The End of this Blog.

May you live everyday as if it were a blessing from above and may you find peace of mind, body and soul.

God Bless,
Kate

What I know for sure: There is no greater calling than service to others. And there is no better way to have your blessings multiply.

— Oprah

"The truth of matter is, if you are giving people something that is not authentically your truth, you are going to lose yourself—you are going to lose the opportunity to create real relationships."
— Dr. Robin Smith

Sexism and Violence in Advertising

Speechless.

"Excellence is the best deterrent to racism or sexism."

-Oprah Winfrey

Love Myself

"I know my creator didn't make a mistake on me!"

India Arie- Video.
This is an amazing music video that all young girls should watch. I love it!!!

Reality Diaries

Dove's latest and greatest addition to the Campaign for Real Beauty is the Reality Diaries.

It's a very real, in-your-face look at the true feelings of teenage girls. Parents enter with caution. Although these feelings may seem juvenile to us, they are very real to adolescent girls.

Let's begin tomorrow with positive thoughts. As we know, those thoughts become words, and our positive words become positive actions.

"Those who give light to others can not help but keep some for them self."

Basic Black

My latest obsession, outside of November’s magazine issues, is Cathie Black’s “Basic Black”. Cathie Black is the president of Hearst Magazines, a powerful and inspirational business woman, and a wise mentor for all women who strive for success.

Throughout her book, Black talks about ways women can get ahead in the work place. She is a living example of a woman who has broken through the glass ceiling. Her talk is straight-forward, strong and controlled. She discusses what to do, what not do, what rules to break and which ones to follow, and what to wear inorder to feel comfortable at your job and in your life.

Hearst is responsible for magazines such as:

CosmoGIRL! (Which I’m happy to say includes)
The Born to Lead Design Search with FIT
The CosmoGIRL! Challenge
50 Best Colleges for Girls
CosmoGIRL! Annual Born to Lead Awards
Cosmopolitan
Marie Claire (a personal favorite)
Redbook (another personal favorite)
Seventeen

All of these magazines are making headway in empowering young girls. 

My wish is that someday, all images that young girls see, demonstrate diversity and health, rather than one simple image that fits society’s mold of “beautiful.”

So Cathie Black’s, “Basic Black.” Get it. Read it. Love it.

"Facing the truth can be a bit unsettling at first. But since your world reflects the truth of your choices, know that when you act on your true feelings, you start to live a richer life."
— Life coach Cheryl Richardson

Body Shame: Body Image in a Cultural Context

I found this amazing article at Dove. It's good food for thought. Eat up!

" The perfect North American fashion model is 5'8" and weighs 115 lbs; the average North American woman is 5'3" and weighs 144 lbs. The perfect model weighs 23 percent less than the average woman. The message given to women by the fashion, diet and media industries is that we are never good enough. We must constantly deprive ourselves and continually fight the natural size of our bodies. This is achieved through the promotion of a beauty ideal that is impossible to achieve for a majority of women." (Dove.com)

My lovely roommate is currently interning at Girls Inc. The other day I offered to go with her to volunteer for the Halloween celebrations the organization was having. I walked in and the first thing I saw was a poster on the wall. It was a young girl, around the age of 6. She was standing on the pitcher's mound on a softball field. The picture was a moment frozen in time. She was throwing the ball with her baseball cap tilted, her shirt dirty, and her uniform worn proudly. The caption read, "Tell me to throw every inch of my four-foot frame into everything I do"
If you click the link you can see a picture of the poster. This was the best I could find, but I wanted to show you anyway I could.

WHAT A POWERFUL IMAGE! I stood there, thinking about how wonderful this message was for these young girls to see. The hallways were plastered with amazing posters like these. So props to Girls Inc. Good work.


We ask justice, we ask equality, we ask that all the civil and political rights that belong to citizens of the United States, be guaranteed to us and our daughters forever."
—Susan B. Anthony, Declaration of Rights for Women, July 1876