The Story behind Getting Dr. Shelton's BEAUTY Book
Oh, Dearest GetWell Friends, Health Seekers and BEAUTY Seekers!
How I wish I could afford to give you just 1 complete chapter from Dr. Shelton's tremendous book on BEAUTY! That way, you could read for yourself what I am so excited about! And yet what chapter would I pick? I did read the Book years ago. But now, I have been thumbing through all the book and have read the first 4 chapters, word for word. Each chapter I read is, in its own right, as good as or better than the last. In the next few pages, I give you "Excerpts from Dr. Shelton's BEAUTY Book." You should know that I have wanted to offer you this book for years. But not until my recovery year in Canada did I gain renewed strength to actually pursue getting a copy for reproduction. My next to the last attempt to locate a copy was from a capitalist on the Internet. He stated he paid $350.oo for his copy. And he implied he wanted much more if he were to let me make a copy for publication. Essentially, I think he was going to ask for royalties on each copy sold. Dr. Shelton went out of his way to put no copyright on his publications and stated repeatedly that he wanted The People to pass his teachings around. Finally, I turned to Dr. Vetrano as my last resort. I knew she had a copy but that she would be highly reluctant to send it through the mail to me, lest it be lost. But, as it turned out, because she had more than 1 copy, she let BEAUTY and VOLUME 7 of THE HYGIENIC SYSTEM out through the U.S. Postal System. In a convenient trade, she agreed to get the copies to me. If you could only know what agony I have gone through to finally get this book and to get a good photocopy master prepared, you would order immediately!
I really cannot contain my enthusiasm for making this book available to you! If you have read much of Dr. Shelton, you know that his writing can seldom, if ever, be called "FUN!" But in his BEAUTY Book, as he builds his teachings, relentlessly, one chapter onto the next, I for one call these Dr. Shelton Teachings... "FUN!" Perhaps because the idea of gaining BEAUTY is more charming than the idea of getting healthy BEAUTY itself being a higher motivating ideal than health. And perhaps it is because of my year in The Wilderness. Perhaps it is what I went through in such a short period of time that leads me to call Dr. Shelton "FUN!" in his BEAUTY Book, compared to any of his other writings. Perhaps it is because I went from 270 pounds, every movement belabored, every facial expression in feigned happiness or pained depression, every limb swelled and distorted, and every person staring at my distorted size and pathological predicament, and virtually every man deliberately looking the other way in concentrated disinterest or open disgust. Perhaps going from all of that to 170 pounds, nearly every movement lively, nearly every facial expression in grateful joy and radiant glow, every limb approximating normal proportions, and people staring not at my size but at my newly freed-from-bondage spirit and playfulness and virtually every man definitely looking my way intrigued by or attracted to my HIGHJOY! Perhaps this huge contrast in just one year's time is what makes me say that, "Becoming more beautiful, following Beautiful Living Practies in Dr. Shelton's BEAUTY Book terms, is 'FUN!'"
Dr. Shelton characteristically wrote with an anger a righteous indignation against "The Medical Mentality" and "The Disease Industrialists," (as I call them). And you know that he is usually always focused on "health and disease." In his BEAUTY book, however, we get to read a softer and gentler Shelton, in comparison. And here, he is consistently focused on "health and BEAUTY." It is a refreshing change of focus. And one that may very well make Natural Hygiene an easier sell to The Health Seeker. For we all value the idea of being the very best we can be. And as long as that very best does not descend into pathological vanity, forsaking all humanity and sanity in its pursuit, then, perhaps we ought to become "BEAUTY Seekers," rather than "Health Seekers." For at the foundation of all reflections of BEAUTY is a firmly laid, impressively disciplined life of healthy values in thought and action. And seeking that BEAUTIFUL REFLECTION may very well be much more "FUN!" than we ever imagined!
