Recently, I had the pleasure of reading Flawed by Cecelia Ahern. After reading this novel, I have been mulling over the premise and plot line enough that I felt compelled to share with you not only the book, but my reaction to it. With the election coming up it seemed kind of apropos that the story was society based and that in order to live in the society, one must be “perfect,” and any flaw was televised, spun up, and people deemed “flawed,” were branded and became outcasts. These people became governed by a whole new set of rules, including special seats on transportation, only two “flawed” people could stand together without a perfect person between them, dietary restrictions, curfews, assigned monitors, and every day submission to blood and lie detector tests to name a few.

The more I thought about this, the more I looked around and realized that as a society, we do tend to brand people who “we” feel don’t meet societal standards. Who is this big “WE” that sets what is allowed and disallowed? Because society wears blue shoes and I wear rainbow glittery ones, that make ME wrong? And who the heck said weighing 80 pounds and showing all of your 206 bones is awesome? Ummmm…hello Auschwitz revisited. NOT sexy or flattering at all. Real women have curves. Real women have battle scars from having babies. Real women know the issue is not what we weigh, but what we know. Real women can do up to and including ANYTHING a man can do. So who says that women have to weigh nothing and men have to be big muscle bound jocks? Can’t we all just be real? We are ALL flawed in someway or another. 

Everybody has a story. Everybody has a battle they are fighting, or a cross they are carrying. What happened to common decency and just plain old humanity?  That “dirty old man begging” you saw this morning and passed by without a second thought, or you looked and judged him “flawed” and a “drain on society” because he is homeless and asking for help. That’s YOUR hard earned dollars. I get it. Have you ever stopped to think how did he get there? That same man asking you for help today may have been the man who went into a combat zone and fought for you, without every knowing you, and then came home to a country that abandoned him. That “horrible mother and dirty kid” coming into your restraunt just hoping to find warmth and maybe someone to buy them a meal, may be fleeing an abusive husband that otherwise would have killed them. Does that $5.00 in your pocket REALLY make that much of a difference to you? It may mean the world to them. 

As a society we have to stop being so judgmental and become more aware of each other. We all struggle, we all have battle scars, we all cry, and we are all flawed. We become even more flawed when we judge without knowing what’s inside, not that outward appearance. This book truly brought out emotions in me that made me aware of social situations. This is a fast paced, amazing read and I commend the author for how she wrote this brilliant story. I try not to get on a soap box as I know I too have so many flaws that if I stepped on it, that box would BREAK! I did however find the best advice I think I have seen in a very long time. If you read my blogs you know I am a no holds barred kind of girl and I hope those sensitivities were checked in my coat closet when you entered my blog. I will share it with you here, and then I will say after two weeks of not writing, please forgive me as I assault you with this and my usual humor for the week blogging. Think before you speak people. Be kind. Be gentle. Treat people how you would want to be treated. Believe me, karma is a bitch! 

Until we meet again:  Namaste and be well my friends!

~J