A Poet's Journey
My father was a farmer turned politician. It was from him that I learned about honoring the land coupled with a concomitant social conscience. My mother was both a painter and a sculptor and through her influence, I was drawn to the arts at an early age. She believed that all artistic pursuits were a form of therapy, and did it with gusto, flair and true artistry. On more than one occasion I was told that “We show our love for people in the beauty we create for them both on canvass and in the culinary delights we serve them.” I never forgot her words nor her inspiration and it was in creative pursuits that I found solace throughout the many twists and turns along the path.
Eating For Life: Overcoming Eating Disorders
In Dr. Janet Greeson’s best-selling book “It’s Not What You’re Eating, It’s What’s Eating You”, she examines the fact that disordered eating requires attention to the physical, emotional and spiritual causes of this phenomenon. How we interpret the image we see in the mirror is a reflection of how we compare that image to the dominant standard of beauty in our society.
It is a well-known saying that “you never get a second chance to make a first impression”. Many women are not aware of the fact that people form a judgment about them based on the style and type of clothing they wear.
In her book The Language of Clothes (1981), Alison Lune explains “our clothing conveys important information – or misinformation – about us long before we speak to someone at a party, on the street or in a meeting. Clothes are a universal language that telegraphs one’s personality, opinions, tastes and even occupation before we ever open our mouths”.Clothes are silent communicators of our conscious, and also our unconscious, sexual feelings. Each wardrobe decision tells others quite a bit including self-image and the level of confidence, as well as the way a woman expresses her sensuality. Thus, a woman’s clothes really do speak louder than words.
