Life is short; remember to laugh and have fun

Published 8:45 am Monday, January 26, 2009

January seems to be a reading month for me. My Good Housekeeping magazine this month gave me some interesting ideas to ponder.

Good Housekeeping had a small paragraph about marriage titled “Marriage Matters.” It starts with the line “You may feel at times as though your husband is driving you crazy.”

That line immediately perked my interest as my spouse and I seem to drive each other crazy some of the time. I see curves, he sees lines. I see color, he sees beige. I stack on lower shelves; he puts things back on higher shelves. He changes channels with his remote like a toddler changes toys. I like to watch one station. I want to dance, he wants to golf. I like hot dish, he likes meat and potatoes. Need I say more? We are as different as day and night and yet we have managed to have made it 37 years. I will add that it has not been without conflict some of the time because of our different ways of doing things.

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Good Housekeeping magazine tells me that I will live longer because of this “spouse driving us crazy” relationship. This article tells me that in a relationship you can’t stick to your routines as easily because your partner has other ways of doing things. They must have hidden cameras in my home. Because of that type of relationship it keeps the neurons firing in a person’s brain that lessons the risk of dementia and cognitive impairment. So find a way to drive your spouse crazy. Crazy wins over dementia anytime in my book.

Another article that caught my eye was “Jeans For Every Body”. It was an article to find the perfect pair of jeans that camouflage figure flaws. Sorry, guys, they didn’t cover men’s figure flaws. This article demonstrated the jeans that you should choose for a thick waist. They had jeans that elongate short legs, fixes a flat bun, balances a pear shape, and foils belly bulge. I looked at all the pictures, read their advice and was as confused as ever. I needed jeans that fix all of those problems. I need an all-in-one jean that covers the short legs, flat bun, pear shape and belly bulge.

So their title didn’t fit “every body.” All the models seemed to be slim and trim. Of course the jeans were hiding their flaws. We all want to look nice so please designers design a jean that hides it all!

Also it should be in our price range, cheap. All but one pair of the jeans in the magazine was over $50.

I wish an editor would put out a magazine that only featured clothes from retail stores that are inexpensive. I wish an editor would publish a magazine that features dressing well from thrift shops and second hand stores. I wish an editor would publish a magazine that features houses and kitchens remodeled and well decorated from thrift stores and second hand stores. Maybe there is a magazine out there that does exactly that and I do not know about it.

Magazines and advertisers know that they can make us want things by advertising the very expensive. Sometimes we bite and purchase beyond our means because the magazines and advertising make it seem exactly what we need. I do not need $50 jeans but Good Housekeeping made me want $50 jeans if they made me look like I was taller and slimmer and better put together. It is a time in our country that we need to determine our wants from our needs. It is time for publishers and newspapers to help us do that.

I have a reader that thinks I need an up to date picture for this column. What is in a picture? How many of you like what you see when someone takes your picture? I don’t. A picture can be a memory of good times or bad. What does a picture say about you? A picture is a moment in your life. The next moment you might look different.

The picture that accompanies my column hopefully says to you “Be silly. Don’t take yourself too seriously.” If I take a new picture it would probably be somewhat the same with different props.

If I can do anything with this column, it is to remind you that life is short and you need to keep the wonder of a child inside of you. I don’t always remember that, and the seriousness of life pulls me down. Silly pictures, silly laughter and childish amazement at simple things and reading things from such people as Madge and Maxine and Erma and many other inspirational people pull me back up out of the depths of despair and give me hope.

I am not Maxine or Erma but I hope some part of my column at some point can help you through your day. That is the reason for the ridiculous picture that accompanies my column.

I thank my reader for wanting an updated picture. An updated picture would have grayer hair, many more wrinkles and a heavier body. Who wants a picture of that? I might scare you. As with anything else, be patient. We might find the right moment for a picture but remember the next moment might be different.

Wells resident Julie Seedorf’s column appears every Monday. Send e-mail to her at thecolumn@bevcomm.net.