Sometimes you have to do something radical to make it all stop.
Even if it means going against what you want.

Voices

So lately I've been emailing my roommate as she is in Malaysia with her family and the time difference takes a toll on the communication. It's amazing what the power of an email can have on the way that you arrange your thoughts and think back through things.

My lesson of the year is the following: Don't let voices drown you out. I say this because I found myself listening to too many people at once this year. I found myself influenced by too many voices. Too many opinions. I love having people around me. I'm a social person. I love advice. I love talking. I study psychology for a reason. But I think that there comes a point where it starts becoming difficult to make your own decisions when you start listening to too many others. I don't mean we should all become selfish. There's no need to say fuck it. But every now and then it's okay to let loose and enjoy your own mind, your own love, your own dreams, your own passions. Take that fire and apply it. Don't let it get sizzled out by other people. And most of all, don't let those opinions become so engrained in you that you start believing they're your own.

People's advice are exactly that -- people's advice. It is their own advice. It comes from their experiences, their traumas, their moments of lust, of anger, of drive. Make your own. Come up with your own voice. And listen to it. Because there's nothing more amazing than looking back and knowing that it was you who made this all happen.

Wafia - Heartburn

Warning Sign

A warning sign
I missed the good part, then I realized
I started looking at the bubble burst
I started looking for excuses
Come on in
I've gotta tell you the state I'm in
I've gotta tell you in my loudest tones
That I started looking for a warning sign

When the truth is, I miss you
Yeah that truth is, that I miss you so

'The Invisible Discriminator' - Stop. Think. Respect.

But...now
What I'm doing
Don't know
What I'm doing

Cause I don't even feel it
Body's growing colder with the distance now
And I don't even mean it
Got my hands all over you but not a sound

I'm always so in love
All in
Till I start going numb thinking
Thought you'd make me feel it
Thought I'd be different this time around
This time around

We started out as lonely hearts
We started with a promise built on highs
You said I was the missing part
Looked into my eyes said
You're my fix for life, but now

What I'm doing
Don't know
What I'm doing

36 Hours in Montreal

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/11/19/travel/what-to-do-in-36-hours-in-montreal.html?_r=0

Dreams

"Let's suppose that you were able every night to dream any dream you wanted to dream.

And you would naturally as you began on this adventure of dreams, you would fulfill all of your wishes.

You would have every kind of pleasure, you see, and after several nights, you would say, 'Well, that was pretty great."

But now, let's have a surprise.

Let's have a dream which isn't under control. 

Well something is going to happen to me that I don't know what it's gonna be."

Everything reminds me..
Including shampoo??
And F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
Martinelli's apple juice.

I was apologizing with my eyes.

Guilt is a powerful thing.

Reposting from the other blog I write for -- The Power of Online Jobs

This past semester I’ve been facilitating an online course taught through McGill called “Social Learning for Social Impact,” created by Professors Anita Novak, Henry Mintzberg, Leslie Breitner and Carlos Rueda. I had always been slightly skeptical about online jobs but I’ve never been so sure about the influence of the Internet until now. This course has made it possible for thousands of people from around the globe to connect, regardless of age, social background, pre-requisites, and location.

This Group Open Online Course (GROOC) follows the idea that if similar people with similar interests get into a group and put their ideas together, a great social initiative can come out of it. Therefore, the course is pushing for group learning and group brainstorming at all times. The teams on the GROOC range from environmental to educational and health initiatives. We have groups approaching ocean trash, others approaching human rights and more. There are people from separate sides of the globe connecting over this one website to discuss making a change on this planet. The world once seemed enormous to all of us; now, we are able to connect with others who are just as passionate as us through this one medium.

I started realizing that this whole course was bigger than anything I had ever imagined. The field of “Communications” once seemed so distant to me and now a taste of it lies in the palm of my hands. I have been able to see the impact that making conversation with others throughout the globe has. Better yet, all you need is a little bit of internet. This is becoming more and more possible every day as NGOs take on missions to supply poverish countries with computers and internet, realizing the possibilities that come with these implementations. This GROOC is a perfect example: it is one of millions of courses of free education taught through a top university…offered to everyone, everywhere.

There are two things I wish to convey to you:

1. If you ever have the chance, take an online course offered through EdX.org or Coursera.org. Before this course, I was taking “Marketing in a Digital World” through Coursera over the summer. These websites are a chance for you to take courses outside of your field of study. It’s a chance for you to explore classes and careers for FREE. 
2. Take on an online job at least once. These jobs are flexible and all it takes is a reasonable commitment to stay connected over social mediums or E-mail in order to stay up to date. I recommend this for the school year especially when you feel as though you can’t take several hours out of your day to go to a job. I also recommend this for the summer if you’re traveling but would still like to be getting some experience under your belt.

Let’s try to take the stigma off the internet and social media by transforming it for the better. Let’s start using it productively. Find people throughout the globe who think just like you. Network, create connections. Build relationships. The internet has the power to make a good change, a good community; all we have to do is put it to proper use.

Join the course next year at:

https://www.edx.org/course/social-learning-social-impact-mcgillx-groocx

The M Machine - Don't Speak (Manila Killa Remix)

:(

Some writing here and there...

There’s something about trains. It feels like my soul catches up to me when I’m on them.  When I was young, we would go to Kent, Connecticut over the weekends. I remember that feeling of being awaited by someone at the end of the ride. And the trees. I can smell the autumn of the northeast, filled with the smell of sweet ivy and slow burning wood.

Adele - Hello

Hello from the other side

I must've called a thousand times

To tell you I'm sorry for everything that I've done
But when I call you never seem to be home



Hello from the outside

At least I can say that I've tried

To tell you I'm sorry for breaking your heart

But it don't matter, it clearly doesn't tear you apart anymore

:(

Miss you.

I'd like to float up into the clouds
At the sun's level
At the sky's level
At the highest level
With the quietness and loudness of immensity
Around, above, down low

And it's the dependency that's the worst

The feeling of wanting to reach out

And maybe secretly I am glad that that feeling is still there

Because what if there's a day when that disappears

What will it be then 

Who will I be 

I feel more and less like me than ever

And I still think about us every day 

And I knew it would hit me for real when I got home...

This is the most I've swallowed and kept inside of myself in a while.

Sleeping at Last - Saturn (Lyric Video)

You taught me the courage of stars before you left.
How light carries on endlessly, even after death.
With shortness of breath, you explained the infinite.
How rare and beautiful it is to even exist.

Tenterhook - London Heart // Imagesound Sessions

“You remember how funny he is and that he conducts electricity through your bones and sets everything on fire, in the good ways. In the bad ways. In the, what if I know I’m going to burn and this will destroy the entire house, but I still can’t walk away – ways. I couldn’t walk away.

But I did. I spilled my honesty and he said what he always did, “I just can’t. Please forgive me. I just can’t.”

So I decided I couldn’t either. I couldn’t anymore. “

What my schedule looks like this semester

1. Human Motivation
2. Human Sexuality and its Problems
3. Social Psychology
4. Sociology of Mental Disorder
5. Volunteer for the GROOC on McGillX edX course, "Social Learning for Social Impact"
6. Student blogger for McGill Career and Planning Services
7. Phonathon Alumni Caller
8. Social Media Officer for Word and Colour

Social Learning for Social Impact | McGillX on edX | Participant Comments

Vuela; Fly

Bebé,

Se que vas a ser feliz siempre,

Y sé que eres mi pajarita que ya voló y seguirá volando

Pero me haces una falta terrible. 

Estoy tan orgullosa de ti y emocionada

Me has demostrado que puedes mantener un hogar. 

Pero la verdad es que nunca es tarde para aprender de todo

Vas a ver que dando recibes. 

Y que eso te hace mejor persona.

Hazte fuerte y tendrás más control sobre el resultado final: ser feliz

Que no todo es llorar y sufrir, te lo prometo.

Besos y energía para terminar con salud y alegría.

¡A cantar en la vida!

Mi pajarita linda

_________________ ; english translation ;

Baby,

I’m sure you’ll always be happy

And I know you’re my little bird who’s flown away and will continue flying

But I’m missing you terribly

I’m so proud of you and so thrilled

You’ve showed me that you’re ready to take care of a home.

But the truth is that it’s never too late to learn everything

You’ll soon see that by giving, you’re receiving.

And that will make you better person.

Be strong and you’ll have more control over the final result: being happy

Not everything is tears and suffering, I promise you

Kisses and energy to finish with health and joy

Sing through life!

My beautiful little bird

Another rising tide
Another storm to fight
Come and take me
I'm just a skipping stone

It feels like we can't get out of first
When we do it's like we're stuck in reverse

Some of the things I've learned this summer

1) When you and another person don't share the same mindset, do not force it! Take a step back. Even if you love a person or if you care for them, they don't need to conform to your needs in return. Everyone has their own standards and needs, and nobody should change that. So essentially, don't ever pull the "misery likes company" card.

2) Stop running away. Seriously. Nothing is as bad as you make it seem. New York City is one of the places that I used to dread the most just because of the amount of memories and hardships I've experienced here. Oh man did it take me a while to realize that it is not something to run from.

3) I used to be restless and insecure about staying still. Learn to take some rest. Not enjoying your home and your family is seriously overrated. They are the best comfort sometimes.

I stopped writing in this blog for a while because I turned to a notebook instead. Over the summer, I picked up the pen and actually started writing again. It's a good exercise. Writing in person has a different feel than writing on here. When I'm writing in a notebook, it's much more raw...much less perfected. It contains a lot more rage. A lot more emotion. When I write in here, it is much more thought about. There is more reflection. And I really like both. Most writers know that sometimes the initial draft of something is not what you'd ultimately like to share in the end. I think that it takes a lot of re-writing, a lot of re-thinking to really understand your own work.

Hands down the healthiest thing in the world for me has been writing in this blog.

Carly Rae Jepsen - Run Away With Me

Cause you make me feel like

I could be driving you all night

And I found your lips in the street lights

I wanna be there with you

Soundcloud - Follow me

https://soundcloud.com/paolaagarces

Repeating the same mistake several times is a fool's errand

"It’s an odd sensation that the connection between two people who shared a decent chunk of their life together could be actively worse than that of strangers meeting in the street."

Such a good piece!

http://wordandcolour.com/2015/07/10/on-breakups-rome-2-0/

HERE WE GO

Adventure Time

June 25th - June 28th in Tel Aviv, Israel
June 28th - June 30th in Frankfurt, Germany
June 30th - July 4th in Paris, France
July 4th - July 8th in Berlin, Germany
July 8th - July 9th in Dresden, Germany
July 9th - July 13th in Prague, Czech Republic
July 13th - July 15th in Vienna, Austria
July 15th - July 19th in Zagreb, Croatia
July 19th - July 22nd in Budapest, Hungary
July 22nd - July 23rd in Zagreb, Croatia
July 23rd - July 28th in Tel Aviv, Israel
July 28th - NYC !

This is the finish line

You know how I know?

Because I can't see myself trusting you

Not ever again

And one day
One day we will meet
We'll have figured out who we wanna be

And one day
One day we will rise
We'll have all the world above the clouds and I....

I know
I know
To cross the other side you just gotta go

Jump in the water
Sail the waves
Only you can tell the way

Astrid S - 2AM (Matoma Remix)

2 1/2 years passed
but another 2 1/2 years for it to pass

a little while ago

I left the water

the clouds

the silver Lining

cause when you’re 19

everythin is changing

only thing still

isn’t steady

Zedd - Beautiful Now (Audio) ft. Jon Bellion

Tori Kelly - Should’ve Been Us (Official Audio)

happy

Y fue por ti que escribi mas de 100 canciones
ya hasta perdone tus equivocaciones
y conoci mas de mil formas de besar
y fue por ti que descrubri lo que es amar

"Then I soar like a bird in the wind
Oh I glide like I'm flying through heaven"

And the calm has settled :)

Shoulda caught onto the signals way earlier

Coolest thing I've seen in a while

http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/

The Dandelion Child versus. The Orchid Child

Dandelion Child, refers to the capacity of some children to survive and even thrive in whatever circumstances they encounter, in much the same way that dandelions seem to prosper irrespective of soil, sun, drought, or rain.

Orchid child, might better describe the context-sensitive individual, whose survival and flourishing is intimately tied, like that of the orchid, to the nurturant or neglectful character of the environment. In conditions of neglect, the orchid promptly declines, while in conditions of support and nurture, it is a flower of unusual beauty.

22

But when we're 22 

Anything can happen
But now you're liberated
You're free
From everything you put on hold for me

And people keep saying
"Don't let it get in the way"
But they just don't see
That this isn't a wall
Everything from now on
Is for you and I to breathe

Cause you know I want to see the seven seas
And you know I have hopes and dreams
And you told me to live them
In honor of what we should've been
No need to hang on to what could've been

Because at 19 nothing is constant
Change is a shadow on your shoulder
So when we're 22
Everything will happen