Run For Cover!!

I have a sincere confession to make: Hello my name is Melissa and I am an out of the closet issue addict. And, when I say this, I mean I am addicted to the latest ‘issue’ on anything. I read Cosmo like it’s the Bible, and I load up on the latest printed eye candy like it is a drug. I love anything on fashion, celebrities, and gossip…

I have a sincere confession to make: Hello my name is Melissa and I am an out of the closet issue addict. And, when I say this, I mean I am addicted to the latest “issue” on anything. I read Cosmo like it’s the Bible, and I load up on the latest printed eye candy like it is a drug. I love anything on fashion, celebrities, and gossip!!  I am sure that a lot of this has to do with the fact that I get bored with my own life at times and like to see who is doing what and with whom, on the red carpet; who wore it better than somebody else while they were standing on it; and who they were dating, but then broke up with, by the time they were done walking it.

I suppose, having struggled with an eating disorder for many years, I shouldn’t be so invested in the goings ons of those who are stereotypically known to be “too thin,” “too plastic,” and “too obsessed with how they look.” I suppose many professionals in my line of work would see this as one of the many reasons I became so wrapped up in outside appearances and narcissistic images.

I think that this is very true and I hold this to reasoning to be of substance, but I also feel that I have come to a great insight about what these kinds of things hold and here is my take on the whole thing.

I consider this kind of stuff the foam of news – when I say this I mean it has no substance whatsoever… it has no real depth or quality newsworthiness. It’s like the whip on your frappuccino – it’s there because it looks nice, but quite honestly tastes like nothing because it’s a bunch of air inside.  Believe you me I know the difference… I worked in a newsroom for many years… the kind with grit. My first day in the newsroom involved reporting on a double homicide in a Parish of rural Louisiana. I covered everything from children who were inflicted with cancer to soldiers who had lost their arms and legs in war.  Every night it was a car accident, a hostage situation, or a murder, and I became use to the phrase, “If it bleeds it leads.” After a while that gets very draining and we look for an escape. We look for the rainbows and the unicorns, and I am not just talking about Lady GaGa’s latest outfit.

Who wore what when, who’s gonna adopt a baby, gonna have a baby, or is dating a baby isn’t exactly news… so why then have we as a society become so obsessed with the going ons of celebrity lives. As a society we cannot seem to get enough of it, and the more insane they dress, the more insane they act, and the more addicted they become the more we are enthralled.

My thing is how many of us honestly, eating disordered or not, are not swept away by what is gold and glitters. I remember my Grandfather used to when I was little tell me of his time growing up in the Depression. He would tell me how things were so bad… so discouraging that the only real escape he got was from the movies. He would tell me how images of “Ginger Rogers” and “Fred Astaire” used to make him feel like he was away from it for just a little while. How Charlie Chaplin at times was the only real laugh he got, and how Musicals used to transform him to another world.

As we and society have evolved we have become more “celebrity focused” more ”obsessed” with Fame. Back when I was little being in the public eye was more of a Dream… now it has actually become more of a Reality.

With every other show being a reality show, suddenly the people living next door to us have become celebrities. It seems like people don’t have to be actors or actresses anymore – they just have to be single and in need of husband, fifteen and pregnant, or willing to hang out with 14 strangers in a cave for 2 years.

I believe we have become more obsessed with celebrities nowadays because we relate to them more. Suddenly they are the people who live in our neighborhood, or live next door to us… or they might even be a member of your own family.

The thing is no matter what, unless you live under a rock, you have to come to a point in your life where you aren’t comparing yourself, or idolizing anybody, especially in the public eye, because I will say it again… it’s all a bunch of foam. I challenge you to think outside the box and look at the real picture. Yes being a celebrity has its perks, but it also has a lot of pokes. It’s not all it is cracked up to be, and celebrities go through everything we all do, they just tend to do it with more glamour. They have bad days at work… get stuck in traffic…and yes some of them may have four nannies… but you don’t think they haven’t been spit up on by a baby… and if they haven’t well then they are missing out.

When push comes to shove… we are all human… and we all put on our pants one leg at a time like everybody else. We all get the gunk in our eyes after we wake up… we all get cranky now and then… and we all can not avoid getting older… it’s gonna happen.

We have to look at all these magazines like a fantasy world… it’s OK to be taken away by them… but it’s not OK to be taken AWAY by them so much so that we forget who we are and what is really important in our lives.  When it’s all said and done it can be fun to read about ”champagne wishes and caviar dreams”, keep up the latest styles, and who’s in the spotlight. As long as you look at it as an Escape and not as a reality.

But what happens when you can’t do this?… or what happens when you are comparing yourself and can’t get away from the pictures on the Cover of every latest magazine or are investing your own life in what the latest ”Star” or “Starlet” is doing……well then you might be setting yourself up for a lot of life problems and I’ll talk about this in part 2 of my Blog… on “Run for Cover.”

To Be Continued…