DECADENCE

It is saddening that majority of the people believe that they are free to be whatever they want as long as they live a “moral” life. This belief seems to be understood and to be accepted as a truth about transsexuality. When transsexuals say “we are being who we believe we really are” suchlike “we love the being who we believe we are,” they based on what moral is, generally valid to be right or good. Transsexuality is practiced because it is valid for majority of the people. It relatively rejects and denies real and absolute gender. Indeed, transsexuals believe that their being transsexual is right or good. Well, for me, it is not. I personally disapprove transsexuality but I accept transsexuals. I try to understand them with all the things I know and learn about people. I do not approve of their wants but I do accept their reality even if what they practice is not according to my belief.

I accept people with an understanding of their being. When I try to understand people, particularly homosexuals (engage to same sex relationship or sexual activity with the same sex) becoming transsexuals (undergone sexual reassignment), I look at their needs. I see them with an emotional need, love and care, from the same sex. They might have been invisible among the people of their same sex (ex. sons lack emotional support from fathers). Through the years they might be thinking that they have a wrong gender to become unhappy with the world. They all search for happiness they believe to be sought through homosexuality or even transsexuality. But what only matters to them is pleasure, not happiness, real happiness. Their thoughts about their wrong gender are actually displeasure on their real gender.

The actual issue here may also be a consequence of emotional problems, gender confusion. When they thought and felt that the gender they were born with is wrong, confusion grew with them as they age. It could have been a realized attraction to people of their same sex. Because they were attracted, they become confused. Without enough emotional support from the same sex, they have come to go further of the attraction they have had.

On their own, they are trying to clarify their confusion. But it is meeting their pleasure. Neither homosexuality nor transsexuality, for me, merely cares for the wants of homosexuals or transsexuals or homosexuals becoming transsexuals. They want to feel right, being their opposite gender, and match their feeling through homosexuality or transsexuality.

Clarifying their gender confusion must be accepting the gender they have, not rebelling against and denying its reality. If homosexuals or transsexuals will reason out that the reason behind their actions is because of social unrest – they were objects of ridicule, or discrimination or ignorance, they are no different to heterosexuals who also experienced such. The thing is how people understand and accept life more than just the moral life.

In this life, everyone is free to choose to do whatever they want. This might be the probable reason why there are homosexuals and transsexuals. Parents who give children much freedom to do whatever have spoiled the children such that the children grew up with little sense of boundaries to the extent of having Science, instead of God, on authority – immersion to the liberal view on sexual reassignment as understood through internet and fed by the World Wide Web. Being favored by parents to do whatever, children expected to be given privileges to choose and to be honored of their choice. If others disagree with whatever they want because it seems to go beyond boundaries, they expect their family to help them deal with it.

Alienation, depression, frustration, and low self-esteem go along with homosexuality and transsexuality. Moreover, selfishness, apathy, rebellion, and angst dominate homosexuals and transsexuals. It is more likely that they value concrete results and relationships more than heterosexuals. Although, community of people who understand and accept them is important to them it is not enough for them. They want more than that; they particularly want a concrete sexual reassignment. That said they value more the particular relationship they have with those who honor their choice of transsexuality than those who understand and accept them as transsexuals. They found counsel to do whatever they want from people who concretely share the same choice with them, not necessarily acting in the same way as they are. Being “who they believe they are” becomes much more meaningful to them when others give regard to their actions.

A Kind of Life

Terrified. Afraid. Frightened. An individual learns to fear something, terrified of any fearful condition. He or she becomes increasingly afraid of it. He or she is in trauma to fear stimuli linked with his or her experiences. Such fear may be developed to phobia.

“Phobias: Living in Terror” program, run for 51 minutes by Discovery Channel Production, covered the two types of phobias recognized by the experts: specific phobia and  social phobia. Both of these embodied in the program a few of the huge and still-growing number of phobias. The specific phobias in the program were arachnophobia or fear of open spaces or crowd, ophidiophobia or fear of snakes, siderodromophobia or fear of trains, acrophobia or fear of heights, and highway driving phobia. The social phobias viewed were glossophobia or fear of public speaking, and agoraphobia or fear of being outside.

Many people with phobias do not figure out if they have phobias not until they are diagnosed with. Commonly, every phobia may be diagnosed in terms of the symptoms experienced and inhibited by the individual and diagnosed by either psychologist or psychiatrist taking necessary actions to confirm phobia. It is the feeling of intensive dread that makes a dreadful or phobic individual panicked, light-headed, distorted, and disoriented with increased heart palpitation and respiration or anxious for short. An anxious individual painfully experiences an emotional threat or danger to a stimulus. In the program, different phobic cases were presented such as glossophobia, arachnophobia, opinophobia, sideromophobia, and highway driving phobia where a phobic have panic attacks by coming across stimulus that trigger his or her phobia. The opinophobic panics as she comes to think of her dreadful past experience in her childhood when she accidentally saw a snake at their backyard. From then on, every time she comes across a sight of a snake she panics. The highway driving phobic panics as he comes to think that it is difficult and dangerous to drive in highway while he actually drives on a highway. He thinks this way because he was brought up strictly careful by his parents that may be another stimulus to triggering of his phobia, thinking that he has to be strictly careful driving on highway. As such it could be said that thoughts (e.g. of past experiences, difficulty to drive, and getting in danger), sights (e.g. accident, snakes), and anticipatory anxiety are triggering stimulus that when a phobic comes across any of these will cause him or her panic attacks. The agoraphobic in the program dreads and panics a difficult or embarrassing situation outside the house wherein no escape is possible. Like other phobias, agoraphobia involves panic attacks but because of reluctance to go outside the house having no companion. It also involves disorientation, dizziness, and defense mechanism such as avoidance and rationalization. Symptoms of phobias include feeling of choking sensation, feeling unreal and detached, noticing of ringing in their ears, and going crazy. Symptoms also included are nervousness, chest discomfort, and stomach distress. But all in all, the common symptom is a mild feeling to severe panic attack of anxiety. Experiences or things that produce these sensations are avoided or escaped by the phobic.

Anxiety may result to worries to phobias to lifetime tough suffering. In cases when phobic’s anxiety is disabling the individual is highly urge to seek professional help. A phobic may overcome anxiety with the helpful treatment. Treatments viewed in the program are “virtual reality” and other innovative therapies by experts. Therapist offers a solution for phobias using Virtual Reality (VR). Virtual reality exposure therapy provides an individual a high-tech alternative in treating his or her phobia. Experts combine visual interactions with stimulus that trigger phobia in a virtual environment to treating a phobic in a number of sessions (Henderson, 2011). Therapists also deal with the stimulus by desensitization. A phobic is observed in sessions to work toward dealing with the phobia himself or herself. Phobias: Living in Terror particularly presented a therapist accompanying a female siderodrophobic where trains are used as public transportation by commuters like herself. An expert did a session with the siderodrophobic along the crowding people at a train station. More than just the expert observing how the exposed sidedrophobic will respond and react to the condition, the expert did talk to the phobic understanding where she is coming from and making her understand her irrationality. This treatment is called, cognitive-behavior therapy along with the exposure therapy.

An individual living in phobia has to take hope in his or heart because a kind of life he or she lives in phobia is good. Though phobia is bad that people say it is a disorder, the good thing is it may be treated. A phobic may undergo treatment and overcome phobia. A phobic must be treated by an expert or therapist who treats phobia, that may be no good for it is a disorder, yet may be treated because life is good. Phobic must believe of how he or she is not far different from any other individual without phobia because they still fear death for example. Academically speaking, in one way or the other, fear of death is a phobia and is actually called necrophobia. The good thing is people may prepare themselves to death and not be afraid of death. People must accept Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior and trust that death is not something to fear but something to hope for because Christ Jesus rules and saves us and assures us of a splendor heaven of God to live, if and only if we believe and follow Him. Therefore, people have an everlasting life with Him for God is good. A phobic may have what can keep him or her courageous against her phobia, treatment to overcoming phobia, because life is good just as how people have who they need, Jesus, because God is good. A kind of life that untreated phobic lives may be good because of God, He who puts hope into people’s hearts does not only rules and saves lives but makes a way to treat phobias too.

REFERENCE
·    Audrey Henderson. Phobia Busters: Treating Phobias with Exposure Therapy. Retrieved  June 2011, at http://www.salon.com/technology/feature/2001/01/09/schizophrenia.

My Trip in the Ayala Museum

History is a complex story that tackles the past, as it was written and published. The Diorama Experience at the Ayala Museum supplements my exploration on the presentations of the national researches in the Philippine History. It also further teaches young and adults about the “craftsmanship” of the artisans from the showcased dioramas.

The Philippines has indeed invested for a landmark that features excellent diorama exhibition. The sixty handcrafted dioramas embody our Philippines’ integral past. Thus, our generation may learn Philippine History more comprehensively. Personally, the gallery that has been build reminded me of the high time in our country’s history. As I have stepped in the second floor gallery that cites historical diorama collections, I have felt the Philippines and Filipinos early and exciting challenges. Dioramas look extremely promising. My experience in the Diorama gallery is satisfying.

It was my first time to go to the Ayala Museum. For the very first time, I have depicted the prehistoric Philippines and the events that followed it, much more closely in its reality and memory. I believe that those carvings, paintings, and decorations do not look one-hundred percent the same with everything that had happened. However, from how I have viewed and how I still view the significant experiences of our ancestors presented to a visitor of the dioramas like me, our history is visually improved. Because in my childhood the themes in history remained as facts that I knew without the provision made that reveals and proves its richness and color. I was awaken and familiarized with the difficulties of the life of my great grandparents. I am also glad to see in several dioramas some of the places in the Philippines like Bulacan, my home province. I have also seen the great wars in the Battle of Mactan, the Beginning of Revolution Against Spain, Battle of Manila Bay, the beginning of the Philippine-American War, the Battle of Quinga, Bulacan, and Surprise Attack at Balangiga. Also the great conquest when Spain surrendered Manila to the United States (i.e. American Occupied Iloilo City), and Japanese Forces occupied Manila.

I know that the early accounts recorded, and the cultures Filipinos manifest everyday are related. Critically thinking, the open book of the past that I have seen in the gallery cleared to me on how I should identify the life nowadays in my homeland. The history of the Philippines generally speaks in present Filipinos’ actions. I have contemplated too and I say that the Philippines can be regarded as a third-world country, not as poor. Philippines have gone through different worlds when it was captive by different colonizers back in to time resulting to be a third-world country. A country that was colonized and was a world before of Spanish, American, and Japanese. Philippines have been through different worlds every time a new colonizer will take over the it. Thankfully, things do change. These changes would always be rooted from the past, and would complement in time as an inspiration.

In the modern generation: Ancient record histories are on purpose for the great works of the artisan.

 

Collegiala. “My Trip in the Ayala Museum.” https://msesguerra.wordpress.com/2010/10/11/ready-set-go/.

Ready, Set, Go

Ready to do what is required to get what is wanted—it’s who I am. My wants determine my actions and response to the world. But I am me and you are you. What does it mean for us to be ready? I think it is in our changing environment and influencing cultures where it means for us to be ready. Some say we go to school to study and learn different things. Some say that it is really our parents who teach us most of the many things in life we may learn. But we should be ready to study and learn not only from our family and school but from our environment and cultures too to get what we want and overcome our hurdles.

I became a student at three when my parents saw my eagerness to go to school at this very young age. They sent me to school. Then my relatives started to keep on asking me what I wanted to be when I grow up. Young as I was, I answered them. When I grow up I want to be a doctor, also, a television actress. Every time I will be asked like that  I would answer them with so many things.  I wanted to be a broadcaster, a fashion icon, a chef, and a lot more. I even wanted to be all of these at the same time. As I was uncertain of what I really want to be, there was one thing I became sure of, that is whatever I want to be , it would take time for me to study and learn the skills it demands.

Then the time came, after I finished high school, when I made up my mind of what I really want to be as a full grown individual. Never did I imagine myself as a Psychologist nor to be positively required to have a college diploma in Psychology to get to that field. Together with this, I am blessed by God to be a full college scholar and dorm assistance grantee. I still depend on my parents though. My father is overseas for work and my mother is at home. They are still primarily taking care of me and also my siblings. But then, I look at myself and reflect how the scholarship helps my family has changed me.

Before, I could be carefree with my friends to spend for luxuries, now I used to be thinking first if I can live without such and just not buy at all. Because I was changed to realize that just as how much I want to get my wants, my family want them too for me. But in this life, our whole family, like many of the other families, make sacrifices to get what we want. It is not only one family member’s wants, like me being in a field of Psychology or spend for luxuries, but everyone’s wants that are great for us to make sacrifices.

It is so great to sacrifice. Ever wondered why? Devastated were we that a member and head of our family eats away from us, visits amazing places alone and walks its streets without us, and tires his self to work for us. Yet, ecstatic are we that the Lord guides him to endure such pains. Blessed is our family that makes us acknowledge the Lord at work around us. Glory be to God!

My family and I are as honest as we should be in accepting our family set-up. I  am honest to myself that I still have two and  a half year more till to go out of the gate of school before I can fully help out my family and give back to my parents what they deserve. For the mean time, my experiences as a student secures me of a place in society where I will contribute the progress I had in school in competition with hundreds of other applicants. In fulfillment of the requirements that will get me to the field where I want to be, I rise to the challenge of learning more not only from my family nor school but, as inherent as them, from the noisy and chaotic society too. Ideally, knowing what I want and what the society demands from me, I will nurture myself with my family and in school and go for what I may want.

Everything that I have said may pleasantly look ideal and right. As a saying has always shine, “the right thing to do is always the hard thing to do.” But I uphold to the importance of continuously learning from my family, school, and the society. I will prioritize and manage to have the right attitude towards studying and learning the skills required to get my wants in life. I am ready as I have ever been to do what is required to get what I want and this is as important to being prepared for the hurdles that may come.

Collegiala. “Ready, Set, Go.” https://msesguerra.wordpress.com/2010/10/11/ready-set-go/.

Job Fair on June 29, 2010 in the Activity Center of Glorietta

Simultaneous jobs held at Glorietta Activity Center, Makati City were grace to Filipinos in collaboration of private companies and recruitment agencies. Participating companies and agencies include Eperformax, Convergys, Prime Manpower Resources Development, Inc., and Sutherland Global Services. I went at the fair and observed. I got a registration form and filled-up information on it.

I then proceeded to the registration area. They were offering a number of local and overseas jobs. Professionals were on hand to offer legal assistance to interested job seekers. As I have tried to be interviewed, for at first they would not ask my age, they soon knew that I am under age when they asked me of it and I said “I am 17.” They told me that as much as they would want to help me get a job they just cannot because I should really be of legal age.

On the part of being an applicant I have been to like a one-stop shop on June 29, 2010 to be employed to one of my selected vacancies suited for my aspirations. I was not actually interviewed because as I have said, they knew my age. But before they knew it I got to know already how they do an interview. During the job fair a supplier of Convergys was able to include me in the group interview for the applicants of his company. We were in a group of five. I was able to see and hear other applicants introducing themselves, telling their hobbies, being test of their grammar and English skills, and the like. I find the interviewer very casual yet professionally upright.

As for the applicants with me, I find them like they were all newbie qualifying for a job. Specially as they were trying to be hired as call center agents, they seemed to be unqualified to be of customer service giving instructions confidently and clearly. They seemed to have a hard time getting employed and hired. I may sound judgmental but I only say what I have observed and reflected. Besides I am not blaming them for being not good enough for an interview if they were not educated enough to be.

As well as, even if I said that professional employees of different companies are on hand offering legal assistance there were some who were not offering welfare assistance. I am not particular to the welfare assistance they practically offer to applicants, but I am pertaining to how some of these called professionals act unprofessionally in general. I can testify that I was in shock when I saw an interviewer getting something on the floor and he gets another interviewer and the one being interviewed distracted. As I have learned before how a real interview goes I believe that he was not being proper with that. He was in between the two on an interview, so unethical.

From this experience I learned that choosing the position that best fits me is the first qualification I should have before anything else. It is knowing where I can be and will be at my best so as to be the best applicant, turned employee, I should always be. Listening carefully to the instructions of the interviewer is what I also learned. They know if I am really qualified or better look for other vacancies of others. For now I am just really not qualified at all. I am under 18 and a student. Patience is a virtue. I am reminded that life cannot wait for me but I can wait for my life. I can wait for the job in my life that is the will of God. But it does not mean I will mere wait for my job. I should make something. I will behave and do well in my studies. As I wait for the right time to get my job, I will maximize the time to prove to the people that I am worth a part of the business. So, before going at a fair I am trained well to present myself to the booth I will proceed for registration and interview, wisely selling myself to the recruiters to hire me.

Collegiala. “Job Fair on June 29, 2010 in the Activity Center of Glorietta.” https://msesguerra.wordpress.com/2010/08/08/job-fair-on-ju…r-of-glorietta/.

Television Programming

Piper, J. (2003) says the following: “Television is one of the greatest life-wasters of the modern age. And, of course, the Internet is running to catch up, and may have caught up. You can be more selective on the Internet, but you can also select worse things with only the Judge of the universe watching. TV still reigns as the great life-waster. The main problem with TV is not how much smut is available, though that is a problem. Just the ads are enough to sow fertile seeds of greed and lust, no matter what program you’re watching. The greater problem is banality. A mind fed daily on TV diminishes. Your mind was made to know and love God. Its facility for this great calling is ruined by excessive TV. The content is so trivial and so shallow that the capacity of the mind to think worthy thoughts withers, and the capacity of the heart to feel deep emotions shrivels.” p. 120

Nowadays, turning on the television, and spending a lot of hours watching its programs are so convenient for a big percentage of our population. This is even if the world is on the hard time facing the financial crises, people still make time to be entertained by watching TV programs. Even if families are deprived and lack a lot of basic things, they still manage to buy television for their house-use. It is truly that watching TV has been part of people’s daily practice. It is more than often that an audience concerns, behaviors, and actions are influenced by programs aired in televisions, since watching TV is attached to life. Even if an individual does not intend to be subjected to something, he/she happens to be in it. Well, its television program’s basic appeal to anyone.

How the TV shows affect the way people’s lives are defined in their standards of living. Lifestyle these days is holistically transformed, frequently. Observe the use of money and the feeling about possessions of the television viewers. From channeled TV programs, suggestions of increasing innovations are given. Issues of money and possessions arise (ex. The family wants to own the modeled car shown over and over again on TV. They may go over expensing buying the latest modeled car in town if they don’t consider budgeting. They will use the money for what they want, leaving behind their family needs.).

In watching horrific TV programs I think of heart attack, depression, suicide, and murder and aggression. Below is a research I read about the expression of aggression of children who watch violent series.

“In one experiment, one group of children watched cartoons, while another group watched nonviolent cartoons for the same amount of time. The children who watched the violent cartoons became more aggressive in their interactions with peers, whereas the children who viewed nonviolent cartoons showed no change in aggression. Moreover, these effects of television violence can be lasting: the more violent programs a boy watches at age 9, the more aggressive he is likely to be at age 19.” (Atkinson, R.L., Atkinson, R.C., Smith, E.E., Bem, DJ & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (1999) Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology. USA: Harcourt Brace College Publishers. p.9)

Don’t let televisions nurture the young minds of the present generation. We are all countable of whatever innocents would lose. Beside that we ought to work and pluck out bad television programming to stop violence, to stop this life waster.

The effects of habitual watching could be for a lifetime. What we see on televisions is the total reflection of the sinful world we are living in. The public is entertained on what are shown on televisions because society “enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin” (Hebrews 11:25).

ARCHIPELAGIC DOCTRINE

An archipelago is “a body of water studded with islands”. Philippines’ group of 7,100 islands and islets, interconnected waters and other natural features, around, between, and connecting among the islands form part of our territorial waters within the extension of not more than 12 nautical miles beyond archipelagic baselines.

Baseline serves as a basis for drawing the lowest depression of the outer most territorial shoreline. It includes jurisdictional claims and exploitation over natural resources. The country then limits any foreign vessels entering its territory. With that, foreign vessels have no right of innocent passage and cannot pass through it.

On the issue of the interplay with other equally important national security and stand in international law, it is my hope that it would be given a final stand, “for the preservation of our national wealth, for national security, and as a manifestation of our solidarity as a people”, by defining the limits of what is truly within our resources and what is and will be for everybody’s consumption now and in the future to the Philippines. The baselines should be established and or amended to conform in international law.

References:

http://charita-ugbinar.blogspot.com/2008/07/archepelagic-doctrine.html http://baselineissue.blogspot.com/ http://philippinebarquestions.blogspot.com/ http://marichulambino.wordpress.com/2008/03/15/the-philippine-archipelago-zte-broadband-deals-with-china-by-malacanang-etc/

PARA SA BAWAT BABAE Ni NANCY R. SMITH

Para sa bawat babaeng sawa na sa pagkukunwaring mahina siya gayong alam niyang siya’y malakas,

May isang lalaking pagod na sa pag-aastang malakas kahit nanghihina.

Para sa bawat babaeng sawa na sa pagkukunwaring wala siyang alam, May isang lalaking nabibigatan na dahil palaging inaasahang alam niya ang lahat.

Para sa bawat babaeng sawa na sa taguring “emosyonal at iyakin,”

May isang lalaking pinagkakaitan ng karapatang lumuha at magpakita ng pagmamahal.

Para sa bawat babaeng nakararamdam ng “pagkatali” sa kanyang mga anak,

May isang lalaking hindi nakakaranas ng lubos na kaligayahan ng pagiging kapwa-magulang.

Para sa bawat babaeng pinagkaitan ng makahulugang trabaho at pantay na pasahod,

May isang lalaking nabibigatan sa pananagutang buhayin ang kanyang pamilya.

Para sa bawat babaeng hindi tinuruan nang pasikot-sikot ng makina at sasakyan,

May isang lalaking hindi natuto sa kasiyahan ng pagluluto.

Para sa bawat babaeng humahakbang patungo sa kanyang sariling pagpapalaya,

May isang lalaking nakatutuklas na napadali ang daan niya tungo sa kalayaan.

Thinking

HOW GOOD A THINKER AM I?

_______________________________________________________

Good or poor thinking, if one removes the long list of discreet mental operations, is a matter of attitude. (Allan A. Glatthorn & Jonathan Baron, The Good Thinker.Developing Minds. p. 63f)

Personal Best Features:

We set goals in life. I believe that I am deliberative in analyzing goals possibilities. As it was said, “Life is not a series of chances. It is a series of choices.” As a Christian, I ask God to clear to us His plans in our lives.

I know at some points in life we make mistakes but I, myself, want that to lessen the mistakes I might commit.  Before I decide on something, I personally weigh my stand at what I know. I consult opinions from trustworthy people I have. If I learn that things are not right, I revise my goals as soon as possible.

Self-Recommendations:

Though I am deliberative, I am sometimes not. I tend to be the other way at times. I mean like being overconfident of the correctness of the initial ideas, might it be my own ideas or others. I realized that being all these — is impulsive, gives up prematurely, and overconfident, is a problem. Indeed, I still have to develop my approach in life. I could be time-practical and action-oriented and put on things right away. But I should instill to myself that “prevention is better than cure”. If I will not be careful I could be mislead.

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!