My Inner Hippie vs. Mrs. America
Lately I've been doing some thinking. A lot of changing has gone on in my heart and I've been spending hours of thought in the kind of example I want to be for Summer. What kind of woman do I want to be?
I recently read this passage from a study bible talking about how Michelangelo spent years of his life creating the magnificence that is the Sistine Chapel. He would spend days suspended in the air with some bread and a portable urinal using miniature brushes to paint fine details on his cherubims and trees. Paint dripped into his eyes, his hands neck and back cramped from the work. Finally he completed a masterpiece and felt pleased. Breathtaking is hardly the word to describe his work on the Sistine Chapel. Now imagine a delinquent taking a can of spray paint to Michelangelo's creation.
I think that is a little like what we do to God's creation today. On the large scale, we give ourselves new breasts, plump up our lips and suck out a little bit of thigh. On the smaller scale, we cover our beautifully and perfectly made faces with "spray paint", shave our legs (the hair was put there for a reason) and dye our hair every color in the rainbow. We can't perfect on perfection, but we sure as hell try. Aren't we just destroying creation? Am I being extreme here? Part of me wants to embrace my inner hippie and start seeing things as beautiful just the way they are.
Then there's Mrs. America. Did you even know there was a Mrs. America pageant? Well there is. I've done some research and I secretly want to be Mrs. America. Actually, I REALLY want to be Mrs. America. I want to have my teeth whitened, get some invisalign done to perfect my smile, start ballet again to improve my posture and get me back into shape and maybe have some work done on the breasts. I'm ashamed to admit this, but I'm buying into the rules of our society. I really want to embrace my inner pageant queen, wear the beaded silk gown and earn that Mrs. America tiara while proudly claiming that my husband has fought for "world peace".
So which of my alter egos wins on this one? Is there a way for my inner hippie and my pageant princess to live in harmony? I feel like I have a shoulder angel (the hippie) and a shoulder devil (the tiara). One screams humility, peace, harmony; the other cries pride and selfishness. Can I be both? Can I be an earth loving, God fearing, barefoot, bare faced, all natural Mrs. America?
This world is so off balance. I am so off balance..
I recently read this passage from a study bible talking about how Michelangelo spent years of his life creating the magnificence that is the Sistine Chapel. He would spend days suspended in the air with some bread and a portable urinal using miniature brushes to paint fine details on his cherubims and trees. Paint dripped into his eyes, his hands neck and back cramped from the work. Finally he completed a masterpiece and felt pleased. Breathtaking is hardly the word to describe his work on the Sistine Chapel. Now imagine a delinquent taking a can of spray paint to Michelangelo's creation.
I think that is a little like what we do to God's creation today. On the large scale, we give ourselves new breasts, plump up our lips and suck out a little bit of thigh. On the smaller scale, we cover our beautifully and perfectly made faces with "spray paint", shave our legs (the hair was put there for a reason) and dye our hair every color in the rainbow. We can't perfect on perfection, but we sure as hell try. Aren't we just destroying creation? Am I being extreme here? Part of me wants to embrace my inner hippie and start seeing things as beautiful just the way they are.
Then there's Mrs. America. Did you even know there was a Mrs. America pageant? Well there is. I've done some research and I secretly want to be Mrs. America. Actually, I REALLY want to be Mrs. America. I want to have my teeth whitened, get some invisalign done to perfect my smile, start ballet again to improve my posture and get me back into shape and maybe have some work done on the breasts. I'm ashamed to admit this, but I'm buying into the rules of our society. I really want to embrace my inner pageant queen, wear the beaded silk gown and earn that Mrs. America tiara while proudly claiming that my husband has fought for "world peace".
So which of my alter egos wins on this one? Is there a way for my inner hippie and my pageant princess to live in harmony? I feel like I have a shoulder angel (the hippie) and a shoulder devil (the tiara). One screams humility, peace, harmony; the other cries pride and selfishness. Can I be both? Can I be an earth loving, God fearing, barefoot, bare faced, all natural Mrs. America?
This world is so off balance. I am so off balance..