The Moon Goddess This issue is about staying positive and finding happiness. I wanted to dedicate this issue to the greek moon goddess, Achelois. She is a staple in my mind because she was known as a “minor” greek goddess but everything she did for her people wouldn’t be considered minor. She was a recipient of sacrifices ordered by the Dodonian Oracle, just so her subjects would be cured from their ailments. Which ultimately deemed her as; “She who washes away the pain.”
She carried the weight but it never showed, She was the reason why the sun shined and the wind blowed, She devoted herself to everyone and they took it for granted, She sacrificed her body and stayed enchanted.
Anger, Jealousy, Anxiety, do these words sound familiar to you? With a busy schedule, an overbearing boss, whiny kids, and relationship duties, life can cause you to feel every emotion out there. But how can you find peace through it all? And not only that how do you get those positive vibes everyone’s talking about to come your way? How do you find positivity? First thing to remember is that you feeling positive is strongly connected to your emotions. So what emotion are you feeling right now? Happiness, joy, contentment, or is it frustration, sadness, depression? If your emotions are more on the negative side think of the reasons why you feel this way. Did your boss say something harsh to you today? Are you and your significant other going through a rough patch right now? Are you constantly focusing on what you’re not good at? Once you find out the reason try to understand the situation more. Maybe your boss has a lot of pressure on him/her right now. Maybe there’s a miscommunication between you and your significant other. Maybe what you see as something inadequate is something someone wished they possessed. By changing your perspective you start to change how you feel about a situation. With more understanding comes more peace of mind. Where there is peace there is positivity. To be and to stay positive, you have to monitor what you allow into your life. Are the people you hang out with always putting themselves, you and others down? Are the tv shows you watch feeding you hope and inspiration, or is it just encouraging you to throw “shade” on others. Sometimes we’ve got to purge people and things out of our lives just so we can be more happy. Don’t think that cutting someone toxic out of your life makes you a bad person, because it doesn’t. At the end of the day it’s great to care for others but if you’re
feeling empty inside, how can you expect to give love to someone else? Also with social media, are you comparing yourself to others? It might be a good idea to delete social media for a while and just love on yourself. Give yourself all the heart emojis that you need. By focusing on yourself, you can start becoming a more positive person. Here are some examples on how to start being more positive in your life. First try to spend time alone, this may be hard for my socialites but its not good if all of your energy and emotions come from others. Write in a journal, read a book, listen to podcasts or audibles, listen to encouraging music, and practice speaking life/ words of affirmation. Also important is to spend time with others, now this may be uncomfortable for my introverts but always spending time alone can easily have you slip into a depressed state. Hang out at social gatherings around positive and welcoming people. Go to the park, go to a church, join a book club, go dancing, do yoga, join a gym, join an anime fan club, whatever you enjoy doing by yourself see if there is a way to do it with others. Some of the things I’ve mentioned have helped me tremendously in staying positive. And by dividing my time to myself and to spend with others has helped me keep my life at a balance. Remember you have control over your emotions so make the first step in living a more positive lifestyle.
Stay blessed everyone, Semaj Handy
What is your business about and how long has it been running? My business is a media company that caters to local musicians, designers, and film makers in the New York area. In some years ahead I would like to expand. We are a film company and what we do is document and create pieces for artists who are looking to get their name out there. We send them out into the world with something professional to showcase their talents. the better part of it. My company literally just got its name but it’s been around since I’ve been in film school under Do you have any pressure of staya multitude of names and different members, or ing with a normal job or are you currently in a 9-5 job just to freelancers if you will. To keep it short and sweet, make ends meet with doing what my business has been running for 4 years. you love? If so how does it relate to your field? What do you do to stay in peace, So I work for myself 7 out of 10 times. Reguor find happiness? lar jobs would be practical if I didn’t love film Truth be told, all the simple things the doctor told making so much. I’ve tried numerous times to me to do while growing up. Don’t sit around all keep a regular/part time job; I still dedicated day; be sure to stay active. Don’t eat too much myself to film by giving it 80 percent and the junk food, stay hydrated, and get proper rest. other 20 percent to the part time job but I still Those things don’t always work so when they would either leave or lose that job. So i threw don’t, I do a few other things to stay at ease. the towel in after losing my last job and gave up Some of these things are listening to meditation looking for other gigs. Aiming to give my passion audio tapes (typically the asian ones that sound 100% for the first time. Luckily, I’m able to make like gongs and flutes), having a cup of coffee, ends meet with my business. I’m not exactly watching stand up comedy (my favorite right now raking in all piles of bacon but its taking care of is the new one on netflix by Tom Segura). Oh! and what it can. Yoga! Are there still moments where you are unsure of the outcome in reHow do you balance regular life gards to your business/ field? and a business? I get doubts sometimes, however, it only I don’t, It’s all one big task. If I were to separate happens when it gets slow so I guess it‘s sort the two, I might as well throw them both away. I of a normal thing for any business. I never let it treat them the same. If anything I would become phase me to the point of quitting, not any more very still in my personal life, and vigilant in my at least. When I first started, I did want to quit. business life. How long did it take for everything to come in place for you? I first got a hint of what i wanted to do at 4/5 years old; my desires bounced between entertainment and health professions. I’d say 14 years ago I said to myself, this is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life, or at least
Lastly, is there any advice you want to give future generations that want to follow in your footsteps? Learn as much as you can. Keep learning and stay up to date. Those will be core tools in making your business a success .
Everyone undergoes judgement atleast once in their lives, especially women. There’s this criteria that we have to meet in society’s standards, If we are “too much” of something or “too little” we are deemed as unfit. I’ve created a one question, open answer survey and asked people on my friend’s list on Facebook what their biggest insecurity is and the results were immensely similar. In the begining my hypothesis was that the majority of the results would be insecure about their weight, that’s why I originally put weight in it’s own category. In my actual analysis, most of my friend’s (the majority being women) are insecure of not being intelligent enough to hold a conversation with another person. They are afriad of people thinking that they aren’t educated enough on a certain topic, which ultimately boils down to a fear of rejection or just the need to feel accepted.
In my personal experiences, I’ve never been questioned on my inteligence until I started focusing on my appearance more. Even then, I’ve only been questioned by people who were insecure about their own intellect. You know the whole psychological thing about “the tiniest dog barks the loudest”.
Rejection is possibly the hardest blow to our society, that people actually view it as a negative. When it’s really not, rejection shows room for I honestly believe in that, the people that growth. Even if you are rejected, there’s always a has the most to say about something are chance to try again, persistency is key. the most insecure. I am still learning the hard lesson of you can’t change those We as a society have a need to feel accepted, so who don’t want to be changed. However, I feel that’s what generated certain groups and what you can change is yourself and how stereotypes within that group. Even if we break you choose to react to everything around the mold, there is still a group for that, so we are you. ultimately stuck in a cycle.
Esmerelda has olive colored skin, luscious curls and piercing green eyes. She was always proud of the way she looked and never had a problem, but that changed when her family moved halfway around the world. Being the new kid in any area is overwhelming, but even more so when no one in the community resembles you. Trying to fit in when you stick out like a sore thumb was weighing heavy on her heart. Adults and children would torment her for being different. People at school would try to exclude her from activities and constantly whispered about her. Esmerelda’s parents wanted her to assimilate, so the harassment would subside. Esmerelda was clearly upset as she shouted,� Why do I have to negate my culture just so people I do not care about will like me?� The door quickly slammed behind her. As tears streamed down her face, all she thought about was her parents teaching her at an early age, how to be unapologetically proud of herself and their culture. She was frustrated because she never imagined that her parents would ask her to assimilate. While she was walking, she came across a dog. When the corgi approached her, Esmerelda could tell that he had lost an eye, but that did not stop him as he was happily jumping around. He seemed so excited and ready for the world. There was something about the animal and she knew she had to keep him. Gazing into his deep brown eyes, she decided on a name. His name would be Lucky because he came at the right time in her life. Her parents were apprehensive at first, but they realized how important it was for her to keep Lucky. Whenever she was troubled, Lucky was always there to provide comfort. With the help from the handsome corgi, she was able to come out of her shell. The little ball of fur was her source of strength and Esmerelda learned a lot from him. She learned to be more accepting, patient, persistent and loving. It was important that she tried to make friends at her school, so
Esmerelda did not care if her peers tormented her because there were others who cared and loved her. She did not need or want their validation. When her peers realized they could no longer make her suffer, the tormenting stopped. As she started to make friends, they became curious as to what her ethnicity was because they had never seen anyone who looked like her before. Esmerelda perked up because she loved talking about her culture and educating others. Although, she wondered why she did not bring it up before, but she figured it should not matter what her ethnicity was because she was human, and that was all that mattered. Before saying her ethnicity, Esmerelda informed her peers that they should not exclude or mistreat others for being different and to be kind to one another. She reminded them that it is okay to be curious, but to be respectful, especially when asking questions. Esmerelda explained that she was Greek-Spaniard and went in-depth into how the cultures were similar, different and the significant impact they each had in her life. She made it known that she identified as both and does not pick a side because there was no reason to, and it would not be fair to her family members. Esmerelda was able to teach her peers to be more accepting, just like Lucky was able to teach her. While she learned about Greece and Spain eversince she could talk, Esmerelda researched other cultures that interested her. She is continuing to thrive and assists her peers in learning about diverse cultures, customs and traditions. Lucky reminded Esmerelda that what made her different made her beautiful, and that everyone deserves to be loved and accepted.
I was sitting in my bedroom, surrounded by textbooks that cost way too much and highlighters that were quickly fading. Fading just like memories and the smile that once was mine. The silence was deafening, and I could no longer concentrate; or maybe I never concentrated in the first place. Time was slowly slipping away, and I started questioning my decisions. Why am I doing this? Who am I doing this for? What will happen to me? Will I be happy going down this path? I guess I accidently knocked a book on the floor because the loud thud woke me from the trance. As I looked at the sprawled-out textbooks and supplies, I took a deep breath and it hit me like a ton of bricks. This was no longer something I was passionate about and I did not know if I would ever find something like that again. The fire was gone, and I was in desperate need to rekindle that flame. Desperate times call for desperate measures, but all I could think to do was call my best friends. Many important life decisions were made with them either in the room or on the phone, so it only made sense to talk to them. I know making friends can be difficult, but when you meet the right people, it can be life-altering in the greatest way possible. After what felt like hours on an emotional rollercoaster from all sides, because I will not be the only passenger on the ride, I had made my decision. I chose to play-back my life like a film and attempted to remember anything that resembled happiness or captured hope. It suddenly dawned on me that the happiest moments I had while growing up involved baking and eating with my family. Baking is a labor of love and the smell that permeates the kitchen can be intoxicating.
In my opinion, freshly baked bread is the
best, with pie in second place. I think it would be safe to assume that everyone has had an amazing moment that involved delicious food. There is a sense of pride and joy when you see a person enjoy the food you construct. My new mission is to share a bit of happiness with the food I create. Fall in love with yourself every day. Make mistakes and learn from them. It is okay to doubt yourself, but do not beat yourself up. Things do not always go to plan, and maybe later down the road, you will realize that it was a blessing in disguise. Do not be afraid to be vulnerable. Whatever you are going through, you will get through it. Take your time and do not let anyone rush you on your path. Listen to what others have to say, but do not lose yourself trying to please them, because you cannot please everyone. You will face adversity, but it will be worth it in the end. I guess the whole takeaway is that at the end of the day, it is your life, so if you are not hurting yourself or others, do whatever makes you happy. Good luck in your future endeavors.