“Hello you”, The “you” of
course affected by the world- Think about it, what part of you is most
affected? Is there a part, or are you in a whole affected?
In quest of answer to this
argument, I spoke to my adorable friend Rebecca Asaro.Rebecca is 21 years old,
and attends Mount Saint Mary’s, and is majoring in Human Services. Like most
college students, and people of this age we tend to get caught in this “in between”
stage of adult and child.
This power struggle is filled with many pressures,
but some of us may lean on the world to help guide us- but is this helpful?
Does this guide us in the correct direction of who we really are, and are we
fully developed or are we still developing?
I found this very short
article about college to be very interesting, and it spoke loudly about what
and how an individual can use “college” to find who they really are.
As stated by Rebecca her
self,
“I feel like we shouldn't focus on the media so much, because in
reality, celebrities don't do much for us. It's amazing how we are always
curious about their gossip, or what's going on in their current lives. I'm not
sure if we're looking for someone to look up too.”
This is the most
interesting statement, because it most certainly make us wonder-Are we looking
for someone to look up to, or do we need someone to model how we want to be or
act? Rebecca thinks that the media and society affect most individuals, how can
we not be affected. She specifically touches upon the area’s of fashion, self
image, dieting, the tools that keep society and the media connected to us,
intimate relationships, and she has even included ideas of her family and
culture to help explain how she, herself is affected and her views on this
particular situation.
Today, Rebecca’s fashion
interest is greatly influenced, as she says; “Fashion trends are constantly
changing”. This can be both positive and or negative. In Rebecca’s eye’s, it
can give some people reason to worry about their image and make them anxious or
seriously self conscious or it can also do the exact opposite and make someone
have the urge and desire to dress up and feel good about themselves.
Possibly the road of
technology has changed the speed we desire to receive information as well as
responses, this includes within ourselves. When the media as well as society
shows us fast changing fashion trends and changes we expect or want to change
with them in the same speed, sometimes this leads individuals to take and make
unhealthy routes and choices. Rebecca feels that the media and society have
impacted people for several years, but she feels our level of technology has
greatly increased the ways people are affected as well as how much they are.
Many people, like Rebecca feel that technology and social
media over crowd our world. If they weren’t we would possibly be more accepting
of ourselves and have a greater desire to learn about who we are without any
influence. Today, we do not have a choice to escape the influencing-crowd, so finding
out who you are, or who we are has become extremely challenging. Rebecca feels
that it is supper easy to become distracted, if it isn’t by sight, it’s by
sound.
With that sad if we were
blind, deaf, and handicapped- in some way, we may still be impacted. Technology
and social media affect us all, and then we affect each other as a society. It
is a pattern that seems impossible to break.
Rebecca’s understanding of
all of this is innocent. If we are all so strongly surrounded by each other how
can someone not be influenced, easily. It is almost natural and most certainly
bound to happen. When we really think about how much time we have learned to
focus on the media and society, it’s amazing. And Rebecca, feels shocked,
because she feels that what most of us focus our energy on doesn’t give us
anything positive or helpful. But, she feels it ever so interesting that people
will always and do find an amazing amount of curiosity the world around us
offers.
Rebecca does not feel that
her relationships intimately have been impacted by society or by the media but
possibly there are other parts of her that have been affected that have guided
her to the individual’s she has had intimate relationships with, as well as the
pieces of her that she includes in her relationship that have been touched by
the world. She wonders if the gossip in magazines and TV about celebrities has
made her standards in relationships change, as well as the expectations of her
partner.
Rebecca most fond memory of
her being impacted by the media and society was when she was, around 16 or 17
years old. She experimented with different diet pills, and diet trends to
change her image. Over time, she learned that she just needed to aim her
priorities and mind to being health and not to her self-image. She learned to
accept her body and a healthier way of eating and exercising and felt she was
ok if she did or didn’t loose any weight.
Although, this particular
instance took simply “time” and “experience” in order for Rebecca to learn and
find her own place of acceptance, she still find herself wondering what it is
that makes it so hard for people to just accept themselves. As stated by
Rebecca herself,
“I will admit sometimes I will check celebrities' gossip and
news. I wonder what makes us like this. I know some of it is because we're
distracted with this technology and "keeping up with the world",
we're always competing against each other to have the best things.”
Although this is a struggle
that most of us may deal with for a long time. Family, Tradition and Culture
still have and play a significant role in our lives and for how and why we
think of the world in the ways that we do. As for Rebecca, she is a loving,
beautiful, and kindhearted girl. She comes from a very loving and close-knit
family, they have faced many struggles together but they choose and have chose
to let those struggles make them closer. Growing up in America, Rebecca feels
she has indefinitely become “Americanized” she knows this because of her
background, and her Italian and Brazilian parents. Understanding other values,
and traditions from her family visits to Brazil for example, has given her much
to debate and knowledge.
Although she does keep up
with the latest trends, enjoys feeling and looking good like most of us do, she
also has insecurities. She has been insecure about her hair and her weight
since she was 13 years old. But this is a battle that we all face within
ourselves, it is difficult to find pure love within ourselves when we only know
how to compare or relater to others and are constantly surrounded by others.
Rebecca feels blessed
because she has such a large and loving family, she feels honored to be an
Asaro and proud for all of the values, traditions and morals that her family
has raised her with. The fact that she can be happy with the smallest things in
life makes her feel content and I am proud to know Rebecca and her family.
Talking to Rebecca about
this, she addressed the best advice, we need to take the energy that we focus
on everyone and everything else and apply it to ourselves the world would be
much more peaceful; I could not agree more. Threw Rebecca’s beautiful eyes, she
looks for good in the world, and chooses her distractions instead of letting
them choose her. She chooses to see the scenery change during the seasons and
things of that nature.
The best person to talk to
about this topic hands down has to be Rebecca. She feels that if anyone has the
ability to travel it would change his or her world. She feels that her
environments negatively affect her in many forms, but the most powerful positive
way that she was affected was by helping others less fortunate in other parts
of the world. That is why I chose to interview Rebecca, It is so important when
thinking about this topic to consider the whole world. Many may state “the
world”, but the size of that world is different to each person. It may mean an individual’s
world, or an individual’s country.
Rebecca is the smartest and
one of he strongest people I know. She knows her battles, but she always
chooses them wisely and she never misses a moment when she knows she has to
work on them! We should all learn a little from Rebecca.
"Self Heart Photo"; http://journeybeyonddivorce.com/wp-content/uploads/self-love-exercise.jpg
"Rebecca"; http://www.thedivasblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/rebecca.jpg
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