The Media: Creating The Illusion Of Perfection

One of the things that the mainstream Media likes to create is the illusion of perfection. This is primarily through what is known as 'celebrities' and these could be: singers, actors, musicians, models and many other roles. Here it could be an individual or even a couple.

Their lifestyle is being exposed to whoever will take notice; with either their whole life or a specific part being the point of focus.

Areas Of Perfection

One of the Medias main points, are the relationships that celebrities have. This could be presented by itself, but it will often be attached to the other areas of their life to add significance.

Another area is to do with their physical appearance and what they wear. Although men and women are included here, women are more likely to be under the spotlight.

Career is also prominent in how celebrities are presented. What they have done or are doing is often seen as the ultimate achievement.

Facts Or Perceptions

There are certain cars or even houses that look pleasing to the eye from every position or view. And there are others that only look good from a certain view point. In this situation it is possible to walk around the car of the house to see every part.

This enables one to form a balanced opinion and this is due to one seeing the complete picture. Any illusions or assumptions can be laid to rest.

One Side

When it comes to the Medias portrayal of people in the media, this opportunity is seldom available. Unless the Medias love affair has ended or is coming to an end with this person or people that were in favour.

All that is typically seen is the side that the media want to expose and this is often, one of perfection.

The Process Of Perfection

Perfection is often displayed as a destination, but is it really a destination of is it a process? What is classed perfection at one moment is seen as imperfect the next. The styles and fashion of one moment can be labelled as shocking the next.

''Trying to achieve perfection is a bit like trying to get to the end of a rainbow, not only is it impossible, it also doesn't exist.''

It is also possible for one to have achieved something that might be considered as being perfect in one area of their life, only to have many others areas that could be classed as imperfect.

Absolutes

Although logically one might know that perfection doesn't exist, with the help of the media, the ego mind will begin to perceive the media figures as being perfect. To the ego mind, everything is either black or white; there is no middle ground.

And due to this being the ego minds modus operandi, seeing perfection is a natural consequence here.

The Attraction

In order for one to be caught by these illusions in the first place, there has to be an attraction there. And what these external expressions of perfection become, is the mirror for all that one has yet to realise within themselves.

For is these people didn't display what one believed they were lacking at some level; then the attraction wouldn't be there. And if it was there, it wouldn't be as obsessive or as addictive to people - it might be more of an appreciation or a simple acknowledgment.

Wants And Needs

The types of people and particular aspects that are valued can change in the media and this is partly due to what is going on in the collective consciousness. This can depend on the period and the emotional climate.

And although the finer details may be different, like the clothes that they were or the language they use etc; what is generally the same, is the emotional wants and needs that they are fulfilling in the collective.

So, having a loving relationship, being perceived as beautiful and having an enjoyable career are needs that have been around for many, many, years

Identification

Ones ego mind is then likely to identify with what is being portrayed in the media and feel the same feelings and the emotions, through the experiences of these celebrities.

This is not negative per se, it is a natural part of life and how we are inspired and grow as human beings. It can become dysfunctional, when we are unaware of this process and see another as having something, which, we do not have.

Imperfection

What can also occur is that when these media ideals have fallen out of favour, as I have briefly mentioned above, is that they will be perceived as being imperfect. And if one has been elevated to the highs of being perfect, then the lows of being imperfect will seem very low indeed.

In reality, it is most likely that they have displayed different sides of their nature, the sides that are not as well developed, or the sides that the majority of people in a society disapprove of.

Repulsion

Attraction may not longer be there and perfection may no longer be seen, it could be imperfection and repulsion now. And all that one doesn't like about their own nature and has therefore denied, rejected and repressed out of their awareness; will now be projected onto the Medias fallen heroes.

The Ego Mind

There are many different processes at work here, from identification, projection, idealisation and many others. Some of the people in the media may be examples of perfection within a certain area or areas and this will have come about through persistence to get to where they are and persistence in staying there.

Conclusion

To see others as examples of what can be achieved is beneficial and inspiring. However, we are all different and cannot compare out journey to the journey of other human beings.

On one side there is the task of realising our own potential and with that seeing others in a more balanced way. And on the other side, there are the negative parts that we have repressed in ourselves and projected onto others; that also need to be integrated

And as we become more accepting of our own 'perfect' and 'imperfect' sides, we will be more aware of the ego minds tendency to see life in absolutes.

Do Lazy Americans Forgo Voting If The Weather Isn't Being Nice?   Your Miracle Is On The Right Side   

The Myth of the American Individual

As the American poverty rate hits a fifty-year high, the polar icecaps melt, and the global economy dovetails into a seemingly endless downward spiral, it's high time we examined one of our most popular and destructive cultural values: the myth of the American individual-A.K.A "the self made man."

We Americans are obsessed with individualism. The idea of the self-made man is part of our collective DNA. As a child, I couldn't scrape my knee without some self-obsessed, self-absorbed grown up telling me, "You've got to pull yourself up by the bootstrap, Son. 'Cuz, nobody's gonna do it for ya." And so I did because I believed them. Until, that is, I grew up and turned an honest eye out unto the world.

Like most fanatics, we believe in the idea of American individualism-despite all evidence to the contrary-with religious-like fervor, blind faith, and stubborn ignorance. But the self-made man is a myth. After all, no one accomplishes anything entirely by his or herself. Human beings are social creatures. And as such, we are interconnected, especially in an age of globalization. Be it our successes or our struggles, we win and lose together. From striking teachers in Chicago to sweatshop workers in Vietnam, our fate and our well-being are irrevocably interlocked. Our individual trials have become our collective struggle. As Zen Master, Yasutani Roshi, once said, "The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there."

Whether it's Steve Jobs, Tiger Woods, or Warren Buffet, any close and honest observation of success shatters the notion of the self-made man. After all, it really does "take a village to raise a child."

Let's take music as an example because it's both a passion and an obsession of mine. As all accomplished performers know, the idea of the self-made musician is preposterous. Like many other trades, learning to play music is an apprentice-based system. In the beginning, aspiring guitarists hire experienced professionals to teach them the basics. Once our budding guitarist has mastered the basic chords and scales, built a small repertoire, and learned to take a solo or two, he usually joins a band. But the apprenticeship doesn't end there. Our budding guitarist learns from his peers "on the job" and gets better with every gig, show, and session played.

With each new record he hears or every player he meets, our ambitious guitarist is connecting with the musical community as a whole for continued success and provided inspiration. Thus, the apprenticeship never ends, even at the highest levels.

The same rings true for professional athletes, actors, writers, politicians, or entrepreneurs. No one achieves anything without the aid of parents, teachers, peers, or the community. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "All life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. We are made to live together because of the interrelated structure of reality. This is the way our universe is structured; this is its interrelated quality. We aren't going to have peace on earth until we recognize this basic fact of the interrelated structure of all reality."

In a time of crisis, while so many of us are feeling the crunch of poverty, the scorch of global warming, or the squeeze of a global recession, it's high time we shed our obsession with the myth of the American individual and appreciate our connection to each other and with the rest of the world. As John Donne said, "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.

After all, together we rise and divided we fall.

Obama Says His Initiatives Would Help The Middle Class - Fact Check Please   Do Lazy Americans Forgo Voting If The Weather Isn't Being Nice?   Your Miracle Is On The Right Side   

Obama Says His Initiatives Would Help The Middle Class - Fact Check Please

President Obama keeps telling us that he wants to help the middle class, and only raise taxes on the rich. Of course, if he took all the money from all the billionaires, every single dime, it wouldn't reduce his annual budget deficits much or pay off the debt, it would only be a drop in the bucket, and it would only run the government for a little less than three months. Are you beginning to see the economies of scale when we are talking about the budget deficit and the $5 trillion in debt that the Obama administration has spent trying to get the economy to recover? Let's talk.

How is it going to help the middle class to keep doing the same thing over and over again or by reelecting this president and his administration? Do you realize that the $5 trillion he added to our Nation's debt will have to be paid back in taxes? And if that money cannot come from the rich people, and 47% of the people don't pay any income tax, then my I ask where on earth the money is coming from? Well, we can print more money, but if we print more money the money you currently have will be worth less, or worthless if you want to put those two words together.

This means he has to raise taxes on the middle class. When you raise taxes on the middle class you take away the American consumer, who can't afford to buy anything, therefore no one can be employed providing those products and services. That doesn't sound too middle-class friendly to me. If we tax people into oblivion they can't afford to send their kids to college, buy a home, buy a car, or even buy a new iPad or Surface Tablet from Microsoft. Are you beginning to see that point? Still, the Obama administration and their political operatives claim that his initiatives would help the middle class.

No, actually they have hurt them, and if we reelect President Obama those same policies will continue to cause a middle-class pain as fewer people are investing in businesses, which provide jobs, thus, that would mean fewer jobs, and despite those socialist viewpoints everyone cannot work for the government. And realize a government big enough to do all that and give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you have, including your life, when they can longer pay for your so-called free-health care.

Those who purport socialist economic theory always attempt to stand on some falsehood of moral high-ground but taking from someone else to give it to another is merely a proxy thief, and a government that does that under the guise of equality is still unethical, unfair, and quite frankly; dangerous. Of course, socialism is dangerous as it ruins the life experience of everyone, and diminishes the middle class until there is none; then everyone can be equal - great they will all be equally poor except for the few and their friends in power, this is the opposite of what America stands for. Please consider all this and think on it.

Do Lazy Americans Forgo Voting If The Weather Isn't Being Nice?   Your Miracle Is On The Right Side