For those of you who enjoyed "Smoke And Mirrors" thanks for the e-mail's and critiques. It was great to hear from each of you! I'd like to pass along a comment about it from Donna McDine. The real life experience she shares from her childhood sums up the subject well. Donna is the author of "The Golden Pathway", a children's book about a boy's journey as he comes to terms with his father's beliefs and actions toward slaves. She also writes a newsletter "Write What Inspires You"  and is the creator of "Dynamic Media Release Services." You can read more about Donna McDine at her website. Thank you Donna, for your heartfelt comment!


Donna wrote..."Terrific post and worthy conversation to have with my daughters. Talking to our children, whether boys or girls about image and self esteem is crucial. My dad is retired from being a commercial artist and I remember when my sister and I were about 15 or so we were complaining about our skin and bodies and the very next night my dad brought home model photographs that he had to render for one of the fashion magazines and he showed us the process that the photos had to go through to be worthy of the magazine. The original photo to the end photo were of the same person but the results were drastically different. That has stayed with me all these years knowing for a fact these models have flaws like the rest of us.