A Permanent Smile: Korean Mouth Corner Lift

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Huffington Post has a story today that I find truly disturbing. It’s about an alleged trend in Korea to turn mouth corners upward permanently–into a permanent smile via plastic surgery.

If you watch the sales video on the Huffington Post’s website, they are saying that down turn lips are a sign of anger. That statement is untrue.

I don’t think this surgery will help people’s social lives at all. If anything, it will make them more difficult and confusing to read, which will just exasperate their problems, if you want my opinion.

Now when they feel emotions where their mouth corners should drop or droop, they won’t.  They will look disturbed half smiling and half sad.

Click on this link to see a photo of a girl who had this procedure done.   Do you find it as disturbing as I do?

Thanks to D for sending this!

Hannah Anderson Speaks Out

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I am really glad that Hannah Anderson spoke out to the media.  So many people have formed opinions of this young teenage girl that I feel are unfounded.  Hannah is a victim in his situation no matter what happened here, and should be treated as a victim.

Even if she had a relationship with DiMaggio of any kind, she would have been brainwashed into it, because at 16, we consider children minors for a reason–they are not capable of understanding the ramifications of their actions.

When I see Hannah, I see a very stressed out young girl, who has a long way to go to process what happened to her.  I wish her and her family all the strength, courage and love she needs to do that.  I am glad she is able to say that other people’s opinion don’t matter, and while that is hard to work through at times, she seems to have her head on her shoulders.

I wish Hannah and her family the very best.

Please note:  I do not publicly assess children or minors for deception as I feel it serves no good purpose.  However, for Hannah’s sake, I will say I didn’t see any signs of deception in this interview, but it is considered a low-stake interview.

Listening to the Voice

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lip
By Paola Sparta

Have you ever listened to how people greet each other?  While the words are very telling, so is the tone, pitch and volume of the voice.

If you are in an environment where you can listen to a person greet different people over several days such as an office, you do not need to know the person, or the people they greet–nor do you need to see them.  You simply have to hear them greet people to know precisely who they like and who they don’t.

It’s quite fascinating. 

When someone comes along that a person likes, the tone, pitch and volume of their greeting will communicate an upbeat tone.   And when it is someone they dislike, these three elements will vary down dramatically.

Be careful though, in observing this theory, you may not like what you find when this person greets you!

Sometimes that’s too much information, but very revealing nonetheless.

Gia Allemand’s Suicide: My Thoughts

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I was really saddened last week when I read that Gia Allemand took her life.  I was on the road and the news really hit me.  But sadly, I wasn’t shocked by the news.  Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t think that Gia would commit suicide, but she had a lot of traits that made her have a higher propensity to take this action.

Gia was a lovely, soft,  kind and gentle soul.  She touched many people on the Bachelor when she was on the season with Jake Pavelka.

I suspect Gia was a very compassionate person who picked up on the emotions of other people quite easily.  She likely absorbed them like a sponge. Add to that she also had a hard time telling people what she really thought because she dreaded hurting other people’s feelings.  Combine these two traits and you can see how a person who have a much higher likelihood for becoming overwhelmed with grief where they over time begin to feel trapped and misunderstood.  They continually hide their pain until it becomes too much to bear. 

Gia was also her own harshest critic, too, and I fear she never was able to accept herself for who she was–beautiful on the inside and out.  She likely was forgiving with everyone, but herself.  She may have portrayed confidence on the outside, but that was a thin facade.  And it was such a shame because the world saw her for the beautiful person she was, when she was unable to do so.

People who also have down-turned eyes are more prone to sadness and depression and need to be watched more closely than others. 

My heart goes out to Gia’s friends and family…

On the Road

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Just coming home from being on the road for the week.  Two cities this week–great group of people!  I will blog more soon!