Lesson # 3,420

"Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood." —Ralph Waldo Emerson I talked to one of the women's studies classes on campus today, and I was completely moved by the students' stories . . . . . . stories of dads who tell daughters with BMIs of 17 that they've gained too much weight in college . . . stories of athletes who are considered obese by the National Institute of Health because of their muscle mass . . . stories of women who started dieting when they were nine. Yes, I said nine. Not only did their stories teach me—yet again—that we must expand the way we define beauty in our society, but their comments also provided me with material I'd overlooked. After class, one of the students emailed me and said: "You have probably already seen this video, but its one of my favorite music videos because it addresses the same thing[s]" we talked about in class today. As much as I hate to admit it, I have actually not watched this video. I've always loved the song but never before seen the emotional images that go with it. I hope you all are as moved by it as I was.