A Meme My Brother Sent Me

I'm writing about a meme right now and that relates to my paper. It was a single picture with a muscular white man standing in a firm stance just barely in the ocean. He is looking out to the water with an intense gaze and words that were added read "I will fight this ocean for calling me gay" and it perfectly fits the topic of my essay, For one, I understand it's a joke but the joke has truth in it. As it's being portrayed as a joke it's mocking men who think like this so strongly to the point where they would fight an ocean. This displays my idea in how masculinity is central to homophobia since being homosexual is seen as unmanly. This a false nature because gender and sexuality are separate. A man can be homosexual and yet be masculine. Also, in the meme he is going to fight the ocean to prove that he isn't gay or not masculine. This displays my idea in how violence is central to masculinity in proving themselves as masculine which makes violence against homosexual individuals with more occurence. Masculinity encourages violence to homosexual and gender nonconforming individuals.

Benefit of the Doubt

I'm writing my essay about homophobic violence and gender nonconformity. Why? I'm not homosexual or gender nonconforming. I haven't had first hand experience with what I'm writing about. So why would I want to write about it? Because I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, let people be them, not be clouded by my judgement of others and it's something that matters. People criticize, ridicule and mock others that are different from the perceived "norm". They experience violence, discrimination, and bullying because of their differences. I think they should be praised for those differences and how they fight to remain that way. It's admirable to watch someone be so authentically them even when miles and miles of people are shouting at them to stop. I've tried my best to live my life to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. I try not to judge or assume anything about anyone because from what I've experienced, it's almost never true. I firmly believe you should give everyone a chance and allow them to be them. Don't hold anyone back because of what you expect them to be because of this or that. Let them be them and you be you. There is no other them and there is no other you. and that's why the world is beautiful hidden underneath the storms.

Article of the Day 3/31/17

Girl v.s. Women

Think of examples from your own lives, think of other examples of language that perpetuates stereotypes, prohibits social growth and/or keeps groups of people subordinate.

"language matters, words have meaning" 
Calling women girls is a unconscious way of making them subordinate or inferior. You don't call men boys because it's demeaning. It's the same for women. The intentions may be good but some things can be unintended and hurtful. Let's start being more careful about our language because it matters to what we make of people and how they make themselves. Meanings are hidden and unintentional and subtle but they can still effect someone - even if you don't intend it. 
"The way things are are not the way they have to be"

Article of the Day 3/28/17

Danger of a Single Story

I loved this Ted Talk so much I actually ended up including it in an essay I wrote for my Anthropology class. I think this is so important because a one sided story leaves out so much information and perspectives that are valuable to the entire picture. There isn't a single story for everything. History, Experiences, Relationships, People. Everything is made of layers and layers of stories and limiting ourselves to a single story also limits our ability to gain knowledge and gain a valuable and wider view of life and our surroundings. You can't just focus on the tree when there's a forest around you.

Music

I love music. I love music so much. I'm addicted. I walk down the hallways every day listening to music. You can count on me having a new song playing through my headphones every week. I find new music so easy. I used to be so pretentious about music and believed that my music was the best and good music was only one thing. If you looked through my music on spotify, you would know that's not true any more. I love music from all genres and languages. I don't limit myself anymore because there is so much good music and it's not defined by a genre or language or time of release. Music is atmospheric. Music can teleport. Music can give tranquility. Music is a necessity.

Traits should be Flexible

Traits should be flexible. They shouldn't be restricted to one type of person. If you really think about it, there are never types of people. People can't be put into categories no matter how hard we try. I once went on a date with a boy and I was extremely frustrated with how he would constantly try to categorize me. He was trying to "figure me out" and I found it incredibly annoying. There is no "figuring someone out" because that's trying to place or categorize someone. Everyone is so vast and deep and varied that they never quite fit in the category you place them in. You might say I'm a girly girl because of how I love the color pink, makeup, wearing dresses, and hate sports. Except, I don't quite fit in that category since I mostly wear black, enjoys violent video games, loves horror movies, and my favorite foods are foods typically found at a sports grill (I can eat the hottest hot wings at buffalo wild wings, don't fight me). I'm a mix and so are we all. We all have a mix of our definitions and categories. No one fits in any of them so why do we try to hard to place them there? Traits should be flexible and be allowed to apply to anyone. Nothing should be restricted to a particular gender or type of person.

My Car is a Boy

There are so many things surrounding us that's defined as for girls or for boys. We gender almost anything we can. We gender colors: pink, purple, yellow and orange are "girly" colors while blue, green, and red are "boyish" colors. We gender music: boy bands and pop music are for girls while rap and metal is for boys. Why are we gendering things that have no actual gender? People have genders. Colors and music were made with no gender. Another interesting aspect is how we also give sex to things. When talking about various feelings or objects, they are sometimes given female or male pronouns. A politician talking about The United States of America refers to the countries beauty as "her beauty" implying that the country is female. A man talking about his truck refers to "his strength" implying that his truck is male. My car is named Angry German Boy. I've assigned my car several human aspects that wasn't actually inherent to it. My guess is that we do this to humanize objects and it's fun to personify them in reality like how we do in stories.  Although, my point of this is showing how we gender ourselves and others and how it shouldn't be such a hard concept to grasp when people don't identify as the one assigned to birth. The maker of my car could've said it was a girl when made but I went and decided it was more of a boy.

Article of the Day 3/3/17

Americans Ignoring Facts

The article discussed how they believe people are ignoring facts and believing in "alternative facts" is because of "the backfire effect". This effect says that misinformed people will become more attached to their mistaken beliefs. People typically do not change their minds when they've already established facts in their mind and someone changes them, they only become more strong about those beliefs - whether or not they are true. In an experiment, the facts they chose to belief or agree with (whether or not they were true or not) aligned with their political beliefs.

Honestly, I think that the facts should matter more than where you stand politically or ideologically. The truth should matter more than if it agrees with something you already agree with. You can't ignore the truth because you don't want it to be true or because it doesn't align with something you already agree with. Truth can change and so can you.

Op-Ed

stories are outlets for diverse stories about diverse people. We as a human race are diverse so why can'y our stories be too? Not all people are a white male teenage boy trying to capture the attention of the hot mysterious girl in his biology class. No all people are a straight couple who lost the luster in their marriage and are searching for it again. Not all people are them. You may be, but not everyone is. You've seen then walking down the street, post on twitter, or order a cup of coffee at Starbucks. You've seen them, they exist. Why can't stories be about them too? Everyone wants to see themselves as apart of the story - as the character. We naturally do that as we engage om a story; we relate. Is it harder to relate when the character is drastically different from you? Can't we give everyone the privilege of seeing themselves apart of the narrative? It's natural for a human to want to belong. So why can't more stories be allowing all people to see themselves as you've seen you. I saw a post on Facebook complaining about how "all the TV shows this day have gay couples and black people" and how it was annoying. Why can't they be represented in a story as well? Why can't different perspectives and experiences be shown as well? You've seen yourself in the story, now it's their turn. Doesn't it give an exciting and fresh story in front of your eyes? Something new, original, and not what we've seen over and over and over again. Essentially, what I'm saying is that representation in the media matters. I like to relate this to when I was a little girl and my favorite princess was Sleeping Beauty. Why? The only reason was because she looked like me. I asked a coworker of mine who her favorite princess was. Her response was "Tiana, of course" like it was obvious. Of course she would pick the princess that looked like her. Every single girl I've asked this question to has picked the princess that has the closest resemblance to their own appearance - even when they don't even realize it. We love the characters who look like us. We all want that. Why can't we give that to everyone? As a little girl, I had three options for my princess. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Rapunzel. My coworker didn't have any until 2009. My friend? One although distressed in how Mulan is Chinese and she isn't "but she will take what she can get". Let stories have diverse people and backgrounds. I want something new - and so do they.
This was inspired by an Op-Ed I read in the New York Times about a man wishing the Super Mario Games would stop having Peach get kidnapped and Mario save her and all the the stereotypes that this enforces. One comment on the article read, "so you want the games to suck?". My response for you, nameless commenter, is for you to name how many mario games have this plot. I'll do it for you. The original Super Mario, Super Mario World, Super Mario Land, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario 64 and more. Yes I have played every single one of these so I know what I'm talking about. Do you know which of the countless mario games was my favorite? Super Mario 64 and Paper Mario. Paper Mario in particular because it was different and you could play as Peach for moments. I loved how it was fresh and new. We've seen the story hundreds of times so I agree with the author. Let's have something new! We've already had a male jedi protagonist, so why not a female one? We've seen the high school turmoil of a teenage white girl so why not one of a teenage japanese girl? We've seen a world war two move a million times so why not about another war between other countries? Representation can give us a new fresh breathe of air when watching the media we all love.

Violence

I hate it. I hate violence and I hate war. I get so distressed when I read about it in the news and am heartbroken when seeing as the damage it does to people emotionally, physically, financially, and psychologically. I don't believe in war (besides the fact that I believe it's only used for financial and economic gain rather than 'freedom') because of the violence it promotes. We glorify violence as the means to gain what is desired. America cares more about their military budget than of caring for those in needs. They would rather kill than heal.
Except, as I look at myself, am I reading preaching what I feel like I believe? I watch a lot of violent movies and play a lot of violent video games. I give those industries the money which encourages them to continue what they are doing. I let things slide past me in the world that afterwords I actively yell at. Yelling won't get me anywhere and yelling is the violent use of words.
I want peace and to be peaceful. I'm actively working on it and I wish the world would too.

Article of the Day 2/27/17

The truth can be hard to hear or admit to. No one wants to hear the truth they disagree with. It's uncomfortable, hurts ones ego or pride, it's conflicting, and unbelievable.
The truth also has many faces. Some things have a hard truth while others don't and you have to be brave and willing enough to accurately decipher it for yourself. Sometimes to accurately find the truth you have to take a step back, shed yourself of everything that makes you YOU and what you strongly believe and observe it objectively and maybe you can allow the truth to absorb into you and incorporate it within everything also inside of you - even if that requires adjustments and reevaluation.
There is also dignity in defending what you believe is the truth. One side isn't wrong or right all the time. It's not always black or white. Sometimes it's more grey, or a combination of both. All arguments have worthy merits and truths inside of them except we get lost in the competition of proving each other right that the truth gets lost along the way.

Article of The Day 2/20/17

Thanks,GOP Guy, For Speaking for Utah Women

I loved this Op-Ed a lot. I loved the letter format and the strong sarcasm as I think it was the most effective way to show the ridiculousness of the "GOP Guy" argument and how frustrated the author was. To be honest, I agree with the author as I don't believe that you have to lower a man's wage to bring up the woman's. In addition, isn't the GOP leader admitting to the wage gap by his statement. Also, no matter how much you believe in the traditional ways of the family, you won't be helping them by enforcing this idea. Wouldn't it be detrimental to a family if there wasn't sufficient income to support said family? If he really cared about family, he would recognize that every family is different and works in different ways. Having men and women be paid the same for the same work is so simple and basic, I can't understand why everyone wants to fit it. Shouldn't everyone get the same pay for the same work?? Why is this a hard concept to grasp and implement? I don't get it. It's ridiculous and that's why I love piece so much.

Language (part two)

WARNING: I will be using explicit or inappropriate language in order to analyze them, find their unconscious meanings and express why we shouldn't use them


First of all, why are so many insults, slangs, and slurs related to body parts? Is that the adult form of our childhood potty humor? We call people dicks, cocks, douche bags, and more when referring to someone who is a jerk, rude, or mean. All those words refer to a male penis. We call people pussies and c***for someone who is weak. Those words refer to a female vagina. Why do we take these sex organs and make them an insult or some vulgar? It really could be just adult potty humor because two of the top swear words are s*** and f*** which refer to poop and sex. We never truly grew out of that phase did we? We just stepped it up a little and made it more "naughty". Another widely used word is b**** which is actually pretty sexist if you analyze it. You call a woman one but for a man you call him a son of a b**** which only goes back to insult not him but his mother. It's always insulting a woman. I think all these words are a bit ridiculous and silly when broken down. I don't want to use them because they are trival and there is always a better word to use and one that isn't considered offensive to others.

Article of the Day 2/8/17

Millennials in the Workplace

I'm not sure why, but before I watched the video I first read the comments. If you know anything about the comment section, you will know that it is very treacherous territory. You never know what you'll see that will piss you off, be incredibly stupid, or surprisingly amusing. This time, I found a comment that I agreed with strongly. The Youtube user 'Mirage' commented "Isn't it the parents, the predecessors of the millennials that made the world the way it is now, isn't it them who raised the millennials themselves?  Isn't that like Frankenstein creating his monster, and then blaming the monster for who and what he is?" and that is precisely my feelings on the worlds issues with "millennials". I love this video because he doesn't blame all of the world's problems on millennials and drone on and on about how they are the worst generation yet. He acknowledges the problems and how they aren't necessarily our fault and provides solutions. I felt very inspired by this video and I actually turned off all my notifications on my phone. Due to social anxiety and shyness, I tend to cling onto my phone for comfort. I could never get rid of it though as the people I am the closest to currently in my life don't live near me. My 3 best friends all go to different schools, even different states. My phone is a reason I am still so close to them. With that in mind, I still agree with him. The environment, technology, the way we were brought up, impatience are things that I want to work on to be a happier person and fulfill my life to what I desire.

Article of the Day 2/15/17

She was warned. She was given an explaination. Nevertheless, she persisted.

     She was warned.
The words repeated endlessly
To a point were "No" was suffocating
Restrictions aren't always justified
She was open ears until they shot her down

     She was given an explanation
But her brain pressed mute before she heard
If they really wanted to her learn,
Maybe they shouldn't shred her humanity.
They fear those who pushed the margins.

     Nevertheless, she persisted.
Excuses weren't enough to disrupt stubbornness
She held her head high and dodged the bullets
There will always be someone out there
Trying to rip you apart,
By seeing the gleam in your eyes
That's why you have to carry on stronger.

Language (part one)

In class we've talked about how important language is and it's use. There is some language we use that indirectly imply things or apply harsh judgement unconsciously. We don't always realize the effect of or language. This applies to slurs, crude or swear words. I've grown up not swearing. Although my mother would stand at the top of the stairs screaming vulgar language down at my lazy brother, I was taught that that kind of language was bad. My friends would use the words that I taught not to use and I would hold on to what I was taught. I remember my freshmen year of high school I accidentally swore when reading something allowed and everyone gasped. No one could believe that I actually said it. As time has progressed, that has changed. Although my language isn't perfect anymore, I still believe that I should use it. I've always lived with the idea that I didn't want to offend or hurt anyone. I remember making this a mantra of mine years before people were complaining about "political correctness" and "everyone being offended by everything". Language has ways of hurting someone or offending them and I never wanted to put someone in that kind of place. Even indirectly. I want to be aware of things and be the best person I can possibly be. Sometimes when I'm in the shower I think about these kind of things and I found myself going on a rant about language the other day. My next post will be about me analyzing words - not just swear words but also slangs or words used for insults.

Gender Nonconformity

I read a scholarly article published in 2016 entitled "The Relationship Between Childhood Gender Nonconformity and Experiencing Diverse Types of Homophobic Violence" I read this a part of my research paper about Homophobia and Gender Stereotypes.

To me it was really disheartening to see how many people are victims to violence because of their differences or nonconformity to a type of person they want them to be. Everyone should be allowed to be who they are and all these ways to conform and expectations are very limiting to us and everyone else to be who they really are. I remember singing a song that was originally sung by a boy and my brothers teasing me about singing a boys song when I should sing a girls song. I remember liking the blue powerpuff girl the most but being mocked because blue was a blue color so I wasn't a girl if I liked the blue powerpuff girl - even if she was a girl herself. I liked something but was told no because it didn't fit into what was defined into what is meant for a boy or a girl. These limited my ability to like what I actually liked. How many people let these expectations become who they are? Do they like what they like because they were told to or do they really like it? That's a really blurred answer because so much of everything is controlled by such pressure to conform. I hate that so many people have to experience things like that and are limited because they must conform. I hate how those who don't conform experience violence in a variety of ways. We preach about letting everyone being themselves but we don't allow anyone to actually be that way. We tell our children that they are unique and special then mock those who are different by calling them "special snowflakes.
So which is it? What do you really believe?

Article of the Day 2/6/17

If Gender Stereotypes Didn't Exist

Gender Stereotypes are restricting. I believe you can be who you actually are, deep down inside that part that is just so you, if you ignore what you're told is unacceptable to like. You are your most genuine self when you shed gender expectations, personality guildlines, and more. If you enjoy what you enjoy then you are happier. In my sociology class, one article we read really peaked my interest. I don't have the textbook anymore but what it was about was about about how there are even gender differences in what's acceptable to non-conform to. This article reminded me of the discussion because it was about how it's more okay for females to conform to male interests than it is for males to like female interests. Because of all the great advancement, there are more things that are acceptable for girls to do (Don't get me wrong. I do not believe it's fully there). I'm aware it's not the case for everyone, but in my own life and in the article it explained how girls were praised for being "like a man". Girls were encouraged and praised for adapting "male traits" while boys were shamed for "female traits". This mindset is saying that it's better to be a male than a female. It's saying that male traits and interests are better than female. Masculine is better than femininity. The sociogical article also went into depth about how this fear of male's being feminine actually comes from a place of homophobia. Fathers fear that their son who takes an interest in feminine things might be gay. The same was not thought of for girls. The fear of males being feminine is directly connected to the fear that they could be gay. There are so many problems with this. Not only is being gay a bad thing, but there is nothing wrong with liking "feminine" things. Just because a boy likes baby dolls doesn't mean he likes boys. And what's so wrong if he did? The article also discussed on how fathers saw males like feminine things and being gay as a failure of their own masculinity and parental role. Again, there are so many problems with that. Just because your son liked to wear floral scents doesn't mean that you failed as a father. Again, this is also a place of homophobia. Just because your son is gay doesn't mean that you failed as a parent.

I am planning of doing gender stereotypes for my research project as I have SO much more to say :)

Fear

Note: I vomited all of my thoughts into this. I might edit this later so you can consider this a first draft.

 Article of Inspiration #1 and Article of Inspiration #2

Fear can be positive. It tells you what to avoid, can be instructive, keeps us safe, and goes hand in hand with courage. Fear can also be negative. It can cause us to act without rationality, allow hate to infiltrate, and believe false statements.  The current political American climate is being driven by fear. Some individuals are afraid of Muslims and refugees. Conservatives are afraid of the dangers of open borders and possible terrorist attacks. Liberals are afraid of what Trump will do next. Religious people are afraid of the "demoralization" of society and Non-religious people are afraid of religion taking over. Pro-Life activists are afraid that life and the right to live will be taken away. Pro-choice activists are afraid that their choices and rights will be taken away. False news and misleading words and article titles make you fear tomorrow. We are afraid of the future and what those who believe another way will do to us. Politicians, family, friends, and strangers are speaking into your ear telling you what's wrong, why it's a problem, and why you should be afraid. Is fear necessarily a bad thing? Fear motivates us to do something, to speak out, and inspires change. Fear encourages us to help others in fear that they could be hurt or get in a worse situation. Fear also motivates us to shut others out. Fear encourages hateful acts and blaming others. We fear others. We fear that group of people because of what they've done. Conservatives fear Liberals because they keeping protesting everything violently and want to make the central government bigger. Liberals fear Conservatives because they ---- it doesn't matter. Each side has their own reasons and justifications to fear. Whether or not I agree with one or the other doesn't matter right now. Fear is what drives hate. Hate is consuming all of us. We hate you for this and this and this and this and this. There is so understanding, listening, or empathy for others. You only have this for those who agree with you. You shut out those on the other side. I know Republicans who say "Liberals are destroying our country" and Democrats who say the same for Conservatives. We are doing the same thing. I won't say that I'm not bias on this. I definitely have my side in the political controversies as I can't help but observe and take a side. With that in mind, I can't help but see all of this in front of my eyes. We see the problems and we want to give blame to someone. Trump tells his followers that the source of the problems are in immigrants. Giving blame, eases the burden off of us and puts it on something to punish. In my Anthropology class, something I take away every time is that there is no binary solution. To anything. Especially now. The immigration issue, the abortion debate, and more. There can't be one side takes all because of how polarized the issues and parties have become. There has to be a compromise. In a perfect world, that can work. It won't work. No one will give up until they win. Compromising is seen as weak, a last resort, and won't get all that is necessary. No one wants to compromise because they want to come out on the top. Everyone is afraid of what could happen if it doesn't go the way they want it to. That's why I'm so sad. I don't want to believe everything anyone tells me. I don't want to be driven by fear or hate. I want to see the best in people and give them the benefit of the doubt. Except no one will let me. I've tried to keep this middle ground to help you see what the other side is feeling. Don't read about why the women are marching and post on Facebook about how they have a "victim mind set" or "need to realize how good they have it". We should look at it and say "Why are they doing this?" "What ways can I change?" and the same goes for the other side. I guess that's why I claim to be a moderate. I guess that's why I fail. I still lean no matter how hard I try. Although I tried my hardest to prevent it to show, I guess it can't be helped. I am human. You are human. They are human. Let's not make assumptions about others. Let's not hate and fear. We all are human and want the best for the world around us. I'm not sure what I was trying to say here as I let my mind go a bit wild, unfiltered, and unorganized, but I hope you could see a least something of what I was trying to say.

Article of the Day 1/30/17

Revenge by Elise Chavez

My thoughts on this poem were that initially watching it I loved her passion as she spoke. She is a very skilled speaker in how she spoke her words with such deep meaning that you knew this was something very important to her. As a listener, it made me pay attention more as I respected how dedicated she was. Now speaking to the content, I also loved it. I love the message that is no matter what you try to fight against, say, or do, this generation will continue to do what we do and be who we are and nothing you do will stop us. I feel it's very empowering especially since I can see where she is coming from. There are complaints and complaints and complaints over how "the millennials" are the ones destroying the world. In reality, they are just bringing to surface something that's always been there. People have always been attracted to people of other races and to people of their same gender. People have always been questioning their gender and there always has been the deviant younger generation. There is nothing new. There is just new talk. There is nothing wrong with talking about something now but the question that comes to my mind is why is this still a conversation. I love how the poet says that "get used to it". There is importance in fighting for what you believe and feel is good and necessary but there are fights that are worth it and not. Sometimes, a fight that isn't worth fighting is one that doesn't effect you. People will continue to be them and people will continue to fight them on their individuality. No matter what time period.

Death Sentences

“This is Retarded!”

Over the past few months of living with new roommates, I have heard the word “retarded” more times than I think I’ve heard previously. I had always been raised to not say things that hurt others. No one in my family ever said it. Not my brothers, parents, cousins, or grandparents. I heard others say it but no one close to me. My friends throughout school had never used this word either so I had never used it. In my high school, i distinctly remember teachers beginning to put up signs saying “Retarded is not a synonym for stupid or slow” in their classrooms and that’s been I first began to notice how prevalent the word was. Retard is a shortened version of retardation which means someone is handicapped, whether mentally and/or physically. When saying such phrases as “This is retarded” you mean “This is stupid” which are not synonymous. Using retard as another word for stupid or slow is demeaning and insulting to anyone who is actually handicapped. Why is it demeaning and insulting? The word is being used to describe a situation in which is unpleasing or annoying. Imagine someone using your name in place of a descriptive word for that type of situation. Pretty hurtful, right? Essentially, that is what is happening when retarded is being said in that context. It’s not funny and is only hurtful to others who have to experience those realities for themselves. There are much better and more accurate words to use when describing how you feel about an unpleasant situation or person. In addition, it has also been argued that saying retarded is one form of ableism. The definition of ableism is “discrimination in favor of able-bodied people”. With this in mind, saying that something is “retarded” instead of “stupid” is implying that disabled people are stupid and abled bodied are not. However, this is untrue. I have experienced the smartest people who are handicapped and some of the least intelligent people in abled individuals. Using “retarded” in such contexts reinforce a discriminating and untrue stereotype which is not okay. You can hurt someone just as much with words as you can with your fists. If you wouldn’t be physically aggressive with someone who is disabled, then you shouldn’t be that way with your words either. Even though I had never used this word previously, I vow to not use “retarded” and hope you will do the same.

Article of the Day 1/25/17

The 3 A's of Awesome

I really loved this ted talk. It inspired me to think of the little things and appreciate them just as much as the little ones. There are so many things to be grateful and so many things that I take for granted, such as the things shown on his blog. The 3 A’s also inspired me as they were things I knew, but saw clearer or were reminded of. Attitude is one I have always felt strongly as. There are two roads, as he said, and which one you choose is your destiny. I always try to choose the happier one as I want to be happier. My roommate is someone who wants to be miserable and sees everything little thing as bad news. I don’t want to be that person. I always want to see the good, the positive, and the best. Even when that leads to disappointment when in reality, what I believe wasn’t the case - like the person actually having bad intentions or it really does it worse when you try to solve it - but keeping the good attitude allows you to breathe easy and appreciate more than you could have if you choose the opposite path. The second “A” was awareness. I have tried to apply this to my life in appreciating the clouds in the sky, the colors on the wall, the smell of the morning, and the happiness of relief. The last “A” was Authenticity and it’s something I have struggled with. Why? It’s hard to be authentic and real with yourself when everyone ridicules you for your opinions, interests, and beliefs. When it’s “strange” to listen to what you listen to, “weird” to wear your hair like that, and more. It’s difficult to be authentic to yourself when everyone won’t let you. I learned a hard lesson on authenticity when I went to a concert in LA almost a year ago. I won’t go into details, but the experience was really hard and caused me to be depressed over every interest I’ve ever had. One friend stopped being authentic to herself and desperately is trying to be “normal”. I have done the opposite. I have endured the teasing and ridiculous comments and kept being myself. People will misunderstand you. People will create stereotypes over what you like, what you do, how you look, and more. As long as you know yourself and stay true to that, there is nothing you have to worry about. That’s something I tell myself in order to allow myself to stay who I am and not what everyone wants me to be.

Article of the Day 1/23/17

"...if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought." - George Orwell

My take on this quote is how we take in language and our thoughts. Our thoughts are composed of our experiences, words spoken, and words spoken to us. If our thoughts corrupt the language we use - meaning that the way we think can change the words we say - then the language we use when speaking to others can corrupt their thoughts and ours. What we say can make them believe one thing, even if that isn't the truth or what you meant. It change make one think one thing is happening when another is. It can confuse, mislead, and more. Corruption in language is a dangerous tool because it's not as noticable as other corruptions. Language is something we have to be careful of as it can be used in the most dangerous actions. 

I am

1- I am passionate about what I love and can go on endlessly about them
2 - I am afraid of letting myself get hurt because I care too much
3 - I am working on bettering myself and not letting others get me down
4 - I am living authentically and staying true to myself
5 - I am optimistic even when it's considered naive
6 - I am wishing to be stronger and withstand more
7 - I am refusing to stay silent and speak my mind unapologetically
8 - I am rebuilding myself and reflecting who they tell me to be
9 - I am a never ending pile of thoughts
10 - I am human

Article of the Day 1/18/17

Betsy DeVos

I have to admit, the only thing that really interested me in the reading was that she said guns in schools could protect against grizzlies in Wyoming. I finally understood what my aunt was talking about in a Facebook post recently. My mom, aunt, and her family were born and raised in Wyoming and they all couldn’t help but make fun of the Secretary of Education for the assumption that in Wyoming, there is a rampant amount of grizzlies threatening the school. I do agree with her that most school policies should be controlled by local governments - as I believe the local governments have a better and closer view of what’s best. With that in mind, I also believe that some items should be controlled by the federal government to hold universal across all school administrations, such as guns. Although I wouldn’t say I agree with all of her points, I hope she will do things that in the long run will benefit all in education and will be successful.

Article of the Day 1/16/17

Ted Talk: Listening to Shame

• I have always thought as vulnerability as weakness and like the speaker I’ve gone out of my way to avoid feeling vulnerable. I hate the feeling, I feel weak, uncomfortable, inadequate, and useless when I feel vulnerable.
• When she proclaimed that being vulnerable gave courage and was the foundation of creativity, innovation, and change, I was skeptical.
• Shame is a terribly paralyizing and blinding thing. It is connected to your self worth and can talk you out or down.
• Shame for women is “do it all, do it perfectly, and don’t let them see you sweat.” conflicting and unattainable things about who we are suppose to be.
• For men, it’s to not be perceived or seen as weak.
• Empathy is the connection and the way to defeat shame
• To listen to the other, to talk, and to say “me too” to build that onnection and defeat the monster that is shame.