Advertising, a zillion dollar a year industry, the sole purpose of which is to make us feel badly enough about ourselves that we feel we need to buy the newest products to be "good enough" again. I think I was probably good enough without all those products, I just didn't realize it because every time I turned on the TV, there was another beautiful model saying I would only be as beautiful as her if I bought her product.
I turned the TV off. I don't watch it. I want to decide for myself if I'm good enough. And while there is plenty of good, entertaining, informative TV out there, I'm not willing to wade through all the negativity. I'm also not willing to have my children pre-programed. We can control the shows they watch, but we can't control the ads that show up in the middle of them.
Women's magazines are another source of that niggling feeling that we could be better if only we would invest in the latest product, or lost 10 lbs. Have you ever looked at the front of Ladies Home Journal, there's always a recipe for The Best Brownies You've Ever Had, juxtaposed with a before and after story about how Jasmine Lost 100lbs and is her Happiest Self Ever. Call me crazy, but I am pretty sure there's a mixed message there. Even O Magazine, which has great articles that I love to read, has pages and pages of ads showing the new 4"heels I'm supposed to wear and that new mascara that I didn't realize I couldn't live without.
Although I can't stand the way we are guilted into buying the latest anti-aging wrinkle cream, we do need to take care of our skin. What if we just change the language, instead of "anti-aging", how about "graceful aging"? I wouldn't want a world full of women who all looked like they were 20. How would I know whom to seek out for advice? There's a reason we look older as we age. There is a divine plan.
I propose that we all stop allowing unseen advertising executives from making us feel badly about ourselves for growing older. This morning I looked at the tag of my tea bag and it said, "Real happiness lies in that which never comes nor goes, but simply is." Our bodies, these transient homes for our spirits, they come and go, but our soul simply is. Let's be in love with our souls instead of obsessed with our bodies. Let's honor that from now on. I'm not saying we shouldn't use products to keep our skin firm and supple and moisterized. Let's just not accept the message that is being put out by the advertising industry that there is something inherently wrong with growing old.
I turned the TV off. I don't watch it. I want to decide for myself if I'm good enough. And while there is plenty of good, entertaining, informative TV out there, I'm not willing to wade through all the negativity. I'm also not willing to have my children pre-programed. We can control the shows they watch, but we can't control the ads that show up in the middle of them.
Women's magazines are another source of that niggling feeling that we could be better if only we would invest in the latest product, or lost 10 lbs. Have you ever looked at the front of Ladies Home Journal, there's always a recipe for The Best Brownies You've Ever Had, juxtaposed with a before and after story about how Jasmine Lost 100lbs and is her Happiest Self Ever. Call me crazy, but I am pretty sure there's a mixed message there. Even O Magazine, which has great articles that I love to read, has pages and pages of ads showing the new 4"heels I'm supposed to wear and that new mascara that I didn't realize I couldn't live without.
Although I can't stand the way we are guilted into buying the latest anti-aging wrinkle cream, we do need to take care of our skin. What if we just change the language, instead of "anti-aging", how about "graceful aging"? I wouldn't want a world full of women who all looked like they were 20. How would I know whom to seek out for advice? There's a reason we look older as we age. There is a divine plan.
I propose that we all stop allowing unseen advertising executives from making us feel badly about ourselves for growing older. This morning I looked at the tag of my tea bag and it said, "Real happiness lies in that which never comes nor goes, but simply is." Our bodies, these transient homes for our spirits, they come and go, but our soul simply is. Let's be in love with our souls instead of obsessed with our bodies. Let's honor that from now on. I'm not saying we shouldn't use products to keep our skin firm and supple and moisterized. Let's just not accept the message that is being put out by the advertising industry that there is something inherently wrong with growing old.
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