Blog # 4

We enshrine the self as the unit of ethical account, separate and distinct not just from the natural world but even from a sense of obligation to others--not just others in future generations, but increasingly even to others in the same generation."

Five things that I did today that made me feel obligated to another human, I’ll start with the abstract. First, I ought to be thankful to the people who have created the clothing that I’m wearing today, tomorrow and so forth. If I didn’t appreciate their skill and talent and I didn’t feel somewhat committed to acknowledging this fact
that they actually put effort into making my clothes. The material is good quality and comfortable, with a nice fit.

Second, when I got off the ferry this morning I went to McDonalds and there’s a man who’s always there to open and close the door for people and although I didn’t feel the action was necessary, I politely replied “Thank you!” … Well I didn’t want him to think that I’m rude. Was he really holding the door to be a gentleman? No, he wanted me to put some coins in the cup in his hand. We are all out for self (I’ll explain that later).

Third, yesterday I missed a business call and the message said to call them back when I received it. Since this is what they were expecting and I didn’t want them to perceive me as someone who lacks good follow-up skills, I felt obligated to return the call.

Forth, due to unavoidable circumstances, I was told that my son couldn’t return to school until he had a certain medical form filled by his doctor. The director of the school then told me that if I were to get a note stating that his appointment is coming up he could return. I felt obligated as a responsible mother to take care of that with a sense of urgency.

Lastly, While I was waiting in line to use the computer today. I would have much rathered walking up to any computer and doing what I need to do. Well I couldn’t do that because I must follow the rules.


So the question is: Why are we so “I” fascinated? I believe it is just the way we’re programmed to think. It is the animal inside of us the makes us think “Me”, “I”, “what I want”, “what I think” etc. It’s like we say “Me first and you later” in order for us to step out of this paradigm and way of thinking it takes time, self-training and alteration. But first before all this it takes place, one must realize this way of thinking and probe beneath the surface. The majority of us think of ourselves before we do others; it’s either done directly or indirectly, but it is always linked to ourselves one way or another, deep in the root of our true intensions.


I’m not trying to change your opinion on this. I am only aiming to open your mind to a new thought. Here is how it was presented to me. A few semesters ago I took Intro. to Philosophy and the professor said to us “Each and every one of you are selfish”. We all were confused thinking “what?!”. Then she explained that even when we claim to want to do something nice for someone, it also plays a part in what can we can out of it. We are always looking at every situation from all angles seeking hot to benefit. Let me give you a few examples of what I mean when I say this. Let’s say you see an elderly lady trying to cross the street by herself and you being the nice person that you are, rush over to help her. When you’re done you walk away feeling like “Well I did my good deed for the day!” Good right? Let’s probe a bit. Look at the word “I”. It’s like you only helped the woman to do a good deed.


You’re out shopping for yourself and you see a shirt that you know your new friend would like. You buy it. You may think to yourself “ Ill get this shirt so she will see that I am a sweet, generous, thoughtful friend.” you wanting to make a point to her. Or maybe you’ll say “Ill get the shirt because I think she looks nice in this color”. Again there’s that “I” word. No matter how you twist it and turn it, some way shape, or form it pops up.

I’m sure you get the point. Or at least I hope I did give you some interesting food for thought. When the professor taught us this I was like “WOW”!!! I found myself more aware of my true intentions and always probing to find ways not to crash into “I”. I did this for a long time until I came to the conclusion for self that it’s almost impossible and if I did find a way, I wasn’t being true to myself. With that being said, I’ll sign off with my signature “The Truth Hurts. Can you handle it?"

blog 3

What's my passion? My passion has changed once or twice in my lifetime. At this point in my life, I would say that I have two. One is writing poetry, which I am highly skilled at(if I may say so myself. Lol) The second is is dealing with the pregnant population, focusing on teen girls.

The way that I plan to follow my passion and obtain sucess in it is to consistantly place myself in these environments. As far as the poetry I will surround myself with people that share the same interest, I will introduce my poems to different people and I will read all my poetry focusing on the growth of my style from then to now. In doing so, I hope that someone will have some useful information that will help me in getting one step higher in accomplishing my goals.

When dealing with the pregnant population, I plan to get as much experience as possible. I want to be able offer emotional support and form bonds with these young women. I feel that I can relate to them in several ways and that I have a lot to offer. I plan to try my best and excel in this field so that it enables me to feel joy and excitement when I am going to work. This is very imortant to me; that I am happy with my career.  

Using my education at laguardia, I have learned that some of the simple things we do everyday can effect our overall quality of living. Having the true knowledge of what can help and also knowing how far the problem has come, In my opinion the issue of global warming is almost irreversable.

The America's Next Top Model

girlfriends

The game

all of us

Blog # 2

Annie says that, in the U.S., most of our leisure time is used to watch TV and shop. How much of your time (per week, say) do you spend watching TV? How much do you spend shopping? (Be honest!) And, for you internet junkies, let?s include another anti-social activity in this one: how much time (per week) do you spend surfing the web that you could spend with friends, family, being creative, being in nature, reading a book?
When you think about the leisure time activities which bring you the most joy and rejuvenation, what are they? Does your leisure time schedule match your priorities?
So how much time do I spend glued to the t.v. and/or shopping? That is the question. What is the answer? Lol. I will be as honest as possible. I’m not much of a t.v. person. The only times that I watch t.v are on Mondays from 9-10 and Wednesdays from 8-9. This two evenings are consistent. On these nights I must see these shows; Mondays I watch “girlfriends” and “The Game” and Tuesdays it’s “America’s Next Top Model”. Occasionally, if I am home and not doing anything, I may watch an episode of “All of us”. Mondays and Wednesdays are a MUST! I make sure that everything that needs to be done is done and taken care of. I don’t even engage in any conversation until a commercial is on. I have a saying that I use if I am interrupted, “I.T.C” This means invisible til’ commercial” YES, it is that serious!!! LOL. I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but when I am into something, I am just that. Into it and the people in my circle understand that. Thank god. So I would say overall, in a week I spend 2 ½- 2 hours watching t.v. Not bad huh? Actually that’s pretty good. I’m proud of it too!

Now as far as shopping, I don’t shop very often. But when I do, watch out! Sometimes I don’t know how to act. I tend to overspend, I have no sense of time, and I have a hard time making minor decisions. “Should I get the shirt in black or in white? I like the black, but I already have several black shirts. Maybe I should get the white. White looks good on me.” I’m a pain, right? Lol. No, I exaggerated a bit. I’m not that bad. When I do shop I leave early and I’m gone for about 4-5 hours. Due to this factor I usually go alone. I hate to be rushed so I eliminate the cause. The other scenario is that I will go shopping with someone who takes as long as I do and who’s opinion I very much value because of their style. I love shopping! What girl doesn’t? One of my shopping rules is “I don’t go with men”. They just seriously lack patience. Ladies, if you’ve ever been shopping with a man, you know exactly what I mean. They’re okay for a bit then as time goes and you ask their opinion, their response will be a lot like this: “Yeah, that one is nice. Uh-huh, I like that one too. Just get one so we can go!”). Am I making this up? No, not at all. It’s the truth and the truth hurts. (More so than others, but that’s a whole other story).
Also I am a woman who loves shop therapy. If I have a little extra cash and I’m feeling down, I’ll go buy something to put a smile on my face. Majority of the time it works for me. (This are one of the causes I over shop, but I’m getting better, I swear). To close this up, I can’t say that I spend hours a week shopping, but I will say for the weeks I go without it I definitely make up for allll of it!
These leisure activities don’t interfere with me spending time with family because I don’t overdue it. The good thing is…. What’s mentioned above about being creative and reading a book, those are also apart of my leisure activities. I’m knocking them all out with one stone. Being creative, I love to write poetry and I’m into fiction novels. I like novels that are relatable to situations people in my society deal with. It gives me a chance to sort of escape my stresses and problems and get into someone else’s drama, It gives me a break mentally. Sometimes I am able to make connections and come up with a solution to what ever I’m facing. Well thank you for reading my blog and I hoped you liked it. I will leave with my signature “The truth hurts… you asked 4 it? Handle it”

Environment and me

Many of us not realize how the very small things we do in our daily lives affect our environment. I’ll start by analyzing the basic things that we all do in the morning. How many of you leave the water Now that you know a bit about me let’s get down to the topic, shall we? Most of us may running while you brush your teeth? Probably quite a bit and we do it almost as second nature, without thinking twice. I know I did this morning. I took a shower for about fifteen minutes and then got dressed. I made sure that I had everything that I needed in my purse, throwing away unnecessary scraps. Then I ate a half of cup of applesauce and styled my hair. After doing my hair, I selected a pair of earrings which are made of metal. I got thirsty so I went to the bathroom to wash my hands before getting a drink. Time was running short so I began my long journey to school. I took a bus, a boat, and two trains. You’re probably thinking “Where the heck does she live?” lol I am now sitting in my school library enjoying the central air conditioning.
Now these all seem like very normal things that we don’t think hurt or affect the environment, right? Wrong! Everything does. Let’s probe these actions. As I brush my teeth, leaving the water running that’s water that someone could be drinking. Also how many apples were pulled from a beautiful tree to make the applesauce that I ate? Maybe.... I am not sure, but it has crossed my mind, This could have affected the environment by manipulating the natural form of the apple by thinning out the consistency. No I didn’t do it, but it was I who ate. Another thing I’d like to point out is that since I was in such a rush, I only threw out my scraps instead of recycling them.
This next one is a very simple one that I do a lot that I never thought about until now. I’m talking about washing my hands. This morning I only washed my hands once, but usually it’s 2-3 times and don’t get me started on how many times I wash my hands in a day Lol I tried to keep track one time and lost count after 8! (just aiming to prove a point).
These are things that I do to help the environment. I recycle, I never litter, and I don’t smoke cigarettes. I just recently started recycling, ever since I stared seeing the blue and green bins everywhere. Before I never really paid any mind to it. As far as littering goes, I hate it!!! It bugs me so much. Whenever I have trash, I either stick it in my pocket or in plastic bag until I reach the right place. Smoking? Thank god I don’t smoke. Not only is it harmful to our environment, but scarcely harmful to our bodies. You know those commercials that aim to get smokers to stop? The one where the man has the chord to his throat, he says “Nothing will ever be the same, not even the simple things” is my favorite. Well America let me know what you think! **