Shiny Happy People

VOGUE.  PEOPLE.  COSMO(POLITAN).  You name the mag, they've got 'em - page after page of "Shiny Happy People".  I'll be the first to admit, I get sucked in and can't wait to get my "pretty people" fix.  Yahoo's omg! is my first place I go when I jump on the net, to flip through the latest celeb event digital photo albums.  But as much as I love the visual stimulation of those overglossed, underdressed shots, I have realized that my love for them is left there, on the page and on the screen.  Fantasy is not my fulfillment.  In the spirit of the poem known as "The Statue of Liberty" poem, the inpsiring famous words, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..." I say, "Give me your authentic, your honest, raw self.  Bring me all of who you are, ragged edges and all."  And so shall I.  Because THAT's what friendships and true connections are made of.  Behind the celeb's shiny, "happy", porcelain-veneered smiles and orchestrated press-line photos, are people.  Just like me.  Just like you.  And so, though I do appreciate the creative expression of an adorned body, the artistry of a masterfully make-up'd face, and crave the visual fireworks from perusing the pages of the newest fashion issue on the newstand, they are just that, an exhibition of beauty...not the substance of what is beautiful.  And I am reminded - beautiful on the outside means nothing if you are ugly on the inside...and beautiful on the inside can go a long way to compensate for ugly on the outside.