The Magazine Queen Lets Go!
Every month, when I get my Oprah magazine in the mail, I am given another opportunity to read through the stories that – for the most part – make me truly think, feel, learn or realize something new. What I love most about that magazine is that it deliberately deviates from the usual magazine fodder that has become so banal and transparent. Although I do receive quite a few magazines at home each month, O magazine is the one that I read cover-to-cover every time. Even when I think a story has zero to do with me, or is a situation I have never experienced, or is so far re moved from anything I would know, care about or see, I always end up finding that one common denominator that proves to me that we really are all the same. Sometimes, if I think I can gain another perspective from a piece, I will actually read it again. I enjoy O’s larger sized pages and the heaviness of it in my hands. It arrives like a welcome book, because it reminds me that there is still much to read and learn about in the world. Even when you’re reading the heartbreak of something we humans are doing to other people, our planet, or ourselves, it does not take itself so seriously that it can’t throw in some of Oprah’s favorite (and usually beautiful) things to bring a smile to your teary face.
I read O back to front. I started doing that around the time Oprah started to write her little treasures titled What I Know for Sure. They’re reflection pieces that give readers a chance to turn the mirror onto themselves and see how they can apply what is learned to their own lives.
I have been receiving O magazine since its first year of publication. Yet, I am still always pleasantly surprised that, after all this time, they continue to come up with stories that I love to read.
Aside from O magazine, I get Glamour (before that it was Seventeen), Latina, Self, Redbook, Lucky, Body & Soul, Jane (which is now defunct and replaced by Allure) and Parents (don’t ask! I haven’t paid Parents in 3 years and they still send it).
Recently, I was midway through another brainless “Do’s and Don’ts” piece in Glamour, where they were debating whether someone deserved to be pointed out and ridiculed for some heinous fashion crime. I sighed with disappointment, losing interest almost immediately thereafter. Is this of any importance to me? Am I growing as a person in any way with this information? Who cares about whether that girl made the right color/size/style choices? I certainly do not. Disgusted, I tossed the magazine. I understood, with painful realization, what was right there in front of me: I was too old for Glamour and its silly “How to make your man moan” articles. I know how to do that – let’s move on.
Following my disappointment with Glamour, a magazine I had been receiving since I started the subscription around the time I turned 18, I decided that I’d let my subscription run its course and then tear up any other invoices and offers they send to extend my readership. Glamour opened my eyes. It was for me what began right when I realized my subscription to Seventeen magazine was boring me to sleep. I was past the quest for the perfect prom dress – let’s move on again, please!
I took stock in what my other subscriptions were truly offering me by way of stimulating reading, entertaining stories and something else I could not point out right at the moment.
In Lucky magazine, I was flipping through pages of clothes I cannot afford. Yes, the $600 shoes, the $1000 dresses and the countless cosmetics, handbags and accessories were lovely, but really, if an article can only hold my attention for 3.6 seconds, there is clearly a problem.
In Glamour, well, we already know what that one brings to the table – nothing!
In Self, I get to see a magazine full of skinny women who eat grass and tofu morning, noon and night and claim to love that 3-hour workout at the crack of dawn. Riiiight! Unfortunately, in a moment of mindless acceptance a year or so back, I paid for Self to be delivered to my door for another full year. I am riding it out.
In Body & Soul I am shown many good things – like how to calm my mind to reduce blood pressure and stress, how to TRY to eat better and how to care for number one! It also has wonderful yoga poses and interesting articles, so that particular one might be around for a while!
Redbook is the magazine that, like O magazine, is quickly showing me that I’m a Big Girl now and, not only do Big Girls cry, we also work, think, love, live and are smart enough to avoid stupid adolescent behavior. This one started recently and I suspect, is here for the duration. I picked it up at a nail salon one day and fell in love with its monthly back page that starts with “You know you’re a grown-up when….” I identified with every single one!
I am waiting for the day when that annoying Allure subscription ends! In my defense, I did not choose Allure myself. It was a kind of consolation prize, a “hey, sorry we went bankrupt” gift from the magazine formerly known as Jane. That one I actually chose for its raw pieces and honest responses on all things modern-woman like. However, Allure is like a Perez Hilton wannabe in a glossy tome – all of the fluff and none of the fiber. How many things can you write about eyeshadow application, for chrissake?
Latina stays because, let’s face it, no other magazine out there is speaking directly to ME – the American-born, bilingual, multi-cultural, multi-faceted, true-to-the bone 1st generation American Spanish girl. That, plus they once published a piece I wrote, so I kind of owe them some loyalty.
Last, Parents, a magazine that I ordered when I was still glossy-eyed with expectations and when I thought I’d have a few rug rats running around by now. I tried to stop it by not paying them around 3 years ago. Yet, it just keeps coming…Someone trying to tell me something? I wish!!!!
Suddenly, without fanfare of bells and whistles, I was struck dumb with understanding. I am so past the fluff and fully prepared, by virtue of my age and understanding, to read up on some of the fiber.
So now, I am slowly weeding out the haves from the have-nots. My gauge is pretty simply and straightforward. If I read it with gusto, turning the pages in a sort of rapturous involvement, and if I come away knowing just one more thing that I did before I picked it up --- it stays. If I find I am reading and repeatedly rolling my eyes, stopping to grab something to eat or drink, or finding any excuse to not finish even one article, its days are numbered.
So…without further adornment of words – Glamour, Lucky, Self, Parents, and Allure, it was fun while it lasted, but our time is up. Farewell and thanks for the memories, old friends. I will put the money I have spent on you to better use next year…Perhaps a subscription to Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report or Time.
I read O back to front. I started doing that around the time Oprah started to write her little treasures titled What I Know for Sure. They’re reflection pieces that give readers a chance to turn the mirror onto themselves and see how they can apply what is learned to their own lives.
I have been receiving O magazine since its first year of publication. Yet, I am still always pleasantly surprised that, after all this time, they continue to come up with stories that I love to read.
Aside from O magazine, I get Glamour (before that it was Seventeen), Latina, Self, Redbook, Lucky, Body & Soul, Jane (which is now defunct and replaced by Allure) and Parents (don’t ask! I haven’t paid Parents in 3 years and they still send it).
Recently, I was midway through another brainless “Do’s and Don’ts” piece in Glamour, where they were debating whether someone deserved to be pointed out and ridiculed for some heinous fashion crime. I sighed with disappointment, losing interest almost immediately thereafter. Is this of any importance to me? Am I growing as a person in any way with this information? Who cares about whether that girl made the right color/size/style choices? I certainly do not. Disgusted, I tossed the magazine. I understood, with painful realization, what was right there in front of me: I was too old for Glamour and its silly “How to make your man moan” articles. I know how to do that – let’s move on.
Following my disappointment with Glamour, a magazine I had been receiving since I started the subscription around the time I turned 18, I decided that I’d let my subscription run its course and then tear up any other invoices and offers they send to extend my readership. Glamour opened my eyes. It was for me what began right when I realized my subscription to Seventeen magazine was boring me to sleep. I was past the quest for the perfect prom dress – let’s move on again, please!
I took stock in what my other subscriptions were truly offering me by way of stimulating reading, entertaining stories and something else I could not point out right at the moment.
In Lucky magazine, I was flipping through pages of clothes I cannot afford. Yes, the $600 shoes, the $1000 dresses and the countless cosmetics, handbags and accessories were lovely, but really, if an article can only hold my attention for 3.6 seconds, there is clearly a problem.
In Glamour, well, we already know what that one brings to the table – nothing!
In Self, I get to see a magazine full of skinny women who eat grass and tofu morning, noon and night and claim to love that 3-hour workout at the crack of dawn. Riiiight! Unfortunately, in a moment of mindless acceptance a year or so back, I paid for Self to be delivered to my door for another full year. I am riding it out.
In Body & Soul I am shown many good things – like how to calm my mind to reduce blood pressure and stress, how to TRY to eat better and how to care for number one! It also has wonderful yoga poses and interesting articles, so that particular one might be around for a while!
Redbook is the magazine that, like O magazine, is quickly showing me that I’m a Big Girl now and, not only do Big Girls cry, we also work, think, love, live and are smart enough to avoid stupid adolescent behavior. This one started recently and I suspect, is here for the duration. I picked it up at a nail salon one day and fell in love with its monthly back page that starts with “You know you’re a grown-up when….” I identified with every single one!
I am waiting for the day when that annoying Allure subscription ends! In my defense, I did not choose Allure myself. It was a kind of consolation prize, a “hey, sorry we went bankrupt” gift from the magazine formerly known as Jane. That one I actually chose for its raw pieces and honest responses on all things modern-woman like. However, Allure is like a Perez Hilton wannabe in a glossy tome – all of the fluff and none of the fiber. How many things can you write about eyeshadow application, for chrissake?
Latina stays because, let’s face it, no other magazine out there is speaking directly to ME – the American-born, bilingual, multi-cultural, multi-faceted, true-to-the bone 1st generation American Spanish girl. That, plus they once published a piece I wrote, so I kind of owe them some loyalty.
Last, Parents, a magazine that I ordered when I was still glossy-eyed with expectations and when I thought I’d have a few rug rats running around by now. I tried to stop it by not paying them around 3 years ago. Yet, it just keeps coming…Someone trying to tell me something? I wish!!!!
Suddenly, without fanfare of bells and whistles, I was struck dumb with understanding. I am so past the fluff and fully prepared, by virtue of my age and understanding, to read up on some of the fiber.
So now, I am slowly weeding out the haves from the have-nots. My gauge is pretty simply and straightforward. If I read it with gusto, turning the pages in a sort of rapturous involvement, and if I come away knowing just one more thing that I did before I picked it up --- it stays. If I find I am reading and repeatedly rolling my eyes, stopping to grab something to eat or drink, or finding any excuse to not finish even one article, its days are numbered.
So…without further adornment of words – Glamour, Lucky, Self, Parents, and Allure, it was fun while it lasted, but our time is up. Farewell and thanks for the memories, old friends. I will put the money I have spent on you to better use next year…Perhaps a subscription to Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report or Time.
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