Brittany Murphy died on Sunday... but you probably already know that. Even though people die all the time, celebrity deaths always seems to be a bit more shocking for some reason.
Somberness crept into my heart after reading this online today:
"A lot of Brittany's problems were due to poor self image. She wore extraordinary amounts of make-up, tons of fake eyelashes, got her teeth capped, dyed her hair blonde, lost weight - she wanted to be a beauty."
There is nothing wrong with make-up, fake eyelashes, capped teeth, dyeing your hair a different color(s), losing weight, etc... but when a person goes to such extremes to look "beautiful" (apparently she may have been addicted to plastic surgery too) one can't help but wonder why since she was already beautiful before she even underwent these makeovers.
Who defines beauty? Who has so much power to convince us what beauty is? Why are we so concerned about how we can fit into this cold and stiff mold, squishing ourselves unnecessarily and ultimately hurting ourselves?
Why is it that more than 90% of the time a person's worth is based on how they look? Why are we so quick to judge based on appearances?
When will our culture realize that beauty can't be so rigidly defined? When will we realize that we are already beautiful? When will we stop worrying about what the other person is thinking about us and step out comfortably in our own skin?
I'm sick and tired of being worried about whether I "fit in" with what everyone else is wearing.
I'm sick and tired of people endlessly and incessantly talking about the latest trends and fashion.
I'm sick and tired of the infinite number of ads telling us how we ought to look.
I'm sick and tired of hearing about lives being ripped apart for the sake of appearances.
I'm sick and tired of being sucked into this black hole that will never be satisfied.
I am sad that people like Brittany Murphy who are so beautiful have self-image problems.
I am sad that many of my friends have been deeply hurt and feel insecure because of people's insensitive and heartless comments about their looks.
I am sad and ashamed that I fall into the same trap of deceit and lack strength and confidence to stand firm against these lies.
Thankfully, God does not judge based on appearances because He has made each one of us fearfully and wonderfully (Psalm 139:14). He is beautiful and every one of us are made in His image (Genesis 1:27). I just wish we would fully believe this in our hearts and not only in our minds.
You (the reader) are beautiful. Truly truly beautiful because God has made you so. Remember and believe that, holding this truth close to your heart so that you don't get swept away by the world's rushing frigidity of lies which only leads to despair and demise.
December 22, 2009
December 18, 2009
Home for the holidays...
I am back in Southern Alberta and am happy to see my family, snow, and sun.
Things I often do when I come back home:
1. Sleep in. I usually can't do this because of my strong internal clock so it's odd that I can here.
2. Eat eat eat. I love my mom's cooking and baking.
3. Hang out with my childhood best friend. When we are together, silliness takes on a whole new meaning.
4. Go visit all the close family friends; my Japanese "extended family".
5. Get free clothes from Mom. She often gives me clothes that she doesn't like or can't wear. Some I refuse, some I quite like.
6. Eventually get annoyed at the radio that's always on in my room which is also my sister's room, haha.
Another thing I'm really looking forward to is going back up to Edmonton for a few days to see my friends up there. It's been over a year since I've last seen many of them so it'll be nice to catch up and hang out.
The weird thing about going back to a place you once used to live in is that no matter how subtle or obvious, things change. Each time I see my parents, I notice more prominent wrinkles and graying hairs. Friends are now in serious relationships (or have gotten out of one), have gotten engaged, have gotten married, have kids. Babies are now chatterbox toddlers. Kids are now angst-y teens. Teens are now responsible (?) university students. People are now out in the working world and don't have as much free time to hang out. Perspectives on life changes. Lifestyles changes.
So much change.
It's bittersweet. Though there are resemblances, nothing is quite the same anymore and sometimes nostalgia threatens to drown me.
The thing I need to remember is that I've also changed. I am not the same person I was even just a year ago. Somehow I forget that I am being transformed just like the rest of the world. Change is inevitable. I guess I need to learn to embrace it better and keep moving forward, cherishing the memories rather than pushing against a wall that I'll never break through.
So, here's to remembering the good times and creating new ones to remember in the future. Cheers.
Things I often do when I come back home:
1. Sleep in. I usually can't do this because of my strong internal clock so it's odd that I can here.
2. Eat eat eat. I love my mom's cooking and baking.
3. Hang out with my childhood best friend. When we are together, silliness takes on a whole new meaning.
4. Go visit all the close family friends; my Japanese "extended family".
5. Get free clothes from Mom. She often gives me clothes that she doesn't like or can't wear. Some I refuse, some I quite like.
6. Eventually get annoyed at the radio that's always on in my room which is also my sister's room, haha.
Another thing I'm really looking forward to is going back up to Edmonton for a few days to see my friends up there. It's been over a year since I've last seen many of them so it'll be nice to catch up and hang out.
The weird thing about going back to a place you once used to live in is that no matter how subtle or obvious, things change. Each time I see my parents, I notice more prominent wrinkles and graying hairs. Friends are now in serious relationships (or have gotten out of one), have gotten engaged, have gotten married, have kids. Babies are now chatterbox toddlers. Kids are now angst-y teens. Teens are now responsible (?) university students. People are now out in the working world and don't have as much free time to hang out. Perspectives on life changes. Lifestyles changes.
So much change.
It's bittersweet. Though there are resemblances, nothing is quite the same anymore and sometimes nostalgia threatens to drown me.
The thing I need to remember is that I've also changed. I am not the same person I was even just a year ago. Somehow I forget that I am being transformed just like the rest of the world. Change is inevitable. I guess I need to learn to embrace it better and keep moving forward, cherishing the memories rather than pushing against a wall that I'll never break through.
So, here's to remembering the good times and creating new ones to remember in the future. Cheers.
December 10, 2009
I don't want to be a Pharisee, because they're not fair you see...
My 3rd term of nursing ended at precisely 11:08AM yesterday as I handed back my exam to the prof and signed my life away (I guess they wanted to make sure that it was me who wrote it?). It was a beautiful moment as I walked out of Wood 4 with my good friend, Christina, silently cheering in my heart and pumping my fist in the air as we got our bags and jackets. Notice the word "silently" because some people were still finishing up their exam as we walked out. We cheered quite loudly once we got outside the building which was received well by some random fellow we passed by who was smoking.
What an accomplishment being done 60% of our program. It's been tough on many different levels but it's been amazingly good as well.
As I reflect on this past year (I know it's a little early, New Year's is still 3 weeks away, but I have to do this now or I'll never get it down), God has taught me some invaluable lessons. The one that has really struck me is what it means to truly love somebody with the love of God. Working as an intern staff for Campus for Christ the couple years before school I learned about how to love a brother/sister in Christ, but I think I let myself get too immersed inside the "Christian bubble" and sorta lost how to engage with the secular crowd. This was one reason why I was excited to go back to school; I felt a huge hole in the non-Christian friend department. Don't get me wrong. I had non-Christian friends but most of them had moved away after graduating or I never got to hang out with the ones that were in the city. What is awesome about our nursing class is that I've become friends with a good mix of both Christian and non-Christian - balance is a wonderful thing.
It's definitely been a learning experience on what it really means to be a friend to the non-Christian. At the beginning of the program, I was definitely... lost at times with all the things/ideas surrounding me that I wasn't used to or necessarily agreed with. I had many inner battles over what's right and wrong and trying to figure out what my position was in the situation. Sometimes it was a bit overwhelming. However, these were good things to think about and I adapted. What was cool for me was I made my first gay friend. That must sound odd and it's not that I avoided becoming friends with gays/lesbians in the past or anything. I've just never had the chance to hang out with them enough to become friends until now.
God has taught me a lot about not being judgmental and also about seeing the person as a whole. I think as a Christian it's so easy to think, "He/she does what?! That is such a sin! I can't believe he's/she's doing that. He/she needs Jesus." Not that people don't need Jesus, but we tend to focus so much on the "sins" that we compartmentalize people according to what they've done. The big mistake in doing so is we forget compassion, grace, mercy, forgiveness... love. We become hypocrites preaching love in God's name but not actually living it out. We become the Pharisees whom Jesus harshly rebuked.
True, the Bible does say homosexuality is a sin (sorry for the cliché example, but I mentioned I have gay friends earlier so I figured that would be the first thing that would come to people's minds as they read this) but so is lying, cheating, stealing, greed, discriminating, murdering, hating your brother, taking advantage of those who have less than you, despising the poor, having a holier-than-thou attitude, and I could go on and on. You might be thinking, "But the sin(s) I've committed aren't as bad as murder or whatever so I'm still ok." Well news flash for you, the Bible also says, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." - James 2:10.
Now before you start getting indignant and pointing your fingers at me, I'll point my own fingers at myself. Yes, I am guilty too. Yes, I, too, am a sinner. That is why I follow Jesus, because I am helpless and hopeless without him when it comes to living life and loving people. My love is incomplete, inadequate, insincere, and selfish. His love is not.
So, to put it in a simple sentence, God has been teaching me to love people as He loves them in their entirety, exactly where they are at wherever that is in their lives. People need love, not a finger or a cold shoulder or an undermining glare. Doing the latter has never shown to work well anyway. Seriously, who likes a nagger or a finger-wagger? I sure don't.
It's so easy to become a modern-day Pharisee and we have many of those today and yes, I'm guilty of being one too at times, although I really am trying hard not to be. One of the things I enjoy about Derek Webb is that he is trying not to be one either and is striving to love as Jesus taught us how to love. This song he wrote is apparently controversial, but after listening to it for myself I don't really think it is, though I can see why some Christians would think so.
You can download this song here for free (yes, you heard right; free!) on his website.
This is why it's so important for us as Christ's followers to be in tune with His heart, to surrender ourselves to Him, to be led by His Spirit, because we mess up royally if we don't. We trusted in Jesus to be saved. We need to keep trusting in him moment by moment to live lives that are truly marked by God's love. We need him so that we don't become like the Pharisees because the world definitely doesn't need any more of them.
What an accomplishment being done 60% of our program. It's been tough on many different levels but it's been amazingly good as well.
As I reflect on this past year (I know it's a little early, New Year's is still 3 weeks away, but I have to do this now or I'll never get it down), God has taught me some invaluable lessons. The one that has really struck me is what it means to truly love somebody with the love of God. Working as an intern staff for Campus for Christ the couple years before school I learned about how to love a brother/sister in Christ, but I think I let myself get too immersed inside the "Christian bubble" and sorta lost how to engage with the secular crowd. This was one reason why I was excited to go back to school; I felt a huge hole in the non-Christian friend department. Don't get me wrong. I had non-Christian friends but most of them had moved away after graduating or I never got to hang out with the ones that were in the city. What is awesome about our nursing class is that I've become friends with a good mix of both Christian and non-Christian - balance is a wonderful thing.
It's definitely been a learning experience on what it really means to be a friend to the non-Christian. At the beginning of the program, I was definitely... lost at times with all the things/ideas surrounding me that I wasn't used to or necessarily agreed with. I had many inner battles over what's right and wrong and trying to figure out what my position was in the situation. Sometimes it was a bit overwhelming. However, these were good things to think about and I adapted. What was cool for me was I made my first gay friend. That must sound odd and it's not that I avoided becoming friends with gays/lesbians in the past or anything. I've just never had the chance to hang out with them enough to become friends until now.
God has taught me a lot about not being judgmental and also about seeing the person as a whole. I think as a Christian it's so easy to think, "He/she does what?! That is such a sin! I can't believe he's/she's doing that. He/she needs Jesus." Not that people don't need Jesus, but we tend to focus so much on the "sins" that we compartmentalize people according to what they've done. The big mistake in doing so is we forget compassion, grace, mercy, forgiveness... love. We become hypocrites preaching love in God's name but not actually living it out. We become the Pharisees whom Jesus harshly rebuked.
True, the Bible does say homosexuality is a sin (sorry for the cliché example, but I mentioned I have gay friends earlier so I figured that would be the first thing that would come to people's minds as they read this) but so is lying, cheating, stealing, greed, discriminating, murdering, hating your brother, taking advantage of those who have less than you, despising the poor, having a holier-than-thou attitude, and I could go on and on. You might be thinking, "But the sin(s) I've committed aren't as bad as murder or whatever so I'm still ok." Well news flash for you, the Bible also says, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." - James 2:10.
Now before you start getting indignant and pointing your fingers at me, I'll point my own fingers at myself. Yes, I am guilty too. Yes, I, too, am a sinner. That is why I follow Jesus, because I am helpless and hopeless without him when it comes to living life and loving people. My love is incomplete, inadequate, insincere, and selfish. His love is not.
So, to put it in a simple sentence, God has been teaching me to love people as He loves them in their entirety, exactly where they are at wherever that is in their lives. People need love, not a finger or a cold shoulder or an undermining glare. Doing the latter has never shown to work well anyway. Seriously, who likes a nagger or a finger-wagger? I sure don't.
It's so easy to become a modern-day Pharisee and we have many of those today and yes, I'm guilty of being one too at times, although I really am trying hard not to be. One of the things I enjoy about Derek Webb is that he is trying not to be one either and is striving to love as Jesus taught us how to love. This song he wrote is apparently controversial, but after listening to it for myself I don't really think it is, though I can see why some Christians would think so.
You can download this song here for free (yes, you heard right; free!) on his website.
This is why it's so important for us as Christ's followers to be in tune with His heart, to surrender ourselves to Him, to be led by His Spirit, because we mess up royally if we don't. We trusted in Jesus to be saved. We need to keep trusting in him moment by moment to live lives that are truly marked by God's love. We need him so that we don't become like the Pharisees because the world definitely doesn't need any more of them.
December 2, 2009
Songs for the Weather
I'm weird. But you already know that so here I go.
I have different songs for the weather. Right now, mainly songs about sun or about rain since those are the only types that seem to have a monopoly over Vancouver.
When it's sunny, usually...
... and sometimes this... but only when I'm feeling cheesy.
And when it's rainy...
... or this...
And for the storms in your life...
I have different songs for the weather. Right now, mainly songs about sun or about rain since those are the only types that seem to have a monopoly over Vancouver.
When it's sunny, usually...
... and sometimes this... but only when I'm feeling cheesy.
And when it's rainy...
... or this...
And for the storms in your life...
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