For women who do too much ~ Martha Stewart's family intervenes:
washingtonpost.com
An excerpt:
"Martha, sit down. Look at this. This is Page 118 of your magazine. What do you see there?"
The world's most famous multimedia homemaker gazed at the page. "It's a feature on decorating coffee bags," she said. "What's wrong with that?"
"It's crazy, Martha. Why would you want to decorate a coffee bag? A coffee bag is for carrying coffee home from the supermarket. Who cares what the bag looks like, for God's sake? And you're telling people to decorate it with a ribbon and a sprig of juniper."
"But people like to decorate things at Christmastime," Martha said. "It's traditional. It's good to make things."
"That's true, Martha, it is good to make things," said Dr. Reiss. "It's also good to wash your hands. But when someone washes their hands 47 times a day, we say they have a psychological problem. It's called an obsessive-compulsive disorder. I believe you have a similar problem."
"I do?"
"Yes, you do, Martha," the shrink said. "Think about it. In this magazine, you've got a feature on the song 'The Twelve Days of Christmas.' "
"I love that song," Martha said.
"So do I," said the shrink. "Everybody does. But, Martha, most people are content to listen to the song, or maybe sing it. But you, Martha, you've got a 20-page feature here on how to make all the gifts in the song--paper turtledoves, baked French hens, five different kinds of gold rings, ornate artificial goose eggs, pastry swans, lords-a-leaping paper dolls. It's madness, Martha, can't you see that?"
"I thought it was kind of cute," Martha said. |
