How many times have you heard that saying, "beauty is only skin deep?" What exactly does that mean? I watched the most amazing video that a friend had posted on her Facebook page back in June. It was about a fashion photographer who decided 15 years ago that he would start taking pictures of children and adults with genetic disorders. How many of us pass by someone that looks "different" from us and either look down, turn away or stare? I asked Lauren recently to name a celebrity that she considered beautiful. She said Jennifer Lawrence. She is an actress who is secure in herself and mature, both at the same time. Who decides what makes someone beautiful, attractive or pretty? the media? Hollywood??? Many times, those pictures in magazines, on the Internet or in newspapers have been airbrushed or altered to barely resemble the original person. Unfortunately, I have personally known more than one person that has struggled with anorexia and bulimia. It's not just a disorder that affects young girls, it can affect young men and adult women and men. It still shocks me, but more makes me sad, when I hear of a young teenager that has cosmetic surgery not based on a medical reason, but more because they didn't feel they were "pretty" enough or felt they looked "abnormal." How many of us remember Susan Boyle? She became a singing sensation when she appeared on Great Britain's version of America's Got Talent in 2009. We are such a judgmental society sometimes. Many people watching that show that night took one look at her and assumed based on her looks that she had no singing ability at all. She has an AMAZING voice!!! I love the old saying, "you can't judge a book by it's cover." How many of us do that? Already judging someone by their outward appearance? Maybe the mom you saw at the grocery store that looks exhausted and disheveled just spent a few days at the hospital with a sick child. I was that mom back in 2011 when I spent three days in the hospital with Lauren. Believe me, how I looked was certainly not my top priority!! I judge people more by their actions. A beautiful person to me is someone whose beauty radiates from the inside out. How about you? How do you define "beauty?"
When Dominic was diagnosed with Autism at 2 1/2, I went to our local library and took out every book I could find about Autism. Sometimes I would bring back 20 books. This was 2006, so a lot of the information was very "dated." I guess I was looking for a book that would tell me what I should do next, like a "manual." Autism doesn't quite work that way! The saying is, " if you know one person with Autism, you know one person with Autism." Every mom to an individual with Autism follows their own "path." I think as moms, we judge ourselves much harder than anyone else does. I was 41 when I had Dominic. Did he get the diagnosis of Autism because I was an older mom? because I drank a lot of pop? I could sit and think about that every minute of every day. I am pretty integrated into the Autism community around Lansing and have told more than one person that it took me about two weeks to come to terms with Dominic's diagnosis. It is so incredib...
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