Painting emotions on Paper in the Form of Words...(Analysis)

No matter how serene things

may be in my life,
how well things are going,
my body and soul
are two cliff peaks
from which a dream of who I can be
falls, and I must learn
to fly again each day,
or die.

Death draws respect
and fear from the living.
Death offers
no false starts. It is not
a referee with a pop-gun
at the startling
of a hundred yard dash.

I do not live to retrieve
or multiply what my father lost
or gained.

I continually find myself in the ruins
of new beginnings,
uncoiling the rope of my life
to descend ever deeper into unknown abysses,
tying my heart into a knot
round a tree or boulder,
to insure I have something that will hold me,
that will not let me fall.

My heart has many thorn-studded slits of flame
springing from the red candle jars.
My dreams flicker and twist
on the altar of this earth,
light wrestling with darkness,
light radiating into darkness,
to widen my day blue,
and all that is wax melts
in the flame-

I can see treetops!

Jimmy Santiago Baca had a very tough life at a young age and faced many challenges, and in his poem "A Daily Joy To be Alive" he reflects on  a lifestyle of trying to grasp one's inner-self by exploring different aspects of life on a daily basis. Baca expresses these ideas by using symbolism as seen in these lines, "I continually find myself in the ruins of new beginnings, uncoiling the rope of my life to descend ever deeper into unknown abysses, tying my heart into a knot." Baca uses the rope to represent a long journey of finding the words to express himself in a subject where there is so much to learn. To further express this struggle Baca uses "light wrestling with darkness, light radiating into darkness", a juxtaposition, to describe the turning point when he breaks free from the scuffle of discovering himself artistically  and  turns his thinking from negative to positive. All in all Baca uses this poem to show us, through symbolism and juxtaposition, the transition he makes from not knowing how to convey his emotions to suddenly breaking free into a clear view where he can see all the possible ways to present his thoughts to the world.

#One Little Word

#One Little Word

"I will succeed in anything I set my mind to"...

The quote above is nothing more than a statement, but we can turn it into so much more with a little bit of effort. If we are willing to do EVERYTHING it takes to achieve a goal, we can transform such an insignificant statement into the catalyst that drives us closer to success.  With AMBITION, we naturally pick up every other quality necessary to achieve success. Because ambition is "a strong desire to do or to achieve something", if we truly have ambition initiative, perseverance, and persistence will follow. I've experienced all the pain when there are barriers preventing me from success  and I've also experienced all the gratification after overcoming the barriers when I was only in middle school. Ever since I was un nina, I knew that learning spanish would give me an edge over my competition in any industry I chose to join. Therefor when I was in sixth grade I started a long complicated journey toward being bilingual. As a sixth grader with no friends or family in spanish I had to go through a long process of guessing the meanings of words and attempting to use them correctly. Of course being so young with an undeveloped brain, I made mistakes and even had to face criticism from native spanish speakers who laughed at my incorrect grammar and use of words. Because of my dedication I was able to become bilingual by the time I reached eighth grade.

Helping Myself by Helping Others

When I did community service for the first time I was filled with such a high that left me wanting to tell everyone around me about all the great deeds I accomplished even though it was really just one. Therefore, when I took The Six Human Needs Test I wasn't surprised to see that contribution, at 93%, by far out shot all the rest of my needs including growth at 79%. After seeing my results I began evaluating different aspects to see if my actions really were led by the need to contribute and grow.

After analyzing my reading life, I found that most of the books I have read turn out to be a quest. For example The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger, Midwinter Blood by Murcus Sedgwick, and The Notebook  by Nicholas Sparks are all books that appear to have nothing in common, but in reality they share the same ambitious protagonist. Because of my urge to have growth in every area of my life I choose books that have a character willing to give up everything for what they desire. Once I find these books, although I'm really into them, I tend to read a lot slower because of my desire to become a better reader. In other words as I read each sentence find myself over analyzing each sentence for hidden messages to the point of my reading rate being cut in half. I face this problem especially when I'm reading books that involve a character doing their best to provide for the well being of another like in A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.

The main character, Mariam, always ends up in a position of trying to please others and when she faces a personal loss she finds herself wanting to please the same person who treats her similar to that of a dog. Because of my need to contribute, like Mariam, I stretch myself in all different direction to please the ones I love and make life a little bit more decent for strangers. I even go as far as attempting to get my friends on board with community service and other events. Also I make the mistake of expecting the ones I love to want to contribute to my happiness like I desire to do for them.


Although growth and Contribution seem to always be a good thing, having those needs can lead to the disruption of a peaceful relationship. I found this out the hard way one year I when I went through all the trouble of throwing a surprise party for my friend although nothing was expected of me, but then when my birthday came around I made the mistake of expecting appreciation for what I did earlier and barely got a "Happy Birthday" the next day.

It's Never Too Late to Vamp Up our Wardrobe

      I remember being able to go anywhere in the world as a child, but not because I was spoiled or just had the money laying around for the perfect moment; the true key to my expansive travel was imagination. Although I'm no longer a child at the beach with Barbie, I still allow my imagination to take me on journeys around the world with aid from my outfits. My imagination never stops flowing due my access to the eclectic people on social media. In order to expand our outfits we must learn from different people around the world by way of social media to prevent our style from being plain-jane.

      Over the years I have found the best mood kill in the world is fishing for a compliment, but no one catching on because they've seen the same bait for about a year (which is about as long as a fashion trend takes to be worn by the average person). Therefore, I make it a routine to check Instagram every morning in order to stay caught up with the trends in Tokyo, New York, Paris, and England. Just recently, because of what I had seen on social media, I picked up, what would have been, just a boring T-shirt dress and turned it into something my peers gawked over just by simply taking inspiration from a picture and adding my own flair. That day I got more than just a few pat-on-the-back compliments, with out a lot of work I was able to accomplish, what I call, the "neck-snapper," which is that dramatic look people give a person when he looks stunning.

       Unfortunately in today's society the only way to be noticed is by being loud, being smart, or creating a couple of neck-snappers. Many people, like myself, neither have the brains of a mathematician nor the voice box of a megaphone, therefore looking flawless is about our only option. Thanks to YouTube, Instagram, and retail store's online look books, making this happen, literally over night, isn't impossible. Many people have the assumption that the only way to prevent others from mistaking our name as Jane, we have to buy a whole new wardrobe, when in reality if we turn to social media they give us great examples of how to spice up our worn out wardrobe. For example, in the video below , who many of us have never met, is able to teach us how to transform garments we already have in ways that will make others wonder about us and where we got our clothes from.

       All in all it's pretty amazing that we are able to get influence from pretty much anywhere in the world by utilizing social media. From a fashion perspective, social media really multiplies our wardrobe from as ordinary as we'd like to just as breath taking as we desire.

Assumptions aren't Always Accurate

   What does it take to be a model? Many people would answer this questions with these three words:

   Skinny
   Pretty
   Tall

   Unfortunately for models, no matter how hard we try to avoid it, we have bias when talking about certain situations that we are unfamiliar with, therefore we commonly describe models as "lanky toothpicks with pretty faces." In reality, modeling has now evolved into a more inclusive industry therefore agencies are looking for someone who differs from modeling stereotypes.
   
     So many people, including myself, say their height disqualifies them from being a model, but this isn't quite true. Today''s model employers realize that their product is more credible with a face closer to the average person. Due to this realization, if I were to decide to switch from dressing the model to being the model, the fact that I'm only five feet and one inch wouldn't be an automatic dream killer because their are some companies who are anyone who can look the look even if they're just faking it. Although this may be the case, being a petite model is more of a challenge because length has always meant SEXY, FIERCE, and GRACEFUL even to this day. Because of companies desire to have length, petite models have to perfect the art and look just as tall as their five-foot nine coworker. Although petite models are put at a slight disadvantage, the end result boils down to skill rather than stereotype. This amazing break through in the modeling industry doesn't just top there.

      Due to the development of the modeling industry, the perfect smile, for some companies, has turned to one with a statement. In other words, companies are looking for that compelling gap that sits right between our two pearly white front teeth. A great example of someone who has broken through the stereotype with her own "pretty," contradicting the perfect smile, is Georgia May Jagger. Through Jagger businesses are telling the world imperfections make you beautiful and wanted in the modeling industry. This is very similar to H&M's direct display of flawed perfection when they placed "...two size 6 and size 10 mannequins, dressed in sexy lingerie..." in their store, so the next time we go to the store we should keep our eyes wide open to catch a first-hand glimpse of a company evolving in the way they hire models.
   

My Reading Life

    Many people would say that a person who reads is an educated person, and if one doesn't read then he truly isn't educated.  Before this year, my junior year, I would have turbantly gave a tirade selling myself as an educated person who used books as placemats more often than reaing from them, but after reading every day of every week, I've lerned just how far I was from being educated. With that knowledge I also learned more about who I am as a reader, my stengths and weaknesses, and what steps I need to take to improve as a reader.Surprisingly, when I read for long periods of time it was much like training for a marathon because I had to go through the same process of a runner.

    As my endurance increased I accumulated a greater knowledge of just how far I could go before reaching my breaking point. When I first started my reading journey I was reading, disappointingly, only two books per year, but now I've read three books in the span of only nine weeks. Obviously, the amount of books I've read is increasing at a rate much faster than years prior to this one, but that's not my only area or improvement. Now reading so quickly I could be mistaken for swiftly skimming through a book, I am able to breeze through a book without incessantly stuttering due to my mental vocabulary being broadened. Although I struggle with staying awake when reading, I have planned to increase my reading goal to 20 books per year. In order to do this, I must read on the weekends, like I've been doing, and also during the weekdays. All in all if I keep up my training toward my own personal marathon, I will be able to read an amount five times greater than the most challeneging book I've read, "the devil wears prada"

Picking the Perfect Outfit

    BLEEP, BLEEP, the blaring sound of my alarm clock beckoning me to break free from the shackles of  my bed. Frantically tossing clothes in the air, I scour my wardrobe for the perfect outfit to conquer the day. After completely obliterating the neatness of my room, I find the one, the Perfect Outfit.
    Dressed as smoothly as a celebrity, I step on the scene as a completely metamorphosed person. Mouths dropping to the floor, on lookers wonder about the, at a first glance, new girl.  With panache, I walk down the halls and embrace the stares from intrigued peers reverencing for me and accept their copious compliments. Compliments levitating me and allowing me to pretense the fact that I'm not confident at all. As I strut down the hallway with my newly found confidence, I begin to realize guys are offering their hearts to me; they are  insisting I allow them to devout themselves to my every need. Glaring their eyes directly toward me, girls all around me give me the notorious outfit check and realize my outfit looks, irrefutably, AWESOME as they gingerly look me up and down.
    Although all the above is plenty enough of  "a pat on the back," I'm still not to the apex of praise.  Tapping me on the shoulders, my elders ascertain to instill in my mind that they respect what I've done with today's outfit by explaining my attire's high points. Receiving compliments from my elders confirms that razing the neatness of my room for an amazing outfit was completely worth it. I, without a doubt, picked an AWESOME getup.


 http://pixabay.com/en/fashion-woman-yellow-dress-gown-300337/