Is Barbie to blame?

There is so much out there about how we come to understand and achieve our own self-worth as women and girls. There is a bewildering amount of information about what makes us tick and to try and figure out why we do what we do and for whom.
I thought these three articles were very interesting. They make completely different points, but it all seems to boil down to the same thought. Should the media, society, friends or other people tell us who we are and if we are important? Who are we trying to please and why? I think these are very good thought questions for consideration.
Here are the articles:
~Barbies gone wild here Cinderella Ate my Daughter - Peggy Orenstein's new book on girl culture
~Miss Representation - Jennifer Siebel Newsom's documentary at the Sundance Film Festival. She contends that in our culture a woman's value stems from her looks and her sexuality. She hopes to educate and eventually change the powerful media message and cultural norms regarding a person's worth.
~He Loves Us and We Love Him: You've Memorized it, Now Live it - book by Laurel Christensen

The book emphasizes that no matter what our age (or even gender), as followers of Christ, the values of faith, divine nature, individual worth, knowledge, choice and accountability, good works, integrity, and virtue are still integral to our lives.

"I have a theory that we're all kind of that 13-year-old girl inside, whether we're women in our 30s, 40s or 50s, still wanting to know if our lives have purpose, if Heavenly Father hears our prayers," Christensen said. "These are universal themes. ... Truth is truth. The message is just as appropriate."

What messages are we sending our little girls? More than ever, they are bombarded daily with images and messages of how they should look and what they should achieve or not achieve. How can we help them make sense of it all? How can we help instill in them a sense of self-worth and confidence? They will make decisions in the future based largely on how much they think they are worth. How can we help them have a healthy sense of who they are and decide early on who they want to please?

From the ridiculous to the sublime

I sat by a professor in a meeting yesterday who has been heavily involved in developing two products. One is ridiculous (and very useful) and the other is completely sublime (and really useful). You be the judge:

The sublime one is the LDS scripture citation index. It is a marvel. It is a link that you will probably want to bookmark for future use. It would be SO HELPFUL in preparing church talks and lessons. It's a completely wonderful tool for gospel study. Who knew?

The second is unbelievable and quite ridiculous. Check out the video:


I would love to own one of those Blendtec blenders and an iPad. I definitely wouldn't put the IPad in the blender though. Wow, those blenders are amazing!

Can you even imagine how this would feel?

And the check out THIS VIDEO for a great recap of the game.

Revelation and inspiration cont.

We're almost finished serving at the Missionary Training Center. We started serving in the first part of February of 2007 and we'll be released in a couple more weeks. It's been quite the experience. I'll write more later about some of the things that have happened and about some of the things we are really going to miss.
We've attended the Tuesday night devotionals (lectures) given by the general authorities of the church and their wives for the last four years. It's been an added bonus to hear from their wives and to find out what their names are and to hear them speak. We seldom get the opportunity to hear from them in other church settings. They seem to be wonderful women who have served with their husbands in important ways. Rick and I have taken volumes of notes on all the talks we have heard. We've been schooled in the gospel and we both feel like we have a deeper and broader understanding of so many gospel topics because of the opportunity we have had to learn from the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and many members of the Seventy. Our Sunday Relief Society lessons have been taught by the general auxiliary leaders from the Primary, Relief Society and Young Women and their board members. Sister Wixom spoke last Sunday in Relief Society. She was delightful and delivered a powerful message. We count it a great blessing that we've had this opportunity to learn from the best and that we've felt the spirit on so many occasions in overwhelming abundance. I know one thing and it's this...the Lord LOVES his missionaries and He only gives them the best instruction there is to help them succeed. After each lecture we've had the opportunity to return to the classrooms with the missionaries and discuss what we learned and how to apply those teachings. Those experiences have been some of the sweetest and most meaningful to me to hear the Elders and Hermanas express their feelings and tell what they have learned. I'm really going to miss that interaction.

I thought I'd just share a few more thoughts about the topic of revelation and inspiration. It's such an important topic and I think most people struggle to know how it works and how to best access and use this gift in their lives.
Elder Bednar taught the missionaries in a devotional on June 9, of 2009. The talk made a powerful impression on both me and Rick. We talked about it, thought about it and came to a better understanding of how this important principle impacts our lives. He said:
~A question that is in the soul of most people and that is asked most often is "How do I know if a feeling or impression I'm receiving is from the Holy Ghost, or is it just me?"
~Answer: quit worrying about it. Press forward with faith. Keep your covenants. Open your mouth and it will be filled.
~Rarely will it come as a noticeable impression. The overwhelming majority of the time you will feel the spirit from being a good boy or a good girl and letting the spirit help you press forward, when you are moving, you will be guided. You can't sit still and wait.
~Don't sit and wait for some dramatic message to come from Heaven. Press forward. Get over it. Get going and you'll be alright.
~There are dramatic spiritual experiences and promptings, but there are many more gradual steps to draw unto Christ and he shouldn't have to be constantly smacking us with a dramatic impression. The majority come when we are moving and doing and not sitting and analyzing.
~Quit worrying about it. Get up, get going. Be a good boy, be a good girl. Be like Stephen Burnett in D&C 80: 3 "Wherefore, go ye and preach my gospel, whether to the north or to the south, to the east or to the west, it mattereth not, for ye cannot go amiss. It means, get going and don't sweat the small stuff. Move forward and the God will impress upon you what you should say, where you should go and what you should do.
~ Every good thought you have to help someone is inspired by the Holy Ghost.

Thought of You

Here is a piece of artwork that is unusual and quite touching combining art with dance. It could have many different meanings about relationships. It's a collaboration between BYU animation professor Ryan Woodward and Dance Dept. instructor Kori Wakamatsu.