GSV- Sucre, Bolivia!
Hey, peeps:
I've just signed up to be a Good Shepherd Volunteer in Sucre, Bolivia in South America.
Stay with me as I struggle and celebrate the
GSV motto "JUST LOVE". : D
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Today, go where you’re celebrated not just tolerated, where you’re adored not where you’re ignored.who knows?!
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So, when I was at Fordham, I attended many retreats, dialogues, discussions about feelings, social justice, prejudice, ignorance, etc. Of the many great things I’ve heard in these social settings, the best thing was and STILL is:
SIT WITH IT.
This was the shortest yet most profound piece of advice and inspiration I’ve ever received. This is what I am concentrating on right now because of the following series of events:
- my role @the Guarderia here in Bolivia does not require much. The most I have done is sub for one of the 2 teachers
- I expressed myself to my Director and told her that if I was going to continue at that location, that I would like to do more and if not, I’d prefer to work in another of the 3 sites the organization has. The Director said I knew what the role was when I agreed to work there and if it was a problem, I should have said something earlier.
- The Director also said that there were no other locations to work at aside from Barrio Bolivia where she said that basically my Spanish was NOT good enough for. Heart breaks. She doesn’t even know me! She has never seen me at work and I have worked at all of the sites, and yes, I speak pretty good Spanish for someone who has had to take it upon myself to advance in it since my parents were afraid I would be made fun of in school if they didn’t practice English more with me. And fyi, I have been working with kids in Spanish for a while now and have been doing pretty great. One of my favs, Beatrice was behind in math because she was doing multiplication and division whilst she was still not good in addition and subtraction. And I created study cards and games for her to learn more easily. The Director does not know that because she never observes me at work. Ironically, she arrives when an issue occurs on the spot or sometimes makes things seem like a misunderstanding on my part because she forgot to tell us something, do something or because she changed her mind and didn’t think to tell us. Frustrating.
- DM is the nickname I gave to the Asst. of the house. She has been quite a treat to us lately. As we do our chores better and on time, she doesn’t have much to say, ironically. Well, that and we don’t eat and cook with her and the women of the house anymore. We (my community partner and I) have our own kitchen and we buy our own groceries and cook our own food. HOWEVER, the other night, we went out, and as we got back in at 9:15 pm she reprimanded us for not locking the other. WE NEVER LOCK THE DOOR. First, she has two daughters that go out alot and we are not bffs that know their schedules or get updated on when they are going out and coming back late. How the HELL were we supposed to know to lock the door?! HOW?!
- And the few times we go out, we ask her youngest daughter to open the door for us since we don’t have keys and since she stays in usually on the weekends. This bothers DM apparently because even though we have coordinated a way to get back in and we don’t ever stay out so late, I guess she wants us to stick to our “9:30 p.m. curfew”/ yes, 9:30 p.m. Ridiculous.
- I don’t feel comfortable here and I just found a quote that expresses WHY I feel this is important as I volunteer here:
:Today, go where you’re celebrated not just tolerated, where you’re adored not where you’re ignored. “—— So, I’m thinking A LOT about this and thinking that this might not be quitting- what I do next might just be letting go and moving on. I keep thinking about all the good work I could do in ny, the bronx; in the u.s. as a whole. Makes me wonder….should I make THE move? Or should I just “sit with it”- sit with this, all these feelings and thoughts.
Or, maybe I should just…
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So, I’m in a very new phase in my life- I’m single.Living in South America. and getting closer to doing whatever ‘feels right’ for me in llife. WHO AM I?mee
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Video reblogged from LIFE THROUGH A LENS.
THIS is such a beautifully, honest expression, I HAD to reblog it. I feel the same way about my life- I do what feels right. It’s nobody’s business but my own. So be kind, world.
“If you work really hard, and you are kind, amazing things will happen. I’m telling you. Amazing things will happen.”
When I feel like shit, I listen to this and it puts me back on track. You should do the same. And also pay attention to the cynicism part. We all get too cynical, even myself. I even deal with people I know being cynical and I will say one thing to that. Not one thing any single person says to be will ever have any effect on my professional direction in life. The choices I make are made out of purely knowing what feels right. Just like when I edit a video or direct a shoot, I make the decisions. I’ve made the decisions since day one, and for someone to think that they will make a difference in that (outside of my creative team and crew), is insanity.
Everyone needs to adopt that. As always, people talk too much about what they think they know when they don’t. Do your job, let other people do theirs. Don’t listen to assholes and don’t give time to people who just treat you poorly. Be strong.
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Photo reblogged from Laura B. Fernández
Tim’s First Day At the Pancake Palace
Tim’s career at the Pancake Palace was tragically ended by the freak explosion of a tank of hot syrup. Three people, and one tax auditor, were killed. Tim survived—an oversized waffle deflected much of the blast—but sustained severe brain damage, leaving him incapable of coherent thought. He is now an abstract artist.
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Photo reblogged from
![lionza:
[image description: a clip of a text in a serif font from a zine that says “Sometimes semantics mean a lot. Deconstructing oppression is not victimhood. Asking for support is not victimhood. Telling someone that I really can’t handle trying to support them at the moment because of my own needs is not victimhood. This has been said before, but I feel like the most important elements of survivorhood are self-care and resistance. Self-care can be recognizing our limits and asserting them, recognizing our needs and asserting them, eating healthily and deliciously, gardening, taking a walk, meditating, going to a show, smoking pot, hanging out with animals, masturbating, appreciating ourselves, hiking, taking vitamins, taking our medications, talking to friends, doing schoolwork, watching the ants on the sidewalk, having rad consensual sex, identifying mushrooms in the forest, sewing, playing music, cooking, analyzing our behavior, working out…the possibilities are endless and should always, always be focused on our needs. Whatever I am doing for myself (obviously provided that I’m not violating anyone else) is vlaid and important, because I am important. Resistance can be making a zine, recognizing our needs and limits and asserting them, talking to friends, calling people out, making tinctures, playing music, political organizing, insurrecting, sewing, having rad consensual sex, creating, hanging out with animals, educating ourselves, guerrilla art, yada. So many of these intersect because resistance and self-care go hand in hand. Self-care is subversive. Our cultures expects for us to not take care of our needs in a self-aware, proactive manner. The systems of oppression thrive on our denial of our needs. Smash the state, know yourself, love yourself.]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvb965YKMs1qzsad1o1_500.jpg)
[image description: a clip of a text in a serif font from a zine that says “Sometimes semantics mean a lot. Deconstructing oppression is not victimhood. Asking for support is not victimhood. Telling someone that I really can’t handle trying to support them at the moment because of my own needs is not victimhood. This has been said before, but I feel like the most important elements of survivorhood are self-care and resistance. Self-care can be recognizing our limits and asserting them, recognizing our needs and asserting them, eating healthily and deliciously, gardening, taking a walk, meditating, going to a show, smoking pot, hanging out with animals, masturbating, appreciating ourselves, hiking, taking vitamins, taking our medications, talking to friends, doing schoolwork, watching the ants on the sidewalk, having rad consensual sex, identifying mushrooms in the forest, sewing, playing music, cooking, analyzing our behavior, working out…the possibilities are endless and should always, always be focused on our needs. Whatever I am doing for myself (obviously provided that I’m not violating anyone else) is vlaid and important, because I am important. Resistance can be making a zine, recognizing our needs and limits and asserting them, talking to friends, calling people out, making tinctures, playing music, political organizing, insurrecting, sewing, having rad consensual sex, creating, hanging out with animals, educating ourselves, guerrilla art, yada. So many of these intersect because resistance and self-care go hand in hand. Self-care is subversive. Our cultures expects for us to not take care of our needs in a self-aware, proactive manner. The systems of oppression thrive on our denial of our needs. Smash the state, know yourself, love yourself.]
(Source: baby-bluesedan)
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Link reblogged from
It’s interesting that when I’m unwell, like I am now - and I mean, physically, with some sort of bug or cold or virus or whatever this is (I’ve had a rough couple of days) - I don’t feel guilty about staying in bed or not getting stuff done. It’s like, it’s ok because it’s ‘real’,…
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Word to the UN-wise:
Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.
