don's report archive

by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.

Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

At a time of the deepest bear market since 1937-38, a time when the S&P 500 is down almost 50 percent from its record close in March 2000, most folks are not spending a lot of time concerned about their appearance or beauty. They are worried about their plunging fortunes, or an immanent war with Iraq, or the kinds of politicians they might have to endure after the upcoming November elections, or dozens of other

crises not of their own making, as well as one or two upsets OF their own doing. No, appearance and/or beauty are not as much of a focus as usual. Instead of focusing on such a thing 90 percent of the time, I'd guess that only 75 percent of the normal person's attention is so directed!

Appearances are deceptive warned Aesop (The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing), who, around 500 BC, also noted that it is not only fine feathers that make fine birds (The Jay and the Peacock.) While appearance or beauty is a big deal to normal Americans, I wonder if it is as important to those who pursue healthy lifestyles and the fine art of self-management? I also wonder about the extent to which it SHOULD matter. Is there a good case to be made for the idea that concerns about beauty, style, looks and the like are silly diversions unworthy of the attention or concern of those who pursue the high art of lifestyle excellence? Do you think the whole idea of beauty plays a proportionate role in YOUR thinking about yourself as well as other people? If there were a wellness revolution of sorts in this country, would it have any effect on the way most of us deal with appearances? Would such changes, if any, be for better or worse?

My first response is "I have no idea!" My second is, "How might Voltaire respond to such questions?" Voltaire might say, "Ask a toad what is beauty...he will answer that it is a female with two great round eyes coming out of her little head, a large, flat mouth, a yellow belly and a brown back." My third response is "I still have no idea."

What Voltaire was telling us, I think, is that beauty is in the eye of you-know-who, namely, the beholder. It's all very subjective. It depends. Ask a hippo, a croc and a butterfly (assuming you could figure out how to put such a question) and you would surely get varied responses. As for humans, beauty is not only in the eye of the beholder, it resides as well in our deepest cultural imprinting and shallowest recent peer pressures and stereotypes. Within the latter realization lies the key to overcoming dysfunctional normalcy with respect to ideas about appearance and beauty.

All that said, let me take a stab at my own questions on the importance of appearance to those with an interest in and commitment to self-management! How important is it to the average, normal person? Very important. How important should it be to a wellness seeker? Less so than it is with normals. We could comfortably invest a lot more attention in these kinds of issues without qualms if we gave equal or, better yet, greater attention to qualities such as character, high-minded purposes and values that embody the common decencies. Agreements on the latter may be a little difficult to obtain, but we should give it a try, just the same. To start things off, I recommend we have a national poll to see how many citizens still agree that personal responsibility is a value of the first order for the faithful and the secular alike.

Today, beauty may be only skin deep, but that seems plenty deep enough for normal people. As something of a beautiful person myself, I think this matter needs more study.

What do you think? I also think we should all look on the bright side of life. I understand it does wonders for your complexion, and thus your appearance and beauty.

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the PHYSICAL DOMAIN under the skill area of appearance and aging. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

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