Celebrity

                  

A celebrity is someone that is recognized at the public level by a specific talent.  The celebrity captures the attention of much of society and the media. Today, among the most prominent and easily recognized celebrities by the whole world are the actors and actresses, musicians and athletes. In another era the writers, politicians, scientists, and painters were considered as the most important celebrities, and also today still remain very important. I don't have a favorite celebrity, because I appreciate the talent or the ability of many celebrities not only of one in specific, but I decided to choose a singer, because this singer for me has a beautiful voice and sings the songs with a lot of feeling. 

 Christina Maria Aguilera is an American singer, songwriter and actress,was born in Staten Island, New York on December 18, 1980, and was raised in Rochester and Wexford Pennsylvania. Her father Fausto Xavier Aguilera was a United States Army soldier and her mother a musician called Shelly Loraine.  Aguilera’s family moved frequently because of her father's military service, and lived in places including New Jersey, Texas, New York, and Japan. Christina was physically and emotionally abused by her father, she and her mother alleged that he abused of them. Aguilera used music as a form of escape from her dysfunctional household. Growing up, she aspired to be a singer, was known as “the little girl with the big voice", singing in local talent shows and competitions.  At the age of eight, she won her first talent show, in which she performed Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)".  She won the nickname of “the voice of her generation". At People's Choice Awards she was honored as the “voice of the people". Also in 2013, the Time magazine included her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.She is recognized as the singer that changed the style of teen pop music and turned it in a more mature pop. I can’t talk about all the Christina’s success because are many, but approximately she has 176 awards won and 225 nominations.

I chose her because she has a big voice. I like very much her songs but the thing that I most like is the feeling with which she sings. She sang with a force that is incredible, she lives her songs when she sings. According to some musicians’ experts, her voice is soprano type, capable of reaching the higher registers on the human scale. I admire her because even though she grew up in a dysfunctional family, she accomplished her dream of being a singer, and is one of the best in the world. As celebrity has been criticized, but for me her talent is much big than her defects. Another thing that I like about Christina is that she is a bilingual singer, she sings in English and Spanish. My favorite song of Christina is called “Hurt”. It’s my favorite song, although having a very sad lyric, because is a song written and sung with a lot of feeling and describes exactly how one deals with the loss of a loved one. Another song that I like very much is called “Beautiful”. This song gives us a great message:  “That we are all beautiful, without matter what others say”, in other words, we have to learn to accept ourselves as we are, and forget the criticism of society. To conclude, I consider her as a celebrity because her music came to the heart of many people and also she is an example to all the people that grown in a dysfunctional family, because like her they also can accomplish her dreams.

                           

                      A part of the video called: "Hurt" ( song by: Christina Aguilera)

                                             A  part of the video called: "Say somenthing"
                                          ( song by: A Great Big World ft. Christina Aguilera)

                                    

The video of my favorite song: "Hurt" 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwCykGDEp7M

                     

                                                                                      Media

                              

        

What is media? In general, "media" refers to diverse means of communication as television, radio, and the newspaper. Also the term can be used as a collective noun for the press or news reporting agencies. “Media”, in the computer world is used as a collective noun, but refers to different types of data storage options. I was looking for information about the media and I found an interesting video that for me reflects the genuine definition of media: 
                              

                                                    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M89_wjcwzfY

Media is a very broad concept, for that reason I decided to talk about the “Media and the Distortion of Body Image”. Studies prove that media can have a negative impact on women’s self image. The television, magazines, movies, and the internet all the time bombard the people with images of how their bodies should be. The big problem is that their version isn't realistic. Those images are arranged  to show the woman very skinny , the models in those images weigh 23% less that the average woman. Unfortunately, millions of teens believe the lies and decide resort to unhealthy measures to try to be like those models.  The media transmit the “thin ideal” in almost every way possible. On the covers of magazines and in advertisements, also on the internet, television shows and movies almost always shown thin and beautiful women. The amount of diet and exercise articles in magazines has been increasing with every new year. The internet provides positive and good  information to people about leading a healthy lifestyle, but it also provides access to harmful websites. Harmful sites that provide advices to those interested in becoming anorexic or bulimic. There are not precautionary measures to stop people from see these sites, so if adolescents see these pages, it could be very detrimental for them. 

 The “thin ideal” in the media is a constant reminder, teens , young women and also men are following this negative body image. The self-esteem and body image are definitely affected by the media; the people compare their body with the media’s perfect body. Then they feel dissatisfied and with shame because not have the beautiful and perfect body that the magazines, the internet and the television shows present to us. Not only the health of the viewers is at risk, also the health of the models because they need to be very skinny and beautiful for the magazines and the television shows, and they are more exposed to suffer eating disorders.  The media have always been present in our lives; we are a lot of hours watching television, using our cell phones and navigating on the internet, for that reason we need to be very careful, because everything we see and hear is not true, an example is the false body image that the media sold to us. We have to come together as a society and change the way we perceive beauty, if not there will be serious physical and mental consequences.

Now, I want to share a video titled: " Body Image Affected by Media"

                                                 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47cbEeSKIZo

                          

                                Marriage

What is marriage? The definition of marriage has always varied depending on the cultural, religion and political circumstances of a particular society.  In Puerto Rico the legal definition of marriage is:  A civil institution that issues from a civil contract under which a man and a woman mutually agree to become husband and wife, and to comply one towards the other, the duties imposed by law. But the marriage has also religious definitions that vary according to each religion. According to the catholic church marriage is:"The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament." But for me, the marriage is the union of two people that love each other and decide to join their lives because they know that they are amazing as individuals but together they are even better.

For talk about the marriage, I want to share a beautiful story that for me represents the real meaning of marriage. This story was written by Laura Jeanne Allen and is entitled:” SHMILY: A Lovestory You Will Never Forget” This story is about the Laura’s grandparents, they were married for over half a century and they played their own special game from the time they had met each other. The goal of their game was to write the word “SHMILY” in a surprise place for the other to find. They took turns leaving “SHMILY” around the house and as soon as one of them discovered it, it was their turn to hide it once more. They dragged “SHMILY” with their fingers through the sugar and flour containers, to await whoever was preparing the next meal. The Laura’s grandparents wrote “SHMILY” in the steam left on the mirror after a hot shower, where it would reappear bath after bath. At one point, her grandmother even unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper, to leave “SHMILY” on the very last sheet. There was no end to the places in where ''SHMILY” was written. Her grandparents held hands every chance they could. They stole kisses, as they bumped into each other in their kitchen. They finished each other’s sentences and shared the daily crossword puzzle and word jumble. Before every meal they bowed their heads and gave thanks, marveling at their blessings: a wonderful family, good fortune and each other.

But in her grandparents’ lives  something very sad exist,  her grandmother had breast cancer. The disease had first appeared ten years earlier. As always, her Grandpa was with her every step of the way. He comforted her in their yellow room, painted that way so that she could always be surrounded by sunshine, even when she was too sick to go outside. The cancer was again attacking her body. With the help of a cane and her grandfather’s steady hand, they went to church every Sunday morning. But, her grandmother grew steadily weaker until; finally, she could not leave the house anymore. For a while, her Grandpa would go to church alone, praying to God to watch over his wife. Then one day, her Grandma die. “SHMILY", was scrawled in yellow on the pink ribbons of her grandmother’s funeral bouquet. Her Grandpa stepped up to her grandmother’s casket and he began to sing to her. Through his tears and grief, the song came (a deep and throaty lullaby).  Then of this last goodbye to her grandmother, Laura found the meaning of the mysterious word that was:  “S-h-m-i-l-y: See How Much I Love You…”

               This story presents a real and pure love. Simple things , like writing a word in a note,steal a kiss, hold the hands, represents the little details that always need a marriage for that the love grow. With the word "SHMILY" the grandparents continuously expressed their love for over fifty years. A lot of marriages are so rushed with the work, and the years pass and they don't express their love. Love in marriage must be preserved with little details. These small details make that the love; respect and admiration maintain throughout married life. The marriage is not only a piece of paper, is a promise to live together for the rest of the life, devoted to each other in sickness and in the good times, like the couple of the story. It is a promise to live together faithfully until death, through thick and thin. Marriage is a manifestation of God's blessing.

 Religion 

         

Religion has played throughout history countless papers, the majority fundamental to the development of humanity. What is religion? Religion is the set of beliefs, feelings, dogmas and practices that define the relations between human beings and sacred or divinity. Exist many religions around the world, in Puerto Rico the Catholic religion is one of the most practiced. The Catholic Church is one of the most numerous; have a lot of followers. All Catholics are Christians but not all Christians are Catholics, Christians are divided into different groups, whether Orthodox, Christians, Evangelicals and Protestants. There should not be any difference between Christian and Catholic, as Catholic is required to be a Christian, that is, to believe in Christ and in the teachings of Jesus. Both believe that Jesus is the Savior, and the Holy Trinity. But there are differences, Catholics believe in Christ through an institution called the Catholic Church, also believe in the Virgin, Saints and worship these holy figures. Christians only believe and follow Christ as the one true God and do not feel the need to worship figures or images. Religion is a very broad concept and it is impossible to try to explain in a few words, as politic provoke a lot of discussions, for these reason, I decided don't talk about the concept of religion but talk about my experiences with the religion.

I have studied since child in a catholic school called “Colegio La Merced”, my parents are catholic and they enrolled me in this school for learn more thoroughly about the catholic religion. Since I had 5 years, each morning in the school we had to pray in our classrooms. The school director was beginning to pray for an intercom and we followed her, praying in the classroom. I began to pray since I was very little; I remember that one day in the month each group had to go to meet in a chapel for a eucharist. In this eucharist I read psalms or lectures, also sometimes I sang in the choir and carried the offering. Also the school conducted a eucharist for all the school students; the eucharist was in the school auditorium with all the groups from pre-kinder to twelve grade. In the school every year we made a "Way of the cross" and each group had to prepare one or two stations, and I remember that I was always the “Virgin Maria” in the stations. Also I made the station when Veronica’s dries Jesus face, and I was Veronica. One time, I made the fourteen Ways of the Cross stations, and I was the Virgin Maria. I remember that I enjoyed very much participate in this activity. Also, I danced in the eucharist and was my favorite part because I like very much to dance. I remember that I made a dance with my face painted as a mime and was a very beautiful experience. Besides dancing in the school's eucharist I danced too in the Montellano Church in Cayey. Also, I was in a Group called “Camino Neocatecumenal”, in this group I read different bible lectures; and also in this group I had the opportunity of participate in many eucharist in different churches. I met with this group two days in the week, and we reunited with other groups for doing different activities. The thing that I most like about this group was that the “Camino Neocatecumenal” had people of different ages, and I had the opportunity of shared with people of my age and with people with twenty years or more than me. In the present I'm not in this group but was a very enriching experience for me. Many times people refuse to become members of a church on the grounds that "there are too many hypocrites in the church."But we have to admit that we are humans, and in all religions exist good and bad people. All the experiences that I mentioned here made me learn most about the Catholic religion. But I think that the characteristics that define a real catholic, christian, protestant or of whatever religion that form part, is live a life of integrity practicing the church teachings in our life as: avoid the bad acts and always follow the right way. How Santiago 1:21-27 said: “True religion is not simply come to services, hearing the word, and think that we are religious. By itself, it is a vain religion. We must be doers of the word, remove the worst of our lives, keeping us unspotted from the world, restraining our tongue, and actively serving others.”