Editorials

09/12/18

Why beautiful is not a compliment (and what to say instead)

Everyone likes to feel beautiful, right? That’s what the media tells us; that’s what our inner nature tells us; it’s what we instinctively tell any little girl we see and the way we measure our attractiveness against other people’s, whether intentionally or subconsciously.

After finding myself telling my daughters this all the time, I had to stop and realize what I was doing, because telling someone they’re beautiful may be a true statement, but it’s not exactly a meaningful compliment.

If someone is, as you deem them, beautiful, that’s the way they were made. They didn’t do anything (short of extreme plastic surgery gone right, in which case you can compliment the doctor) to look like that. And even so, a compliment towards one’s beauty is merely a statement on their outward appearance, one they had no control over.

07/24/18

Guys, stop calling everyone guys

You probably don’t even notice it – if you’re from the South, you probably don’t even say it – if you say it, you probably see no problem with it. But I’m here to share why one of the most common greetings has GOT to go: calling people ‘guys.’

It’s a simple, harmless greeting, a way to get people’s attention, a way to speak to a group of people – I hear it (and used to say it) hundreds of times a day – at the store, at school, in the office, to family and friends, anywhere there are people, you will hear the greeting ‘hey guys.’

‘Guys’ has morphed into what society uses and accepts as a gender-neutral term referring to men, women, boys, and girls, and it wasn’t until a year after having my second daughter that I somehow noticed myself saying it. I don’t know what it was that caught my attention from something that flew off my tongue without thought, but something made me pause one day.

04/28/18

Happy birthday to me: 31 fun facts for 31 years

It’s my birthday, so in order to celebrate I thought I’d share 31 facts for my 31 years. Let’s just dive right in, shall we?

1. I can lick my elbow, which is supposed to be impossible.

2. I have insomnia and hypnagogic hallucinations every night. (Want me to do a blog post explaining what that is? Let me know.)

3. I never wanted to be pregnant before having kids; my sister (and best friend, clearly) always said she would be my surrogate. Turns out I have the worst pregnancies but love being pregnant.

4. I can be weirdly hyper sensitive about certain noises or textures- I detest the feeling of cardboard or matte paint.

5. I choose to deny that dinosaurs existed.

6. When I was younger, I used to claim I could see air molecules…I still think I can.

7. I still sleep with my baby bear, Huggie. My mom stocked up on a few of them because I loved him so much, so now each of my girls has her own.