No, this isn't a post about that tv show. I've never even seen an episode. But, you'd have to be hiding under a rock - or not have a facebook account - to have missed what this craziness is all about. It's a tv show sensationalizing a young girl and her family, practically making fun of them to their face. The little girl has such poor enunciation that they have to subtitle it. That's entertainment, folks!
What this blog is about, other than helping me sort out my feelings and get this all out of my head so I can focus on important things, is the state of our world and how we're viewing life, but also how we treat each other.
Recently a few things have popped into my facebook newsfeed. Here's
one. And here's the
other.
The first one is a blog post by a very inspiring, motivational blogger/pilates instructor/all around peppy, sweet person named Cassey Ho. If you follow her at all, you know her motives are always positive and stem from love. But her recent rant, if you want to call it that, about the show Honey Boo Boo has gotten her some flack. Some people feel like she's being disrespectful of fat people. Perhaps she could have used more sensitive words in her post, but seriously? She was acting out of her passion for health and eating right. For her to have to apologize for that just seems backwards. We should all care more about others health and take responsibility for our own more often. If we were as passionate about what we eat, how we feel, and where our food comes from as much as we are about proving someone wrong on the internet, this world would be a much better place.
Which brings me to the second link. A few new commercials by Healthy Choice are going around. They are essentially putting vegetables in a category of "bad" and their packaged, highly processed foods in a "good" category. Of course they are. They have to make money somehow. But wow. Bashing kale and juicing in order to promote your highly preserved, full of chemicals products just makes my head spin. If loving kale is a cult, then hook me up with my sandals and voodoo music, cuz I'm in! Clearly Healthy Choice feels threatened by the green veggies. As they should be.
What all of this leads to is something else that has been really bothering me lately. I'm on facebook a lot. I have my personal page, but I also have two business pages and a few groups that I'm in, so I check in quite frequently and can't help but notice a very dark and negative tone taking over. Every page, every post, every topic big or small, you will find, without fail, an evil slew of comments aimed directly at hurting. Most of it is politically based, even if the original post had NOTHING to do with politics, but lately there's a lot of body bashing, hate-filled comments and just an underlying need to hurt someone all for the sake of feeling "right". Whatever that is.
We've produced a culture of hate and bias and negativity that I frankly just don't want to be part of. I do my best every single day to see the light. After all, it is a choice. It's a choice to be sad, it's a choice to be mad, it's a choice to be filled with hate. And it's a choice to see good and ignore evil. I choose to eat my veggies and avoid processed food as much as possible, but I also choose not to scream at others about their poor food choices. I could very easily point at people in the grocery store and laugh at them for piling their carts so full of crap that they have to hang their precious soda bottles over the edge of their cart. Their chips, hamburger helper, boxed dinners and lean cuisines overflow, while nary a vegetable is to be found. I could be so mean to them and make them feel horrible about their choices, but there's no point. We don't learn by being made fun of, or by being told we are wrong. We learn by experience, by example, and by positive reinforcement. So, I choose to fill my cart with tons of organic veggies, and minimally processed foods in hopes to inspire, or at least ignite a spark in, someone who may otherwise not be aware of the negative effect their cart full of food will bring. No need for hateful words. No need to point and laugh. No need to prove myself right. Living by example is more effective. I wish more people on the internet, and in the real world, would practice that.
In a nutshell, Honey Boo Boo and her family *are* headed for disaster, but worrying about them and wanting them to eat healthier is not the crime. Putting them on a pedestal for all to point and laugh at, while sensationalizing their poor food choices...that's the crime.
Eating kale and juicing are not the crime. Making them seem vile in order for you to sell a factory-made product...that's the crime.
Engaging in social issues on Facebook is not the crime. Spewing hate and resentment in order to feel better about yourself...that's the crime.
Having an opinion that is different than someone else's is not the crime. Being negative and derogatory in order to feel good about your position....that's the crime.
I'm sick of the negativity! Join me on my quest to follow a healthy, happy, judgement-free zone (that was for you, wonkafonka) promoting love and compassion, and of course, KALE! What's the crime in that?
