I recently bought a DVD of Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat, a production made way back in 1971. I remember watching the movie as a kid and I loved it. Several decades later, I’m not disappointed. What a great movie! My daughter loves it too.
There is one part in the movie when Mr. Krinklebein the Fish really reprimands the Cat in the Hat. Cat responds, “Very well. I'm a punk. A crotunculous shnunk…. I'm a gripulous, gropulous groo. I'm a shmoozler, a shmingler, and a foo-poobler too! I'm a horrendous object!”
The song makes me laugh, and sometimes when I’m feeling especially put down by expectations, I sing it and it lifts my spirits! It’s a light-hearted way of saying, “I’m not perfect—far from it!”
Society certainly has a certain image of perfection for women and men. Women seem to need a Barbie-doll look and men need to look rich. If I compare myself to various media’s definition of perfect, well, I do rather feel like a horrendous object!
I’m not fooled by the glamour, though, and I don’t believe most people are. We see “perfect” people with ruined relationships enough to know that their lives are far from perfect. Besides this, a certain image and look is not always healthy. Being skin-and-bones-thin certainly isn’t. If maintaining an image means sacrificing health, then the real horrendous object is the very idea of visual perfection.
For myself, I’d rather have deep peace from God, and keep my goals focused on health and happiness.
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