Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By Product of A Spoiled Age


It's sunny. Almost 70. So, I'm not going to be here long. I wanted to stop by to make an observation and ask a question more than write from my outstanding font of wisdom. Just a notion that I'm rolling around in my head thanks to my long phone visit with BF Pammy, the other day. 3000 miles can't get in the way of best friends, that's for certain...

I think I'm wondering about this because my beloved winter clothes are going to be put away here soon. I adore the weather in spring. Hate the heat of summer. Get giddy over the growing cool of fall. Love the need for sweaters and wubbie clothes in winter.

So much can't be hidden by a tee-shirt and shorts, know what I'm sayin'? Too much is simply way too much in light weight summer clothes. And, this body of mine is so not ready. Sigh.

Okay, but it came to me that my friends in Russia don't really worry about what they weigh. They don't worry about every bit of food they put in their faces. In London, when I was there, the height of fashion could be seen in all the windows, but I didn't hear it constantly from my Brit friends. Neither do I note it from my friend, Caroline, who is French. French, for heaven's sake...and they created high fashion!! I'd have to ask Coke about the Germans when he was living there....but knowing his gal pal, Lou, I don't believe so for them either.

Nope. It's only here that I constantly hear us being obsessed with how we look, don't look. Weigh...don't weigh. It's here that I think we are obsessed with something as trivial and meaningless.

I'm wondering...when life is as comfortable and easy as it has been for most of us, is it indolence that causes us to nit-pick so much about how we look and weigh and if we're fashionable? Is that it, do you suppose? Or do Human Beings simply have to have something to fidget over?

When you have to concentrate on more pressing things like having a job...having a paycheck that will stretch till the next one...wondering how you'll live now that the 401K has tanked...is there really such a thing as global warming and regardless, how can I minimize my impact on Mother...how much will utilities, such as gas and electric, rise and what will we do when/if we can't afford them....How can we stop this massive explosion of spending that will change our children's world forever if we don't...

When you have those concerns...will we continue to act so spoiled and silly as exhibited by our obsession with our body images and what we wear?

This is not to say, that I am not an advocate for being healthy. I certainly am. But, I am wondering if we won't be forced to finally come to terms with the notion that healthy is an active positive state not shape.

I also know that fashion is living art. And, when all the comfort and ease of living is stripped away, as it appears it is for the foreseeable future, fashion becomes the color and interest for many. A necessary diversion. It's one of the reasons why Vogue Magazine, regardless of its hefty price, continues to be purchased during hard economic times.

As Humans, we simply have to give our brains a positive thought in order to keep on keeping on. And, for many perusing the world of high fashion is one way to do it. I admit, some of those fashions are awesome...some make you wonder. It's all good.

So, what do you think? Am I right about this? Is it possible that we'll only have time to worry about being healthy and whole now, instead of constantly acting like gad flies swirling around the trivial?

I can hope. Because I and my too big, not ready for spring, butt are headed out to dig in the dirt. Therapy for the weary and worried. Try it. Or, go buy Vogue and spend time looking at the beautiful images there. However you do it, put worry on hold somehow for part of your day. And consider, do you really have the energy to worry so much about things that don't matter?

Namaste' Till Next Time,
Holly

3 comments:

Jan said...

I've come to realize that some of the happiest people I know don't care what their butts look like and some of the unhappiest ones are obsessed with their appearance. I find myself gravitating toward the former as I stop being the latter.

Toni said...

I hate this subject. I hate it because it's still such a big stick women beat themselves with, when women are not the sum total of their girth, cup size, or bum circumference.

I am a tall, quite angular woman, definitely not overweight. All I ever wanted was some curvature on my frame and to be a wee bit shorter so I could wear the high heels I love without being 6'-2" tall in them. Well, then I got pregnant, and had Dolly Parton-sized boobage for the duration, and while breast-feeding, and there was never a happier, more giddy flat-chested woman when all that BREASTNESS went back to normal. And my first pregnancy brought with it some discernable hips, which stayed, too. And the older I got, the more I didn't give a shite if I were taller than the guys I worked with or if that made them uncomfortable, because I love dresses and high heels and my man is taller than I am on any occasion ...

the woman I think are the most beautiful are the Rubenesque women, the rounded, voluptuous ones, at the bath, or draped in a light robe, or lolling about with bowls of fruit and looking so WOMANLY!!! So BEAUTIFUL!!!! SO MUCH LIKE HOLLY, I SUSPECT!!!

And I don't know a man alive who wants to be full time with a media model perfectionista ... they like them for eye candy, and certainly wouldn't toss one outta bed or the tent should the offer/occasion arise, but ultimately the men I know want a healthy, REAL-shaped woman who is comfortable in her skin and has a health attitude about herself and about sex and about LIFE.

good gawd, I think you pressed a button. I think the same thing about women as I do about men -- what are you looking for? Because if you're looking to find something to love, you will.

And if not? well, you're an idiot, then.

Erin said...

"living art" ----that about sums up my obsession with fashion!

-e-

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