The Web-Series We Didn’t Know We Needed

Recently I was introduced to a web mini-series that, honestly, I don’t know how I was living without it: “Adult Wednesday Adams.” Just the title alone promises SUCH something awesome, and gets you SO excited, right?! But like if the idea alone wasn’t enough, the show was awesomely developed!

Basically, Melissa Hunter (You might recognize from the TV Show Cult, where she played Mary) took one of our favorite Adams’ character *cough* Wednesday *cough*, and placed her in completely ordinary situations. Normally that wouldn’t implicate much, but adding her morbid personality that we all know too well… Let’s just say the results are worth seeing.

And just to make sure you guys don’t miss it, I have the playlist of it right here. You’re welcome!

That time when I (accidentally) realized that I was proud of myself

There was nothing different about that day, nothing at all. I woke up as sleepy as any other day, dealt with misbehaving kids at work like always, and sat at home to write in an common cold afternoon in the middle of winter. I was writing an article about the story of How I Became a Feminist. It dragged me back to moments of personal struggle and, even though I didn’t quite understand it yet, growth.

By the time I made the decision of pulling myself together, I was feeling like I had wasted several relevant years of my life, the time when I should be building the foundations of “my empire” or whatever powerful person I should be becoming. Theoretically I knew I was young and had hopefully many decades of life ahead of me, but being surrounded in college by 19 year old seniors and entrepreneurs who knew exactly what they wanted and weren’t going to sleep until they had it, I felt that by not doing the same, and not being even close to it, I wouldn’t become anything for myself.

In the article I went chronologically, starting from my childhood and explaining all the events that led to me becoming the person that I am today. By the end of it, I stated that simple things that I took care of myself, and that can seem little to most people, “helped [greatly] to shape the person that I am today”. If I’m being completely honest, I chose to say that because it seemed like the right thing to say, but as I typed those words I realized the powerful truth they held.

In that moment I understood that the person I’ve become is strong, funny, confident, and smart. She isn’t afraid anymore of saying what she thinks and beliefs in, and is willing to fight for them. She doesn’t hide behind a shield of false safety (Mostly), and she isn’t afraid of making mistakes, because she’s learned that they are the proof of the fact that she is trying and not simply giving up.

I wish I had the words to describe exactly how empowering that feeling is, to be proud of yourself and how far you’ve come. I might have found what I’m passionate about a little later than a lot of people, but I have the satisfaction that even in those foggy times, I knew myself enough to not settle for things that didn’t feel right. I might not have been sure of a lot of things, and I mean a lot, but I did know with every fiber of my being that choosing something I didn’t absolutely love just for the sake of finishing college in a time frame that was considered acceptable, wasn’t worth my happiness and becoming a bitter and grumpy adult.

Top 9 ways to NOT get raped

We live in a world were losing your phone is a bigger deal than losing your virginity, were women are taught it is their responsibility not to get themselves in a situation were someone might hurt them, and were campaigns like #ItAintRape exists.

So naturally, we need to “be smart” and know how to protect ourselves. In that spirit, Farrah Khan teamed up with Sasha Elford, and Shannon Giannitsopolou to come up with the BEST safety tips to NOT get raped, the smart way.  

“The miracle part of love is not just about finding someone that inspires such pure, passionate and unconditional feelings in you, but for you to inspire the same in them. The fact that amid 7 billion people that are alive right now, you found each other, that right there, is the miracle.”

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“La parte milagrosa del amor no es solamente el encontrar a alguien que inspire esa clase de sentimientos puros, apasionados e incondicionales en ti, sino que tu también los inspires en esa persona. El hecho de que entre 7 billlones de seres humanos que están vivos ahora mismo, ustedes se hayan encontrado mutuamente, esa coincidencia, es el milagro.” 

This, and other awkward moments with my best friend. (Short Story)

 Friday Fictioneers: “Every Friday authors from around the world gather here to share their 100-words and offer constructive crit and encouragement to each other. “

Host: Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Tu derecho se termina donde empieza el de los demás

I know this is a controversial topic, so I’d appreciate if everyone respects my opinion the same way I do others. And please, ready everything before making any assumptions.

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Yes, I am a Feminist. I believe in gender equality, that women have the right to earn the same amount of pay for an amount of work as men do. I think that society gender roles are stupid, and we all can pitch in with expenses and house chores regardless of sex.

I am also against abortion.

Being a feminist I’ve struggled for years feeling that it meant I needed to be pro-choice… Except I’m not.

Self Portrait

With a cup of coffee in my hand a cautious step, I approached the full-length mirror that morning. I wondered how she would look this time, would our troubled roots be so deep down we’d need more time to reconcile?

You can only be genuinely happy when you’re free, and you can only be completely free when you are yourself. Because if you are not being yourself then you are dragging that around, with that weight holding you back you can’t be truly free, and if you don’t feel free, how can you be happy?

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Solo se puede ser genuinamente feliz cuando se es libre, y solo se puede ser completamente libre cuando se es uno mismo. Porque si no estás siendo tu mismo entonces cargas ese peso en tus hombros, con ese peso impidiéndote seguir adelante no puedes ser verdaderamente libre, y si no te sientes libre, ¿Cómo puedes ser feliz?

Some Underrated Advice.

There’s this project that’s been going on for some time now, and it’s become quite famous: Humans of New York, which consists of using photos and captions to show the human side of the residents of a city that comes off as isolating and individualist. Recently, they worked with Mott Hall Bridges Academy to raise money to send kids to college, and it was amazing. They were even invited to The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and went to the white how to meet the president. With the latter, he used the occasion to ask the president himself some questions, and uploaded them about a week ago to his Facebook page.

There was one that really got to me: “When is the time you felt most broken?”, and I was surprised when it didn’t get as much attention as I thought it would and that it should have, because his answer was simply inspiring: “I first ran for Congress in 1999, and I got beat. I just got whooped. I had been in the state legislature for a long time, I was in the minority party, I wasn’t getting a lot done, and I was away from my family and putting a lot of strain on Michelle. Then for me to run and lose that bad, I was thinking maybe this isn’t what I was cut out to do. I was forty years old, and I’d invested a lot of time and effort into something that didn’t seem to be working. But the thing that got me through that moment, and any other time that I’ve felt stuck, is to remind myself that it’s about the work. Because if you’re worrying about yourself—if you’re thinking: ‘Am I succeeding? Am I in the right position? Am I being appreciated?’ — then you’re going to end up feeling frustrated and stuck. But if you can keep it about the work, you’ll always have a path. There’s always something to be done.”

I feel that we forget this too often, we become so involved with ourselves that we don’t remember that there’s so much more, and that all of that is probably much more important. I loved this so much, and I wanted to share it because, well, I think we need to keep it in mind.

 

 

How I became a Feminist

It is greatly known that Latin American culture is mainly characterized by being very family oriented (very being an understatement in comparison to the north american ways). The family interactions are not limited to your immediate household, but you are constantly engaging with cousins and uncles and aunts and grandparents and their families, which to us, are our family too. And ever since I was a child growing up on the tropical Santo Domingo, I saw that most of them, and all around me, followed the same guideline: Men work and women take care of the house and their children. From that, I quickly picked up that there was a difference between how boys and girls were expected to act. Basically, one was taught to act and the other one to react, one to lead and the other one to follow… Can you guess who was which?