BlogHer - New Year's Resolution - Comments

hmmm

Denise — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:43:04 -0600

I always have a stomach flu or morning sickness on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Always. It's like a horrible hangover without the alcohol or the partying.

Hmmm maybe I should take this as a sign, too. I'll think about that. You might be right.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings

Recycled wisdom from the Depression

Sara Davis — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 22:26:37 -0600

I heard this quote from someone's Grandmother as the family mantra from the Great Depression onward:

"Use it up, wear it out, pay with cash or do without"

Although not "green" in it's original intention, as we try to live our "green lifestyle" which has involved leaving the corporate world to make a living ranching, I find that the motto means that we are making sure we waste less, buy less and tend to buy re-used (Goodwill, etc.).

That's had waaaay more green impact in our lives than all the green-washing we see in many commercial products.

Sara Faivre-Davis

downtoearthblog.com and wildtyperanch.com

Great post

Judith — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 15:53:06 -0600

Judith
http://judithsdivorceblog.blogspot.com
Really enjoyed this. We broke with tradition this year by visitng India and leaving behind all the consumerist paraphernalia of Christmas. In doing so we became steeped in a country and culture with its own deeply rooted traditions and somewhere along the way I'm still trying to get it all sorted in my mind. For the time being I've contented myself with blogging about my travels albeit themed to coincide with my divorce blog.

Sephora...You have got to be kidding me? Diet lip-gloss?

Catherine Morgan — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 18:56:11 -0600

Sephora is clearly taking advantage of women's insecurities over body image for profit...and they should be ashamed of themselves.

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
also at CatherineBlogs.com and The Political Voices of Women

patronizing, indeed

5resolutions — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 18:54:11 -0600

And also completely irresponsible, considering their customer base. As Alyssa pointed out, so many women struggle or have struggled with disordered eating and poor body image. I also wonder how many teens got that email. I believe it went out to everyone who is part of the Sephora Beauty Insider program, which is open to any customer who gives them an email address.

5 Resolutions to Transform the Fashion and Beauty Industries

I'm so glad you wrote to them

5resolutions — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 18:27:28 -0600

I also sent them a letter (as soon as I picked my jaw up from off the floor!). I can't believe how off the mark they were with that email. I hope others call them on it, too.

5 Resolutions to Transform the Fashion and Beauty Industries

Here's my note to Sephora

alyssaroyse — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 18:10:21 -0600

Slenderizing lip gloss? Are you kidding me? As someone who has spent loads of money in your store, I have always been pleased with the artistry and whimsy behind your beauty messaging. But to receive an email this morning that I can and should lose weight (a dangerous message to MANY women, and probably a large portion of your constituency,) and that I can and should do it with LIP GLOSS is so shallow and insulting that I can hardly fathom it.

Beauty cannot be about body shape alone. It is not healthy to our minds, souls or bodies to perpetuate that myth. Shame on you.

If you want to promote a fruity lip gloss, you should have had a resolution like "Eat More Fruit, it's healthy for that hot bod of yours. But when you can't grab an apple, grab a tube of...."

As someone with an amply rewarded career in PR and Marketing, who left it to make a difference in the world, I am perpetually stunned that companies such as yours make these rookie mistakes.

If nothing else, you'll get more customers by making them feel GOOD about themselves, not worse. Honey, not vinegar.

I look forward to seeing how you rectify this terrible messaging. Yes, losing weight is a common New Years Resolution, but there are a lot of skinny people who are going to unhealthy measures to be skinnier because people like you - the authority on beauty - are telling them they need to.

Please become part of the chorus encouraging health and happiness. Try again.
___________
Alyssa Royse
JUST CAUSE
make some good news!
www.JustCauseIt.com

I cannot believe that Claire

Lisa Stone — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 17:51:13 -0600

It's so patronizing! I just finished a survey of women writing about new year's resolutions and this is definitely counter to thwe way we want to treat each other and to be treated...

Great list, thank you.

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder
Surfette

Our 5 Resolutions

5resolutions — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 17:12:18 -0600

Thanks for this great post. Our blog is about making resolutions to promote healthy beauty. It's amazing to me how omnipresent these weight loss messages are, and at this time of year, the pressure is off the charts. Just this morning, I got a "Top 7 Beauty Resolutions" email from Sephora, telling me that one of my resolutions should be to lose weight...with lip gloss! If diet lip gloss isn't a wake-up call, I don't know what is.

Claire
5 Resolutions to Transform the Fashion and Beauty Industries

Body Image

drjon — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 16:20:04 -0600

I was fascinated to read these comments on this blog!

I have to admit up front that I am neither a female nor overweight. However, as a Massage Therapist who does lots of emotional release work and as a teacher of Massage Therapists (90+% of whom are females) I work VERY HARD at convincing my student/therapist/friends that their body does not define them. Rather, their heart, their personhood, their ability to accept and love themselves, their ability to connect with their clients is what makes them real and beautiful and feminine. As one of you said above, while we all probably could stand to lose some weight (I recently lost 10# and 20" of extra weight/girth) we (even we guys) need to get past the cultural image making and manipulation and see ourselves as who we are: spirit, emotion, human, connecting, loving, helping.

As the doctor I understand there are physical issues with weight and that most weight loss programs don't start with the main issue which is ridding of toxins that hold fat. I can go there and talk about that. However, what is inside is still the most important.

Keep up the encouragement for each other found here!!

Blessings,

Dr Jon
The Renegade Doctor, The Medical Heretic
To Thine Own Self Be True!
http://www.beingwork.com
http://www.threebrothersbooks.com
http://www.goodheartgroupinc.com/blog

so true

alyssaroyse — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 23:16:09 -0600

she is wonderful, thanks. she came out that way. my husband and i joke that all we really have to do is NOT mess her up.

but i also believe that we are profoundly shaped by the energy of those in our lives. I started choosing the people in my life more carefully once i had a daughter, because i didn't want negative influences in her life. But i can't help but wonder why i didn't do it sooner, just for me.

now i do. i realize that the energy of people in my life informs my world, we all become like our environment, and are therefor responsible for creating the kind of environment we actually want to be in, be like. it's not always easy, i know that. but i want to be like my daughter, so i spend time with her..... i don't want to be negative and crabby and manipulative and materialistic, so i don't spend time with people who are like that....

man, being a mother has taught me so much. (i hope i'm doing as much for her!)

glad you like TinkerTank. We love it..... now what do with it next!

Happy New Year!
___________
Alyssa Royse
JUST CAUSE
make some good news!
www.JustCauseIt.com

Your daughter stabilized you ...

Nordette — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 12:09:17 -0600

It's always a joy to have a child who's naturally optimistic. I believe that everyone in our lives is a teacher if we let them be. Children especially seem to teach us more often than we give them credit. Your daughter sounds like a very special child.

TinkerTank is great! :-)

Nordette Adams is a Contributing Editor with BlogHer.org.

Babz, you are a marvel.

Nordette — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 12:01:50 -0600

I don't operate from a place of "we don't have" or "we have lost so much" but from a place of "we are all in this together and together we can dream our biggest dreams" This seems to work--I see it.

I agree, traditions are whatever you want them to be.

Nordette Adams is a Contributing Editor with BlogHer.org.

Traditions are whatever you want them to be

Lovebabz — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 09:08:14 -0600

We have a handful of things we do. We put up the tree the day after Thanksgiving. We collect Black Santas--so we all go out and purchase a new one every year and a few other things we do each year. And we celebrate Kwanzaa--not all the days, we pick one day during or we wait until the end and have a feast with a few friends. This seems to be easy and a lot of fun. My husband left us just before I was sentenced to federal prison. On top of that I had to go to federal prison camp to serve my time so I was away from my children. We enrolled them in a new school this past September on top of all of this. Did I mention I have 4 kids--all adopted- each with their own story of abuse and neglect. The traditions we have created, are rooted in simplicity. Small things that we all look forward to. Anything is possible. Love, a full heart and true gratitude for this life drives my ability to create for all of us a sense of family intact and optimism. Celebrating with good food, lots of music and extended family and friends--a true village.
I don't operate from a place of "we don't have" or "we have lost so much" but from a place of "we are all in this together and together we can dream our biggest dreams" This seems to work--I see it.

Love,
Babz
www.lovebabz.blogspot.com

New traditions

alyssaroyse — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 00:41:51 -0600

My childhood was, to say the least, very turbulent. By the time i (barely) graduated high-school, I had seen my mother through the end of her third marriage, been to 3 elementary schools, 3 junior highs, and 3 high schools. I'm not sure how many houses I had lived in, but, suffice it to say, there were virtually no traditions in my life.

Somewhere in the bedlam, I grew VERY cynical about all of the holidays. I'll spare you the various manipulations that birthed that cynicism, but by the time my daughter was old enough to notice the holidays, I had forgotten what they were.... Or blanked them out.

But, my daughter is a sun beam. She was going to deck the halls and be merry, no matter what. So she pretty much created traditions and rituals for us. We must do a Gingerbread house, make stockings for everyone who so much as enters our house during the season, listen to certain songs, wear certain clothes.... She just dove in and created traditions. She is joyous from the start of the season right through packing it up and waiting for next year. Or just the next holiday. And it's been amazing. She gave me the holidays that I always wanted, but never had as a kid. So we follow her lead and just go in.

When she stopped believing in Santa, she looked at me and said, "it's okay mommy, it's the spirit that counts."

So, in true confessions..... it was with and for her that I created TinkerTank .... She wanted to create a holiday world that kept the myth alive - for those who believe and those who don't. We wanted to create a world in which the spirit of each holiday lived in the souls of people who looked just like us. A place that parents and children could explore myths and magic, find true meaning. Create stories that work in the real world... We'll keep adding to it, for all of us that can use a good metaphor and parable to make sense of things.

My daughter gave me the kind of stability that I never had. I spent most of my life scoffing at ritual and tradition, and now I understand it. And that it's never too late. Designing that Gingerbread house each year is not only creating a memory, but literally creating the home that our souls grow in...

___________
Alyssa Royse
JUST CAUSE
make some good news!
www.JustCauseIt.com