PENIS VS VAGINA

“Girls’ sexuality is only seen as a negation of the boy (Frithiof, 1985). Much of boys’ sexual identification is linked to the fact that they have a penis; parents often express appreciation when a boy displays his penis, which gives the boy the opinion that he has a valuable body part (Chodorow, 1988). When girls are seen to touch their sexual organs, however, reactions are often more negative. These differing values we carry with us on what is suitable or unsuitable behavior for boys and girls are passed on to the child right from birth as conscious or unconscious aspects of the conceptual world of their mothers and fathers, and later from other adults and surrounding society. Turner and Gervai (1995), claim that gender is one of the first and probably most obvious characteristics children learn in categorizing other people. Therefore, gender is also crucial to the development of self esteem and sexual identity”.

Abstract from Sexual Abuse of Children. Child Sexuality and Sexual Behavior by Ing Beth Larson, Dept. of Health and Environment, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Linköping University.

LIFE CIRCUMSTANCES/ CIRCUNSTANCIAS DE LA VIDA

"People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, make them." George Bernard Shaw.

"La gente siempre está culpando sus circunstancias por lo que son. Yo no creo en circunstancias. La gente que triunfa en este mundo es la gente que se levanta y busca las circunstancias que quieren, y cuando no las pueden encontrar, las hacen." George Bernard Shaw.

ROMPEOLAS

ROMPEOLAS

Voy a hacer un rompeolas

con mi alegría pequeña...

No quiero que sepa el mar,

que por mi pecho van penas.

No quiero que toque el mar

la orilla acá de mi tierra...

Se me acabaron los sueños,

locos de sombra en la arena.

No quiero que mire el mar

luto de azul en mi senda...

(¡Eran auroras mis párpados,

cuando cruzó la tormenta!)

No quiero que llore el mar

nuevo aguacero en mi puerta...

Todos los ojos del viento

ya me lloraron por muerta.

Voy a hacer un rompeolas

con mi alegría pequeña,

leve alegría de saberme

mía la mano que cierra.

No quiero que llegue el mar

hasta la sed de mi poema,

ciega en mitad de una lumbre,

rota en mitad de una ausencia.

Julia de Burgos

LEARNING IS POWER, EDUCATION IS KEY

To be aware is to have open eyes to the world. When one lives in the dark, one cannot see. When there is light, one can see forward, see the path ahead, see the ground one steps on. To live in the dark is to live out of the reach of fortune. That is like to be uneducated.

You have heard me say more than once “do not sacrifice the present for the future”. Sometimes our life circumstances are so overwhelming that recurring to a quick fix seems like the right solution for our misfortunes. Thinking like that is like having an ailment and taking medicine to ease the pain instead of targeting the cause of the illness in order to live pain free and healthy for the rest of your life. Denying the future by attempting to only worry about the present poses serious risks to your quality of life for the rest of your life.

When you don’t know about an opportunity you cannot take advantage of it. However, once you know you can take action and grasp that opportunity to make the most out of it, for you and others. When you don’t know any better it’s very hard to change your circumstances. But when you learn, options unveil in front of you and all of a sudden you have options. The best way to stay connected, engaged, aware, awake, present, and in an advantage position is to through education.

All forms of education are good, and formal and informal education are great ways to make you a better individual. When you learn you can see and do things differently, change, evolve, grow. Education is the key that opens doors to endless possibilities and a better life. Hold the key that has been offered to you and open as many doors as you dare dreaming of. When you hold the key nobody can take it away from you. Open wide the doors to your future.