Leave it to me to introduce a website that attempts to help people get opinions about their looks at the same time that the world is facing a catastrophic economic mess, when the health care of the nation is at risk, and when hearts are breaking all over the world for the Haitian and Chilean people. Talk about bad timing. A website about “our looks” seems pretty superficial against that backdrop.
Yet, that’s what I did. I created and am trying to promote MyLooksOnline.com. It’s a service that offers honest opinions about people’s looks. There’s a huge part of me that is ashamed of the time I’m spending on this venture when my time could be so much better spent on more humanitarian efforts.
How do we value worthwhile pursuits? Or, perhaps the more pertinent question is “how do we rationalize all of our pursuits?” I’m tempted to suggest that providing people with the opportunity to receive opinions about their appearance rests at the bottom of the barrel. In fact, the barrel might look like this:
1. Charitable causes
2. Educational pursuits
3. Health-related work
4. Environmental-related work
5. Spiritual assistance
6. The remaining 120 billion work-related business and services, excluding Entertainment
7. Entertainment
8. Offering opportunity for people to seek opinions about their looks
Yet, when I began development of the site, I had relatively noble ambitions. I argued that looks are important and that people deserve the opportunity to find out how they could improve their looks. After all, not all of us are going to win a guest spot on What Not to Wear. I further argued that those who didn’t look as good as they could, would be somewhat disadvantaged in our looks-are-everything culture. It seemed a lofty enough goal. Not exactly the American Red Cross, but not gossip column either.
It’s not until I put the site in context with the economy, Haiti, Chile, and overall world hunger and poverty that it smacks of trivia. Granted, not everything we humans do can be reduced to the same standard of valuation, but isn’t it safe to say that some occupations and services are more contributory than others?
So…we do what we can. In a somewhat self-serving way, we try to remove the “ficial” from the superficial by finding avenues where value and meaning can be created. It allows us to feel good about what we’re doing. At My Looks Online, our focus is on looks. And, in a much more precious way, so is it with the Smile Train organization. This is where doctors repair the smiles of children. It’s why My Looks Online plans to donate 10% of income generated from the site to this organization. Bottom line – It elevates our bottom-of-the-barrel position and contributes a beautiful smile to the world. I like that.
Showing posts with label looks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label looks. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Friday, December 11, 2009
Looks Are Important, But Who Cares?
Looks are important. I hate that. It means that my lazy left eye will always preempt my efforts to “put on my best face,” “put my best foot forward,” not to mention (chuckle, chuckle) “look someone straight in the eye.” It means that my rounded tummy, crow’s feet and sagging jowls will always contradict my eager outbursts of “That’s just like totally awesome!” And, it means that my Facebook closings of “LOL” will always betray the gray-haired old lady trying to keep up in our abbreviated techno texting culture.
Looks can certainly undermine the message. They give us away in ways we would rather not disclose. I’d like to promote my well-trained, albeit phony, air of self-confidence; however, my chewed up cuticles generally give me away at the hand-shake. Bad habits, bad behavior and bad thinking are permanently stamped on our faces. Likewise, the good habits we develop, the good behavior we practice and the good thinking we follow are also imprinted on us. In other words, there’s solid reason behind both our laugh lines and our permanent scowls. We can wear disguises but these are fragile masks waiting to fall from the weight of evidence.
The good news is that, while looks are important, the degree of importance seems to diminish as we get older. This is not to suggest that people in their 70’s, 80’s and 90’s are not mindful of their appearance. On the contrary, I have family members in those age groups who look great and still spend time carefully coordinating the day’s attire. They are fashionable, healthy and continue to produce a polished appearance in their clothing and hairstyles. However, as we gain life’s experiences – the joys, the sorrows – we tend to prioritize differently. What’s a lazy left eye when your sister has cancer? What’s the big deal about sagging jowls when your father faces open-heart surgery? And, what’s so offensive about chewed-up cuticles when you lose your job?
While I’m convinced that, as a general rule, looks will remain important in our society, the importance to me personally proved to be somewhat temporary. I still compare myself to others … human nature, I suppose. But, that futile exercise has been superseded by an even more futile exercise of comparing myself of today to myself of yesterday. I now wake up each day and say “What’s this? Another new wrinkle? Damn, when did that happen?” And, then I say, “Aah, who cares?”
So, while there is still a shred of interest on your part to help yourself look good, visit my website MyLooksOnline.com. We will answer your questions about your looks, whether you’re 20 years old and highly invested in the answers or 90 years old and only mildly curious what others think!
http://www.mylooksonline.com/
Looks can certainly undermine the message. They give us away in ways we would rather not disclose. I’d like to promote my well-trained, albeit phony, air of self-confidence; however, my chewed up cuticles generally give me away at the hand-shake. Bad habits, bad behavior and bad thinking are permanently stamped on our faces. Likewise, the good habits we develop, the good behavior we practice and the good thinking we follow are also imprinted on us. In other words, there’s solid reason behind both our laugh lines and our permanent scowls. We can wear disguises but these are fragile masks waiting to fall from the weight of evidence.
The good news is that, while looks are important, the degree of importance seems to diminish as we get older. This is not to suggest that people in their 70’s, 80’s and 90’s are not mindful of their appearance. On the contrary, I have family members in those age groups who look great and still spend time carefully coordinating the day’s attire. They are fashionable, healthy and continue to produce a polished appearance in their clothing and hairstyles. However, as we gain life’s experiences – the joys, the sorrows – we tend to prioritize differently. What’s a lazy left eye when your sister has cancer? What’s the big deal about sagging jowls when your father faces open-heart surgery? And, what’s so offensive about chewed-up cuticles when you lose your job?
While I’m convinced that, as a general rule, looks will remain important in our society, the importance to me personally proved to be somewhat temporary. I still compare myself to others … human nature, I suppose. But, that futile exercise has been superseded by an even more futile exercise of comparing myself of today to myself of yesterday. I now wake up each day and say “What’s this? Another new wrinkle? Damn, when did that happen?” And, then I say, “Aah, who cares?”
So, while there is still a shred of interest on your part to help yourself look good, visit my website MyLooksOnline.com. We will answer your questions about your looks, whether you’re 20 years old and highly invested in the answers or 90 years old and only mildly curious what others think!
http://www.mylooksonline.com/
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