Because I Can… the random thoughts of Marc Scott

Do you suppose, if one were to reflect back, we could pinpoint a moment in time when we stopped looking good enough?

I understand that each of us have things about ourselves we’d love to improve.  I mean, I’ve often joked that when you look at me in profile I resemble a monkey.  Most recently, noticing the signs and symptoms of a metabolism shift, likely a product my age, I’ve had to step up my workouts to maintain some semblance of a respectable figure.

Those things are natural thoughts and feelings for each of us.  That doesn’t mean that we’re all going to go Michael Jackson and make ourselves unrecognizable with plastic surgery.

When did Photoshop takeover the world?  I guess that is what I really want to know.  Why do we insist on what really amounts to an alternate reality?  You can’t look at a picture in a magazine in today’s society without questioning if it’s fake.  Everything is too perfect.  Too polished.  Too smooth. 

Why?  Why are we so uncomfortable with ourselves?  Where does this quest for perfection come from?  What’s it’s root?  What’s wrong with a blemish?  Zits are a part of growing up.  We all had them!  Why are we afraid of them?  Freckles are not the end of the world, they’re part of your uniqueness as an individual.  A mole adds character, just ask Marilyn Monroe or Cindy Crawford!

Individual.  That really says it all when you think about it.  You are you.  I am me.  There is no other you.  There is no other me.  So why do we obsess about looking the same?  Why do we starve ourselves to look like that model?  Why do we have surgery to resemble that celebrity?  Why can’t we buy a pair of pants until we know if they’ll be accepted by our friends or if they’re endorsed by somebody famous?

I read an article about Kelly Clarkson last night on my show that got me thinking about this.  In the article she is discussing her new CD cover and she offers this quote…

“It’s very colorful and they have definitely Photoshopped the crap out of me, but I don’t care!  Ha ha!  Whoever she is, she looks great!”

So this is what it’s come to?  We are so obsessed with the idea of perfection, or at least one persons perception of perfection, that we are willing to sacrifice they very essence of ourselves… our uniqueness?

Kelly Clarkson is a beautiful young lady.  She doesn’t need help.  She doesn’t need Photoshop.  She doesn’t need a graphic designer or magazine editor to make her better.  She is already the best version of herself because she is as God made her.

I like to dabble in photography just for fun.  I am far from a photographer, but I do enjoy heading out with my camera and capturing images that appeal to me.  The interesting thing about a hobby such as photography is the appeal.

I can snap “the perfect picture” of a flower and be so proud of it.  I’ll take it home, put it on my computer, pass it around to some friends, and feel such pride for this one of a kind photograph.  But then something interesting happens.

While a friend is looking through an album of my photography an entirely different image speaks to them.  An image that I may have thought was OK completely draws them in and captivates them.

We are all familiar with the cliche that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”.  The thing is, it’s so true.  You can’t argue with the logic.  What one finds beautiful could be entirely different than what another does.  That is what makes protecting our identity and uniqueness even more important!

I am not Brad Pitt.  I accepted this little fact a long time ago.  But you know what?  That’s ok, because, I am me!  I have a lot to offer this world that has little to do with my looks.  The good news is, you do too!  That is why the most important thing you can do daily to combat the overwhelming messages of culture and society is this… look at yourself!  I’m not talking about your reflection though!  When you look at yourself, look deeper, until you really see yourself!