"Charlize Theron's Worth Ethic Inspired by Immigration."
By Fuzheado [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons
Theron's worth ethic was inspired by immigration?
Clearly this wording had to be a typo so I read further into the article and sure enough, the author was discussing her WORK ethic and how she became driven (and ambitious) because of her immigrant status in Hollywood. Without any friends or family, Theron, who hails from South Africa, discussed that her motivation came from wanting to "pay her bills and not having to work a second job, especially with no support system" in the US. Okay, that seemed reasonable and easy enough......but I just couldn't stop thinking of that notion of a "worth" ethic.
I took that typo-ed title as a cue for me to imagine what it would mean to have a "worth ethic." What would one of those look like?
A work ethic usually entails working hard and persevering. It usually speaks to one's sense of character, of being responsible, of having integrity and having a strong sense of responsibility.
Now, let's dissect what it would mean to have or to develop a worth (or worthy) ethic.
Worth is often thought of as having value.
When we think about feeling worthy, we (can) attribute this value to ourselves, we can affirm that we, as human beings, have value (just because). It has nothing to do with who we are or what we have. I think of being worthy like this, because you and I were born, we are worthy; because we are here, we are worthy (period).
By Madhumathi S V [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons
Ethic or ethics has to do with the way something is governed. It has to do with a set of principles, rules or conditions that one may follow or live by. Merriam Webster defines it as a set of moral principles or a guiding philosophy. I like the last part about a guiding philosophy. Think about a guiding philosophy that we could carry around about ourselves, about being and feeling worthy, or feeling valuable and having a knowing that we have something worthwhile to give or contribute to the world. I wonder if people would be able to see that in us as we go about our everyday lives. Would they remark about how we had an awesome worth ethic? Would they talk about how they could tell how good we felt about ourselves (just by looking at us) and how good they (even) felt just from being around us? I wonder what they would be able to sense or feel about how we navigated the world. I wonder, what kinds of people and experiences we would attract? How much fun would we (all) be having in our everyday lives?
Hey, there's nothing wrong with being recognized as a person with a strong work ethic; I just wonder what it would feel like or be like to be known as someone with a strong or desirable worth ethic!
The following commentary is based
on the comedy, “I Feel Pretty,” starring Amy Schumer. It contains details and
ideas made during the film. In the following text, I address why many of the
concepts are relevant and what we all can learn about the emotion of “feeling”
and in this case, “feeling pretty” which could have easily been translated into
“feeling confident” or “feeling good.”
Basic Plot/Storyline:
Amy Schumer portrays a
regular girl, living and working in NYC. She works for a large and successful
cosmetics company that has mostly catered to high-end clients. Instead of
working at the swanky Fifth Avenue corporate headquarters, Schumer’s character,
Renee Bennett works in a dingy, basement of a China-Town dump along with
another worker, who is content on being unseen. They basically work as the
online arm of the business and have been completely ignored and removed from
the glamorous, “day to day” world of the company.
Bennett is slightly
overweight, wears trendy clothes and loves all things modern, fashion and
cosmetics. She keeps up with the current trends and has an active social life
with her 2 BFF’s, two smart, average-type girls who are also living in the Big
Apple. Bennett is comfortable with these two down-to-earth girls, who really
don’t have a strong interest in fashion or cosmetics. Her low self-esteem and insecurities can be put on hold when she
spends her time with her two gal-pals.
I must admit that this movie
made me laugh out loud. One reason is because I do think that Schumer is
hilarious and because of the simplicity and relevancy of the script. Many people spend many of their young adult years trying to be......trying to be accepted, to be pretty, to be skinny, to be rich, to be loved, to be something that they perceive is missing from their lives. Some thing outside of themselves that will make them whole. This is one of the big lies of life, of living, of being and especially existing in a modern (and dare I say, capitalistic) culture.
Renee Bennett is
trying to achieve the perfect American woman dream existence, which includes being
thin, being pretty with high cheekbones, wearing the latest and greatest fashions
and hairstyles, all while being smart, as well as hopefully rich and clever. She is trying to do
all of the right things but something
is not quite right. Her friends are also trying to figure out life but they
seem to be much more grounded in their “what may be seen as” mundane existence.
Bennett is very self-conscious and constantly judging herself (her looks, her body and possibly unconsciously, her worth).
Bennett’s major issue occurs
when she is at a SoulCycle class, with a highly energetic and motivating
instructor, who is asking all of the participants to look within themselves and
to follow their inner dreams. The instructor hypes the class up to believe that
their dreams are somehow tied to their feverish peddling on a bike. Instead of
getting into a high-powered zone, Bennett accidentally falls and bumps her
head, and passes out. When she wakes up, she looks at herself in the mirror and
can’t believe what she sees. She is suddenly breathtakingly beautiful and this
change gives her all of the confidence in the world. She is now happy and confident.
She believes in herself and has the courage to do all the things that she
wants to do.
Video by Trailor To Go
(I Feel Pretty Trailer Song-Me Too by Meghan Trainor)
Now in reality, Bennett has only changed to
herself. Everyone else is dumbfounded by this new surge of confidence and
cannot understand Bennett’s new love and take on her life. As she gazes at herself
in the mirror, she thinks that she actually looks different than she did before and she is convinced that everyone sees this newversion, when in reality, she has not
changed one little bit. What she sees in the mirror is her own idea of perfection and
beauty. She is now in love with the new Renee and lives completely out loud and
fearless.
Renee Bennett reminds me of
someone who has a body dysmorphic disorder, only her condition is actually
empowering (instead of devastating and depressing) because it propels her to
live the life of her dreams. Before the head bump, Renee is generally unhappy and
insecure but tries to do all of the right things, like
wearing trendy clothes, makeup and following you-tube video “beauty” tutorials. Afterward, she
becomes completely in love with her new, totally beautiful self. She can’t
believe her eyes or how beautiful she has become. She can’t get enough of
herself and of course, all of this wonderfulness goes to her head and she
becomes a bit of a monster/mean-girl to her old friends. (But, that aspect could take up a whole "other" post so I won't digress.....)
Bennett has so much
confidence that she is able to win new colleagues and friends. These are individuals who would have never given the old Renee a chance. The old Renee would have faded into the
background and wouldn't have ever been confident enough to approach, let alone, befriend this new and what she perceives as "perfect" group of people. The new Renee is not afraid to be seen and heard, which is a
part of her new charm and charisma. She is finally a member of the In-Crowd, with a new job,
new prospects and a new relationship on the horizon.
Mind you, Renee has not physically changed and still looks
the same to everyone else. The only change that
has occurred is in how she VIEWS and SEES herself. Her inner belief about
herself has transformed and caused her outer life to fall in line and change.
Take Away Points:
1)What you
decide to believe about yourself will be. Can you unconditionally fall in love with yourself? Can you be happy
with what you see in the mirror? Can you look at yourself without judgement?
When Renee Bennett does this, she becomes a better
version of herself, and then a best version of herself when (at the end) she
realizes that she has not physically changed at all. She is the same Renee that
she has always been.
2)If you can
find and tap into being in love with you, it becomes contagious and other
people will love you, too.
Bennett thought that other people saw the version of
her that she was seeing and hence, couldn’t help but love her. This statement
is both true and false. People saw the image of Renee that she projected and believed about herself. Renee saw a different
image of herself in her mind. The mirror displayed the same (old) Renee----everyone
saw the same Renee except Renee.
3)Renee’s
confidence and positivity shines when she realizes her own self-worth.
Bennett didn’t realize until the end that she has not
changed and that her success was based on who she was ---already, unchanged.
Her major change was in attitude and her approach to life; it had nothing to do
with her appearance.
4)Feelings
Matter.
How we feel at any given moment matters and we can learn to
manage how we feel and what we emote.
When Renee felt differently about herself, her life
changed. She felt and exuded confidence. She felt and exuded a happy and
positive persona. She felt and exuded an air and attitude of possibility. She
felt and exuded feeling good about life.
What else can we learn or take away from
this happy and feel-good movie?
· We can choose to love ourselves right now, in our
current
state. We are enough already.
· When we FEEL good, life is and goes better (period).
LIFE IS GOOD.
· We can choose to be the best version of ourselves at
any
moment. We can love ourselves; we are lovable; we are
deserving.
· We do not have to follow and be like everyone else. We
can be ourselves and when we tap into that--that which makes us-us, that which makes us special, then we can tap into and share our divine gifts and talents with the world.
Everything that we seek, we already have. We have been created out of love by the ultimate Source of Love. When we learn to love ourselves, then, we can truly love others.
Video by Victor Antonio (Stephanie Mills, 1976)
"And I've learned that we must look inside our hearts to find a world full of love, like yours, like mine, like home."
Stephanie Mills, 'Home' from the Wiz
All images are CC0 licensed and free for personal and commercial use.
“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're doing something.”
(Disclaimer: This post will be updated weekly and sometimes daily because it just feels so good to do so, scroll down for the latest entries ......)
This is a post that's been sitting in the back of my brain for a couple of days..... It's just a simple idea about what I believe and I want to update it as much as I can, just add to it as I go, as I live and I hope others will come here and share their lives as well..... I would really like to know what you believe or as Oprah says, "What do you know for sure?" As we get older, we still continue to grow and to refine....We change and hopefully we live a life that helps us to become more of ourselves. Do you feel more comfortable in your skin? I know that since I've been spending time, quieting my mind and meditating, I am and I feel more relaxed. I'm calmer and life is just becoming one of more and more ease......ahhhhhhhhh! I meditate because I believe that it helps me to live a life of beauty, abundance and one that is full of ease and joy! 10/17/17
Looking up at red maple leaves against a blue sky on a
beautiful Autumn day in October in the MidWest!
10/19: Because I believe......
that I can choose to feel love and joy every single day. I can open my mind and feel the love of my creator just by gazing into nature....
The turning of the leaves in October 2017 in the MidWest!
10/20 Because I believe...... We can experience joy each and everyday, no matter what is going on....
Beautiful Trees captured in October 2017. Welcome to Fall!
10/22/2017: Because I believe in the power of free will and we always have the power to choose.
We can either live as if life is heaven or hell! It seems to me that one choice is positively and unequivocally better than the other!
Walking along and I see these beauties on October 21, 2017!
10/23: Because I believe that we all can live in a happy place!
Sandpiper Cranes near my house in what appears to be one of their "happy places."
A little something extra today..........so good, watch video below:
Because I believe that life is suppose to be fun and lived with ease. Somewhere along the line, this whole adventure becomes convoluted. If only, we'd look more to nature, to little kids or to the voice within..........
11/04/17:
Because I believe that earning online can be easy and fun!
There are many ways to earn online and I prefer to make it easily and with as much fun as I can! If you like to browse or surf the net, you might as well make money while you do it......
