Cape Karen
I have spent the last two weeks trying to create 'a sanctuary' in my bedroom. What in the world does that mean, you might wonder? Well, it means that Karen is dragging out the paint, rollers, brushes, drop cloths, and ladder and doing her 'decorating thing' again. It means that I'm trying to accept the things I cannot change (where I'm living) and change the things I can. . . (what I'm living with.) This time around, it means a new bedspread, new drapes, and a new paint color on the walls and some of the furniture. It means a lot of fun, (for me) even if a lot of work.
I think growing up in a house where no one cared about such things, not even one iota, left its mark on me. My parents had the same delapitated, stinky old couch for 40 years, and I never saw either of them lift a finger to improve their lives, or their environment. If my father hadn't burnt-up the chairs he sat in, by dropping lit cigarettes down into the cushions, they would never have bought new ones. The mattress on my old twin bed had a huge lump in it from years of use - an indent that I used to try to stuff with a towel - and so, to this day, I'm super-fussy about mattresses. Nope. . . the house I grew up in was never a home. It was just a place to land. . . and not softly, either.
Therefore, from the day I moved out of the family pit-hole, and had a place where I could express my own style and discover my 'flare' for decorating, there has been no stopping me. I really should have become an interior decorator, instead of bothering to earn two college degrees. But, those psychology degrees did enable me to realize that the root of the obsession I have about my living space is due to my desire to create a "home" - a haven - a nest, for myself and my loved ones. . . the pretty, safe "nest" I never had.
Yup. I'm very sensitive to my environment ~ and very attuned to my surroundings ~ probably a bit more so than many people tend to be. It can be both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because I truly enjoy taking a plain room and transforming it with color, fabrics and furnishings. A curse because I tire of it easily, and frequently want to change it. But, I am also a New Englander of the "waste not, want not" directive, so I will live with what I have for years, just changing it with paint, stain or fabric. . . instead of buying something new.
Sometimes, I really amaze myself at what I can do with what I have on hand. This room is small, so I decided that having both the bureau and the bookcase taking up the limited space was too much for the room. But, instead of giving up one or the other, because both were great storage areas, I simply upended the bookcase, positioned it on top of the bureau, and tra-la ~ I created a beautiful hutch for half the space. How cool is that?!
I've truly enjoyed creating my 'sanctuary.' Now that it's almost finished, I will have to take a look around and see what else needs "tweaking." I think it's time for the bathroom walls to get a new color. . . and some new wallpaper, for sure!
Oh, and there's another great thing about doing all this redecorating - it forces me to dig into the always present clutter ~ sort, toss, give away. . . to help me to get more organized.
Goodwill, here I come again.
And the beat goes on. . . .
Misery makes money.
The latest misery moneymaking scheme comes endorsed by Oprah and is from her friend, neighbor and personal fitness guru, Bob Greene. It is yet another “catchy” fitness/diet program. This one is called, “The Best Life Diet.” (Hey! I thought Oprah didn’t believe in “dieting?”)
This one comes complete with a new website, a dieter’s Best Life cookbook (to add to the unread pile) and even some Best Life exercise videos to dust-off once a month. But, worst of all – lots of everyday foods, like Cheerios, that have been around for generations, can now be found on your grocery store shelves featuring Bob Greene’s smiling face and a little “Best Life” sticker. It’s a marketer’s dream-scheme! They’ll sell more Cheerios, now that they are on Bob’s “approved” list, and he’ll clean up. (Does he profit by having his photo on the boxes? Of course he does ~ with every box sold!)
This is all about Bob making more money, (thanks to Oprah’s public endorsements) and maybe it's even a teeny-tiny bit about encouraging people to get thinner and/or healthier. But, let’s face it, without a nutritionist, a trainer, or a life coach - and unless some serious health problems are motivating them, most obese people aren’t going to wake up one day, see Bob Greene’s face on a box of frozen spinach, and suddenly decide to lose hundreds of pounds. The sad thing is, millions of overweight people will buy this Oprah-endorsed cookbook and the foods plastered with his new label, and some might even go so far as to buy his workout videos, in a motivated moment; but few will really change their diet long-term, change their lifestyle and start exercising or lose any significant weight. (The only immediate weight loss will come from the lightening of their wallets.)
Yep. I think this commercialization of good health is getting a bit carried way. Like today, when I saw “Omega 3 Orange Juice” ~ now that just sounds ‘fishy’ to me! And, I can’t imagine what it tastes like? (According to one nutritionist, there isn’t enough Omega 3 in there to make even one little fingernail stronger. They’ll say anything on their packaging to make a buck these days.) Marketing moguls and their money-sucking vampires are always trying to tap into what they perceive as our misery. Every day we are assaulted with products that don’t work and volumes of false advertising. So, what’s a person to do?
Well, I’m all for heavy people shedding unwanted pounds, and for us older people to think about clearing our arteries, but we sure don’t need Bob Greene, or anyone else, selling us “their” products in order for us to do it. Our misery shouldn’t be their ‘ticket to ride.’ That’s called “exploitation” in my book, and I’m sick of it. I have a brain. I know that whole wheat bread is better for me than white bread. I don’t need a skinny, smiling face, or a silly sticker on the package, to tell me what’s good for me and what’s not.
So, as for me, I’m just not going to by a box of Cheerios with a “Best Life” sticker on it, or anything in the grocery store that has a smirking, smiling face staring out at me.
I've made the connection. . . .
With a roll of the calendar and a tick of the clock, 2007 has begun. What new, audacious events will occur in Washington, D.C. this year? How will the weather treat us? Will we begin to see improvements in our country and around the world, or will we just continue the downhill slide? Will we see a military draft established again? Will global warming slap us upside the head in some new way, or will we just forget all about it? Will this be the year we find a cure for cancer? Will we discover life on another planet? What will 2007 bring?
We all know that New Year resolutions are a joke - that few of us succeed with our lofty promises to ourselves. Even though the clean slate of a new calendar year does compell us to think that we can change behaviors or break long-standing habits, it's usually the same old, same old in the long run. But, we can always resolve to try.
I'd like to see a lot of changes in 2007. I'd like to see us get the heck out of harm's way in Iraq. That this war was a mistake from the start is just putting it mildly. Now, our frightful Commander-In-Chief wants a new "surge" of boys and girls to patriotically agree to the real possibility of giving up their young lives, just to perpetuate his stubborn refusal to admit obvious defeat. He is an island unto himself in this matter. I'm utterly amazed at the national apathy that is allowing his ridiculous agenda to continue. Perhaps, only a military draft would get our juices flowing again, and create a groundswell of real protest, even from the people who put him in office? (Good morning, Vietnam!")
I'd like to see the EPA enact more stringent restrictions on the burning of fossil fuels, and see them stop protecting big oil and big business. I do worry about the drowning polar bears and the starving penquins, but I'm more concerned about our planet's entire future.
I'd like to see the flow of illegal aliens, who are still sneaking into our country by the thousands daily, stopped. Perhaps we'll have to accept and legalize those who are already here, but to allow this onslaught to continue, unabated, is to court eventual disaster - on so many levels.
I'd like to see the CEO's, who are fired and then still receiving $230 million-a-year pensions, be required to give a percentage of that pay-off money to worthwhile charitable organizations. I'd like to see the minimum wage lifted to a reasonable amount - like $15.00 an hour - and then have it increase every year; enough to keep up with the cost of living.
I'd like to see a National health care plan put into effect that would insure all (legal) Americans - one that would offer affordable, or even free, medical care to those who truly need it. At the very least, I'd like to see the millions of dollars the drug companies are spending every day on television ads put, instead, into cancer research.
I'd like to see the whole inffectual Department of Homeland Security disbanded and revamped with more capable leadership, and see Michael Chertoff fired ~ without receiving millions-of-dollars-a-year for his "retirement fund."
And I'd like to see pigs fly.
Happy New Year!