Media arises as the world seeks images of beauty;
Amongst the tears to those considered atrocious just completing their duties.
No matter the breath we inhale is the same;
Fragile mentalities go astray.
A daily medicinal dose of blue glitters and glistens;
To the rhythmic sounds of a record urges us to listen.
Surgical procedures to undo what was naturally done;
Tanning beds and bright rays to semblance our skin by the sun.
Diets and starvation. Regurgitating our very soul to the devil;
A ribcage that plays desolate tones as we sink to that level.
Opposite roles apply as we are much rounder around the edges;
For now, we are that inconspicuous flower growing from rough sedges.
Fat, obese, or even slightly plump, these names categorize us;
Even daily transitions threaten our successes.
Our visions are blurred by dark haze; we shiver;
Obscured mentalities to observe it as shimmering silvers.
We fall from what we exceeded to be royalty;
Our platinum is now gray and has now deteriorated our humble loyalties.
If we keep trying to enhance our looks, we’ll begin to loam;
We’re trying to squeeze into a b-r-o-k-e-n home.
This “delightful” poem was written in 2005 when I was just going through my post-partum phase after the birth of my first child. The poem will be butchered and critiqued because it, like its meaning, may not fit a pre-conceived mold of writing or being. However, the poem has always held great, powerful meaning to me and to those who have read it. We try to push ourselves to what society conceives as beautiful. Author Margaret Wolfe Hungerford said in her book Molly Bawn “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” which continues to ring true today.
If we are trained from infancy to see things, people, and places, in a beautiful light then that is the beauty the world can continue to aspire to achieve. Unfortunately, society places twisted norms on the fragile psyche of our children, and we as parents have to push those “norms” if only to protect our children from bullying and rejection. We can tell them to “never judge a book by its cover,” another idiom coined by George Eliot, or tell our daughter’s to date the “nerd” because he’ll be someone’s boss one day, but it wouldn’t change a thing. Society, the media, and print have a pretty tight grip on what should be considered “perfect” and “beautiful,” so we don’t stand a chance.
Desperate times, call for desperate measures. To make sure that my child can start off her life with a positive mind and body vibes, I start by asking her about how she feels about herself, and we skim the World Wide Web for anything that relates to the best of her. We make sure to commit to better who we are by following the simple steps of “me,” as seen in Psychology Today. How about feeling great about yourself, but you just need a little pick me up for the holidays or one of those crazy stressful days? I found a great article by fellow Odyssey writer Jennifer Lam titled 10 Internet Places To Make You Feel Better. This article makes me smile just skimming through it because she found the greatest websites to help ease the stress and worries of the day.
Different people come in different shapes and sizes. We weren’t all built or born the same, and that’s because we weren’t supposed to be. The world is full of colorful personalities. The best place to start realizing an unjudging society is from birth. If we help our children grow versus allowing the media and social media to do it for us, then we might be able to start a trend and change the world. There is no point in trying to fit into a painful mold. We are only trying to squeeze into a broken home.