The Leah Factor by Cynthia M. Henry is such a moving story about discovering the beauty in yourself and learning to love that. How do you react when those around you consider your sister beautiful and you "tender-eyed"? This book speaks to all ages and is a great tool to use for young girls that need encouragement. This book is the perfect gift for someone that does not feel beautiful or worth it. Cynthia reveals how God turns our negative perception towards life and ourselves into something beautiful! I had the privilege to get in contact with the author to have some questions answered.
1. Can you tell us a little about
yourself?
I have always had a love of
reading and writing. I particularly
enjoy writing fiction. As a child, my
parents enrolled me in a book club. I
looked forward to getting new books in the mail. I also enjoyed spending many hours in the
library, which felt like a second home.
I would become transported to another place and lose track of time while
reading a good book. I shared that love
of books with my three daughters and encouraged them to read and write their
own stories when they were growing up.
I am a graduate of the University of Michigan-Dearborn and Wayne State
University. I am a retired public school
teacher and reside in Detroit, Michigan with my husband where I enjoy teaching
Sunday school and learning more about the Bible.
2. What have you written? Any
other books, stories, essays, etc?
The Leah Factor: Recognizing True Beauty
and Worth and other
plays and fictional short stories.
During college, I wrote several analytical essays on various works of
fiction scanning several genres, such as 18th and 19th
Century British literature, African-American literature, Chaucer, Marlowe,
Nabokov and others. In 1992, I was a winner
of U of M-Dearborn’s Writing Award Contest for the critical analysis essay,
“The Hypocrisy in Pamela as Opposed to Shamela”
3. What was the hardest thing about
writing this book?
Coming
to terms with who I was as I included some events from my personal life experiences. This type of book also forces one to face
“self” in the mirror and either like what you see or change that self.
4. What do you want readers to get
out of it?
For
so long, on a global level, we have been misled into believing that a beautiful
physical façade (the outward appearance) makes a person beautiful. In my book, I argue that it is what is on the
inside (that which cannot be seen visibly) that is the true determinant of
beauty. I would like to dispel the
age-old misconception of beauty and get readers to recognize not only what real
beauty is, but also understand how God sees us.
5. What made you tell this
story?
I worked as a teacher in inner city high schools for several
years. The one constant issue I observed
affecting students was a serious awareness of physical attractiveness. Many young people, girls in particular,
exhibited low or no self-esteem if they didn’t believe they were physically
attractive. To make matters worse, some
students frequently targeted, victimized or bullied others who didn’t measure
up to their ideas of beauty. I often had
to intervene and encourage victims as well as educate the bullies on the
effects their behavior caused. Oddly,
sometimes bullies don’t realize the damage they have inflicted and have even
been victimized themselves. Surprisingly,
many were receptive to stopping the bad behavior when they were made aware of
the impact. There were always a small
few who never changed their bullying ways—even when it meant being suspended
from school. But the good news was that
many did stop when they were educated to think
and understand differently. Some even
showed compassion that they had not previously.
Those incidents, along with society’s overall view of beauty, led me to
write this book. There exists a serious
need to change the way we view beauty.
As it stands, no one can really measure up to society’s standards of beauty. I write about this in the book with the
intent to bring about awareness and openly challenge how we think.
6. Why do you feel it is important?
Although
the focal point is on Leah, sadly, her story is still relevant today. Like Leah, many people today still feel
marginalized for various reasons. More
than ever, it is important to take the focus off of how an individual “looks”
and focus on things such as character and integrity—the real things that
determine attractiveness and give a person true worth.
7. What would you like to tell
Halfstack readers in regards to your book?
That even if you have the utmost
confidence in yourself, this book goes a long way in understanding those who do
not share that confidence in themselves.
An encouraging word can go a long way in helping such people. Even just recognizing that some people
struggle with low self-esteem based on their appearance, is a step in the right
direction. The Leah Factor seeks to enlighten as well as encourage and build
confidence. This quote taken from the
book best describes one of its messages:
“We could develop more productive,
well-balanced girls and boys who could achieve things at unimaginable levels if
we could get beyond “physicality.” Think
of the wonders we could achieve if we only understood true worth and beauty.”
8. What advice would you give writers that have difficulty telling their personal story relating to physical appearance?
The same thing that I had to tell
myself, “Don’t take yourself too seriously.”
Really, I had to come to the understanding that I am just a person like
anybody else. Although they may differ,
the same insecurities that I have about my physical appearance, so does
everyone else concerning theirs. When
people realize that we are really all the same in this regard, it makes the
seemingly difficult easier. Concerning
myself, I write about coming to grips with these things in my book.
9. Was this hard to write
considering living in a generation that focuses on body image?
It
was actually just the opposite. That is
what made this easy to write. People
must understand that they do not have or lack value based on how they look! It is a backward way of thinking that goes
back thousands of years. I seek to
dispel this false belief by pointing out the things that really matter as well
as to put the focus on what God recognizes as beauty.
Rachel and Leah were sisters. One, Rachel, is described as beautiful and
highly favored. The other, Leah, was
considered unattractive and was not favored by people, including her own
husband. People loved and favored Rachel
because she was visibly beautiful.
However, God showed up on Leah’s behalf!
He saw in her what people could not.
God’s example is a tremendous indication of what we should understand
about beauty and worth.
10. Is there anything else you would
like to add that I have not asked?
The book takes the familiar biblical
account of sisters Rachel and Leah and expounds on what life must have been
like for the older sister Leah, living in the shadow of her sister Rachel. Rachel had it all—beauty, favor and the love
of their shared husband, Jacob, who made it clear he loved Rachel but not
Leah. The Bible gives many accounts of
the rivalry, lies, deception, envy and hatred that revolved around the strange
relationship. But it also gives an
account of the intervening love of God that sustains, guides, and protects Leah
through it all. When Jacob hates Leah,
God loves her even more and extends his favor toward her. Unlike man, God did not see Leah as
unattractive. He looked on the inside
and saw her beauty.
If you are interested in purchasing a copy of her book, it is available on Amazon.com.
The Leah Factor is an excellent book. It was insightful and easy to read.
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