Dr.
Jedidiah’s Diary
Dr. Jedidiah is a psychiatrist who loves traveling,
meeting new people, and exploring different cultures. As a single father who
lost his wife to drug overdose 10 years ago, he has not been his old perky self
for the last decade. During those hard years, he has met hundreds of, thousands
of people from various walks of life around all over the world. Meeting new
people and listening to their stories outside his office have given him
different feelings from the ones through the formal encounter groups or support
groups for therapy. These people he has accidentally come across were the paths
through which Dr. Jedidiah could look back on his own life, being truly honest
with himself. Here is Dr. Jedidiah’s monologue that has left him with some food
for thoughts in life….or some fodder to justify his own mistakes in the past.
Episode #3
I thought it was such an interesting or somewhat
bizarre view in the well-known, flashy shopping district in Gangnam area –which has become a famous
place thanks to the Korean pop singer Psy -
in Seoul, Korea. It would be no exaggeration to say that every block in
the area has a couple of plastic surgery clinics. What’s more surprising to me
was I saw a lot of twin-like ladies with same big catty eyes, high nose, pouted
lips, sharp and pointed jawline, and big breasts walking down the street there.
‘Hmmm…. these doppelgangers must
have gotten nips-n-tucks from the
same plastic surgeon!’ I said to myself and laughed inside. Then I found myself
imagining those women’s original faces. Their ‘Before Pictures’ must not be Fixer Uppers at all. Unless most of
them happened to be in fatal accidents in their lives, these similar looks must
have been created out of their cosmetic purposes, not as a reconstructive surgery. But are they really satisfied with their
new faces similar as other ladies looking as if they were manufactured in the
same factory line?!!
This unrealistic phenomenon that I observed in Korea
reminded me of my good old friend who recently decided to end his marriage with
his wife Rita that had a series of cosmetic surgeries over the past ten years.
I was invited to his wedding as a best
man twenty years ago and still remember how beautiful and graceful the
bride was back then. Since my friend had been terribly busy and completely
occupied with his own business, his wife became bored and even reached the
point of feeling depressed. She started to get interested in changing and
revamping her look to ease her loneliness. Given that her husband makes a lot
of money out of his business, Rita did not have to worry about spending
astronomical amount of money and time on redesigning her face. However, times
and times of restructuring and recreating her face didn’t seem to fulfill her insatiable desire for better
appearance. Sadly and quite predictably enough, her husband could not stand his
wife’s saponaceous expenditure
anymore. That’s how my friend and his wife Rita ended up going their separate ways.
As a psychiatrist, I felt so bad for Rita. If I’d had a
chance to talk with her about her inner problems, I could have saved her from
spiraling into the vicious circle of loneliness, multiple plastic surgeries,
and depression caused by her destroyed look. Quite a few people try to find a
solution to their inner turmoil from the outside world. The paths to ease pain
or disturbance in their heart should be found in facing the source of their
problems. Although it may seem as if they looked like a quick fix, the outward
change of appearance would not eventually act as a scab formed over their
concerns or sore wounds. They will be, at best, just a band-aid solution.
I would like to ask people out there (considering to
resort to plastic surgery for the purpose of living a better life) if they will
certainly gain confidence in life as much as they expect through change of
looks.
Expressions
1.
doppelganger:
an
apparition or double of a living person
2. nip-n-tuck: a
cosmetic surgical operation
3.
Fixer
Upper: Something that is dire need of repair, but is more of a
hobby to fix rather then a job
4.
reconstructive
surgery: surgery to restore function or normal appearance by
remaking defective organs or parts
5.
best
man: a male friend or relative chosen by a bridegroom to assist
him at his wedding
6. insatiable: impossible
to satisfy
7. saponaceous: resembling
or having the qualities of soap
8. to go one’s separate ways: to
end one’s relationship/ to divorce
No comments:
Post a Comment