With, For, In Love

My favorite classes in school have always been literature. My two favorite teachers of all time were literature teachers that greatly shaped the person I am today. They taught me how to learn about the world through fiction. My last literature class in college was about Latin America but specifically the US-Mexico border. The class came at the perfect moment in our world today, and especially in my world. I submitted this piece as a scholarly precise for my final project. However, my professor didn't accept it because it was not from a previously written scholarly work. This piece is my own "scholarly work" on just how dangerous consumerism is in the United States. Reading the texts mentioned (which you should absolutely look into) opened my ideas to horrors unknown to me. I hope it opens your eyes too.  *Latin@(s) is a way to indicate gender neutrality in the term Latinos        Consumerism in the United States affects more than people’s wallets. I...

One misstep and it shatters the entire fragile aesthetic we have worked so long and hard to create.  Over Christmas in 2016 my family took a trip to Seattle and Portland. There was amazing vegan food, cool museums, and lots of interesting places to visit. I often smile at those memories and cherish that time. However, one memory continues to scratch against all the others and create this jarring and painful thought. It's the homeless population in Seattle. I've visited New York City and other large cities before so I was no stranger to the concept of homelessness, especially in a city. But these homeless people were different. They seemed scary. I didn't feel safe. It seemed as though I needed to be very careful and I was very afraid to talk to them. That made me feel even worse. The trip was wonderful. Except this one memory. It continues to poke a hole in my perfect vision of Seattle. I came to Vietnam with a hazy vision of their culture, their food, and their way o...

"Are you okay? I mean really okay? "I don't know." If there's one thing I can rely on it's a list. I make lists for school, work, my life, the grocery store, and for my days off. It brings me comfort. Of course I made a list for Vietnam as well. On multiple pieces of paper and on several occasions. So when I arrived to Vietnam, I started following my list because it made me feel comfortable in a foreign environment. And I completed everything on there (except for getting a job). We found an apartment. We bought dishes, a fan, and a water jug. We found a gym. We found a market and a place to buy other goods. I moved all of my 50 pound suitcases into the apartment. I started class for my certificate. And James rented a motorbike. I checked it all off. But as the days went on I didn't seem to be very happy. It didn't occur to me that in completing my list and ensuring that within 7 days I did everything I needed to that I'd actually be...