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.