Tuesday, March 11, 2008

another non-diet that's a diet... sigh.


i am so disappointed.

sigh.

a friend of mine brought this by my desk today.


sigh.

i like julia cameron. i've done The Artist's Way, and i know it helped me unleash size ate, but i am sooo disappointed in her right now. this, this just annoys me.

sigh.

of course, i haven't read it yet, so it's not really fair for me to judge, but i'm gonna anyway.

sigh.

i'll skim it, and i'll find many of the things she says helpful and insightful. many of the exercises useful and interesting, even fun, i daresay. i might even do a few.

sigh.

but why-oh-why must it be pegged to weight loss? why-oh-why aren't these exercises worth doing just for the self-knowledge that follows? why must they be done in hopes of losing weight?

sigh.

because, margaux, the word DIET on the cover of a book, no matter how simple and dignified the serifed font and cover design, SELLS BOOKS. and we continue to buy them because DIET is the only sort of "self-improvement" many of us have ever known and maybe even care to know. all the rest of those self-improvement books are full of nothing but self-absorbed balderdash, but DIET. there's something we can really sink our teeth into. we SEE the results in one's newly unveiled cheekbones. the way to world peace is through the gaping space between your well-toned, very thin thighs. Eileen Ford said so.

sigh.

i'm not an artist so i can be skinny. i'm an artist so i can be the most fully, self-actualized human being i can be.

sigh.

i am so disappointed.

2 comments:

Karen said...

When I saw this on Amazon, all I could think was, "Et tu, Julia?"

Must absolutely EVERYTHING be linked to weight loss?

Depressing.

Anonymous said...

I can see why your disappointed. I read the Amazon synopsis and some of the quotes just made me want to wretch.

You're so right, of course, in what the word "diet" on the cover of a book does to people. It's sad, really. Dieting is far and away the single most destructive thing I've done to myself. More destructive than the binging, in part because it led to binging.

The rest of the world isn't ready to accept this yet, and might never be. Dieting is like religion in our society. It's sick, twisted and sad... but oh-so-true.