1 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hey, friend, Heather Creek Moore here, thanks for 2 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:12,320 Speaker 1: watching or listening to the Compared To podcast Today. Today 3 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:18,160 Speaker 1: we're talking about altered images. You know, this is a 4 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:22,520 Speaker 1: podcast I never even thought would be possible to record. 5 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:24,640 Speaker 1: I mean, back in the day when I first started this, 6 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:30,440 Speaker 1: we were talking about photoshop and recognizing that a woman 7 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:34,000 Speaker 1: didn't have that bikini line that the magazine shows that 8 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:36,680 Speaker 1: she has because she's been photoshoped. We were talking about 9 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:40,040 Speaker 1: those sorts of things, but that was kind of reserved 10 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:43,000 Speaker 1: for the elite, right. Photoshop was for muddles or people 11 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 1: who were really great with computers. But now AI is everywhere, 12 00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:54,120 Speaker 1: and perhaps like me, your Facebook and Instagram feed was 13 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:59,120 Speaker 1: filled with images like this one. Now for my audio 14 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:02,520 Speaker 1: only listening audience, a friend, you're gonna want to go 15 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:06,000 Speaker 1: to YouTube and watch this because you're gonna want to 16 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:08,480 Speaker 1: see these images, especially some of the images I show 17 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:12,480 Speaker 1: you of me later in the episode. But perhaps you 18 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 1: saw women in like candy cane jumpsuits or really sparkling 19 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:23,559 Speaker 1: nears eve dresses. All of these images were generated by 20 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:29,680 Speaker 1: a I. Now. I stumbled upon this this fall when 21 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:33,240 Speaker 1: I was offered the opportunity to buy an AI program 22 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 1: that will create headshots for me, and my motivation was YouTube. 23 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:41,360 Speaker 1: I needed new YouTube thumbnails. I felt a little ridiculous 24 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:45,040 Speaker 1: sitting here taking selfies of myself with different facial expressions, 25 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:47,240 Speaker 1: and I thought, this will be helpful, and it'll take 26 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 1: my face and it'll give me different expressions, and then 27 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:53,320 Speaker 1: my team can use that for all of my thumbnails. 28 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:57,720 Speaker 1: And they showed an example of Dave Ramsey, the finance guy, 29 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 1: and how they took his image, and I made thirty 30 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:02,600 Speaker 1: different thumbnails from one image and was like, Okay, yeah, 31 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:06,920 Speaker 1: I want that. That's easy. Yes, I did wrestle for 32 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:10,079 Speaker 1: a minute with the ethics of it all, but I 33 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:12,320 Speaker 1: knew I wasn't trying to create pictures that would make 34 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:14,440 Speaker 1: me look better. I was just trying to get a 35 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:19,000 Speaker 1: bunch of different poses simply to save myself sometime. But 36 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:23,440 Speaker 1: here's what happened. When I started messing with AI images 37 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:28,800 Speaker 1: of myself, things took a scary twist. I saw pictures 38 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:32,160 Speaker 1: of myself that were in some cases I know this 39 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 1: sword is ever used, but triggering. In some cases they 40 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:39,320 Speaker 1: were outright hilarious. In some cases they were unnerving. And 41 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: out of all the images I got, there were maybe 42 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: three that were realistic enough to be usable, and instead 43 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 1: of asking for my money back on the program, I thought, 44 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:53,520 Speaker 1: what a great podcast episode. I shared some of the 45 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:58,240 Speaker 1: funnier pictures with my friends, and I realized most people 46 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 1: don't even know what AI can do with your image 47 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:06,519 Speaker 1: and how easy it is. So that's where we're going today. 48 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 1: I'm so glad you're here. We're gonna dig into it. 49 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:11,800 Speaker 1: You're gonna see all of my funny pictures. So thanks 50 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: for watching or listening. Hey, we start a brand new 51 00:03:14,639 --> 00:03:18,200 Speaker 1: forty day journey on Tuesday, January twentieth, even if you're 52 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:20,840 Speaker 1: listening to this after January twentieth. We do these quarterly. 53 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:22,920 Speaker 1: So go to improve body image dot com and you 54 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 1: can find out all about it. If you are sick 55 00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 1: of struggling with the way you look, if this has 56 00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:31,560 Speaker 1: been a mental obsession for you for a long time 57 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: or short time, we want to help. We want to 58 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:37,200 Speaker 1: show you the answers, and they may not be the 59 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 1: traditional Christian answers you're expecting. We're going to go deep 60 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:45,920 Speaker 1: and you're gonna find healing and hopefully some freedom from 61 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:48,520 Speaker 1: that mental obsession. So you can go to improved bodymanch 62 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:50,640 Speaker 1: dot com look for the forty Day Journey tab. It's 63 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 1: six weeks. It's the most affordable body image coaching you'll 64 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:56,440 Speaker 1: find anywhere for Christian women. Go check that. We'd love 65 00:03:56,440 --> 00:04:00,240 Speaker 1: to have you join us. Now let's get to today's episode. 66 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,680 Speaker 1: So we all know that Instagram has filters. Photoshop has 67 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:18,800 Speaker 1: been around forever, but it always required you to have 68 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:22,320 Speaker 1: some skills to use it. Now AI can make anyone 69 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: look flawless, and not just flawless, but completely different and 70 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:31,919 Speaker 1: like two snaps. And what we don't often realize is 71 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:35,560 Speaker 1: that these altered images don't just change how we see 72 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:41,760 Speaker 1: other people. They can literally change how we see ourselves. 73 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:46,839 Speaker 1: So today we're diving into how those doctored pictures really 74 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 1: mess with our brains, they mess with our body image, 75 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 1: They can even mess with our faith. So the first 76 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:56,640 Speaker 1: thing we need to understand is that most of the 77 00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:03,039 Speaker 1: images you see now are doctored. This is not a 78 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:07,080 Speaker 1: rare thing anymore. Friend. In fact, if you're posting real, 79 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:12,480 Speaker 1: untouched photos of yourself, you're in the minority. About seventy 80 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:16,640 Speaker 1: percent of young women report editing or filtering photos before posting. 81 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:20,880 Speaker 1: Surveys show that most people know images are altered, but 82 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:27,280 Speaker 1: our brains can't process them as fake. That's the key. 83 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:30,760 Speaker 1: They're easy to download. Apps like Remedy allow you to 84 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:33,640 Speaker 1: create oodles and photos of yourself using your head and features, 85 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: and you can make yourself into almost anything that you 86 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:41,160 Speaker 1: want to be. So when I first started speaking, I 87 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:44,080 Speaker 1: would carry a women's magazine around with me and I 88 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:46,359 Speaker 1: would talk about how the woman on the cover was 89 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:50,280 Speaker 1: obviously airbrushed. And a decade or more ago, there were 90 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 1: laws passed, especially in Europe, that required publishers to put 91 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:57,760 Speaker 1: this s teeny tiny little footnote on the picture that said, 92 00:05:57,839 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 1: you know this picture has been airbrushed or this picture 93 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:02,200 Speaker 1: has been altered. And that was supposed to help us 94 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:04,440 Speaker 1: not be envious of what we saw in that photos. 95 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: It was supposed to help us tell our brains that 96 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:10,280 Speaker 1: that's not real. You don't have to compare yourself to her, 97 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 1: because she's not real. A couple problems exist with that though. First, 98 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:17,800 Speaker 1: it was never passed in the United States. Okay, so 99 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:20,400 Speaker 1: that was never a law here. But most importantly, you 100 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:22,800 Speaker 1: need to know that is not how our brains work. 101 00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:25,559 Speaker 1: You see, even when we know an image is fake, 102 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:28,520 Speaker 1: our brains still treat it like it's real. And now 103 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:31,240 Speaker 1: with AI images, things have gone so much further than 104 00:06:31,279 --> 00:06:34,200 Speaker 1: airbrushing could have ever taken it. So please understand there 105 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:40,520 Speaker 1: are no laws that require companies to disclose when they 106 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:44,000 Speaker 1: use AI photos, and that doesn't even touch the wild 107 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:48,520 Speaker 1: world west of Instagram. Yesterday I saw a before and 108 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:53,560 Speaker 1: after video for a diet program and the woman before 109 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:57,320 Speaker 1: was wearing tight blue pants and a blue shirt that 110 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:00,320 Speaker 1: was kind of like rolled up under her bra her 111 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:02,400 Speaker 1: belly fat could stick out, and it was kind of 112 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:06,120 Speaker 1: obvious that maybe it didn't fit. And that was her before, 113 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:09,720 Speaker 1: and then she jumps to after and she's maybe a 114 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:12,400 Speaker 1: size zero and the blue shirt now is like long 115 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:15,760 Speaker 1: sleeve and covers everything and same blue pants. And it 116 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:19,200 Speaker 1: was actually someone else posting it, suggesting like, hey, you 117 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:22,280 Speaker 1: all need to realize this is a I. And the 118 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:25,000 Speaker 1: way you could tell was in the background, like she 119 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:27,800 Speaker 1: had junk kind of you could see her bedroom behind it. 120 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:29,880 Speaker 1: She had jump kind of thrown around the bedroom all 121 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:32,880 Speaker 1: in the same place. She had like some shoes behind her, 122 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:36,160 Speaker 1: like the setting was exactly the same to a tee, 123 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: And the person during the video was like, this is 124 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:42,720 Speaker 1: not real, Like you couldn't possibly recreate the same scene 125 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 1: six months three months later to the tee like, this 126 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:51,600 Speaker 1: is a I and our brains get tricked because honestly, friend, 127 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:53,680 Speaker 1: if I'd watch that, if that really just gone by, 128 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:57,600 Speaker 1: I probably would have believed it. So let's talk about 129 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:01,400 Speaker 1: how our brains work. There's a neuro science behind images. 130 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:08,640 Speaker 1: The human brain processes visuals sixty thousand times. That's six 131 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:12,320 Speaker 1: with four zeros behind it, times faster than text. We 132 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:16,360 Speaker 1: feel the impact of an image before we have a 133 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 1: chance to logically tell ourselves, oh, that's been edited. Oh 134 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:22,960 Speaker 1: that might not be real. The other thing to realize 135 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:29,679 Speaker 1: is that when you have body image issues, your brain 136 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:35,720 Speaker 1: may be processing images of other thinner, more beautiful people 137 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:40,240 Speaker 1: as a threat. So you may be entering fight or flight, 138 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:43,880 Speaker 1: a stress response. So when you see that image, it 139 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: makes it even harder for you to use your prefrontal cortex, 140 00:08:48,559 --> 00:08:50,640 Speaker 1: for you to use the thinking part of your brain 141 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:55,200 Speaker 1: and say, oh, wait, that's not real. No, you can't 142 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:57,920 Speaker 1: do that. It's just you're like, aha, everyone else is 143 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:03,120 Speaker 1: getting skinny, they're winning. In fact, functional MRI studies show 144 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:11,160 Speaker 1: that viewing idealized altered body images activates the reward system 145 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:16,000 Speaker 1: in the brain, releasing dopamine, making us feel drawn in 146 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:20,040 Speaker 1: like I want to see it, I want hope, I 147 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:24,000 Speaker 1: want inspiration. Wow, it's amazing to look at all these 148 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:29,440 Speaker 1: but then it also makes us feel inadequate, And there's 149 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:35,360 Speaker 1: this reality of perceptual adaptation. We talk about it all. 150 00:09:35,559 --> 00:09:39,360 Speaker 1: It's danger for those who view pornography, and how damaging 151 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:42,400 Speaker 1: it is to look at visually altered images of women 152 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:45,680 Speaker 1: in the poor world, because your brain gets messed up 153 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:48,520 Speaker 1: and it begins to believe that this is what women 154 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:53,400 Speaker 1: should look like. But the more we see digitally slimmed wastes, 155 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:59,760 Speaker 1: smooth skin, enlarge eyes, the more our brain adjusts to 156 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:08,000 Speaker 1: what is normal, and over time, normal women look less 157 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:11,760 Speaker 1: than because the brain has recalibrated its standard to the 158 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:15,160 Speaker 1: standard of the altered image. When you never see women 159 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:21,160 Speaker 1: who have cellulite or fat rolls, or wrinkles or dry skin, 160 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:24,360 Speaker 1: you begin to feel like you are the only one 161 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:29,600 Speaker 1: who is different. Your body is not right. But the 162 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:33,080 Speaker 1: weird thing here is your body is actually what's normal. 163 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:37,280 Speaker 1: It's the altered images that are wrong. But what happens 164 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:42,240 Speaker 1: is you want You start wanting your mirror reflection to 165 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:49,720 Speaker 1: match your refiltered reflection. You know, those images are just pixels, 166 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:54,079 Speaker 1: but they're rewiring your brain, and so this creates a 167 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:57,760 Speaker 1: kind of cognitive dissonance. We might know the image is fake, 168 00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:00,760 Speaker 1: but the emotions don't line up. Are prefrontal cortex may 169 00:11:00,800 --> 00:11:03,559 Speaker 1: be able to say it's filtered, it's altered, it's not real, 170 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:08,720 Speaker 1: but the emotional brain still feels I don't measure up. 171 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:12,400 Speaker 1: I should look more like that. If I worked out harder, 172 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:15,440 Speaker 1: if I ate different, I know, maybe I could, Maybe 173 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:18,560 Speaker 1: I could look more like that. There's something wrong with me. 174 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:23,480 Speaker 1: So even if your head knows it's not real, your 175 00:11:23,559 --> 00:11:28,880 Speaker 1: heart can still hurt as if it is. Like so 176 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:33,240 Speaker 1: many women don't realize that you can access AI now easily. 177 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:36,800 Speaker 1: It might even be free, and you can alter pictures 178 00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:39,360 Speaker 1: with ease. And I think that there's many women out there, 179 00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:41,480 Speaker 1: as part of the reason I'm doing this episode, who 180 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:46,640 Speaker 1: don't realize how far this whole thing has gone. There's 181 00:11:46,679 --> 00:11:51,720 Speaker 1: a newish phenomenon called snapchat dysmorphia, and surgeons are reporting 182 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:56,840 Speaker 1: patients bringing in their filtered selfies as inspiration photos. Boston 183 00:11:56,960 --> 00:12:00,040 Speaker 1: University studies showed women who use editing apps free I 184 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:05,120 Speaker 1: cquently show stronger desire for cosmetic procedures. An American Academy 185 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:09,200 Speaker 1: of Facial, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery study found a steady 186 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:13,160 Speaker 1: rise in requests for women to look more like the 187 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:18,960 Speaker 1: filtered versions of themselves. We don't have any data around 188 00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:22,880 Speaker 1: what these AI programs are doing to us, but if 189 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:28,280 Speaker 1: this is what just simple editing and filters did according 190 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:32,360 Speaker 1: to these studies, oh friends, I think we're in trouble. 191 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:35,120 Speaker 1: So here's what happened to me. You're ready for this. 192 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:38,400 Speaker 1: Like I shared in the intro, my goal just to 193 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:41,200 Speaker 1: get some headshots for YouTube, some thumbnails, But what I 194 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:44,439 Speaker 1: ended up with was more than one hundred images. Now, 195 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:46,920 Speaker 1: I thought I was getting headshots like things that would 196 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:51,199 Speaker 1: stop right here, and many of them were full body yikes. 197 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:54,320 Speaker 1: I had no idea how triggering this was going to be. 198 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:58,160 Speaker 1: Now some of these aren't just flat out hilarious. It's 199 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:01,840 Speaker 1: a little embarrassing to walk you through these, because I 200 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:04,600 Speaker 1: think it's really important for you to see how easy 201 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:08,360 Speaker 1: this was for me to do and how vastly different 202 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:13,600 Speaker 1: I can look depending on which image of myself I choose. Now, 203 00:13:13,679 --> 00:13:15,960 Speaker 1: this was not a simple downloadable app. This was a 204 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:20,480 Speaker 1: program that was targeted for our authors and YouTube people. 205 00:13:20,679 --> 00:13:24,079 Speaker 1: So I paid more for this than any app you're 206 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:26,640 Speaker 1: gonna find on the app Store. But here's the way 207 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:30,200 Speaker 1: it worked. I gave it eight pictures of myself, and 208 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:34,079 Speaker 1: it was supposed to combine these pictures, like glean data 209 00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:39,200 Speaker 1: from each image and create a model of me. And 210 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:42,200 Speaker 1: what I think it actually did was sometimes it would 211 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:45,600 Speaker 1: use like part of the photo, like my face, and 212 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:48,040 Speaker 1: then sometimes it would use other photos. But I didn't 213 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:51,480 Speaker 1: really see any evidence of it actually like gleaning my 214 00:13:51,679 --> 00:13:53,439 Speaker 1: eye size, no shape, that kind of thing, and like 215 00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:56,720 Speaker 1: creating a model of me. And this is important to 216 00:13:56,720 --> 00:14:00,280 Speaker 1: me because the headshot that I use most often it 217 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:05,040 Speaker 1: is about four years old, and I know that at 218 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:06,880 Speaker 1: fifty one years old, I don't look like I did 219 00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:09,800 Speaker 1: have forty seven. This is a season of lots of change, 220 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:12,640 Speaker 1: but I haven't been able to get new headshots done. 221 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:15,080 Speaker 1: It's expensive, Honestly. I know there are days in the 222 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:17,080 Speaker 1: month when I look really puffy and days when I 223 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:20,040 Speaker 1: don't look so puffy, and I really would prefer to 224 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:23,520 Speaker 1: get photos done on a less puffy day, but in perimenopause, 225 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 1: I haven't had a lot of luck figuring out which 226 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:29,280 Speaker 1: days those were gonna be, and so it's tricky to 227 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:31,800 Speaker 1: schedule a photographer, and those are all my excuses. So 228 00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:34,040 Speaker 1: perhaps I still have some body image work to do here. 229 00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:38,200 Speaker 1: But my goal was never to generate photos to make 230 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:43,560 Speaker 1: myself look better again. I just wanted some sort of 231 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:48,080 Speaker 1: accurate representation of myself. So I gave AI eight different 232 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:51,320 Speaker 1: photos of me. Some were from this headshot, some were 233 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:53,720 Speaker 1: just like snapshots I did in my office, even on 234 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:56,160 Speaker 1: a puffy your day. I even took a selfie that 235 00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:58,560 Speaker 1: morning and sent it as one of the eight shots, 236 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:00,920 Speaker 1: and I hoped that a I was gonna blend them 237 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:04,000 Speaker 1: together so it would be accurate and maybe age those 238 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:06,480 Speaker 1: headshots that I had from four years ago. But it 239 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:08,880 Speaker 1: didn't do that. So are you ready? Here's what happened. 240 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:12,200 Speaker 1: I'm gonna start with the most hilarious one. This was 241 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:16,360 Speaker 1: the most extreme one. There you go. So for those 242 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:18,360 Speaker 1: of you who can't see this, I am essentially a 243 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:21,680 Speaker 1: bobblehead doll. I have never been the skinny in my life, 244 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:23,560 Speaker 1: and this has never been my body frame. So this 245 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:26,320 Speaker 1: was really strange for me to see myself like this, 246 00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:29,800 Speaker 1: even knowing that it's not me, it just creeped me out. 247 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:32,600 Speaker 1: And I sent this photo to Tara, one of my coaches, 248 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:34,400 Speaker 1: and she told me that she showed it to her 249 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:37,040 Speaker 1: husband because she thought it was funny. And then I 250 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:41,640 Speaker 1: instantly felt this weird shame over her husband, seeing like 251 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:45,520 Speaker 1: it shows a lot of cleavage, and it just felt weird. 252 00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:49,040 Speaker 1: It wasn't even my body, that wasn't even my cleavage, 253 00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:53,200 Speaker 1: but I just felt exposed. But again, it's not even 254 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:56,560 Speaker 1: really me, And this brought up a little safety alert. 255 00:15:56,800 --> 00:15:58,720 Speaker 1: I just want to make sure we're all aware of, Like, 256 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:02,480 Speaker 1: know that all those selfies you have on Instagram can 257 00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:05,240 Speaker 1: easily be taken and put into a program like this 258 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:08,600 Speaker 1: to generate pictures and even videos of you wearing whatever 259 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:11,520 Speaker 1: the program wants you to wear. And this is a 260 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:14,400 Speaker 1: warning I've seen, especially for young women. But it's so 261 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:17,760 Speaker 1: much easier than photoshop. Now there's nothing to stop a 262 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:20,960 Speaker 1: stalker or a jilted ex boyfriend or a weirdo creep 263 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:23,840 Speaker 1: from taking all those headshots you have on your social 264 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:27,080 Speaker 1: media and putting them on a body and then circulating 265 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:30,800 Speaker 1: next to nude or nude photos of you. This is 266 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:33,800 Speaker 1: really important for us to understand. It becomes very difficult 267 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:36,680 Speaker 1: to prove or explain that this is not you. It's 268 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:41,600 Speaker 1: really hard to recognize the fakes because they look so real. Now, okay, 269 00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:44,920 Speaker 1: now more of my AI generated photos. Okay, this is 270 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:47,400 Speaker 1: from that one time I did a Ted talk. Okay, 271 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:50,880 Speaker 1: you don't remember that. I don't either, because I did 272 00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:55,000 Speaker 1: apply to do one once but never got to do one. 273 00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:58,400 Speaker 1: But here's the weird thing, Like, there's nothing but my 274 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:03,000 Speaker 1: own conscience and moral conviction to stop me from passing 275 00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:06,399 Speaker 1: it off, as if I did a Ted talk and 276 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:11,040 Speaker 1: this photo actually looks reasonably like me, like I think 277 00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:13,320 Speaker 1: you would buy it and believe that was me doing 278 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:16,639 Speaker 1: a Ted Talk. Now there's another one, which is the 279 00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:18,719 Speaker 1: Ted talk I did after I finished my career as 280 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:22,240 Speaker 1: a supermodel. Not so believable, friend, I have never had 281 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:27,120 Speaker 1: that kind of eye gap in my life. But no, hmm, 282 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:30,720 Speaker 1: you may be being fooled by others who seem to 283 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:34,240 Speaker 1: have had these accomplishments in their life. Maybe they just 284 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:37,920 Speaker 1: said AI generate their appearance at a Ted talk. Oh, 285 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:40,880 Speaker 1: here's one another grand appearance of mine from my parents 286 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:44,679 Speaker 1: on the grand Ole opry. That's oh, friend, you actually 287 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:46,800 Speaker 1: just need to go to YouTube and see this shirt 288 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:49,439 Speaker 1: I have on I would never wear the shirt and 289 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:52,280 Speaker 1: then here is my appearance when I did magic on 290 00:17:52,359 --> 00:17:54,720 Speaker 1: the Tonight Show. Now I just I just want to 291 00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:58,200 Speaker 1: stop and question the creator of this program, Like, who 292 00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:00,800 Speaker 1: do they think their audience is? The ted talk thing 293 00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:03,679 Speaker 1: made sense, but the grand ole Opry and magic tricks 294 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:05,719 Speaker 1: on the Tonight Show. Not sure that that's ever going 295 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:08,000 Speaker 1: to be useful for anyone. Oh, here's this one. You'll 296 00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:11,760 Speaker 1: love this. This is the time when a Perry meenopausal 297 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:17,480 Speaker 1: woman chose to wear head to toe knit jumpsuit to 298 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:20,200 Speaker 1: a speaking engagement friend. You know this one is a 299 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:22,800 Speaker 1: I generated because I would never wear this and I 300 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:26,119 Speaker 1: could never wear this without sweating right through it. I 301 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:29,680 Speaker 1: mean even winter in Alaska outside, I couldn't wear it 302 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:33,480 Speaker 1: jumpsuit like that anywhere. So, as you may have noticed, A, 303 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:36,359 Speaker 1: I didn't do a bad job of capturing my face, 304 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:39,040 Speaker 1: and my upper body isn't too far off in these, 305 00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:43,640 Speaker 1: but the image is still perfect. There are no folds, 306 00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:50,480 Speaker 1: neck creases, wrinkles, ugly stuff, and self flawless. And that's 307 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:53,199 Speaker 1: where things started to get a little wonky. As I 308 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:55,439 Speaker 1: explored more and was thinking about how easy it is 309 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:58,679 Speaker 1: to pass these images off as real. I tried to 310 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:02,000 Speaker 1: create what would a actually be an after photo for 311 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:06,000 Speaker 1: weight loss before and after picture, but this one especially 312 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:09,600 Speaker 1: was triggering to me. This was me as a fitness model. 313 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:12,480 Speaker 1: Now I'm fifty one years old and maybe look about thirty, 314 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:15,240 Speaker 1: and I'd be lying if I didn't say that. I 315 00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:17,600 Speaker 1: looked at this picture and had a twinge of like, wow, 316 00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:20,960 Speaker 1: I kind of wish I looked like that. It really 317 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:25,240 Speaker 1: messles with your head to see what could be according 318 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:29,480 Speaker 1: to the artificial intelligencing these photos. Now here's another one. 319 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:31,200 Speaker 1: This one just made me laugh. This is the only 320 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:34,320 Speaker 1: full body shot I could get it to generate. And again, 321 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:37,199 Speaker 1: the AI had no full body photos of me, so 322 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:41,040 Speaker 1: it didn't have any context from which to generate this photo. 323 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:44,119 Speaker 1: I'm not built like this at all, so this just 324 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:47,359 Speaker 1: made me laugh. I think I lost my neck somewhere. 325 00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:53,480 Speaker 1: But then, oh, friend, there's this one. This one did 326 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:56,879 Speaker 1: a pretty good job of getting closer to what I 327 00:19:56,920 --> 00:19:59,439 Speaker 1: could look like if I have my hair and makeup 328 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:02,399 Speaker 1: done and had a great photographer and great lighting and 329 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:06,399 Speaker 1: a great location. And the crazy realization I had was 330 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:11,640 Speaker 1: I've seen dozens of people with this picture on the internet, dozens. 331 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:14,919 Speaker 1: I've actually spent time wondering how did they take a 332 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:18,240 Speaker 1: photographer with them to get coffee and get all these 333 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:21,440 Speaker 1: elements just right to get the perfect photo. In other words, 334 00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:26,000 Speaker 1: I've believed this photo was real, and I've compared myself 335 00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:28,560 Speaker 1: to this photo of other people because of how warm 336 00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:32,760 Speaker 1: and amazing and cozy it is. And now and you 337 00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:34,439 Speaker 1: know how they did it on the internet, just with 338 00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:39,199 Speaker 1: a few clicks. Oh finally, and I want this conversation 339 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:41,520 Speaker 1: to turn back to be a little deeper, because this 340 00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:44,879 Speaker 1: is what we're gonna talk about, how this effects our 341 00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:47,280 Speaker 1: spiritual health. I want to show you the photo that 342 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:52,119 Speaker 1: triggers me the most. Interestingly enough, it's not the photo 343 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:54,760 Speaker 1: of the fitness model. I know I can't look thirty anymore. 344 00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:59,119 Speaker 1: I'm okay with that, But this auto generated image tapped 345 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:02,840 Speaker 1: us into something that was trapped deep inside me, and 346 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:05,920 Speaker 1: I wasn't even sure if we're still there. We've talked 347 00:21:05,960 --> 00:21:08,320 Speaker 1: about it before. We talked about this concept of an 348 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:10,560 Speaker 1: ideal image. This is something I do with my clients 349 00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:13,399 Speaker 1: all the time, and the idele image I would define 350 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:16,040 Speaker 1: as this image we carry around in our heads of 351 00:21:16,119 --> 00:21:18,040 Speaker 1: what we should look like or what we could look 352 00:21:18,119 --> 00:21:20,520 Speaker 1: like if we got it all together. I like to 353 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:26,040 Speaker 1: say that our ideals are our idols, and this image 354 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:29,960 Speaker 1: for me would certainly be that. It would certainly be 355 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:33,639 Speaker 1: an idol. This is what Heather at age fifty one 356 00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:41,040 Speaker 1: is Slash was supposed to look like. Yeah, that's how 357 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:43,840 Speaker 1: I always wanted to look as an older woman. Now, 358 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:46,720 Speaker 1: I've never had this frame of body. I've never had 359 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:49,560 Speaker 1: a bye gap. Even when I was much thinner, I 360 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:52,600 Speaker 1: never really had this kind of frame. So this would 361 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:55,080 Speaker 1: pretty much be an impossibility for me to look like this. 362 00:21:56,240 --> 00:21:59,920 Speaker 1: And yet seeing this photo trigger something in my heart 363 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:03,960 Speaker 1: that says, this is possible. Look you could look like that. 364 00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:05,560 Speaker 2: That's what you would look like if you did it 365 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:08,200 Speaker 2: all right, that could be you. 366 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:13,280 Speaker 1: And that's a dangerous thing, your friend, having access to 367 00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:15,800 Speaker 1: what you and I could look. 368 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:19,399 Speaker 2: Like or would look like if we weighed less, or 369 00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:22,200 Speaker 2: we're older or younger, or more sculpted or had better skin, 370 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:26,399 Speaker 2: it can be really dangerous for our brains but also 371 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:27,680 Speaker 2: for our spiritual lives. 372 00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:30,800 Speaker 1: As I was talking to my team about it, showing 373 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:33,720 Speaker 1: them the photos like, we were all laughing, but Presley 374 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:39,439 Speaker 1: pointed out something really wise. She said, Huh, now you 375 00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:46,320 Speaker 1: can actually have an image of yourself to worship. You see, 376 00:22:46,359 --> 00:22:47,760 Speaker 1: when I work with women, we do this side your 377 00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:50,359 Speaker 1: image exercise. You're trying to tap into who you think 378 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:52,679 Speaker 1: you should be, or what you think you should look like, 379 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:54,199 Speaker 1: or how you think your body should look. And we're 380 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:57,360 Speaker 1: trying to identify what's been driving you to change your 381 00:22:57,359 --> 00:23:00,880 Speaker 1: body all these years. What image of yourself are you 382 00:23:01,119 --> 00:23:06,320 Speaker 1: trying to achieve? But before you would just have to 383 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:10,080 Speaker 1: imagine it. You didn't actually have the possibility of seeing 384 00:23:10,119 --> 00:23:13,000 Speaker 1: what you would look like with Kim Kardashian's hair and 385 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:17,399 Speaker 1: Scarlet Johansson's body. Now you can create that image. This 386 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:21,680 Speaker 1: takes the whole thin spell or a fit spell, which 387 00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:25,280 Speaker 1: those are like acronyms for a thin inspiration or fit inspiration. 388 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:29,159 Speaker 1: It takes that whole concept of putting an inspirational picture 389 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:30,720 Speaker 1: on your fridge to help me meet your goals. It 390 00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:36,560 Speaker 1: takes it to this whole new crazy brain, deceiving, heart 391 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:43,000 Speaker 1: wrecking level, and spiritually, I'd say it's far more dangerous. 392 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:45,000 Speaker 1: So what do we do about that? What are the 393 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:50,120 Speaker 1: spiritual and emotional implications of these AI photos and how 394 00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:53,119 Speaker 1: easy they are and how cute I would look in 395 00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:56,840 Speaker 1: that Candy Kane jumpsuit that's gonna smooth out all my wrinkles. 396 00:23:57,080 --> 00:23:59,800 Speaker 1: And I'm gonna kind of feel good when I posted 397 00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:01,639 Speaker 1: on Instagram because people are gonna be like, boy, you 398 00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:07,479 Speaker 1: look hot. Ah. It cost me something. Here's what it 399 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:10,080 Speaker 1: cost me. So the first thing we have to wrestle 400 00:24:10,119 --> 00:24:16,120 Speaker 1: with is this a reality. We aren't made by artificial intelligence. 401 00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:20,280 Speaker 1: We were created by a one of a kind designer, 402 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:23,760 Speaker 1: of the same designer who created all of creation. And 403 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:27,040 Speaker 1: the problem with AI is that it is artificial. It 404 00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:31,320 Speaker 1: does not have any original intelligence. It only has the 405 00:24:31,359 --> 00:24:36,920 Speaker 1: ability to curate things from things that already exist. So 406 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:39,960 Speaker 1: the best it can do is make you look like 407 00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:44,120 Speaker 1: someone else. And while this seems like a dream man, 408 00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:46,320 Speaker 1: I'd love to have her body, love to have her face. 409 00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:49,600 Speaker 1: We felt this over and over again, right, But I 410 00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:54,159 Speaker 1: wasn't made with her body. My longing to have what 411 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:58,639 Speaker 1: someone else has is really not healthy for me spiritually. 412 00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:02,920 Speaker 1: Even in the Ten Commandments, we're instructed not to covet. 413 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:07,600 Speaker 1: I remember it's probably fifteen years ago now, accidentally reading 414 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:12,080 Speaker 1: this passage from Exodus or Deuteronomy in the King James. 415 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:15,199 Speaker 1: It's the Ten Commandments passage, and I remember reading the 416 00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:19,280 Speaker 1: words you shouldn't covet your neighbor's ass, And of course 417 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:22,000 Speaker 1: the Bible means donkey. But I had just seen a 418 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:25,159 Speaker 1: picture with j Lo's butt on the cover of a 419 00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:28,880 Speaker 1: magazine and I thought, man, I need a butt like that. 420 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:33,320 Speaker 1: And God spoke right to me through that passage, saying, Heather, no, 421 00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:37,440 Speaker 1: this is covetous. It's a sin to say to God. 422 00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:40,640 Speaker 1: I don't like how you made me. I really wish 423 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:44,080 Speaker 1: you had made me more like her. And this is 424 00:25:44,119 --> 00:25:46,479 Speaker 1: where it gets tricky. We live in a culture that 425 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:48,720 Speaker 1: uses and I we're gonna call it paint your own 426 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:52,760 Speaker 1: pottery theology. That's a concept from my forty Day Body 427 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:54,960 Speaker 1: Image workbook. And by the way, we start a forty 428 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:58,320 Speaker 1: day Body Image Journey January twentieth Tuesday. It's not too 429 00:25:58,359 --> 00:26:01,080 Speaker 1: late to join. We do them quarterly. But this is 430 00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:04,080 Speaker 1: a concept where as Christians, we can believe that God 431 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:07,879 Speaker 1: gave us kind of the raw material like the blank 432 00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:12,080 Speaker 1: pot at the painter on pottery place, and then he 433 00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:15,679 Speaker 1: made it our job to sculpt and to paint and 434 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:19,720 Speaker 1: to perfect. And the theology here is that God gave 435 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:25,399 Speaker 1: me a body as a project. He made me this 436 00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:28,760 Speaker 1: body so that I could then make it as beautiful 437 00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:37,280 Speaker 1: and as appealing and as culturally admirable as possible. But friend, 438 00:26:37,359 --> 00:26:40,199 Speaker 1: that's not good theology. That's not why God gave me 439 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:44,960 Speaker 1: a body. God gave me a body to use for 440 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:51,399 Speaker 1: his glory. He didn't give me a body that was 441 00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:53,919 Speaker 1: supposed to become a project to make more beautiful, to 442 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:58,359 Speaker 1: bring glory to myself. He actually gave me a body 443 00:26:58,359 --> 00:27:00,840 Speaker 1: because he has something here on earth he wants me 444 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:04,920 Speaker 1: to do with it. He has things that he actually 445 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:08,600 Speaker 1: designed for me to do, and he built me uniquely, 446 00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:12,760 Speaker 1: not artificially, originally, so that I could do those things 447 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:15,960 Speaker 1: that he has designed for me. You see, our bodies 448 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:19,399 Speaker 1: give us clues about what we were designed for. I've 449 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:22,480 Speaker 1: spoken before about how I've got really stubby little fingers 450 00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:26,720 Speaker 1: and they type super fast. And the clue about my 451 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:30,840 Speaker 1: design is perhaps I was designed to write books or 452 00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:34,359 Speaker 1: type things. He didn't give me long thin fingers, like 453 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:37,359 Speaker 1: his goal for me was never to break into hand 454 00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:40,760 Speaker 1: modeling or be an amazing pianist. My fingers don't even 455 00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:44,960 Speaker 1: stretch a full octave. I'm not built for that. I 456 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:48,560 Speaker 1: could spend my whole life covening other people's long thin 457 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:52,879 Speaker 1: fingers or maybe trying to do stretching exercises. We get mine 458 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:56,959 Speaker 1: to go further, but I'll still never have what it 459 00:27:57,040 --> 00:28:01,320 Speaker 1: takes because I wasn't designed for that. Friend, you are 460 00:28:01,359 --> 00:28:05,840 Speaker 1: fearfully and wonderfully made. You are the imago day. You're 461 00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:10,080 Speaker 1: made in the image of God. What does it mean 462 00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:14,200 Speaker 1: that we'd rather be made in the image of another 463 00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:14,920 Speaker 1: human being? 464 00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:16,760 Speaker 2: Yikes? 465 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:20,880 Speaker 1: This is a dangerous realization. When we've elevated other people 466 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:26,480 Speaker 1: and what they look like above God, we've said, yeah, 467 00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:28,760 Speaker 1: that's great to be made in your image God, But 468 00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:30,480 Speaker 1: wouldn't it be even better if I was made in 469 00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:33,240 Speaker 1: her image? Like that's what would be really good for me? 470 00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:36,359 Speaker 1: That would be super helpful. And it really highlights the 471 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:41,320 Speaker 1: level of body idolatry we all struggle with. It showcases 472 00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:45,680 Speaker 1: what our hearts are really worshiping and really valuing. If 473 00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:48,920 Speaker 1: my heart is not content to say God's design is good, 474 00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:52,280 Speaker 1: then I know I've got a problem both with what 475 00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:58,000 Speaker 1: I'm worshiping and then what I'm actually believing. And I know, friends, 476 00:28:58,000 --> 00:28:59,440 Speaker 1: some of you are saying, but god design is good, 477 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:01,680 Speaker 1: and then I must. I did a podcast episode on that. 478 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:04,360 Speaker 1: I hope you listen to it. Whatever you've done to 479 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:09,080 Speaker 1: your body. Friend, if God can fix your most difficult problem, 480 00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:12,280 Speaker 1: which is sin, and if you can redeem that and 481 00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:16,800 Speaker 1: restore you to reconciliation with Him forever. Friend, whatever you've 482 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:20,680 Speaker 1: done to your body is not unredeemable. You're not too 483 00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:24,240 Speaker 1: far gone from his grace. He still has something for 484 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:28,680 Speaker 1: you to do. Stop believing the enemies lie that you've 485 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:32,040 Speaker 1: messed up your good body and now your life has 486 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:37,600 Speaker 1: to be about fixing it. It's just not biblical. These 487 00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:41,840 Speaker 1: perfectionistic images we have in our head, the perfection we 488 00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:47,200 Speaker 1: see in these photos, the perfection we see everywhere in 489 00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:51,400 Speaker 1: media and social media. Friends, they are beckoning us to 490 00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:56,200 Speaker 1: worship a perfect image. But we're not supposed to worship 491 00:29:56,240 --> 00:30:01,480 Speaker 1: a perfect image. We're supposed to worship a perfect God. Okay, 492 00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:04,560 Speaker 1: so let me leave you some practical tips today, really 493 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:10,040 Speaker 1: like grassroots down the business, practical, practical, practical. Okay. Thing one, 494 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:13,480 Speaker 1: I really really really really really really really wants you 495 00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:17,040 Speaker 1: to think about your scrolling. I think the healthiest thing 496 00:30:17,040 --> 00:30:20,000 Speaker 1: you can do before scrolling should probably be say something 497 00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:23,560 Speaker 1: like I'm going into an imaginary world, Like I'm going 498 00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:27,440 Speaker 1: into a cartoon land. This is fiction. I'm starting to 499 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:30,080 Speaker 1: read a fiction book, like, think about it in that 500 00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:35,280 Speaker 1: way and pray hard before you scroll. God, help me 501 00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:38,840 Speaker 1: to see the fiction here. Help me to worship what 502 00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:43,160 Speaker 1: is true and not these false images. But seriously, front, 503 00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:45,720 Speaker 1: just now, when you see these images, when you watch 504 00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:48,000 Speaker 1: these reels, they are going to mess with your brain. 505 00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:53,000 Speaker 1: And so pause, pause, before you scroll, say this isn't real. 506 00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:56,320 Speaker 1: When you see those people jump in the reels and 507 00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:58,840 Speaker 1: suddenly they're eighty pounds later, or you see the before 508 00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:01,400 Speaker 1: and after pictures, the work photos. I hope you'll remember 509 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:06,920 Speaker 1: my photos. There's no law that stops me from telling 510 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:10,280 Speaker 1: you that these photos aren't me. And if I had 511 00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:12,400 Speaker 1: something to sell you, I definitely want to show you 512 00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:16,080 Speaker 1: a perfect picture of me and hope that you would 513 00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:19,040 Speaker 1: buy my product or supplement or whatever it is, because 514 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:21,520 Speaker 1: look at how much better it made me look. And 515 00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:24,720 Speaker 1: I'd just be lying. Another tip here, do you have 516 00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:27,520 Speaker 1: your screen time set? This has been my latest hack. 517 00:31:27,920 --> 00:31:30,760 Speaker 1: I set my screen time to thirty minutes a day 518 00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:34,000 Speaker 1: for all of social media. Any more than that's just 519 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:36,240 Speaker 1: too dangerous for me. Thirty minutes is my limit, and 520 00:31:36,280 --> 00:31:38,280 Speaker 1: probably even with that, I could back that down to 521 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:41,520 Speaker 1: twenty or fifteen. I take social media off my phone 522 00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:44,760 Speaker 1: completely sometimes for seasons. If you're going to keep it 523 00:31:44,840 --> 00:31:47,600 Speaker 1: on your phone, be sure to curate your feed. Start 524 00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:51,479 Speaker 1: unfollowing all those accounts that trigger comparison and envy. If 525 00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:54,360 Speaker 1: you're getting a bunch of ads with spammy stuff like 526 00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:57,160 Speaker 1: weight loss, stuff that you don't want to see that's 527 00:31:57,320 --> 00:32:02,160 Speaker 1: triggering you, unfollow. Report you know, report a spam report 528 00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:04,880 Speaker 1: is unhelpful. Report. There's all different things you can report, 529 00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:07,880 Speaker 1: and you'll stop getting those kind of ads. One other 530 00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:11,800 Speaker 1: thing I've done is I start saying with the ads. 531 00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:13,400 Speaker 1: I started saying I'm not interested in this, I'm not 532 00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:15,520 Speaker 1: interested in this, and then I click on something like 533 00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:20,080 Speaker 1: I don't know dog joint health, and so I've it's 534 00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:23,480 Speaker 1: taken a while, but I've suddenly changed my Instagram feed 535 00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:27,480 Speaker 1: to have ads for dog joint health and shoes, good 536 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:31,680 Speaker 1: walking shoes. So you can mess with your feed and 537 00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:35,920 Speaker 1: get those things that are distracting or tempting for you 538 00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:39,520 Speaker 1: out of your feed. If you're really feeling triggered by 539 00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:42,720 Speaker 1: what you could look like, or feel that drive of 540 00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:46,880 Speaker 1: the ideal image or the image idle pulling you find, 541 00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:50,560 Speaker 1: just stop and pray, ask God to reveal to you 542 00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:53,600 Speaker 1: what you are believing. Ask him to show you what 543 00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:57,000 Speaker 1: you're worshiping, but also ask him to show you the why, 544 00:32:57,160 --> 00:33:00,000 Speaker 1: Like why do you long for that image so much 545 00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:02,360 Speaker 1: as I see the image I showed you of me 546 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:05,959 Speaker 1: and the yellow blazer, Like, here's why I long for 547 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:09,280 Speaker 1: that because I believe the lie that that woman has 548 00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:12,440 Speaker 1: an easier life than I do. I believe she's more likable, 549 00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:16,080 Speaker 1: I believe she's less messy. I believe she doesn't struggle. 550 00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:19,200 Speaker 1: I believe her life is better than mine because she's 551 00:33:19,240 --> 00:33:23,120 Speaker 1: so much thinner and such a snappy dresser. And none 552 00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:27,200 Speaker 1: of that is true. It's not true that women who 553 00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:31,520 Speaker 1: are thinner or more beautiful live problem free lives and 554 00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:33,880 Speaker 1: never have health issues, Like I've got a long list 555 00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:36,800 Speaker 1: of friends who don't have an extra pound, that have 556 00:33:36,840 --> 00:33:39,720 Speaker 1: had knee replacements or hip replacements, or diabetes, or heart 557 00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:42,680 Speaker 1: disease or cancer, you name it. It's only the idol 558 00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:44,920 Speaker 1: that lies to us and says what it means to 559 00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:48,400 Speaker 1: be thin and beautiful is to be free from pain 560 00:33:48,480 --> 00:33:54,080 Speaker 1: and struggle. And Scripture's clear none of us are free 561 00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:57,360 Speaker 1: from that. In this life. You will have trouble, but 562 00:33:57,440 --> 00:34:02,320 Speaker 1: take heart because he, Jesus, has overcome the world. God 563 00:34:02,440 --> 00:34:06,360 Speaker 1: is most interested in the purity of our hearts. He's 564 00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:08,799 Speaker 1: asking for our allegiance to him. He's asking for us 565 00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:15,000 Speaker 1: to trust him, to follow him. We have to believe 566 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:17,719 Speaker 1: that he knows what's best for us, that he knows 567 00:34:17,719 --> 00:34:21,680 Speaker 1: what's good for us, and to be focused entirely on 568 00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:25,440 Speaker 1: fixing up this temporary Body's kind of like checking into 569 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:29,239 Speaker 1: a hotel room and deciding to redecorate. Like you check 570 00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:32,280 Speaker 1: in and immediately decide, you know what this hotel rooms 571 00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:34,920 Speaker 1: in needs. New curtains, new bedspread. Maybe we should change 572 00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:37,719 Speaker 1: out the end tables, get some new flooring, Like you'd 573 00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:40,719 Speaker 1: never do that in a hotel because it's a temporary resonance. 574 00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:44,160 Speaker 1: You won't be living in a hotel room forever, Like 575 00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:47,120 Speaker 1: why would you spend a dime or a minute remodeling it? 576 00:34:47,200 --> 00:34:50,480 Speaker 1: Like you wouldn't. And to some degree, friends, it's the 577 00:34:50,520 --> 00:34:52,719 Speaker 1: same with our bodies. Of course, we should be good 578 00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:54,759 Speaker 1: stewards of them. Just like we should take care of 579 00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:58,120 Speaker 1: that hotel room, we should take care of our bodies. 580 00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:03,399 Speaker 1: You don't trash your hotels room, but to spend your 581 00:35:03,600 --> 00:35:08,960 Speaker 1: life and your money and your time and make remodeling it, 582 00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:17,160 Speaker 1: redecorating it your life project friend, store up treasures in heaven. Right. 583 00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:22,120 Speaker 1: Aging is real, and even if you put your all 584 00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:25,080 Speaker 1: into it, it's not gonna stay that way. It's still 585 00:35:25,120 --> 00:35:29,439 Speaker 1: gonna change. It just keeps changing. They hope that thought 586 00:35:29,440 --> 00:35:32,120 Speaker 1: will give you something to chew on today. So here's 587 00:35:32,120 --> 00:35:35,160 Speaker 1: my closing encouragement for you. Bottom line, But we weren't 588 00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:38,160 Speaker 1: all created to look the same. You're not made of plastic. 589 00:35:38,360 --> 00:35:40,399 Speaker 1: I've talked about this in the Forty Day Journey too. 590 00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:44,759 Speaker 1: We examined it biblically, the difference between being designed and 591 00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:49,320 Speaker 1: created versus being manufactured. You're not a Red Solo cup, 592 00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:55,480 Speaker 1: but these AI images are manufactured. You know, it's interesting 593 00:35:55,640 --> 00:35:58,879 Speaker 1: how many words and fitness and beauty try to make 594 00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:01,960 Speaker 1: us sound more plastic, like we have to be firm 595 00:36:02,160 --> 00:36:05,719 Speaker 1: or smooth or shiny or perfect, and that's how Red 596 00:36:05,719 --> 00:36:09,359 Speaker 1: Solo cups roll off the assembly line. But that's not 597 00:36:09,719 --> 00:36:14,680 Speaker 1: how real people are born or how real people age. 598 00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:18,080 Speaker 1: I mean, isn't it interesting that we call elective surgeries 599 00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:24,880 Speaker 1: to fix our bodies plastic surgery? Hmm, plastic? Because I 600 00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:28,360 Speaker 1: guess it could make us look a little bit more 601 00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:32,840 Speaker 1: like Barbie, a little more plastic. And again, I'm not 602 00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:35,919 Speaker 1: saying while plastic surgery is bad, please hear me. There's 603 00:36:35,960 --> 00:36:39,520 Speaker 1: nothing inherently sinful about getting surgery done. But we have 604 00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:44,440 Speaker 1: to think about our motives. Think about what we are worshiping. 605 00:36:44,640 --> 00:36:48,520 Speaker 1: Do we worship perfect images or again, do we worship 606 00:36:48,520 --> 00:36:51,960 Speaker 1: the perfect God. You are a real person, You're not 607 00:36:52,080 --> 00:36:55,680 Speaker 1: an AI generated image. Don't let these images get in 608 00:36:55,719 --> 00:36:58,520 Speaker 1: your head and rob you of the joy of being 609 00:36:58,640 --> 00:37:04,319 Speaker 1: fully alive in the body that God gave you. Don't 610 00:37:04,360 --> 00:37:09,240 Speaker 1: let discontent, comparison, and envy steal your thought, life, time, 611 00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:13,360 Speaker 1: and money as you chase becoming a better looking version 612 00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:17,080 Speaker 1: of you. Remember, Jesus was the only perfect man to 613 00:37:17,120 --> 00:37:20,280 Speaker 1: ever live, and yet we know he wasn't perfect looking. 614 00:37:20,440 --> 00:37:23,040 Speaker 1: Scripture tells us he was nothing to look like look 615 00:37:23,120 --> 00:37:27,720 Speaker 1: at at all. So we chase the world's definition of perfection. 616 00:37:28,480 --> 00:37:32,560 Speaker 1: We're not really following Jesus's way. We're following these idols 617 00:37:32,920 --> 00:37:35,719 Speaker 1: that will ultimately distract and destroy us and separate us 618 00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:39,480 Speaker 1: from the one true God who loves us. My life 619 00:37:39,560 --> 00:37:42,759 Speaker 1: versus Jonah two eight. Those who pay attention to vain 620 00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:47,080 Speaker 1: idols forsake all hope of steadfast love. I don't want 621 00:37:47,120 --> 00:37:51,080 Speaker 1: to chase becoming more like an AI image and for sake, 622 00:37:51,160 --> 00:37:54,040 Speaker 1: God's love in the process, and I hope you feel 623 00:37:54,080 --> 00:37:57,400 Speaker 1: the same. Hey, thanks for listening. If you're on YouTube, 624 00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:00,799 Speaker 1: be sure to press like and subscribe. We'd love it 625 00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:03,480 Speaker 1: to have you follow for more great content. And if 626 00:38:03,480 --> 00:38:06,000 Speaker 1: you're listening on the podcast today, I hope your subscribes 627 00:38:06,080 --> 00:38:08,880 Speaker 1: you never miss an episode. Thanks again for listening. I 628 00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:12,560 Speaker 1: hope something today has helped you stop comparing and start living. Bye, babe. 629 00:38:15,600 --> 00:38:17,800 Speaker 1: Compared to your podcast, it's probably part a live audio 630 00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:21,000 Speaker 1: podcast network. For more great question podcast at a lifeaudio 631 00:38:21,160 --> 00:38:26,960 Speaker 1: dot com.