TheresaCaldwell.com

Beauty

I've spent more time than usual over the last several days thinking about beauty. I didn't realize that's what I was considering until today, while reading continuing coverage of the not-as-cute Chinese singer.

Maybe you saw the cute, 9-year old Chinese girl singing during the Olympics opening ceremony. It turns out that the real singer was a 7-year old who someone who makes those types of decisions decided was not cute enough to do the honors.  When I saw the real singer's picture, I was floored. She's cute as a button! This discussion started the same day I happened to see Tyra Banks' show on African Americans still being what we used to call "color struck." Don't ask. And of course there was the discussion about Beyonce looking whiter than ever in a new L'Oreal ad.

I decided that this was all about the definition of beauty, and who gets to define it. So, I went to my trusty dictionary. The first definition: Qualities that give pleasure to the senses or exalt the mind.

When was the last time anyone said that "beauty" is supposed to exalt the mind, not meet some abstract test designed by ... who? Not to mention the fact that "beauty" and "beautiful" are often doled out as if they are commodities which are in short supply. They are not. My heart broke Saturday morning when I heard that the comedic beauty of Bernie Mac was silent. I felt better that afternoon when I got a work of beauty from my friend and gifted photographer Elizabeth Linares. My energy was zapped again the next day when I learned that the musical beauty of Isaac Hayes would play no more. I am heartened, however, by the fact that remembrances of them show the beauty in all human hearts.

Hearts and minds are the real judges of beauty, aren't they? The body itself seems to have weighed in on the matter, seeing as you can live without one of your senses but not without your heart or brain. So to that singing 7-year old and the majority of us who would not have made the cut, all I can say is that I'm sticking with the one who designed the human body. Any other definition of beauty is irrelevant.

Plea To Prez Camps: Give Us A Break!

I'm certainly no fan of Britney Spears or Paris Hilton, but when I saw the new campaign ad for Senator John McCain today I was disgusted.

These young women, especially Spears, have suffered some serious personal challenges in the last year. It's unfair to rake them over the coals again for political games that they're not even playing. With one commercial, the McCain camp kicked dirt in the face of his opponent in the presidential race, Senator Barack Obama -- fair game -- as well as Spears and Hilton. The ad also implied that the millions of people around the world who think highly of the two young women, or at least follow their careers, are empty-headed. The party that once claimed to stand for "family values" is making fun of troubled, young female celebrities and, by extension, their own children who created them? What kind of values are those?

Give Spears and Hilton a break, and the rest of us. I thought Don Imus taught us that taking ignorant pot shots at young women who are just doing their thing is unacceptable? Yes, his offense was much worse, but Imus is back on the air. I guess high-dollar and political communication hasn't changed very much. Except for the fact that the ugly stuff starts earlier in political campaigns. Fellas, stick to raking the other guy over the coals by bashing his political positions, distorting his record and trying to turn words like "liberal" and "conservative" into epithets.

For the record, I'm an Obama supporter. I'd be twice as upset if his campaign had run that ad. He and Senator McCain can both exemplify change worthy of 21st Century leaders by making sure that we don't see more ads like this one, and getting the current disgrace off the air as soon as possible.

Confession: I'd Love A Week Without The Usual Political Talk

I have a confession to make: I love being in conversations. I even love conversations about  religion, politics and the impact of religion on politics. But here's the big confession: I am thrilled that I may actually get a week or two without feeling like I have to absorb the usual political talk. I like that I won't hear entire presidential candidate speeches or people telling me what they think about what the candidate just told me.

I want to hear more about rising prices and jobless claims and what can be done about them, but without the political spin. I want to hear more about how we're helping veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, without political sniping. I even want to hear about Jonathan Kellerman's upcoming book (I'm a huge fan), which can be done without a hint of political posturing.

Can one of the television networks do a nice follow-up on how people are surviving weather-related disasters or a huge fire? How about a well-written, beautifully-crafted obituary about the next celebrity we lose? And make it a whopping 3 minutes. It does not make sense that we seem to have more channels carrying more news than ever before, but with less time for humane explorations of human experiences.

And here's a tip for the cable networks: hire more on-air political types. Wolf Blitzer and Chris Matthews may be news junkies, but they deserve some time off.

Slowing It Down With The Pope

I was down the street from Pope Benedict XVI's mass today at Nationals Stadium in Washington. I watched it on television. I'm OK with that, because I got many opportunities to see what I loved the most about the excitement before, during and after the mass: the looks on people's faces.

Even with the sound down you could practically feel the adoration pouring out of people. Even CNN's Wolf Blitzer smilingly admitted feeling blessed when he realized that the pontiff had given him a commemorative gold coin. Wolf Blitzer smiling! Certainly some of what people felt was for the man, but most of it seemed to be for what he represented to them. And the Pope smiled and waved as if the feeling was mutual.

It is as much a blessing to openly express your love for someone as it is to revel in their love for you. When was the last time you carved a couple of hours out of your day just to be in the presence of someone who means a lot to you? When was the last time you stopped rushing through your day long enough to bask in someone's act of kindness, even a small one?

I've been guilty of it, too. But where are we going in such a hurry? Time moves fast enough on its own. While watching the Pope turn slowly and wave smoothly as "The Pope Mobile" took its sweet time going from one place to another, I decided that I would work a bit more slowly during the day. And guess what? I got more done!