grateful that we had not raised our boys in such an ignorant manner and feeling guilty that I didn't say anything. Should I have said something? What would you have done?