Quotations Sunday: Perceived Perfection

I observed a face book status yesterday evening, addressing the images of girls on weheartit and their ability to "depress" us inferior females. If you are not familiar with this website packed with a mixture of beautiful yet  ridiculously idealistic pictures of all things gorgeous in life, be warned that before you type in the URL, make sure to conjure a sufficiently high self -esteem.

The reason I entitled this Quotations Sunday "Perceived Perfection" is because I think we all have this idea that the grass is always greener on the other side or that other people are more perfect than us. (By Perfect, I'm referring to "traditional perfection", the complete and utter illusion which humans have created during their time here) And what's funny is that we use the word all the time, have a clear image of what the perfect legs, hair, personality etc are and yet there is no such thing as perfection as we know it. Nobody can be traditionally perfect every second of every day. 

Who takes these pictures????

And yes, on first glance, the ignorant depression kicks in as we look and realise they are counted as more perfect/ more attractive than you or me. However we must revert back to our wise quote which states that the reason we feel these insecurities when we see models in magazines and online is because we've seen ourselves at our "worst". We've seen ourselves after eating 4 bags of M&M's, in Penney's Christmas pyjamas with greasy hair and plonked in front of the TV. We've never seen these models at their worst or anywhere near it. We've only seen their "highlight reels" yet we illogically compare our "behind the scenes" if you will to their best takes. Why do our we do this? 

Even more so, we can't trust everything the media shows us. Their aim is to sell, its a business and therefore has no emotions or conscience. It doesn't care how insecure you become once you buy that yellow bikini, fake tan or those jeans. So why try and please something so emotionless? Don't lose your intelligence which you were born with to fall for their tricks including photo shop, lighting and other technological facilities I don't understand! You were born to question things, its something buried in all of us so let's question perfection as its perceived in our minds. If you ponder a little bit you'll discover that the only reason you want a flat stomach or a six pack is because someone else told you it was good, it was liked, it was perfect. What's even more important to discover is that you wouldn't be a fraction as insecure if you saw the behind the scenes of all the perfect people out there, if their photographs were taken using a crappy phone quality camera and if it wasn't ingrained in you that there was an image and characteristics to perfection and that only a select few can possess them.

All in all,  I hope you can realise that being a perfectionist will only lead to unhappiness and take away from the beauty of life. I really don't know why human beings decided to introduce the idea of perfection into the world and its brain. I doubt animals or plants know of it. However, if it was composed by people, it can be destroyed by people. Let's start with ourselves, accept that the media will never allow you to be perfect on its terms, it'll keep changing and besides wouldn't it genuinely be boring to be perfect? I mean really think about it.......I wouldn't pick it.

"The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection.

George Orwell "

So cheer up, you are beautiful! And before you dismiss this statement, think about where the denial is coming from. When you find the source(s) you will realize that they're pretty stupid!

                              Love,

                                                                                Rachel!=)

Quotations Sunday: The Idea of Society

Random, nameless girl?
This quote was a realisation for me, not a group of words with which I connected with but a sentence that made me think about what I mean when I use the term "society" flippantly when I talk, what we all mean. Because its very easy isn't it? When we have a problem with the workings of the world we explain it by saying "society tells us...", "a product of society", "you're not ugly, society is" etc. I've said it many times in my blog posts and I'll mention the word in many more but when you come to think about it, what is society?

Society is us. Yes you. No matter who you are reading this you are making up the collective term given to the world's population, the different groups of people filling the earth. So when we call society ugly, pressurising and messed up we often refer to it as a seperate entity to which we have no control over. This is totally false. You are as equal a member as any other in this immense and diverse club and so you have the power to change its rules and traditions as much as anyone can. It kind of ties in with this amazing quote:
"Be the change you want to see in the world"
Its easier said than done though, isn't it? We all know what we hate about the world and we all know the type of person we'd love to meet but we don't connect that we can play a role in changing this. If you don't like negativity or bitching then you can shorten its lease in the world by ceasing to partake in it. The media and society are often interlinked so if you feel "society" is ugly because beauty in its eyes is a size zero then the only contribution you can make is to never mock someone for being overweight, or never whine about not being the smallest size, stop liking pictures on tumblr which read "I need to get skinny for summer". Do you see what I mean? There are a billion other examples of course. The change you want to see is peanut butter eradicated? Stop eating it.

Addressing the second quote, (Holy Moly another quote within a quote post, this is like inception!) I feel the change you might want to see in the world applies with people too. You want to meet someone who's a great listener? Become one. You want to meet someone who is patient with you and kind? Be that person to someone else. Its important that we realise that we can't wait for other people to change the world for the better in our eyes. We have to take the first step. You don't have to arrive in as prince charming or God and fix everything that has ever been broken on the globe. You just have to try and follow your honest convictions everyday, if you fail one day just try again the next. Remember to fail better though (I'm integrating so many quotes into this post :P)

However instead of using this quote to beat yourself up or panic because you suddenly think you are the reason for wars, depression and bullying, think of it as an empowering post. Society is not one person or creature, it is you, it is me, it is all of us!  Hopefully you now know that you do not have to watch from the sidelines while a parade of society's products cruise by destroying the path. You can change the world today. You don't need a gun, a mind blowing speech or a license. Just do what is right no matter what.

What's your view on Society?
Love,Rachel!=)

Quotations Sunday: An Introduction

    Quotes are my source of Inspiration. I know they may be totally out of perspective in comparison to what's going on in my life but with most quotes I read I can relate them back to my circumstances and grow emotionally as another jigsaw puzzle fits into a place, another patch of fog is cleared. Often the ones that I am most inspired by are the simplest, and though I hate the word, 'common sense'. But when a thought or feeling is put into words so I can understand it, well that to me is a euphoric moment. I also find that I tend to connect with quotes which are logical(don't close your mind, I don't mean boring!) but I just think logically  I guess. I know zillions of quotes and almost always include them in deep conversations with friends, family, my dog, myself....
        So I've decided to do a series of posts on this blog where every Sunday I post a quote I love/ am inspired by and give my interpretation of it. I'm going to begin with my all time favourite quote. Its by the great Martin Luther King.

I read this quote from an 'Inspiring Quote' App on my phone when I was lying in a bed in a London B&B back in October. I can remember the moment that clearly. As basic as it is, I feel the way he put it and its logic just changed my life. Now that's slightly melodramatic but it genuinely has. It makes so much sense to me because obviously you can't get rid of the dark by adding more dark, you need light so obviously you can't get rid of hate just by adding more hate! You need love to do that. And when I looked back on all my experiences in life when I hated and was nasty to people who initiated that attitude towards me it just led to more and more hate and negativity being poured into the world. If you don't hate someone who hates you back it doesn't mean you're a fool. You don't have to approach them everyday and hug them, but if you do not hold resentment for them and treat them with love and respect regardless of how they treat you then you are happier internally and you are not fueling  the hatred fire for the world to burn in. I am proud to say that I don't hate anyone. I have certainly got a long way to go, and I don't think deeply enough about my words and actions towards other people yet and maybe I can't hold my tongue all the time when I'm in a bad mood but I genuinely don't. Its actually a very powerful thing to feel because unfortunately hate is normal in life and I don't understand that. Hate is terrible for the mind and soul(if you believe in souls of course) but regardless it impedes your life.
   
Let me know if this quote impacted on your life as much as it did mine;) and regardless I hope you like the idea of what I'm trying to do every Sunday! Any feedback on the blog so far would be much appreciated,
                                                             Love (and absolutely no hate!)
                                                                    Rachel!=)