Mark Twain's 176TH Birthday today!

 I really love to read and write.
Mark Twain is not my favorite Writer, but I enjoy his works and his witty literature.
I enjoy some of his poetry and I really like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.


This post doesn't have much to do with beauty, but beauty and humor can be found in literature.
It is a joy to laugh, I think it is one of life's best medicines.

Here is the Google Doodle honoring Mark Twain via Youtube and a Washington Post article on it's origins;http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/comic-riffs/post/mark-twain-google-doodle-panoramic-tom-sawyer-logo-colorfully-celebrates-legendary-clemens/2011/11/30/gIQAfD1eBO_blog

Wikipedia Info. on Mark Twain's life and works;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Twain

And a punny Columnist's commentary on Mark Twain's birthday;http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/post/mark-twain-american-classic/2011/11/30/gIQAcTMLDO_blog.html

Here are my favorite Quotes of Mark Twains's (some of them may contain words I would not use);
"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."


"All you need is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure." 
"The holy passion of Friendship is of so sweet and steady and loyal and enduring a nature that it will last through a whole lifetime, if not asked to lend money."


"Now is the accepted time to make your regular, annual, good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual."


"The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter."


    Have a great day! And Happy 1st Day of December tomorrow!

Chelsea

Objectivity

Have you ever wondered what it's really like to be truly objective?

I mean to see who you really are; from another person's point of view.

How would that be?

We probably wouldn't be so critical of ourselves. 

I may not be so worried of what other people think of how I look if I know they are not even thinking about that.

Every person has their own everyday issues to tackle.

They have relationships to mend or family they don't like being around.

It would be interesting if I could be a completely objective person in consciousness watching myself.

It makes you really think about psychology and how the brain works doesn't it?

Objectivity has nothing to do with objectification. The root word is object. I'm surprised it's not subject.

Because when we are being subjective we are thinking about ourselves and how others are thinking about us, or worrying about what people think of our actions. So, why is objectification not called subjectification?

I am not sure. I know that society has labeled object as the meaning of objectification. And that when people (in media mostly women) are used as objects of advertizing to sell just about everything under the sun. Well, this concept gets under my skin and frightens me. I know that our society has way more potential than to be shallow and greedy, but it seems that's what it is doing to get gain.

How do I deal with this? First of all, I need to openly disgrace that kind of advertizing in front of my family and children. Not being rude or conceited, but let them know I don't approve of it. I may even write letters of discontent to the advertisers if their message is really inappropriate and makes me upset at how they've used women's bodies or prettiness to get gain. I also need to educate people in my neighborhood about media and how it works and what to be aware of. These beautiful "real" girls in my neighborhood are confused and think they are supposed to be a size 0 when looking at models scantily clad in magazines. Not only are these models unrealistic, most of the time their completely fictional. Their bodies are a Photoshop illusion created for money. This is very unfortunate. These sweet girls in my neighborhood, and in society today- need to understand their individual value and divine worth. These genuine women and girls need to understand their very bodies and existence is being challenged and we need to fight back!

These are my thoughts for today.

Chelsea

Dear Brilliant Friends

Dear Brilliant Friends,

Once upon a time, every great thing that EVER happened started out as just an idea, a thought, a WHAT IF?

Your favorite song was just a tune that someone couldn't get out of their head, so they wrote it down and worked on it until it was a song and then released it out into the world. Your favorite book was the idea of somebody somewhere who had a story to document, and they wrote and wrote and wrote until the book was done. We talk on cell phones, we drive amazing vehicles, we see national monuments, we participate in worthwhile organizations. ALL OF THOSE THINGS started out as just an idea.

And then someone kept going until the idea was a reality.

So please don't get caught up in thinking, beautiful friends, that your dreams, hopes and ambitions don't matter, that your ideas are dumb or unattainable. Please remember that pretty much everything you put to use on a daily basis came about because someone had an idea and followed through on it. What if they hadn't have followed through on it? What if they had been too afraid? THINK OF ALL OF THE THINGS that we would all be missing out on right now if the ideas of others never had a chance to be born.

Let your ideas be born, friend.
If it feels like it's time, it probably is.

You can do this.

You are brilliant and very very loved.
xoxo


-Originally posted by Mikaela Celli on the Beauty Redefined Facebook Wall


-Re-posted and shared by Chelsea Merkley

A poignant thought

Dear Terrific Friends,

In the same day, we can get a BUNCH of messages that totally conflict each other. We can be told that something will make us ultra healthy, and then read something else that says the very same thing will make us very very sick. We can be told that THIS NEW THING is in style this season, and then find out that lots of other people are saying it is SO YESTERDAY.

Even more seriously, we get messages about who we are and what makes us valuable, about what we should be doing with our lives. The messages are conflicting so many times, and are confusing so many times, and are frustrating so many times, and make us feel small and yucky so many times. Sometimes we feel so confused that we are just paralyzed and instead of trying to choose from one of the millions of opinions, we just stop doing anything at all.

The only way to get to the truth is to listen to your heart, to pay very close attention to your gut. It is YOUR truth. And that does not mean it is the same truth for someone else's life. We all have a different journey. When something is right and true, it feels peaceful. Things that are right and true are not always the answers that we are hoping for. They are not always the easiest answers. But they  always bring us to a place of peace.

Please go where the peace is, beautiful friend -- always always always.
Be brave enough to choose the path that is best for YOU no matter what the "opinions" are.

You can do it.

This is YOUR LIFE, and you are responsible for your decisions. You are the one who has to live with them, work with them, and build a future with them. Make sure they are the right ones for YOU.

You are so loved.
xoxo Chelsea


Original Message Written by Mikaela Celli on the Beauty Redefined Facebook Wall


Visit Beauty Redefined; http://www.beautyredefined.net/

A Different Perspective!

                                This is a photo of me with my son the day before he turned 3 this year!

                         Today I feel like speaking about what I believe and why. If you are not a religious or spiritual person I have no problem with you not reading this post. I believe I am a daughter of God. That's right not just a spiritual daughter of my Heavenly Father but also a literal daughter of my Heavenly Father. That means that I have a divine destiny and birthright. This largely has to do with my choices in life which all mankind has agency; or the ability to choose right from wrong. There are several psychologists and researchers who believe that we are the sum of our experiences. If you have ever heard of the "Tabula Rasa" or Blank Slate theory this is essentially what I'm referring to. Some folks believe that what we are taught to believe, we believe; and how we are expected to act we end up acting. Or that basicly we learn from our experiences and from what we are taught in life. I'd like to pick apart this theory and see if I can try to disprove it.

If I wasn't taught or never knew that my body was a temple would it cease to be? Would I treat it differently? Maybe, I would treat it differently- but it wouldn't cease to be what it is. If I wasn't taught about Baptism, the Holy Scriptures, what a Testimony is and how to treat my body well and take care of it, would those things cease to be as well? I should think not. I may act differently because desire leads to belief and action on the belief leads to knowledge. If I had no desire or no knowledge I may act differently and choose to not value my body as a temple, or a gift from my Father in Heaven.

I have heard it said before that we are temporal beings having a spiritual experience, However... I believe that we are Spiritual Beings having a Temporal and Spiritual Experience. I just thought I'd give you food for thought today. I hope it was thought provoking. Happy Labor Day!

Chelsea

Sizing an Advertizing Gimick?

image by thinkstock.com

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/beauty/what-size-are-you-really-the-truth-behind-vanity-sizing-2532831/

This article 

states that one women is multiple different sizes at different apparel stores just so that the consumer feels she is smaller than she is and will buy more. Fraud? A sales Gimmick? A false Advertizing Campaign? I would say yes to all of the above. It also says that what was a size 12 in 1976 in some clothing chains is now a size 6. Why is that? Profit, sales, money, and the corruption of a society based on making more money anyway they can by false advertizing. Our poor children, if we don't teach them to watch out for the corruptions in the business world and in our society today, how will they combat against it in the future?

What do you think?

Chelsea

Overwhelmed

This week has pretty much been a blur so far. So many bridal showers, wedding dinners, weddings and things to get ready for. I'm getting my books at school tomorrow and going to turn in forms for programs I'm applying to.

In all of this busyness I can't help but feel as a woman how much my size seems to matter to so many people. I used to be littler before I had a baby and when I was in High School and swam on the Swim Team. It's strange to see what people will associate with me and who won't based on my looks.

You can always tell the people that associate with you because they have to, for instance, they are family or feel not including you would be rude or just not right. However, I can always sense when a person is acting fake or making nice with people they don't really know or would just rather not be around. Maybe it's just that I'm good at reading charachter and behaviors; I usually have been.

I admit openly that I need to work out and eat better. I am working on that. I also can admit that I have an emotional tie to food that at certain times becomes almost needy. You know, when you are stressed from dealing with Customer Service Insurance Agents for 4 hours, or you can't get a hold of someone you really need to talk to; that kind of feeling. Occasionally I run to comfort food, as I know many women do, when facing a conflict or a major crisis. This habit needs to stop. I know I can stop it, mind over matter.
I just need to not buy certain things and cook more at home as I'm trying to do.

About a month ago I lost 10 lbs. from only eating at home and cooking at home. It was great!
I need to do that again. I'm sure all of us have somewhere to improve.

My school starts Monday, and I am buying books tomorrow with my toddler. That should be fun!

Thanks for reading.

Chelsea Merkley

Road Trip

We have been on vacation since last Sunday and just got home today, so sorry for the gap in posts.
I realized as we were driving from SLC to San Diego, California that there were thousands of 1-800 lapband, 1-800-GET-THIN, and Weight Loss Management Billboards all exploiting women on them somehow. The photos were noticably altered in photoshopped airbrushing and I am glad that I didn't take pictures of all of the offensive billboards featuring images of women in some crazy advertizing standards stating that women can never be thin enough or good enough. That would be advertizing for bad advertizing in my view.

I also was shocked to see that almost all of the billboards for Lawyers featured men, whereas no women lawyers were represented on them. And I was very sad to see advertisements for Shopping Malls, Hotels, Motels, Restaurants, Hustler and Gentleman's Clubs(we did pass through Vegas) were all featuring women. Not to mention the singles hotline numbers on Billboards featuring women and also the sign that said " Not everything that happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" www.stdtestnow.com or something like that was also featuring a woman.

Am I the only one who thinks this? I just feel that in our society today; much of the advertizing and media exploit women's images even more than we are already socialized to think of ourselves from our parent's, teachers, sisters, aunts and other women in our lives.

Where is it written that women have to be a size 0 to be considered beautiful and healthy? And if it is, it's false and should be taken out of our text books and our notions. I am not promoting obesity here at all and I think it's important to take care of our bodies and put good things into them. I also need to work on that more and not be an emotional eater and run to comfort foods in a time of crisis or when I feel uneasy. I am acknowledging that women with eating disorders; whether they be-Anorexia, Bolimia or binging and purging of other types like excessive excercising, it's largely an emotional and psychological issue. The problem here is not only what many women think of themselves and the way their image looks. They somehow think that if their image doesn't fit a certain standard given to them by society and media that they can't be smart, important or beautiful. I am here to tell you that is a huge lie!

We are daughters of God born in billions of different circumstances with bodies and figures of all different shapes and sizes. Some battle with Genetic Obesity who have parents and families with bigger bones and eating habits which are hard to kick because of the sentimentality of them and the emotional gratification given to us from food. Many of us associate good food with family reunions or family celebrations or church or community venues. Also, when women get together we "go eat lunch", it's a social and emotional need. It seems when men have gatherings they are on the grill cooking, going to a business lunch  or are playing golf or sports together. There are many men who also struggle with body image issues. It's just not so widely accepted in our western society for men to worry about the way they look. So most of them keep quiet about it.

On a similar note, take a look at popular sitcoms. Most of them features a short and itty bitty skinny wife who comes across as a nag and bossy;  and a tall, beer bellied husband who is passive agressive, unhelpful and rude. It seems to me society and several media companies and programs are socializing the next generation very negatively without even knowing it. So what do we do about it? We point things like stereotypes out to our children. We help them understand they should not be judged by their bodies alone and not their charachter and who they are. We teach them to be proud of their spirits, their divine potential, their accomplishments, ideas and aspirations. We help them understand they are more than an image that the world wants to alter. They are choice spirits of our Father in Heaven who came to earth for a special purpose at a predestined time to be here at the time they came into the world.

Let me know what you think of my thoughts.

Chelsea Merkley

Blessings

As I was at my weekly Grocery store run today,
I couldn't help but glance at the tabloids.
"J. Lo says no way to Marc's begging" and "Flatten your Belly",
Or "How to get thighs like Rosario Dawson"! These Celebrities half the time don't look
anything like the airbrushed pictures of them on magazines!

I can't help but feel blessed that I am not a Celebrity or
Media Icon that tabloids make up stories about and airbrush them to an insane, inhuman looking image. If I was a public icon or celebrity, I would have it in my contract to not use any airbrushing but to be realistic in my imaging and portraits of myself.

How do you feel about this?


Chelsea

How Girls & Women are Trained to Judge and Devalue themselves

I found this on Youtube Today and it just spoke to me so much; of Western and International Societies and the Global Media & Advertising Campaigns teach girl's that they are not good enough if they aren't a size 6, or 0 or 2. We become a number, a size, a BMI, a weight; and no longer judged as an important person if our weight is not where society, our parent's our families, or the World wants it to be. How did we become so shallow? Judging our selves and others entirely on looks and not on; actions, assets, blessings, talents, or skills.
Watch below to find out. I welcome your comments. Chelsea

Photoshop Altering!

The last few months I have been appalled at the sad pictures I've seen of what models and celebrities look like before being airbrushed, and how photos of them are altered so much that they don't even look human.
I used to like Julia Robert's and her acting but after this ad of her has been removed from Britain; 

      The air-brushed picture of Julia Roberts used in the L'oreal campaign.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/beauty/pictures--dont-reflect-reality-julia-roberts-ad-given-the-brush-off-by-watchdog-20110727-1hz9s.html#ixzz1TW5STiHv

I am not sure I support her anymore. I know she looks nothing like that in her movies or with pictures of her on the red carpet, and the fact that in her contract it states there should be no un-airbrushed photos of her released, that really makes me think she is sending the wrong message to women and girls everywhere.
This makes me think she doesn't even love herself for who she really is and can't accept that humanity and beauty photoshopping have limits. She is a role model for lots of girls and women everywhere and the fact that she is exclusively using excessively altered images of herself really irritates me. What do you think?
Should the United States crack down on beauty photoshopping too? I think so.

Here is a website explaining why Britain pulled the Ad;http://www.newser.com/story/124485/uk-bans-enhanced-julia-roberts-ads.html and another website which has a look at the ads. http://www.theedge.co.nz/Julia-Roberts--Christy-Turlingtons-makeup-ads-banned-for-being-too-photoshopped/tabid/198/articleID/15534/Default.aspx I don't like Lady Gaga's dancer's or her outfits either on this website.

A change of subject; However, I have some good news! I love Beauty Redefined. This is an organization which is non-profit created by two identical twins studying for a P.H.D. in women's objectification at the University of Utah. There names are Lindsey and Lexie Kite. http://www.beautyredefined.net/beauty-redefined-billboards-unveiled/ Please check out their links and website and look for their positive body image billboards all around the Great Salt Lake Valley! The message of their campaign is that women should not be judged solely by their appearance, or the sum of their parts. There is so much more to you than the way you look, or " There is more to be than eye candy." And "You are capable of so much more than being looked at." Are some messages of their campaign. They chose not to include bodies on their billboards to bring this message home.

I also reccomend reading http://www.the-beheld.com/2011/07/beauty-blogosphere-72911.html The Beheld. A beauty blog talking about how beauty has evolved from past times to present and how it is defined in different countries other than our western culture. This blog post also talks about new beauty products being made in other countries.

Thanks for your love and support!

Sincerely, Chelsea Merkley

Beauty is the eye of the Beholder?

     Welcome to my new blog. I beg to differ with the title. Yes, beauty is different to everyone. But, if beauty is only defined as the outside appearance than the world has gotten off on completely the wrong foot!
                                                 Exhibit A; A picture of myself

                                           
                                               What can you tell about me from this picture? Maybe that I was at a restauraunt. Could you tell me about my divine worth from seeing this photo if you didn't know me?
Some people could, like perhaps the current Prophet of my Religion.
Could you guess what my hobbies or talents were from this photo? What kinds of things I like to do?
Most likely not, other than eating good food which is a given.

The point I'm trying to make here is that images in the mainstream media are most likely altered by photoshop and airbrushing and that they are completely fake. And also, you can not tell what a person really is like from a picture, unless the picture tells a well told story.

Most people can not tell what kind a person I am or what kind of friend I am from this picture. So, why do we judge others by appearances? Should we be doing that? Well, yes and no. Of course, I wouldn't want a person with a gun around me or my child or family; or someone who appears to be dangerous around me. We need to judge others sometimes for safety. Although, beyond that the true judge is Heavenly Father, also known as God.

This post is food for thought. Try to change the way you look at yourself, your reflection and other's appearances. True beauty and worth lies on the inside and not only on the outside. This does not mean however, you shouldn't take care of yourself hygienically of course. But there is so much more to a person's individual worth, heart and soul than the way they look.


Chelsea Merkley July 28, 2011