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Ugly? I don’t think so!

I loved reading comic books as a kid. Whenever my family and I went to India, we would always come back with a comic about Indian culture; one of my favorite stories to read from the Jataka series, a series of stories written from the former lives Buddha, is “King Kusha”, which is a story about a prince born with an ugly face, yet he excelled in academics and the arts. One day his parents decided that he should be married; aware of his looks prince Kusha knew that no one would want to marry him. So he carved the image of a beautiful girl out of stone and told his parents that he would marry her thinking that they could not find such a girl. However, the girl was found; she was the daughter of neighboring king.  After that, the king’s messengers went to the princess’ palace and told the king of the marriage and the father agreed to have his daughter married to Kusha. Neither Kusha nor the princess got to meet or see each other before the marriage! Prince Kusha’s parents knew that if the beautiful princess who was supposed to marry their son saw him, she would run away because he was so ugly! Talk about ruining your child’s self esteem! But the two do eventually meet and the princess ends up running back to her parents and Kusha is not far behind, trying to win her love. He ended up apprenticing for different artists in the palace, trying to make gifts for the princess to show her that he loved her, but when she found out they were from him she didn’t want them. Eventually, the father of the princess discovers that seven other kings want his daughters’ hand in marriage. Realizing that giving her to only one of them would begin a war with the other 6, he decides that he would have to cut her up, and give a piece of her to each king. I know, gross! Realizing what her father is going to do, the princess runs back to Kusha wanting him to save her, and he does by offering her 7 sisters to the kings. And they live happily ever after!

 

There are many things that I am noticing about this story. Both the princess and Kusha’s mother are way too focused on his looks. What the hell? Let her see beyond his looks. Show her how good of a person he is Look at how talented this guy is! He can sculpt out of stone, he excels at pottery, and many other artistic creations, and he is so sweet. If I was the princess, I would be delighted that someone loved me that much. And, when she found out that she was in danger, she came to him asking for help. That seems kind of selfish of her. And Kusha still helps her. To this day I still love this story, it gives me something to think about— not to judge a book by its cover. 

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I Got My Dad In a Box

*This post contains mentions of, and some descriptions of, death and sick-related stuff*

Death is unfortunately not a new phenomenon in my life. I’ve seen a lot of my family members get sick, a lot of friends die suddenly. I’ve spent a lot of time sitting in intensive care waiting rooms, getting to know the staff, the smell, learning to walk around like I know where I’m going so no one will bother me. I’ve spent way more time than I should have perfecting my small talk in funeral homes, not knowing how long to kneel at the open casket, hugging distant relatives in stiff clothes they only wear to these functions. I’ve sunk into a lot of grave dirt in some really uncomfortable shoes. My advice is to have a sense of humor about it.  Continue reading →

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Bridget Says It Best

Growing up, I was also told over and over again my worth was tied to doing Great Things. That lesser people lived ordinary lives…So do I own my complete failure, or do I redefine what it means to do Great Things?

Bridget Allen wrote an incredible piece on her blog that I stumbled upon through the Huffington Post – read “My Value: Autism, Feminism and Poverty” on her blog here.

I’m trying to think of what more analysis I can add to this post – but honestly, Bridget says it best. Continue reading →

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What the F**k is a Diva Cup?

So this past summer I made a very important purchase, an investment.

I bought myself a Diva Cup.

When I told my mother this she literally replied with “¿De que carajo es una Diva Cup?” – literal translation: What the f**ck is a Diva Cup. She was still confused when I explained it to her, no longer about what it actually is but why I would even want to use it. She said it sounded “dirty” and “gross”. She wasn’t mean about it but I could hear the judgement in her voice. It made her uncomfortable and I understand that. I’m not going to lie, her reaction hurt my feelings and I felt defensive. Yet her response is exactly what I expected to hear.

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(Talk of Menstrual Blood to come!)

Continue reading →

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I Am My Hair.

How I feel with my new hair.

“The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries or the way she combs her hair.” –Audrey Hepburn

Although these words spoken by one of the most beautiful women in history are all nice and feel-good-y, modern-day society disagrees wholeheartedly. That being said, my apprehension and hesitance to cut my hair short wasn’t exactly atypical. Continue reading →

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Window Seat? No thanks…

All my life I’ve been the tallest chick in the room. Sometimes it goes unnoticed but i’m generally not easily camouflaged

greww

Always in the back for pictures so I don’t block other people, Always asked if I played basketball. I’m tall and that is a widely known fact.Until today I did not really think of how that affected my movement through the spaces within my life . While sitting in the dining room with my roommates, we talked about how we’re all tall so we tend to kick each other under the dining room table. Now let me define tall. I’m 5’10, my other girl roommate (photo’d above in the smiley face tee) is 5’8 and her boyfriend is 6’2. The average woman in the US is roughly 5’4 while the average man in 5’9. So it’s safe to say we are some pretty tall people.

Now generally I can go about my day without noticing this obvious fact about myself. Other times I can’t. For one, I wish my seat in my car could move back further. Don’t get me wrong I love my 08 toyota corolla but sometimes Pierre just doesn’t seem like he was made for me.

pierre

Talking about window seats is what really got me thinking. Now generally when I get on a bus or in a car, I hope to get the window seat because most days I enjoy the view. With time though i’ve started to reject the window seat as my first choice. If I sit by the window and by chance someone sits beside me, i become confined to this little corner for however long this ride will last. For me that is almost torture since I have to change the position of my knee every 10 minutes or so to avoid pain in the joint. This entire problem can play a significant role in when I decide to travel. Sometimes I will catch a flight to Myrtle Beach to visit my best friend but if there are no available aisles seats for the day i’m flying, I will completely change my trip schedule in order to ensure i’m not stuck in the window seat for an hour and a half. The same problem occurs on the bus. If there are no available aisles seats, I will gladly stand for the rest of the trip.

Thinking of these small daily obstacles I encounter also makes me wonder what it must be like to be short in our society. I’ve witnessed on many occasions people unable to reach things in public places. One time my co worker used the plastic mat that they busboys stack our cups on to knock over the stack far in the back so they would be within arms reach. There are so many little things that have to be altered in our daily lives if we fall out of any of society’s norms.