Monday, June 20, 2011

Writing Challenge #5

You Know by Jen Louden

Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

We live in a society of advice columns, experts and make-over shows. Without even knowing it, you can begin to believe someone knows better than you how to live your life. Someone might know a particular something better – like how to bake a three-layer molten coconut chocolate cake or how to build a website – but nobody else on the planet knows how to live your life better than you. (Although one or two people may think they do.) For today, trying asking yourself often, especially before you make a choice, “What do I know about this?”

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Ok, it is seriously taking me forever to formulate a response. I think that I addressed this idea not too long ago. Maybe not quite with the same question, but I have always rejected the notion of advice columns, experts, and make-over shows. I dislike the fashion industry, and abhor magazines that depict models encouraging the masses to look and dress a certain way. It is all a means for more money to be spent on things that will be discarded in a matter of months if not weeks for the next best thing.
When it comes to advice columns they are just recycled garbage. No two people are alike and you shouldn't treat them as so. One way to deal with people will not work with the next. Stand firm in who you are, be a good person, give and require respect. All the games and bs will eventually fall by the wayside. Tough? Yes. Idealistic? Absolutely. Possible? I am a work in progress.
Whenever I read something that is trying to convince me of something to buy, change about myself, or apply to my life to 'make it all better' I stop and reflect.

What a great question to ask yourself. I like how the author phrased the question.

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