Reality sucks sometimes but have a little faith in humanity

Happy Friday!

and Spring BREAKKKK for me!

Hello, dear readers! I hope you had a good week and fantastic Friday. If you didn't, well, I'm sorry to hear about that. Either way, you deserve to treat yourself. My week started off a little rough, but once I got my Marketing exam done, it got better and better. My co-workers thought I was on a sugar high when really I was just happy and in good mood which I haven't quite been lately.

IT'S SPRING BREAK!!! Yes, it is an amazing feeling. It will be nice (and already is) to be home for a couple of days. I'm not a partier; in fact, I will be coming back to Cedar Falls to work next week. Plus, I have readings and studying to do for Humanities because I have a test the Wednesday after Spring Break. Not having class for a week will be nice, to have a little bit of quality time with myself is much needed.  

My latest Odyssey article link: What I've Learned From Ballroom Dancing.

Before I begin my topic of choice, there are a couple things I need to say first. For one, I wanted to thank the support of my close family (/relatives) and friends for reading these posts and giving me feedback. I don't expect people to read it as soon as post them or I don't expect people to read every single one. With that started, this brings me to my second (and final) point: this is my blog. This is where I write whatever happened to be on my mind. It is never my intention to call anyone out or single anybody out,  and neither it is my intention to hurt anybody with what I say. Those who know me well enough know that I write (or try to, because I'm not always perfect) about something happening in my life and connecting it to society. 

I am struggling between a couple of topics for this post. And I believe I can connect them in a way that makes sense. For those who don't already know, I love reading stories and FanFiction online, listening to music, and being way too involved in my TV shows: Arrow, The Flash, The 100, Suits, and Criminal Minds. These are my escapes. This is where I allow myself to let go and lose myself in the stories, the music, and the TV shows. Contrary to some of the popular beliefs that today's music, literature, and TV shows are mindless and don't teach you anything, I believe there shows, songs, and books out there that aim to teach you something. I'm not naive enough to believe they are trying to make money off us or trying to write for ratings. I know that plays a part; how big that part is exactly is a discussion for another time.

Reality is terrible. Reality has Donald Trump running for president and actually having supporters who believe he wants to "make America great again". Reality has the lives of African Americans still being discriminated against in violent ways. Reality has the wage gap between men and women. Reality has millions of college students up to their eyeballs in deep debt because tuition is skyrocketing. Reality has men and women being subjected to sexual assaults and some of society naively blaming the victim. Reality has award shows, The Oscars, for example, unfairly lacking diversity in the nominees. Reality has members of the middle class gradually sinking into the lower class. Reality has many people still believing that climate change is a hoax or joke. Reality is terrible.

Can you really blame anybody for wanting to escape reality? For wanting a chunk of time when they can ignore all the problems, all the terrible things in the world done by terrible people? It's why we want to go on vacations, to get away from life for a while. But we can't let ourselves focus on all the terrible aspects of reality. There are good aspects of humanity and further more reality. I try to focus on the little things that prove my faith in humanity and my version of reality gets a little better. Does that make me blind or naive to all the terrible things or people of the world? Maybe. Maybe not. I would like to see a world where people try to pass a random act of kindness however they can.

 Until next week,

Thought of the day

Compromise is key (in marriage and) in government

Happy Friday!

Readers. It feels like it's been forever since my last post. That would make sense if I hadn't posted just last Friday... Yeah, it's been a long week. I had three tests/quizzes in three days. Hold up. Not finished quite yet. Also, I have a humanities test on Monday, 9 a.m. At least I have the weekend to study.

Ugh. Sorry for getting side-tracked. Readers, it's Friday. Whatever seems overwhelming now or if there is anything you're worried about, take a break and enjoy it. Unless it's life or death, then of course continue on, but if not, go take a chill pill and relax. 

With the caucuses coming up on Monday, it got me thinking about our government and democracy. This might be an unpopular opinion, but it's something that I believe needs to be said. Democracy in America is hurting, at worst, dying, of infection. A country founded on the idea of a "government of the people, by the people, for the people" (Gettysburg Address; concept originated with John Wycliffe) wasn't thought to last. In American fashion, we didn't give up, and we eventually became an example other countries looked to and proof of democracy can persevere and thrive. But, sometime in the last 239 years, democracy in America seems to be unfavorably changing. 

Today's issue of immigration and border control? New York's Lady Liberty welcomed millions upon millions of immigrants starting in the late 1800's. This country has a past with welcoming people of different countries. I beg the question: what's so different these days that makes us want to force people from coming into the country? They possibly want to come here for a better life, and who are we to deny them that? It seems a little hypocritical to me. 

We elect leaders to represent us, but do they do what they said they would (to get our vote)? Sometimes they do. There are elected leaders in government who try their hardest to get the bills passed they think will benefit or improve the life of this country's citizens. The catch is that there are elected leaders who maybe don't care about the particular issue or don't agree with the proposed plan of action. That's completely fine. It's understandable even, but what's not understandable is fighting over who is right and who is in the wrong and producing nothing. Elected officials seemingly forgot that a key element in running a government (and a good marriage) is compromise. Instead of working together to create a plan that has the promise of helping American citizens, some elected officials forget in order to "win some, you lose some". 

We seem to let our pride or stubbornness blind us and maybe even determine our decisions and actions toward others. Just because you believe something different from the person sitting next to you in class or the person sitting across from you on the bus doesn't determine whether or not you can get along or be friends. If we, as citizens, can learn to accept that people and their beliefs could be different from ours and the elected government officials work together to improve the quality of life of this nation's people, we are definitely on the right track to reviving what the founding fathers's vision of democracy they wanted for this country.

Until next week,

Thought of the day