We live in a world obsessed with makeovers.
Just look at reality television. How many shows take something ugly – be it a room, a business, even a person – and slap a coat of paint or some new clothes on it?
Voila! Something beautiful – at least, on the outside.
But what happens when you scratch the surface? The craftsmanship is shoddy, the makeup cheap, and underneath, nothing is really changed. There’s no deep alteration. And without a foundation from which to work, how can true transformation occur?
It can’t.
Let’s Get One Thing Straight.
When you hear me talk about remaking some part of yourself, what do you think of?
If the image you get is the one above, we’re on different wavelengths. Different planets. And before we go any farther, I have to clarify.
Makeovers
We all know about makeovers. We can’t escape the flood of products and services designed to fix us, make up for some imagined lack, make us more beautiful or richer or healthier.
All those promises of rapid weight loss, drastically reduced wrinkles, a confidence boost, the secret to happiness, the miracle time-saving gadget? They all try to convince you there’s something wrong with you. You’re too fat, too old, too busy, and the only way to fix yourself is to buy the product on offer.
Well guess what? That’s all crap. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. Or me. There is nothing to fix. Period.
You heard me. Nothing.
Remakeability
I’m not saying you’re perfect. I’m not advocating quiet complacency. I’m not telling you to never change, never reach or want or grow. But as you are, in this very moment – there is nothing wrong with you.
Say it with me: “There is nothing wrong with me.”
You may not be where you want to be in life. There may be parts of yourself you want to change. That’s okay. That doesn’t mean you’re broken.
You learn to use your unique and varied experiences to look ahead, to remake what doesn’t match your dreams yet so that it does. You make true, lasting, fulfilling transformation occur not by buying the latest quick-fix product, beating yourself up, wondering what’s wrong with you.
You start the evolution from the inside out, believing that you start your journey already whole.
Where I’m Coming From
Here, on {re}made by hand, I’m not working from a mindset that says we must be fixed in order to be happy, fulfilled, purposeful, authentic, present, whatever we’re striving for.
I’m saying we are already whole, just as we are, and that we can work from this solid foundation to affect real change, real transformation, in the areas we know we can or want to grow in.
This is what I am talking about when I say you are remakeable. These are not just pretty words — this is what I believe to my core. This is what {re}made by hand is all about.
What’s Your Take?
How does this philosophy sit with you? What beliefs about your present state are holding you back?
I've certainly been thinking about this over the past few months. It's just become the norm in media and consumer culture in general to always aspire to go after the next "improvement" or "hot item" or even your own personal identity. There's certainly a stark difference between personal goals to better yourself in terms of health, skills, employment, education, mental health, however crossing this over to body makeovers, home makeovers, style makeovers implies continual dissatisfaction with the present.
Online tools like Pinterest are great however you soon realize that most of this type of "collecting" is purely around "my ideal kitchen" or "my ideal wardrobe" or worse, my ideal life. Your time ends up being spent continually dreaming about living like someone else, or acquiring new things that will magically make you say "this is it. I have everything I need. All my dream products, situations, persona's. I can just live now." However, we all know that this doesn't happen and the cycle repeats itself over and over again. It just becomes an endless avoidance of the present.
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