My sister-in law sent me this link today, it is breathtaking :)
http://blog.onbeing.org/post/14186907488/tuesday-evening-melody-i-have-never-loved
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Thursday, December 8, 2011
"Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young"
Inside every adult lurks a graduation speaker dying to get out, some world-weary pundit eager to pontificate on life to young people who'd rather be Rollerblading. Most of us, alas, will never be invited to sow our words of wisdom among an audience of caps and gowns, but there's no reason we can't entertain ourselves by composing a Guide to Life for Graduates.
I encourage anyone over 26 to try this and thank you for indulging my attempt.Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97:
Wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.
Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing every day that scares you.
Sing.
Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss.
Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.
Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch.
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.
Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.
Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.
Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.
Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.
Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing every day that scares you.
Sing.
Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss.
Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.
Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch.
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.
Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.
Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.
Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.
Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.
Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.
Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.
Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
HIV/AIDS
I have been volunteering at the AIDS Foundation in Houston, TX for a couple of months and although, I wish I could be doing more I am very thankful I have been given the opportunity to learn more about the disease, and what we can do as a socierty in order to end the stigma that is commonly associated with HIV/AIDS. As I have mentioned before I read PCJs everyday; today I was inspired by a project a volunteer working in Swaziland is involved with. She has organized a poetry/art contest in order to raise awareness, so I decided to include some of the poems the students in Swaziland created. The poems are inspirational yet heartbreaking.
Just Because I’m HIV Positive…By: S. Matsenjwa
High School
Just because I am HIV positive
It does not mean I am dying tomorrow
It does not mean I am no longer human
I may even live longer and longer.
Just because I am HIV positive
It does not mean you must set aside
Spoons, toilets, dishes for me to use.
You can’t get HIV from those things.
Just because I am HIV positive
It does not mean I have no right
To work as a professional for government
I also like managing even though I am positive.
The right thing for you to do is get tested for the virus.
Stop stigmatizing me,
you might also have it right there in your blood
of which you do not know about.
What I may tell you is that I did not get it in a bad way.
It was just an accident.
I was only trying to help a person, just helping
I never knew she was HIV positive.
The Deadly HIV/AIDS
By: N. Sibmbo
Grade 6
Be careful! Beware! Be clever and alert
All you generations of tomorrow
AIDS kills and leaves no stone unturned
Therefore watch your steps
And straighten your paths
This is not a joke but millions of souls
Are under the grave you know!
Protect yourselves with everyway you can.
O’ even abstain from this monster disease
If it requires.
To you who are in relationships of any kind
Your spear should be faithfulness and also
Having protection when having intercourse.
To the youth and those innocent from love affairs,
I repeat to say abstinence
Is the only key to your survival.
All because AIDS kills without a limit.
AIDS Why?
By: N. Bhiya
Grade 5
AIDS! AIDS! Who are you?
You are an incurable disease
You kill our brothers and sisters.
You kill both old and young ones
Why HIV & AIDS?
You killed our mothers and fathers
They left us as orphans
We were having better dreams
About our futures but now
They’ve vanished in the air.
But why HIV & AIDS?
AIDS! You do not care about
The economy melt down.
Instead you are making it worse than before
As the number of orphans increases every year
Therefore increase government spending on orphans.
I do not understand! Why AIDS?!
Our future is doomed
When there is no food we are tempted
To be in love with sugar daddies because
They have ample money.
However, they are the ones who spread you HIV & AIDS
I am asking why HIV?
Young vibrant stars
Stand up and fight HIV & AIDS
So that we can make it possible
And achieve our goals in life.
Maybe we can get the reason why.
Just Because I’m HIV Positive…By: S. Matsenjwa
High School
Just because I am HIV positive
It does not mean I am dying tomorrow
It does not mean I am no longer human
I may even live longer and longer.
Just because I am HIV positive
It does not mean you must set aside
Spoons, toilets, dishes for me to use.
You can’t get HIV from those things.
Just because I am HIV positive
It does not mean I have no right
To work as a professional for government
I also like managing even though I am positive.
The right thing for you to do is get tested for the virus.
Stop stigmatizing me,
you might also have it right there in your blood
of which you do not know about.
What I may tell you is that I did not get it in a bad way.
It was just an accident.
I was only trying to help a person, just helping
I never knew she was HIV positive.
The Deadly HIV/AIDS
By: N. Sibmbo
Grade 6
Be careful! Beware! Be clever and alert
All you generations of tomorrow
AIDS kills and leaves no stone unturned
Therefore watch your steps
And straighten your paths
This is not a joke but millions of souls
Are under the grave you know!
Protect yourselves with everyway you can.
O’ even abstain from this monster disease
If it requires.
To you who are in relationships of any kind
Your spear should be faithfulness and also
Having protection when having intercourse.
To the youth and those innocent from love affairs,
I repeat to say abstinence
Is the only key to your survival.
All because AIDS kills without a limit.
AIDS Why?
By: N. Bhiya
Grade 5
AIDS! AIDS! Who are you?
You are an incurable disease
You kill our brothers and sisters.
You kill both old and young ones
Why HIV & AIDS?
You killed our mothers and fathers
They left us as orphans
We were having better dreams
About our futures but now
They’ve vanished in the air.
But why HIV & AIDS?
AIDS! You do not care about
The economy melt down.
Instead you are making it worse than before
As the number of orphans increases every year
Therefore increase government spending on orphans.
I do not understand! Why AIDS?!
Our future is doomed
When there is no food we are tempted
To be in love with sugar daddies because
They have ample money.
However, they are the ones who spread you HIV & AIDS
I am asking why HIV?
Young vibrant stars
Stand up and fight HIV & AIDS
So that we can make it possible
And achieve our goals in life.
Maybe we can get the reason why.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
3 months until Senegal
I'm starting to get anxious about leaving. I know it's too early to pack, but I can't help but think how fast time seems to be going by. It all seems surreal at the time, I feel like I'm floating, like I'm not really grounded anywhere. I am so excited about this journey and I am confident this experience will help me grow as an individual. I'm sorry my entries are so short, this whole blog thing is new to me! Until next time!! Peace :)
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