The Culture and You-th

In this culture of “youth”, we are told that if you haven’t ’made it’ by 30 there is no real reason to think you ever will. We are told that getting older is dreadful and the toll it takes on our appearance is paramount to everything else. World peace really isn’t as important as finding the right plastic surgeon and focusing on looking as young as possible. We live with a constant bombardment of messages that tells us to focus on looking and feeling younger; that unless we are hip to fads in music, beauty, and fashion then we are really not as valuable as someone who knows the difference between seascapes and Seacrest. These messages are far more powerful than you know. If you have looked in the mirror and felt inferior, you can likely thank the cultural message that has told you that you simply don’t measure up. I am all for being in the culture to a point.

The lives of women are about so much more than what we look like or what we wear. Role Models Inc. strives to help women realize the balance needed to live life with conviction, power and genuine joy.

We are created for a certain time, a certain place and a certain purpose. Our only real “job” if you will, in this life is to find our talents, hone them and use them for the benefit of others and for the Creator.

I believe Creator intended for our lives to be joyous and full. We are to be IN the world but not OF it. What does that mean? We are to use discernment and use the gifts and talents we have to serve others in our communities. We have to be IN our communities and IN our world in order to influence it. We cannot retreat from the things that the world deals with. We must work alongside hurting people to show them by our life and example that joy and peace and safety are possible.

This blog is my attempt to help girls and women to understand how moral values can work in this current culture and how we can enjoy the great things about this life without succumbing to the detrimental effects of our society.  Fashion is one of those great things. Fashion is art. Fashion is expression. The way we look is not the most important thing in or lives but it can play a vital role in o ur personal journey and in our ability to enjoy what Creator has given us.  We live in a culture that makes judgment calls based on how people look. There are times in our lives when how we look is important and there are times when how we look influences others. Our appearance is part of us- not the whole of who we are but it is an important part of our persona. We each have an aura- an essence that makes us uniquely us. Part of the joy of a healthy mind is being able to find a balance between our physical appearance and our inner self. They were made to go together but we often allow the popular cultural message to alter our view of ourselves in a negative way and we succumb to losing that balance and to begin to allow negativity to rule our thoughts and affect our self-worth. We need to realize that we are in control of how much of the culture enters our lives and how much of it affects us personally. We need to stay alert to the subtle messages that are good, uplifting, ethical and moral and reject all the other negative messages that are equally subtle but that do not support who we are.

As former model, I have learned the subtle art of creating your own persona. I believe that we each are given unique gifts and talents and using fashion is a great way to explore and express how we want to represent ourselves physically. It takes age and maturity to create our best selves. By the way………I’m 50!