The Last Issue Post

For my last post I would like to quote Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, "It was a divine spring, and the season contributed greatly to my convalescence." (Shelley, 76). I think about this quote all the time, it's talking about how Frankenstein's Monster feels better when the weather turns around and blossoms are blooming. I like to think of this when I'm feeling particularly negative, every storm has an end, and every winter has a spring.

Article of the Day 3/31

In the video, "Girl" vs. "Woman": Why Language Matters, Mayin Bialik states, "We start to believe the way things are is the way they have to be." this quote is very true, as humans we see things a certain way and don't realize that it doesn't always have to be like that. We live in a society were we can stand up for what we believe in and hope our voices are heard. It hasn't always been like this nor is it like this everywhere; it's such a gift to be able to speak our minds and know our voices will be heard somewhere and help someone maybe even for the better.

Types of Power

Stereotypes exist for a reason, whether we want to believe it or not. However, stereotypes aren't the only things that we are. Stereotypes are only one small part of who we are; it's the Rhode Island of ourselves. Meaning, it's a part of the USA but it's a small part and not the only part by a long shot. However, these things exist in politics and in our lives because we allow it; because people create that single story, it's up to us to diminish that dullness and create a light that's new. But first, we must be willing to see other people as more than their stereotypes as well.

Article of the Day 3/28

I first watched this three years ago in my Sophomore year of high school. When writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was younger she wrote about white people with blue eyes, she couldn't imagine a book with people who were not white. Similarly, a lot of people exclaim how important it is to have representation. White skinned, blue eyed people aren't the only people on Earth. Africans are more than hungry, sick, monsters. There is a reason people leave their country for America. Not all Muslims are terrorists. Lingering on these statements hurst not only them, but us too. There is no single story, about one group. Not one group has a single story; people are complex people have multiple different stories.

The way you create a single story by explaining someone in the same way, over and over, and all of a sudden that is who they are; even if that is not who they are. The danger of a single story is this: it robs people of their humanity. Stories can break, but stories can also repair.

Thought and Religion

Another question of mine is on the way religion takes control of our thoughts. Is it true there is more hope at the end of the rainbow when we believe someone is continually watching over us? Having just left a religion, I can be the first to express how much life is different when you ‘know’ life is going to turn out a specific way compared to not really knowing if you are alone or not. Religion and the idea of God give people hope to get out of bed everyday. They believe that whatever happens to them in today's circumstances, they’ll come out just fine, because their God is always taking care of them. With or without religion, everyone is trying to do better with their day, and I think that’s beautiful. What are your thoughts on the subject?

Why Does it Matter?

The question is, why does mental health matter? I've known people in my life who were so laden with grief they couldn't be present in the, well... present. Mental health is just as important as physical health. If you aren't taking care of your mind, it's going to get harder and harder to take care of your body. Your mind is the power house of your self, if that stops functioning, so do you. Keeping in touch with your spiritual side (ie through Yoga) benefits you in a lot more ways than you think.

Article of the Day 3/3

Having some experience with people who fail to see the truth when it is right in front of their nose, it makes sense how this has become some what of the norm. If you see something one way through one lense for a long time, it's going to be hard to unsee it that way. If people refuse to see something a certain way, there's not a whole lot you can do. The best thing you can do is find someone who is willing to have a conversation and not just an argument.

Op Ed

Newsflash, negativity is successful at pulling at your sanity.

Dear Negative Person,


I couldn’t possibly think of a more displeasing way to go about my day than to hear, “It’s snowing AGAIN today!?” or “I mean, there just isn’t ANYTHING good about life…” or “Man, I really distaste my major…” Because let’s be real, it is snowing again! And it was your choice to move somewhere it snowed everyday, and it probably would’ve saved you money to stay in your warm state. If you choose to never see the light, you ain’t ever gonna see it. If you don’t have motivation, figure out why and find some. It’s okay to go through hard times, but if all you ever do is sit around and complain; who the HECK is that benefiting? It sure isn’t benefiting either of us, so go figure it out.

Surprisingly, (to go away from my first angry rant) when feeling negative the worst thing you can do is repress the negativity. Newsflash, if you constantly have to remind yourself to let something go, you aren’t actually letting it go. It may sound backwards but the truth is, when you talk about it, you unleash the demons of your mind; the demon has less of a chance of successfully bringing you down with it when you have your friends around. It’s almost as if the people around you are your guardian angels and can help get the demon off of you. This isn’t to say sometimes there are bigger issues; you may quite possibly find that demon of yours is stronger than you thought. Have no fear!! There is still hope for you in trained magicians! I mean psychologists. They have a special way of getting the demons away.

The truth is, the more you focus on the negative the more your brain becomes accustomed to the negative. If all you ever do is look at the glass and realize that it is already half empty, roll your eyes and walk away because, “there is nothing left for me here!” you are going about it wrong. I’ll be honest, sometimes the glass is half empty, so go fill it up.

Article of the Day 2/27

Truth is...

In one of my honors courses we're currently talking all about race and the effect it has; especially when we treat each other different. The truth affects people of color, they are important human beings and that is the truth it's also true that they get targeted for some pretty nasty stuff.

The documentary, 13th, talks about the unjust prison population and the unfair and unusual number of black males. I see this as a problem we can talk about so we can make it better. However, a lot of people don't see it that way, they choose instead to view the documentary as biased even though all documentaries are like that. Some are so lost in their own privilege they haven't been able to look at the other side.

Privilege isn't a bad thing, we can use it to make a healthy change. If we all stood up for what we believed in, the world would continue to change for the beauty we searched for 200 hundred years ago. People hide the truth when they are afraid of change. I think a lot of people are afraid right now, if you flip the lense though, I know people would find the truth to be a little easier then originally thought. When people are afraid of change it stumps growth which has never been ideal.

Change is always relevant, change will always be hard. It's extremely ironic how so often people are scared of things changing against them. For example: being treated the way others have been treated. They fail to see if everyone treated everyone kindly, they wouldn't have to worry so much.

Sleep and Negativity

Negativity and sleep are connected in more ways then one. I've had a friend that I've known since we were very young; this friend has depression. She has the ability to sleep until three in the afternoon while I never had the ability to sleep past nine in the morning. 

On the same note, I know someone who is negative in everyday life about a lot of different things. It's pretty much expected to hear her say, "I fell asleep at five in the morning." 

Research from Jacob A. Nota and Meredith E. Coles from Duration and Timing of Sleep are Associated with Repetitive Negative Thinking state, “Across these disorders [multiple stated, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), major depressive disorder (MDD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), and social anxiety disorder], there are topographical differences in repetitive negative thinking content (e.g., worry about the future in GAD, rumination about the past in MDD, compulsive repetitive thoughts in OCD),” There are multiple ways people lose sleep. An internet meme finds it funny to make a point in saying that we all stay up thinking about certain things; I suppose art truly does imitate reality.

Article of the Day 2/20

I like when Marina Gomberg said, "if we forced innocent businesses to pay people for their work instead of for their gender. Can you imagine!?" I like the sinister sarcasm of the sentence. Also, when you think about it in this way, the crazier it seems; why on Earth are women being payed less when they are completely if not more capable for the job.

A lot of people accidentally look through one lens their whole lives; unfortunately those people miss out on understanding a lot. Privilege isn't a bad thing, it's how we use that privilege that deems it 'good' or 'bad'. Privilege relates to this because James C. Green is only looking through his lens and potentially really hurting a lot of people while doing it. If he chose to look past his privilege as a man, he would find and understand things a lot differently.

This weeks topic!

An excerpt from my synthesis paper:

Oprah Winfrey expresses how she used to keep a gratitude journal and her life was flourishing. Of course, she started getting busy and had less time to think about her gratitude journal. Eventually she had achieved everything she had ever wanted and was no longer happy. For this reason she made a habit of writing down a couple things she was happy about, a few of the good things that went on during the day. Oprah soon found herself becoming happier and eager to wake up the next morning and start a new day with her new found energy. The point to this story is that there is power in positive thinking. When you recognize the potential of everyday, life doesn’t seem like this huge mountain that you’re never going to be able to climb. Ignoring the mountain won’t help you, but only focusing on the top won't help either. I believe the key is to think of the goal, but admire the snow falling around you in slow motion, or the cactus blooming.

Article of the Day 2/15/17

I wrote in German because it felt like the best course of action:

Der nie bestehende anhaltende Anruf zum Schweigen gebracht. Der Weg von all dem ist Ärger, und es ist an der Zeit, dass wir einen tiefen Atemzug mit unserem Bauch nehmen und Geduld haben.

Wann wird Güte unsere Priorität sein? Wann wird die Welt etwas für uns alle sein, darauf stolz zu sein. Wann werden wir über all die guten Dinge, die wir geschaffen haben, zusammenstehen und singen können?

The Art of Negativity

You can go on living, nothing other people do truly effects you, right? That's how I thought too until i allowed someone in that I shouldn't have, the second time in my life. Not everyone has a drive, not everyone can find motivation all of the time, but when it's the only thing someone talks about; it weighs you down.

One of the most important things to me on this planet is people. The way their stories create something beautiful and magical if only you spend time willing to see it. As humans, we want to help people, we want to see others make it through the hard times. But when does negativity become too much and is there science behind negativity weighing us down?

Article of the Day 2/8

I'm kind of tempted to leave a simple, 'same' and moving on.

Whenever someone uses the word 'millennial' I get ready to roll my eyes because people like to pretend they know they have my generation figured out. When in reality, more often than not, it's all assumptions made from the outgoing extravert they saw on the television once. 

However, this man seemed to understand some of the things that our generation go through. I got a facebook account when I was in the fifth grade and I posted on it all the time, wanting to share the fun times I had with my cousins and sister. I got an instagram when I was in the seventh grade, sharing with my friends how 'funny' I could be. The point is, we  I got it into my head that life was only worth living if everyone knew how much fun you were having. Yet this world is worth more than that. 

Anyways, Simon Sinek hit the nail on the head when he said we're all just looking for a spot of empathy.

Article of the Day 2/6

Multiple side comments that have much to do with the article in their own way:

If we don't talk about it, does it mean it won't matter anymore or that it'll just get worse? I guess the problem is that one side will talk, so the other has to as well.

The other day my brother stated that feminism was only for women. That bothered me, it bothered me because feminism to me is opening doors for everyone and helping the underdog. To him though, it meant shutting men up so that women could talk; not so two people could have a conversation. I guess it depends on who you ask, it's only a word so it could mean different things to different people.

Sometimes people advice others to be who they are and not care what other people think. Those people must not understand the hardship of not 'fitting in'. You scarcely have friends due to the crowd being afraid of you or being afraid of what will happen if they are seen with you.

The words written by Ms. Zoe Beaty, "break down masculinity and femininity for what they are -- meaningless, disempowering social constructs, which are holding us all back," are rather empowering. How odd it is that things are connected to a specific gender.

"Give me five minutes."

Have no fear, this isn't some sort of, run into the burning building in the promise that they'll be right back; not literally anyways. I'm not talking about the way people tell you they'll be ready in five minutes but in reality they forgot to add the zero to the 50.

It's a coping mechanism that I'm talking about. I am a really good complainer, I can do it all day if I wanted to. I could complain about the water in my glass and the fact the the sky isn't cerulean blue but just blue.

This analogy isn't literal but figurative. As humans we have to complain from time to time. I think allowing yourself at least five or so minutes to complain freely about your day could do wonders, just go off! And when you're done, hopefully you'll feel a little lighter.

Article of the Day 1/30

As soon as we allow our conversations to turn from understanding and listening and let them turn into an argument, is the second we get a mess. People keep talking about racial issues, because it. is. still. an. issue. There are currently 2.4 million people in the prison system at the moment, which is another issue altogether. However, according to the Center of American Progress, "1 in every 15 African American men and 1 in every 36 Hispanic men are incarcerated in comparison to 1 in every 106 white men. According to the bureau of Justice Statistics, one in three black men can expect to go to prison in their lifetime." Wether conscious or not, race is an issue. You can't argue that more white men are peaceful while more black men are not; if you watch more than one news source you'd know the truth.

This poem screams for respect, the people she talks about just want to belong. People who are attracted to the same sex, deserve our respect. People of color, deserve our respect. Transgenders, deserve our respect. Refugees, deserve our respect. Foreigners, people who can't speak english, people. Deserve our respect.

And if they don't give it, we'll demand it. Because they are people too.

Article of the Day 1/18

Most of the things that were stated in this article went right over my head; due to simply not understanding exactly what any of this means.

All of Ms. DeVos answers to questions seemed as if she was just agreeing so she could have the job. It almost seemed like she didn't actually understand what was happening. However, that could be from lack of understanding on my part, which is completely possible. 

In the section, Privatizing Public Schools, Ms. Devos seems to walk around the question she was asked and ends up not even giving her word.

In the Grizzly Bears section, Ms. Devos brought up a good point in saying that a gun should be allowed or disallowed depending on which state you live in. I feel that if there must be a gun in the school there should be one in a safe in a room just in case a "potential grizzly" comes to play. With that being said, passing a law for guns to be banned from the school area is a good idea and could potentially save a lot of lives.

Trump University And Gainful Employment: I like the way she stands up for herself here. The money issue is something that should be reviewed and I like the way she see's it; I agree with her.

IDEA: This makes me really sad. I have a learning disability and I know how hard it was to get through school. Kids with learning disabilities don't have 'benefits' so we can do better than our classmates. It's so that we can succeed and be on par with our peers. My younger sister wouldn't have learned to read if she didn't have the 'benefits' the kids with learning disabilities get.

I don't want to say I don't like Betsy Devos but she really doesn't sound like she knows what she's talking about. She definitely said a few things that I can't get passed.

The Question of Religion

Everyone fights for what they know is right; we all have that something that drives us into speaking up. My biggest question has always been, "why do people believe in these things?" alternatively, "what makes someone believe this?"

Also, "Though I still don't have the answer to these questions just yet, I think I have an idea." When people have something to hope for it's a lot easier to come out on top. If someone is evil, it doesn't matter because God will justify it. If you lose your job, it's okay because God has a bigger opportunity for you. It's actually really beautiful the way people can have hope and be grateful based on these circumstances.

Article of the Day 1/25

I have a memory from the fifth grade, swinging and imagining all of the years of schooling I had to go through before I could decide for myself whether or not I would go to school that day. I laughed with my friend and amazed her when I spelt Mississippi backwards. Eight years swung by, pun possibly intended. I accidentally drift towards nostalgia when it comes to my past; and often forget that the things I'm remembering are probably the things that made the biggest impact on my life. That day on the swing seems small in the grande scheme of things but in reality, it was. I was just enjoying my day and thinking of the exciting things to come.

I'm currently watching Disney's Cars and I have two analogies from it. The first, Lightening McQueen has to fix the road that he damaged. He is so eager to be anywhere but where he is, he has to take apart the junkie road he just finished and then redo it altogether. At the end of the movie, he learns to love Radiator Springs. The point is, stick around where you are at and try to love the moments you're currently creating. Just as Neil Pasricha taught, everyday isn't a smile on graduation day, but there is something in everyday, you must learn what that means. Second analogy, Lightening also hates the atmosphere he is in, but when he travels a different way, he sees the beauty of the place he was at. What I got from this was, there is something beautiful in every place you are in. When you seek it out, you will most likely find it. If you don't, there are hundred of other places you could go.

The 3 A's of Awesome include, attitude, awareness, and authenticity.

Life can be hard, it isn't about going through the motions and feeling negative on the way. Life is about finding what's important to you and taking vacations every so often.

A Better Understanding

Take a minute to imagine yourself in your favorite place, maybe there are trees, maybe a river, or a lake. Think of this region in detail; envision the people that might be there, the laughter you may here. Visualize the colors, the bright greens, and the vibrant yellows. Now take the people out of your vision, forget the laughter and replace the magnificent colors with grey. Take the trees away, the shining blue sky is now foggy and polluted. This is similar to the way depressed individuals see the world when in a particularly hard time; roughly three hundred and fifty people have depression. Depression is a mental illness that people can be born with or acquire anytime throughout their life. This sickness is due to chemical imbalances in the brain.

This is an example of a way people think from time to time, I understand it because I listened when people told me about it. I want to understand people, I want to know why they do the things they do; though depression isn't a question as to "why", acquiring knowledge about this subject has (not to toot my own horn) helped me become a better, well-rounded individual.

Death Sentence's

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

When you speak with someone who is constantly negative, you start to think negatively too. When they complain you feel the need to complain too. On the other-hand, when you're constantly around someone who views the world with optimism, you too start to view the world positively too. With that being said sometimes we as human-beings get in funks or something awful/tragic happens to us and we have the habit of thinking in less than sad ways. The goal is to eventually move past that and recognize the world isn't out to get us but that sometimes hard times happen to us.

The best way to stay true to your morals is to keep your thoughts clear. If you want to act a certain way you have to watch and read certain texts and stay away from others. When we think of certain things it's really hard to turn that part of your brain off especially when you think of it for a long time or think about it all the time.

With this being said when we think of certain words to mean something they're not, this can cause problems. My group talked about how a lot of people say things or people are gay to mean bad. Indirectly these people are calling a group of human beings bad or awful. Not only this but it hardly ever makes sense, since the context is usually never right.

Article of the Day 1/16

We have to talk about shame to understand more about ourselves and the people around us. Brene Brown talks about shame and vulnerability in an interesting way. These were my favorite quotations from her, as well as some thoughts I had when I heard her say them.

"My life did end when that happened. And maybe the hardest part about my life ending was that I learned something hard about myself. and that was that as much as I would be frustrated about not being able to get my work out to the world there was a part of me that was working very hard to engineer staying small." Our lives fluctuate between good and bad daily, we seem to feel that our life ends when we do something we deem as stupid or silly. We are also so afraid of failing that we begin to stop trying completely.

"Vulnerability is NOT weakness. That myth can profoundly danger us." Vulnerability is the very thing that will help get us through hard times. Change is tough, but when we fight through it, we start to see ourselves come out on top. Maybe as braver, maybe as kinder, or maybe as courageous.

"Vulnerability: emotional risk, exposure, uncertainty" The three things that make us the most worried.

"Vulnerability is our most accurate form of courage. To let ourselves be seen and be honest." In high school I was a very closed off, shy person. I didn't ever go out and change my life or take risks to make my life better. Now instead of wondering 'what if' I like to go out and take opportunities. It's so hard to change and it's so hard to confront uncomfortable situations. With that being said, life seems so much more fulfilled now, and I'm doing it for myself.

"To create is to make something that hasn't been created before. To change is to truly be vulnerable. We have to talk about shame!" A lot of people wonder the best way they can succeed, they ask the question and they stumble and they almost make it. But what would have made them truly succeed would to go for something at full force and try your best. Not everyone is going to like what you put out into the world, but my god, the feeling you will get when you win for you and not for anyone else, is a feeling I'd love to feel one hundred percent. However, when we create connections to one another, people can encourage you and there is something special about the way other humans can aid you with your story; and how special it is when you get to aid them in theirs.

"Dealing with shame is walking to a swamp. The purpose isn't to walk in and construct a home and live there. It's to put on some boots and walk through and find our way around." When we confront hard feelings, or the way we think about ourself there is nothing that says we have to live in our feelings forever. When we get feelings of shame and we think we hate ourselves, it's important to remember to take a deep breath and remember these things are only temporary.

"The credit goes to the man in the arena. At best he wins and at worst he loses, but when he fails, when he loses he does so daring greatly." -Theodore Roosevelt This quote is really motivational to me. So often we, as human beings, focus on the people mocking us and telling us we can't do it. In the process we forget that we are creating really beautiful, magnificent things.

"Shame is the one that tells you you can't do it. You can't do it because of all of these places that you went wrong; because of all the reasons you failed." Naturally, if we failed once it means that we will fail again, so it means we should give up while we're ahead. Except for the fact that this is completely backwards thinking. When we fall it is up to us to pick ourselves up and to remind ourselves to continue anyways. If you have an idea, go and make it happen; will everyone believe in you? No, never, but will people eventually benefit from your idea? Possibly! So go out and make things happen for yourself.

"Shame has two big tanks. 
1. You'll never be good enough 
and if you can talk your way out of that one,
2. Who do you think you are" If only there was some sort of happy middle. In my health class last semester we talked about how we feel at peace for about two seconds before we remember something else to worry about. That is similar to this here; the happy middle is where we tell ourselves we are important because we too are human beings.

"Shame says 'I am bad'
Guilt is 'I did something bad'"

"Shame holds us back from being who we truly want to be."

"Shame for women: Do it all, do it perfectly and never let anyone see you sweat.
Unattainable, conflicting emotions about who we are supposed to be.
Shame for men: Shame is one. Do not be perceived as weak.
The women in my life are harder in my life than any man."

"If we want to find our way back to each other we have to show empathy for it is the anecdote to shame."

"The most powerful thing to hear when in turmoil is, 'me too.'"

"Vulnerability is the way back to finding each other. We want to be with you and be across from you and see you dare greatly."

Shame is a demon that we all have to deal with; vulnerability is what will eventually make us strong.

I Am...

I also inserted part of this as my bio.

I grew up in Provo Utah where the bubble is most prominent. Because of the way I was raised and because of where I was raised my biggest fear is people. People because of what they are capable of. On the other hand, my major is, Web Design because I love people and I want to learn more about every person I can.

I'm working on myself. I'm working on growing and figuring out what i want out of life; what I want out of myself. However, I'm really good at caring about people. I just want to make sure everyone is okay.