People ask me often if I’m a model. After 25 years, it’s still a question I don’t feel comfortable answering. Why? Because I know when people ask me this they mean, do you use your body to sell other peoples’ goods and services. Modeling, as a profession, connotes a passive quality that immediately places boundaries around one’s existence and reinforces the old creator versus consumer dichotomy. Are you a model questions whether an identity formed as a result of promoting consumption.
What comes to my mind when people ask me that question, however, involves a deeper level of understanding about what it means to model. The difference between the question, are you a model and do you model offers a wildly different (and healthier) interpretation.
Each day we model behavior and thoughts that cause waves in the world around us and create the reality in which we live. Because we live in relationship to the world, our everyday actions become models for the children and other adults around us. To model is to work.
Activities I undertake that lead to a healthy, balanced, and peaceful life model a particular resonance in my being that results in people asking me if I am a model. Whether it’s the therapy that I engage in to maintain mental health, the bicycling and running that helps my physical health, or the yoga, study, and meditation that I practice as part of my spiritual journey, different aspects of my life reflect model behavior.
The music I allow to wash over my being as well as the people with whom I choose to be in community also set a certain tone that resonates as I move through the world. What people really feel is that I model a certain way of being human and it makes people curious about me. The active work involved in modeling reaches into what people perceive as my evolving careers.
The development project that I’m guiding into reality is a model for small scale urban development that prioritizes community. Many urban communities are plagued with unhealthy food options, stores that promote smoking, alcohol, and other activities that have deleterious effects on the community health. I set about creating space where we can grow to expand beyond the limiting beliefs people have placed upon us for centuries.
Practicing model behavior is not about being perfect or pretending to be perfect.
It is about aspiring to remain in integrity in all my actions. We all have the power to choose to model a healthy life full of love, joy, and beauty that has a positive impact on our world. It doesn’t mean challenges won’t occur, but it does mean that during difficult times, we can see through the darkness and maneuver back to balance in a way that is true.
