Curves and Gap-Teeth.

The aroma of cinnamon and sugar wafted from the oven as I piled a batch of freshly-baked oatmeal cookies onto a plate and placed it on the kitchen table. As we chewed, laptop centered between the three of us, we began to browse the internet.

We decided to check up on the latest posts on one of my favorite blogs, The Sartorialist, which depicts street style. I scrolled down a bit to find a post that featured a new fashion blogger Scott Schuman had met in Milan. She was beautiful--simply dressed, and completed her look with a pair of chunky royal blue heels. What was most exciting for Scott was the fact that she was a "curvy" girl who challenged the waif-like model image that has been established for the fashion blogging genre. He additionally complimented her seasoned ability to dress for her body. Followers of the blog flooded the comment section in outrage. How could Schuman say this girl was "curvy" when she was clearly of a "normal" size? Immediately an update was attached to the post apologizing to anyone who was insulted by the blogger's word use. But Scott didn't leave it at that. He challenged his audience by leaving them with an extremely valid thought : "So help me understand; what is the modern way to speak about size? [...] Let's not hide from this issue; I don't want to be afraid to talk about it on my blog. Help me describe this young lady without using the word "normal," but in a way that addresses her body size and still references my point about the size of her legs relative to her shoes". This brings me to another point. Are body-adjectives really necessary? I truly believe that there could never be a system of categorization that would escape insult in someone's books. A woman who is a size 6 could be described as both "slender" and "curvy" depending on who she is being compared to. And in this lies the point. All of the adjectives we have conjured up in society that categorize the human body only function when they have something to be compared to. Bodily juxtapositions are unhealthy and truly only lead to feelings of inefficiency within oneself.

As we finished up the plate of cookies our conversation expanded to the larger scope of the current trends in the media. I expressed my personal excitement over the glimmer of variance in body and beauty representation we are beginning to see. Individuals such as plus-size model Crystal Renn (an absolute personal favorite, read the book Hungry if you haven't already), and gap-toothed model Vanessa Paradis, the current face of Chanel are helping to change what is defined as "beautiful" within our society.

What's perfect about this growing trend of individuality is its timing. Once upon a time the media gave us trends. Now we control them. Grassroots --especially bloggers are responsible for the change we will and already see in the trends. What is defined as "beautiful" in society will be according to what we believe it is. So begin to believe that something unordinary about yourself is beautiful, because it is no longer in the hands of something bigger than us. It is us.

Beauty as I see it [Part 3]

Beauty in Not Taking Life Too Seriously:

The Struggle.

I wanted to discuss something that is eating away at many of us, including me, on a daily basis. It is a topic that is rarely breeched and therefore has become a silent ego-deteriorator, living under the surface of our skin. Yesterday I tried on a couple of dresses. Being fairly tall and a medium/large build, I have battled with loving my body for quite a long time. It doesn't help that I live in a country where the average height for women is 5'4"...significantly shorter and consequentially smaller than me. As I struggled with the first dress shifting it over my bust and immediately wiggling my hips out of it, I felt my confidence whither. The remainder of the day was spent looking into every mirrored-surface inspecting my "chubby upper arms" and "bloated belly". I would be a liar if I tried to remove myself from the majority of young adults who scrutinize their body parts for not being "perfect". But as I have mentioned before, what is perfect? Why do we all constantly strive to reach this non-existent goal, ignoring most of life around us while we do so?

I woke up this morning with the remainders of self-hatred from the day before. However, instead of continuing the animosity, I reminded myself that scrutiny leads us nowhere. Although I know this affirmation to be true, I also am aware of how often I forget it. We are creatures of habit and therefore must be reminded and reminded until the desired result becomes fluidly integrated into our daily lives.

I have promised myself that, from now on, my body's perfection will no longer be the main topic of inner concern. There are much more important things in life.

Love what you got.

Throughout history, the idea of a "perfect body" has fluctuated as frequently as the technology for music develops. The body has developed from flat flappers in the 1920's to the hourglass 50's, and finally whittling away to the rail thin trend of today. Meaning a trendy 90-year old woman would essentially resemble a pile of exhausted body-goop by 2011. Why do we all insist in following the trends? Is it beautiful for us all to look alike? The concept of "Thinking thin" may be scattered all over the pages of the media, but this should not be a mental note to oneself to starve until one's curves erode away to nothing. I'm not suggesting that naturally thin girls shouldn't be themselves, however, I am suggesting that everyone embrace what their mama gave them. Maybe you were meant to have the healthy build of the 50's or the boyish figure of the 20's. Forget about "losing those last 5 pounds" or "going to the gym to bulk up". Go out for a walk and enjoy the fragrance of nature. Laugh with friends over a good cappuccino. And although the majority of the population today choose to listen to music through MP3 technology over retro mediums, there are still those few who choose to listen to CDs, which still work just as well. Take a moment to think about how it would be to go against the trend of MP3 and enjoy your old CD collection--rediscovering songs you used to love. Rediscover your body; the fact that our legs enable us to walk, our hands to hold things. Love your body shape the way it is, regardless if you're rail thin or voluptuous, muscular or a lanky build. I imagine if we all walked around looking the like identical prints of each other our lives would be quite boring.

Beauty as I see it [part 2]

Beauty in Friendship:

Beauty as I see it.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and beauty also lies in every thing. I believe that we must work to see the beauty that exists around us. Part of the reason why I enjoy photography is that it has given me the opportunity to capture the segments of life I think are most beautiful.

Beauty in Difference:

Eating Guidelines

I'm a strong believer in eating what you want when you want. Through all of the smog and clouds of diet information and trends, there have been valuable tidbits that suggest we should simply just enjoy our food. This idea is referenced in books such as French Women Don't Get Fat, and Women Food and God. Battling with diets and ways of thinking about food for years, I have recently adopted the idea of simple eating. Lamenting over calories gets you nowhere. If you listen close enough, your body tells you exactly what it wants. Believe it or not, there are times when I crave broccoli. Of course I must eat chocolate, but you'd be surprised how much less this desire occurs.

Geneen Roth's book Women Food and God suggests, in my opinion, one of the most practical guides to detoxifying the diet madness we have all become slaves to:

1.Eat when you're hungry

2.Eat sitting down in a calm environment

3.Eat without distractions. i.e. radio, tv, newspapers, books, magazines, anxiety-producing conversation, or music

4.Eat what your body wants

5.Eat until you are satisfied

6.Eat (with the intention of being) in full view of others

7.Eat with enjoyment, gusto and pleasure.

A new way of thinking.

I would like to simplify the way we think about food, our bodies, and living.

In the year of 2011 we are over-informed about how we can best achieve healthy long lives by turning to novel medicines, diet techniques, and fad exercises. The obsession with what and how we eat has inflated to unhealthy proportions and has in fact counteracted what it was initially established to do. We all have an innate ability which enables us to crave the foods which we individually need, as well as letting us know how and when to exert energy--the essentials to health. These internal signals are unfortunately drowned out by the over saturation of mass produced information spoon fed to work for all.

It is imperative that we revert to a healthier way of thinking. By sifting through the "media clutter" we will be able to live happier, simpler lives. Who said that eating and taking care of our bodies has to be mundane?