Saturday, January 15, 2011

Mean Girls:Why Can't We All Just Get Along?



It seems since time eternal women have competed with each other over everything from men to jobs, looks and clothes.

You can often feel it when you enter a room. The not-so-subtle once-over that women give each other as they assess how they compare to each other. Is this women prettier? Thinner? More popular? Have better clothes? A better life per chance?

Men compete too, but it's never quite as personal. Maybe it's years spent in sports (not that women don't play sports too) that teaches men to just deal with their anger, get it out and move on.

Women on the other hand are schooled to be nice. Nice girls don't say how they feel, no, they tell their friends who then tell everyone else until it finally gets back to you.

Sadly, the behavior learned in the bathrooms of middle schools and plotted at slumber parties gets ingrained in some, and those mean girls grow up to be mean women. Women who don't think they can get ahead or feel good about themselves if there is someone who they perceive as having more than them. The thing is, no one has it all, not even Gywneth Paltrow.

I happen to be someone who believes the universe is infinitely abundant. One person's success does not take away from mine. If you win the lottery it doesn't mean I can't too. If you meet the love of your life it shows me that good things can happen.

My wish is that women will stop looking at each other as threats and embrace each other as supporters of each others' dreams. Imagine how far we could all get if we spent the energy we waste tearing someone else down and put it toward building ourselves and each other up. The possibilities are endless.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Ted Williams: Is the Media Helping Him or Using Him?



Unless you have been residing under a rock this past week, you have seen the fairy tale-like story of homeless man, Ted Williams, "The man with the golden voice" play out across all the morning news shows, late night TV and newspapers.

Here in the States we love a happy ending. But not nearly as much as we like the fall that inevitbaly comes later. Already we're seeing images of past arrests juxtaposed with his recording voiceovers for MSNBC and Kraft. We just love to build people up to tear them down and then discard them when the new shiny toy of the moment comes along.

The problem is no one, especially someone troubled enough to become an addict and consequently homeless for many years, can have the skills required to manage the onslaught of pressure that comes with sudden celebrity. Williams appears to be extremely fragile and I can't help but wonder - who's lookng out for his well-being? Relatively newly sober I worry if he has the strength and skills to deal with the baracudas out there who only want a piece of him for their own gain.

Reading how his reunion with his mother, whom he's not seen in over ten years was delayed until all was clear with producers, showed me that this isn't about helping a troubled man, it's about ratings. And if all does not go well and Williams succombs to the pressures, you can be sure they'll all be right there when he goes to "Celebrity Rehab." Shame on all of them.