Rebecca—A Book to Read

Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier, is a book that I somehow had avoided even hearing about for twenty years of my life. When I borrowed it from my suitemate to read over spring break, I had no idea of the treat that I was in for. This book is a classic for a reason.

Anyone who knows me is aware of the fact that I am an enormous fan of Jane Austen. Therefore, it means a lot that I eagerly rank Rebecca with the likes of Pride and Prejudice. It is a novel filled with suspense, romance, intrigue, and that indefinable quality that serves as the earmark of all the best literature—that sense of wistful longing that it leaves you with, that desire to know more than you can ever attain, and the wishful thought that perhaps you could one day aspire to such greatness.

I can hardly say enough positive things about this book. It is everything a book should be; you can’t put it down and are devastated by the fact that it ends. Don’t just take my word for it. My roommate read it after I did. I left the room, and she was sitting in a chair reading. When I returned, an hour or so later, she hadn’t budged. It’s that good. 

Celebrities, Shmelebrities

Let’s face it: our society is obsessed with celebrities. Kim Kardashian can rock the yoga pants? Well, guess it’s time to pull out the gym gear, because there’s nothing like a reality star who lives a normal life to inspire you to get the perfect body. Some generic pop singer started a trend of wearing tri-color lipstick? EMERGENCY SEPHORA RUN

Seriously? This is what we do with our time?

And Christians are no better. Within religious circles, there’s a similar buzz of excitement, but it tends to intensify with Christian celebrities (defined as a famous person who has more-or-less professed some sort of faith at some point in time). You see, these lauded individuals are good role models. The comments on their photos are pretty amusing. Yes, I scroll through comments when I’m bored. No, I don’t have a super active social life…why do you ask?

The types of comments are pretty predictable.

1. There’s usually a crowd of people doling out heart-eyed emojis and saying things like “OMGoodness ur such a babe.”
2. The grandmotherly figures who tell stories about how their daughter/granddaughter/third cousin twice removed really looks up to said celebrity and what a fantastic influence said celebrity is because of his/her strong faith and moral example.
3. The “Eat a cheeseburger, you’re getting too skinny/put some clothes on you are not staying true to yourself” comments are my personal favorite, though. These hapless comment authors who thought they could safely voice *gasp* an opinion on a social media site quickly find themselves undeceived by…
4. The self-righteous, self-appointed, and well-meaning defenders of the celebrity in question. They inform anyone who dares say something negative that many girls are naturally skinny, that she is dressed perfectly appropriate/it is her choice what she wears/she is dressed modestly compared to typical celebrities and that she is a perfectly fantastic role model for girls anywhere, especially when compared to ______, and so on and so forth.

Amusing as it is, I find myself saddened when I see this line of logic used when discussing the lifestyle choices of these supposedly Christian celebrities. A Christian actor who takes a risqué role in a movie in order “to witness” is lauded for his evangelistic mindset. A Christian singer who dresses immodestly is praised because she isn’t dressing AS immodestly as your typical singer/actress/person-who-doesn’t-deserve-fame-but-has-it-anyway.

Why are we holding up Christians to the standard of the world?

Why is immoral behavior acceptable simply because it isn’t “as bad” as what the world is engaging in?

Our goal should be to distance ourselves as much as we can from sin, not to see how close we can get without being pulled into the mire of this world. That’s like playing with fire and expecting not to get burned. This attitude can largely be attributed to the self-righteous mindset and the complacency that allow us to be believe that we can cruise through life just scraping by with a thin veneer of righteous respectability. Why be lukewarm in our faith when white-hot is an option?

We aren’t called to imitate celebrities, regardless of their moral, political, or religious views. We are called to imitate Christ.

“Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children.” Ephesians 5:1 (ESV)

            “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1 (ESV)

The Procrastinating Perfectionist (aka me)

Life as procrastinator can be stressful-especially when you feel like something still has to be perfect. Oh, you didn’t start studying for that history test until the night before? Too bad, you still need to make an A. And you will still be disappointed if someone else in the class makes a higher A.

Yeesh. I’m trying to be better about time management to assure that these situations don’t arise. Hopefully the fancy-schmancy, dent-the-wallet planner I purchased will help.

I think my tendency to perfectionism is part of the reason I have trouble writing. I’m scared to put words onto the page for fear that the finished product won’t measure up to the polished idea in my head. Right now, I’m trying to write a short story that I want to have a very specific vibe. I’ve already written two separate introductions, and neither of them seem quite right. So, it’s back to the drawing board. It’s becoming tempting to just leave it in the recesses of my mind, a story to “save for later.”

But I don’t want to do that. I want to find the sound that I’m looking for, I want to translate the ideas swirling in my mind into solid assurances of ink and paper, words stark and clear on the page. So, I write. The words aren’t perfect, by any means, but they have to  come out. They flow in a tangled rush onto the page. I may hide the finished product from the world, but at least I’ve emptied my mind.

Anyway, I’m trying to get over the combined deadliness of perfectionism and procrastination. So, if I’m at all successful, there will be more blogs showing up on this site.

Procrastinator out.