My Friend Katherine's Crusade

I finished reading "The Revolutionary Communicator" yesterday. It's a book that examines how Christ communicated and how pastors (well, really anybody) can improve by applying the same habits. The proof will be in the pudding, I suppose, on whether or not it was worth the money.

Anyway, the authors assert that one of the dangers in modern communication is lack of transparency. We fear rejection. We like our image. We only reveal innocuous imperfections. Yada yada yada.

That's not Katherine's crusade...at all. Her crusade is more along the lines of the example they used to highlight why our personas are valuable to us. Here's the quote, and from it, you'll get the gist of her battle:

"It is not hard to see why we feel our persona must be nearly flawless. After all, everyone else is, it seems--at least, everyone who matters.

Consider the fact that for every alluring photo included in Sports Illustrated's yearly swimsuit edition, roughly twenty-five thousand photographs are taken and discarded. And that is after starting with statuesque models who likely have undergone intense dieting, rigorous exercise, and scores of cosmetic surgeries--not to mention the lights, make-up, and exotic settings. Tragically, countless women hold such photos as the standard for beauty, with devastating consequences for their health, confidence, and sense of priorities."

Hope this is useful in some way, Katherine. Methinks you have your work cut out for you, and me-also-thinks I can't begin to understand what the female of the species goes through.