We are such a visual society. We desire things to look good; all things including food, our faces and bodies, our hair, our cars, and homes, our new shoes, patio furniture, we even want our pets to look clean and tidy. It’s why advertising is so powerful and why apps like pinterest, instagram, and layout programs are so popular and useful. Visual cues stimulate our minds and dictate our choices so long as we allow them to.

If we have a lot of brie cheese, we display our brie and jam waffle and always sell twice as much. If we are low on whipped cream, we make sure not to leave any posts of it on our feeds so people don’t notice it and will order it less. We have to be very cautious about what we put on our feed as it draws people in and throws people off our scent at the same time. Visually communicating is a way of life today and it can be such a good thing.

The problem with visual stimuli is that sometimes it’s only skin deep. It’s giving a message but not always the whole thing and not always the entire truth. Selfies are a prime example of this. We present the best photos of ourselves more often than not, presenting  a happy and joyful life, presenting perfection, but it’s a lie. Because life isn’t perfect and the average American works 45-50 hours a week with depression and anxiety statistics continually climbing, as well as obesity, heart disease, and addiction.

This last week, I got sick. I don’t mean the flu or a cold, not food poisoning; a deeper kind of sick. After 72 hours of pain, I decided to see a doctor. The diagnosis (being honest now), an abscess needing drainage. Gross. But more painful than gross really. The procedure was quick but painful and then sent home with pain killers and antibiotics, I had hoped it would go away. With the pain meds, I couldn’t tell so much if I was getting better but I think the pain was subsiding. After a day off the antibiotics, the pain seem to return and then 2 days later, I definitely felt like something was wrong. A return to the doctor let me now that the bacterial infection had not yet been beat and I was sent home with more pain meds and a ten day supply of antibiotics.

I say it’s a deeper sickness because it was found more than skin deep. It wasn’t the “bug” that was going around; it wasn’t contagious. It had most likely been developing over time; my body attempting to fight off toxins but to no avail. While they say boils or abscesses can come from a variety of sources; they don’t just appear, they develop and are fed by more toxins and stress. The doc asks, “what is so stressful?” I say, “we run a business.” He says, “ooohh..yes that is very stressful.”

Underneath every waffle is a the goal of perfection. Underneath every table is the time it took to sweep out all the grime (after all, we are outdoors). Underneath every plant on the property that has died, is the disappointment we couldn’t get it to grow. Underneath every dollar you spend, is our livelihood. 

So lets call this a “game changer.” We want to make you happy as a customer but not at the expense of our health. It’s time to let go and let God be Himself. I am not fully recovered; still have a ways to go. Perhaps we all should be more honest about our visual communication. Among the pretty little waffles, we should probably post the mangled ones from time to time as they happen every day. Among the happy faces, we should probably post our tears from the long hours and mishaps of the day. Life is beautiful but I don’t think it’s very pretty. We are who we are and we’re not going to pretend we’re anything but. That kind of thinking leads to stress which leads to bad eating which leads to toxins and maybe infections… =/

Let’s just not lie to ourselves.