Tuesday, June 19, 2012

The Truth Is...

For ages and ages society, religion, and civilization have repressed the feminine, leaving us with hardly any clue about what true feminine power entails.

Feminine power comes from being able to choose for ourselves rather than letting society choose for us. Choosing our own path with confidence and not feeling guilt or shame for wanting to be true to ourselves.

Comparing ourselves to men and wanting to imitate the image of what a powerful man is leads us to ignore our feelings.

At a very early age us women are stripped of our right to choose in order to become acceptable, presentable, and fit nicely into society.

A women who knows what she wants is usually called demanding. If she's interested in having financial security she is called a gold-digger. If a woman doesn't follow the rules of society she is called a bitch.

It's time for women to stop being victimized by society and be our own self.

The highest value of a human being is freedom and if we're looking for world peace all the women in the world have to become free to choose.

To be powerful women we do not have to condemn men. It does not have to be one or the other.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Connecting Through Technology: Real or Not?

I visited Urth Cafe over the weekend and as I was scanning my surroundings, I noticed that most of the single people present were completely engrossed with their gadgets, iPhones mostly.

The statement I receive from observing this behavior is, "Even though I'm here by myself, don't judge me as being a loner. I'm "connected" to the entire world through my gadget. I don't have to look at you, to notice, that you notice my loneliness."

It's strange to be connected but at the same time not be connected. Like the picture below, regardless of the type of relationship these two individuals have, they were more involved with their computer than with each other. They arrived together, they sat down with each other, but there was a wall made of laptops between them. They didn't look at each other, they didn't speak to each other, and the guy even had headphones on.

Are we going to let these devices that are supposed to connect us take away our opportunity to look around? Are we are going to let them tell us how to be?

Connecting through technology let us remain "safe" and not show our vulnerability to each other. If we don't want to communicate with someone we can just "delete" them and pretend they never happened.

All this technology, online social networking, and texting have become the fastfood of connection. They are readily available and satiate your hunger, however, its's fake, has zero nourishment, and very soon you'll be feeling empty again.

I hope that one day we get to the point where our differences are seen as beautiful and not as a threat, so that we can connect in a true way.



This TED Talk is great Sherry Turkle: Connected, but alone?

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Santa Monica, California - City of Shocking Fashion

A simple morning trip to Lazy Daisy and to RiteAid produced the pictures below. It appears to be that Walmart isn't the only place that is frequented by people who like making shocking fashion statements.

If you go to Macy's right now, it is difficult to find a chic, elegant, simple, outfit for a person who wants to look well put together without sending a bold statement. Manufacturer's shape the way society dresses. I recently observed many clothing items that are age inappropriate. Manufacturer's make clothes for children that look like they belong on a young adult, and they make clothes for older women that look like they belong on a teenager.

Every designer has his or her own touch for presenting their design, color, and texture to the world.  Designers don't only make clothes; they actually distribute a point-of-view. Each design has a message and ALL fashion makes a statement.

Fashion signals the time that we are living in and what is happening around us. The way we dress sends messages about our lifestyle, our problems, our insecurities, even our level of anxiety. It talks about obesity, it talks about wanting to blend in the crowd or attempting to standout, it even talks about our political views. It can also sends a message about our state of mind regarding richness; meaning richness of the soul and how capable we consider ourselves.

Today's predominant message of fashion is, "I don't care what people think about me." This is a blatant statement of denial. It says, "I don't matter so I cannot make a fashion statement; I cannot make a statement about me; I cannot get the attention I desire; I cannot make an impact on people; I am invisible; I cannot be as beautiful as I want to be so I just won't try."

"I don't care what people think about me" is a statement of self-negligence. It is not a statement of self-confidence and it is actually far from it.




 He had a white feather on his top-hat and a long feather as an earring.
His outfit is saying to me, "I am different than the rest of the people, but I am clueless about fashion."

This lady is wearing her sports-bra on top of her gym shirt.
Her selection in layering order is saying to me, "I don't care about anyone else, and I definitely don't care about myself."

It takes effort and discipline to look presentable and the amount of effort you put into the way you look always shows.