jueves, 26 de mayo de 2011

I am...an Oxymoron

I've finally come to realize that my life is an oxymoron.  I am an oxymoron.  Even my own name.  I'm Kary Askew, the white European looking girl, but the Garcia just doesn't seem to fit the face, although my mother is brown.  I'm young but I'm old, I'm wise but still naive.  I'm Catholic but I miss church.  I believe in chastity but I have sex.  I believe in a society where sex is sacred yet I use it as something recreational.  I'm not married, but I've had a few pregnancy scares.  If I had a kid, maybe I'd be more of an oxymoron.  I'm pro-life but I'm a liberal.  I'm religious but Marxism doesn't seem as ridiculous as people have called it.  My family loves me but hates me.  They love me, but my political ideology is a force to be reckoned with.  I will not back down.  In some ways I am like my parents, stubborn, determined to create my own opinions and views on this world, yet still stubborn in their same ways.  Like my mother was when she defied the odds.  When she overcame what her mother told her.  When she showed everyone what she was made of.  Women.  We are.  Forces to be reckoned with.  Role models, arguers.  Not going to lie, my mother and I we have our differences.  But we are the same, essentially. 

I am an oxymoron.  I've lived to tell the tale.  Some people can't believe that I am the way I am.  Some people call me a hypocrite.  At times, they are not too far off the mark.  I criticize, I brutalize, I cry.  I say how awful others are without looking at myself, but I always feel the guilt.  I know the hypocrisy.  I feel it gnawing at my bones. 

I believe in freedom. 

Freedom to love, freedom to live, freedom to believe.  Freedom of speech.  I think education should be multicultural.  I think ethnic heritage and indigenous peoples need to be respected, preserved, cherished as part of our history.  I think that money that pays for schools should be equally distributed, so that the kids in the inner city get a chance too.  I hope they get a chance to walk out of the ghetto.  I hope they get the chance that I got...although many never will.

What child will get the same chance as I did?  To grow up in a religious, loving community?  To attend private, Catholic schools?  What chance will those children get?  They will not get that chance.  Very few children will ever get that chance.  So I say, programs.  Fund out of school programs for children.  Encourage them to learn.  Teach them about oppression, assimilation, the corruption in our society.  It's all about education.  We want to get them out of the ghetto.


And what about our borders?  I believe that the southwest is the territory of Aztlán.  It is the territory of our people, Xicanos, Mexicans, Latinos.  It is our territory and the united states has no right to dictate who stays and who goes.  Who was really here first, Mr. White Man?  Who was really here first? 

I believe they have the right to stay.  The right to work. The right to love their families enough to risk their lives just to send money over the border.  I believe in love.  Peace.  Unity.  I believe that the government should fund more programs to help these people stay, or at least help them in their country.  I believe that the government should fund scholarships and grants for poor, colored students.  Students of all colors. 

I believe that the government should help to fund poor women and children who may not have enough to survive. 

I believe that as citizens it is our duty as well to be charitable.

Be charitable.  Love.  Give. Help.


Am I such a bad person? 

I am an oxymoron.  But do these ideals make me a bad person?   Equality, multiculturalism, charity?

I've been told that I hate women.  That I hate children.  That I am stupid, conservative, dumb.  That I live in a delusion. 

It is because I am an oxymoron.  I am faithful.  I am lovely.  I am strong.  I am pro-life. 

I do not hate women.  I love women.  I embrace my femininity.  I believe women have the right to know what they're doing when they're making choices, and that sex, birth control, and abortion can cause all sorts of pain in their lives.

I know one of those caused me a lot of pain in mine.  The large conflict with my faith is still an ongoing battle...

I love children.  I love them dearly.  I donate, I volunteer, I hug, I laugh, I teach, I cherish.  I want to be a mother one day, with lots of children, adopted and of my own womb. 


I want my Lord to be there every step of the way. 

I am an oxymoron.  I don't think that I would ever want to be anything else.  White and brown.  Religious and perhaps Marxist.  Liberal and Pro-life. 

I love myself, oxymoron or not.
And no one can change that.  :)

miércoles, 25 de mayo de 2011

still a lot to learn

dirty clothes on the floor
memories in a box.
door ajar
fan spreading cool air
into the stiff arid night.

is this my life?
graduation cards
in a box in the corner.
photos.
old ones.
friends, family, memories.
high school was never my legacy
but it sure left a lot of
luggage

this room looks so different.
so empty.
is it because when i left it
i left my old self behind?

goodbye innocence.
goodbye miss"all American sweetheart."
goodbye to all the
tragedies
world wars
and other trivial roadblocks
that high school presented to my life.

i feel like Lucy and the wardrobe.
i opened the door and stepped into a new
life.

leaving this behind was never hard.
it was just part of life.

and now that i am where i am

i don't know if i want to look at my past.

the girl in those pictures...
thinner, more self-conscious
innocent, naive.

she had a lot to learn.

and the girl
in the mirror that i stop to pass by
just barely i glance at

who is she?
not the same person evidently...

but in ways they are similar...

she has a lot to learn too.

viernes, 20 de mayo de 2011

i hate this blog.

i hate this blog because nobody reads it.  i don't post in it.  it is barren.
i hate this blog.
i love my livejournal.
i am too lazy to comment on other people's shit
i am too cheap to pay for a legit looking blog
i want feedback
but i am too lazy to go out there and get people to read my shit.
UGH
i hate this blog!!!!
but i wish people would read the few dumb things i put up here...

lunes, 2 de mayo de 2011

this has gotta be the good life...

1st year of freshman year in college = almost done.
and a part of me doesn't even realize that it's happening.  It's crazy.  A year ago I was worrying about what I was going to get on my AP tests, who was going to be my prom date, messing around near the lockers in high school, laughing my ass off with my friends.  But now everything is so different.  The place, the time, everything.  Everything.  And I never expected it to be like this at all.  It was crazy, it IS crazy.


I honestly didn't even know what I was expecting.  I didn't know how it was going to be.  I didn't know at all.  Although plenty a time this year I've made more of an ass out of myself than I ever had...it's still been the greatest year of my life.  I learned so much, I had fun, I loved like crazy.  And I lived my life.  I figured out what I wanted and what's best for me.  I figured it all out.  And maybe I don't have all my shit together, but it's getting there.  At least I'm on my way now, unlike before.

In all honesty, the partying, the craziness, it's all part of finding yourself.  I don't condone it in any sense.  I went through a lot more pain than maybe it was worth, but at the end of the day you begin to appreciate what you learned, and who was there to save your ass.

ok and i would have like so much more to say about this but....there's this research paper that i gotta do....haha
more laterrr. <3

miércoles, 27 de abril de 2011

it might be a quarter life crisis...or just a stirring in my soul...

A year ago I was sitting on the edge of the universe, waiting for the next to come.
I was still, I was nervous, I was anticipating all the things to come.  There was no doubt.
There was fear, but not enough to tame my wild spirit...

and life comes at you.  It hits you hard in the face sometimes.  I took it and ran.
Crazy times, lots of laughs. Kissing strangers, and then running into them again.
Blushing madly, smiling widely, giggling until my face turns red.  Although the peak
was not at those points, I hit some highs.  I hit some highs, and there were plenty of lows.
In the darkness by myself, when nobody was watching.  My heart ached.  It ached for love,
as it always does.  My heart always aches for companionship and love.  I wanted more than
just a night of hooking up.  I wanted more than just the taste of the kiss of a stranger on my
petal-soft lips. 

Finding love is never an easy task.  And I'm not sure if I was ever supposed to seek it out.
But love happens.  It happens even when you don't want it to.  It happens when you least expect...
When I was in his arms I felt complete.  When he kissed my lips, my heart leapt.  I hadn't felt so many
butterflies since I was fifteen...

Mistakes were made.  Words were exchanged that were less than pleasant.  My heart was torn out of my chest.
And I moved on.  I had a decision to make...and I walked away.

If I lived in California I would take advantage of the heat outside.  I would drive with the windows down
and the A/C off...or rather broken.  I would love for the sun to warm me up as it would rise in the morning.
I would love to feel the feeling of freedom, light, and wind all around me.  Those are the times when my spirit
is finally free.  When I am all alone. When I am independent, my spirit flies in the air, does flips, gets wild and crazy
chasing dreams I never thought I'd have the courage to...

and when I left him, I wasn't independent.  I wasn't on my own.  Sometimes I wonder what would've happened
had I been alone.  Sometimes I wonder what would've happened if I had to rough it all alone.  Surely I would have
not lasted more than a day, without breaking down and running back.  But I had something else.  Someone special.

We met in the least of appropriate ways, or from what I recall at least...he says we met another night, but I could not
remember his face, or his name.  We stumbled and fumbled the night I remember, a little embarrassed to say the least,
but a little intoxicated as well.  I didn't remember his name the next day and when it was mentioned...I burst out into laughter.
I always seemed to get humor out of those stories...

We kept running into each other.  The same situation once more.  Twice, three times, four.  Every month or so...
Initially I never had a single thought. I never wanted anything to come of us. But one day it did.  I faced this choice.
I faced this choice between he and I together, he who treated me so well and I...I was just a woman who spent a few nights in his bed. 
I had never received such great hospitality from someone that I didn't necessarily expect to see again, unless our lips became
intoxicatedly locked once more...
And I chose him.  I chose him over another, another who I deeply cared about but I freed myself from. He only brought me pain.  He
only tried to change me.  I didn't want to change.  I wanted to love, I wanted to be loved.  I thought he would adore me.  I thought he
might be the one.  But he kept treating me less than equal.  He stopped giving me the respect I deserved.  He refused to understand why.
Why I was and desired to be so independent, mature, successful, without any man behind me.  He said it was his culture.  He said women
didn't do those things.  Women weren't as outspoken as I seemed to be.  But I loved that.  I love to know that I am

Brazen
Bold
Courageous.
Independent.
And beautifully so.

Take me as I am, or let me go.  The final thought inside my mind when I made it up.  And then it was on to the other, who we had talked about
being together and desired to see each other.  Although it seemed...and maybe it was all for the wrong reasons, it turned out all right.
We fell in love within two weeks.  Maybe it was induced by the alcohol, maybe I was addicted to his kisses.  But he was everything in my heart.
And I could see his love for me through it all.

I gave him my heart.  I had never loved someone in the way that I had loved him before.  Everything in the past was stupid hopeful fairytale bull shit.  This time it was raw, real, beautiful.  It wasn't the "butterflies" or a nervous feeling.  It was this feeling in my heart that wouldn't go away.  This feeling that said, "this is right."  This is so right.

So I gave him everything I could.  He took that with no regrets.  We went in, totally committed, no regrets.  Like jumping off the edge of a cliff, hoping you'll hit warm, foamy water.  We hit the water all right. We enjoyed every moment spent together.  We enjoyed every time we were together, and we tried to have no regrets.  We tried and tried and tried so hard.

My heart was in pieces inside at times.  I had done something unthinkable.  I had done something that I had declared to myself that I would never do, for a long long time.  And he felt this pain in his heart too.  He watched me cry.  He watched me want, and cry, and die inside.  I felt so hollow, but I felt completed by him at the same time. But with him by my side it all seemed to get better.  It all seemed to be okay.

We had our ups and downs, as I tried to figure myself out.  I was discovering new things about me.  It was like opening presents every day.
I couldn't tell you how I felt in those moments when I took life into my own hands.  I couldn't describe how amazing I felt when I thought...
I am going to make a difference.

Thoughts of
Majors
and Minors
and Specializations
and study abroad.
I wanted to get out in the world.
I want to get out in the world.

Desire in life to be independent, by myself, in the jungle, helping others, fending for my life and theirs.  I wanted to be so free.
I was reunited with my king.  He showed me where I wanted to be.  It took me months of struggle to get out of the life I was living.
I wanted to be intoxicated in his love, I wanted that so much more than being intoxicated in the street, or at a house, or in a bed.
He was the key force to pushing me, raising me up, showing me that I am called to be so much
more than what I had initially thought.

I know it's a struggle but now I think I'm getting it right.
I am
Successful.
I am
Beautiful.
I am
Independent.

I love him.
Definitely, but is it right?   Is it right to hold onto something that you're pretty sure wouldn't even last?  For the sake of my heart right now?
Forget my heart.  Go with my head.  Step out into the universe.  Reach out hand.  Love everyone.  Do what you've been doing.  You see it every day when you walk outside.  You see that life is changing all around, and that you're changing too.  You know you have a long way to go. 
You know there's so much out there for you, you just have to reach for it.  Reach for it. 

I've been walking my own path.
I've been trekking around.
I've been going on adventures
I've been getting shit done.
I've been dreaming, and I hope to make those dreams come true.

I will make those dreams come true.

A year ago, I would have NEVER expected to be where I am right now.  And I think that...maybe I got off the road a while back, but we all do.
Everyone has a point where they're not even sure what they want anymore.
But I know now.
A year ago, I wouldn't have been so courageous to step out in the world as I am now. I am ready for anything. I am ready for it.
I am ready to
move mountains
change minds
teach others
share love
explore

I am ready for anything.  So give it to me, and I will take it and run with it,
and hopefully a year from now, I'll finish the race.

No regrets this time.  No looking back on the past.  Of course I don't know what there is to come.  Of course I'm unsure of everything that I
have in my head.
but I know.
It will all work itself out in the end somehow.
I believe that through
grace, faith, love, life
it will all
be okay.

Start the car.
The road goes on for miles, and you have a long journey to make.
(I believe in you)

lunes, 25 de abril de 2011

Study Break

Okay, now seriously...am I really enjoying being alone?  And am I really hating talking to him this much?  I never really thought I would say this but...I really think I'm getting over it.  And I think he was right and that I shouldn't keep up this ruse for much longer.  I feel almost bad.  I really do care about him so much!  And today we kissed when we saw each other...but it's just so normal for us to do that...  It doesn't mean I actually LIKE him or anything... But I think I do...

It's all too confusing.  I love being here at the library by myself and typing and (trying) to get stuff done.  But for some reason I have this obsession of being tied down...I don't really understand that part of myself.  I'm always saying how much I want to be "liberated" and "independent" and that I don't need a man to make me feel validated (which of course I don't).  It's just the simple fact of having a guy...and the weirdest part is that I LIKE to assume the role of typical "submissive woman."  I like to cook for him and take care of him and do things for him. I thoroughly enjoy that...like a mother takes care of a child (ok that is such a weird-ass way to put it but it's true).  Is something wrong with me?  I like to be motherly and I keep thinking about babies all the damn time...THIS CANNOT BE NORMAL.  I am 19 years old!  I don't have time for babies!  But I still love them to death!  And pregnant women, I just feel so much compassion for them...Sometimes I feel like the weirdest person in the world.  Maybe I should volunteer at a pregnancy center this summer...or even a day care.  Maybe that will knock some sense into me.  (Not that I'm actually physically TRYING to get pregnant, my parents would KILL me). 

Somebody PLEASE knock it into my brain that I gotta stop thinking about YEARS from now and think about today!  Like the interview I had, or the jobs, my classes, this paper that I am avoiding...  Wow and that now brings me to thinking about how happy I am with all of those things.  Even if I don't get this bad ass job that I really want, I don't think I'll be that devastated because I know my interview went well.  And that's all part of the process.  Just as learning to lead a student organization will be and writing a newsletter. 

Haha
Why is my life so incredibly ridiculous? :)  Honestly, right now all I'm thinking about is finishing this paper and getting out of school.  I cannot wait for the summer to come and to see my beloved friends and just enjoy my last summer of being a teenager.  It's rather exciting.  Life is definitely going to put some great challenges in front of me, but I'm so excited to take them on.  I'm so ready for this and I'm motivated and I'm going to do this all.

So why the hell am I worried about men and relationships and babies?  I have no clue!  It has no relevance to where I'm at right now in life anyway.  Just screw it all!  Throw it out the window.  I gotta concentrate on what's right here.  And I'm going to.  I'm going to tackle this and kill it.  I'm going to succeed.  Nobody can tell me otherwise.  I can and WILL succeed.