What Is The Point

  Remember when there used to be songs about facing and overcoming challenges, loving someone unconditionally, and having faith, because that is the only thing that can get you through life? Yeah, those were the good old days. They were the songs that we could either dance to, or exercise to, or help us relax. The lyrics were almost poetic , their meaning profound. Just listening to these songs helps us feel motivated to keep going. Or at the very least, offered comfort when we were down.  And now we have these songs about breakups . Let me correct that…the artist’s breakups. It barely relates to the common folks, us, anymore. It’s all a gossip column given a tune and an obscure music video. Songs are no longer about finding motivation; it has become a game about guessing which ex the artist is singing about.  The song, no matter how boring it is, goes viral because of what it represents: a clue to the celebrity that the artist has dated in the past. Conspiracy theory vid...

  Another hit movie. Another box office success. Another critically acclaimed feature. Another opportunity for the studio executive to milk more out of it.  And that’s when a sequel is born.  But that is also when disappointment is born. In most cases.  How many successful sequels can you name? You probably used only one hand. Now let’s talk about the disappointing ones. How many do you remember? Did you have to use your toes and someone else’s fingers and toes as well? Most sequels are not even needed. We see the protagonist get their happy ending in the first movie. The fans loved it and began working on fanfiction based on what they believed happened after the events of the movie. The studio executives begin to think, why not cash in on this. The movie is a hit and has a solid fanbase. Why not give the fans what they want? You know what the fans don’t want? A stale story that drags until the end. They don’t want the protagonist to go through similar events of the ...

Blood is thicker than water, but what if that blood demands constant sacrifice? Family is supposed to be your foundation for growth. The people who are always there for you, who lift you up, and support you. They are the ones who celebrate your wins, lend a shoulder when you are down, and pick you up when you can’t bring yourself to do it on your own.  But when the very people meant to be your anchor push you down until you’re barely afloat, are they still your family? Family always comes first. It is an unspoken emotion that is etched into our minds. But when it becomes a rule that you need to follow, that is when you realize that you have stopped becoming a person for them. You are no longer an individual or a family member to them.  You’re just someone they can constantly exploit.  It’s not about what they’re doing for you, or about working together as a synchronized unit. No, you’re just someone, a catalyst that can make them grow.  The exploitation and manipulat...

 We study, we stress, we sacrifice our leisure time to focus on building a future. We spent thousands to get a degree from reputed institutions just so we can be employable. Often, we migrate, adapt, and assimilate , all for a better opportunity, and all for the future we want to build for us and our family.  And then one fine day, you discover that you now have to pay to stay employed.  It isn’t a hiring fee, nor for a promotion, but just to allow you to stay in a country you don’t belong to.  It hits you like a gut punch, realizing that you invested time and money into building something that turned out to be a sand castle in a storm of politics.  You realize that all this time, when you thought you had made something of yourself, built all that confidence and worth, only to now be told you are not allowed to dream. That very moment takes your power away.  You were a big fish in a shallow pool, and now you are being told to go swim in a pool where you ca...

Being without the freedom to express yourself is as good as being stripped of the right to live. What kind of life are you even living if you can never say what's on your mind or what you believe in.  What kind of life is it if you have to constantly watch innocent people being subjected to injustice and never say a word powerful enough to defend them. And what if you are forced to endure that injustice as well? Yet again, you must remain quiet and let it happen. Because without the power of speech, you have also lost the power to stand up for yourself and others. Over the course of months, there have been several incidents that have sparked controversies and several more that have opened a debate regarding free speech.  We have seen the repercussions of stating an opinion that people don't agree with. It's met with condemnation and violence. Families are affected, jobs are lost, and in the entire process, we begin to grasp the reality of freely expressing yours...

  Ah, yes, another TV show coming to an end. Fans are already planning finale watch parties, writing up posts like a eulogy for the show, about how it changed their lives, and how they are not ready to say goodbye to the show yet.  And then there are people who know the show only through viral clips and fan edits. While the serious fans wait for the finale, the rest of us are just waiting for the screenshots and recap gifs. Because why actually watch a show when the fans are out there creating these convenient, bite-sized clips that give away the gist of what is going on anyway? Let’s face it, most TV shows are at least 45 minutes long. While streaming services used to initially drop entire seasons at once, they have decided to borrow cable’s annoying strategy of dropping episodes on a weekly basis. Some are worse. They drop only one part of the season and then expect fans to wait an entire month before they drop part two.  This is some serious commitment to make, and not...

  She sat staring at the bright screen until her eyes hurt. Fifteen new emails. It was almost 5 PM, but her manager decided to give her additional work just five minutes before she could go home.  She was exhausted, but there was work to be done. If she was late, it was okay; her family would understand.  They were ecstatic when she received her acceptance call. It was as if she were the chosen winner. She received congratulations, but most importantly, she was told that her life finally had meaning now. That she was now going to be worth something.  She smiled but lowered her eyes so that no one could see the disappointment in them. Her life was worth to no one unless she was contributing financially. Her family had already begun to create a list of items she would buy with her first salary.  Her job didn’t turn out to be the way she imagined. The commute was tough but bearable. The office environment was what stunned her. Her manager was friendly and supportiv...

In a world where not everyone has cable but does have a phone and access to social media, it's not surprise that news breaks and spreads on that medium. World News is literally at our fingertips now, but so is the way we react to them. Social media platforms have given us all voices when we thought we didn't have one. It gives us the privilege to conceal ourselves behind user names so that we can be protected from those who don't agree with us. It gives us news that is otherwise censored on cable. We get to see everything. We have access to everything. But do we utilize this power responsibly? The internet is a powerful medium, and when we see something wrong, all of us strangers band together to seek justice. Comments are posted, the topic goes viral, the news piece gets attention, and in some cases, the proper authorities take action.  It's a small win, but it is there. There's satisfaction in knowing you have helped a person get justice even if they l...

In the age of gadgets and gizmos, actual writing, and by that I mean actually putting pen to paper, may have become an archaic practice.   But it becomes a meaningful exercise when you want to take a break from the glaring laptop screen, the one that you must stare at throughout the week.   It's cathartic to write by hand, but it is when you finally start writing that you realize your handwriting is not what it used to be.   And so, in an effort to make it better, to let your handwriting flourish and flow, you decide to take up writing/journaling once in a while. But here comes the tricky part, the right notebook! Sounds easy at first. You go to a store, go to the notebook and diary aisle, then guess what?   There are dozens of choices. From hardcover to spiral, from notebooks to writing pads, from single lines to blank pages, the choices are endless.   In fact, it is the numerous choices that make it complicated for a proper price stick...

  Yes, there are Amazon affiliate links. No, I won’t recommend anything that doesn’t pass the vibe check. The world is chaotic and fueled with uncertainty and bias. There are problems to solve every day, and housework to get to on days you just want to escape to the beach.  If you’re working remotely, then you are subjected to endless hours of work, coupled with housework, and are injected with unwanted visitors who show up out of the blue.  In all this commotion, what have you truly lost? Your peace, of course.  When do you get to be you? When do you finally get some time to yourself to do all the things you want to do? You are stuck at home because of your work or other responsibilities, but that doesn’t mean you can’t carve a small space for yourself that is all yours. That is your quiet corner. Your calm space. And the best part is, no one is allowed to enter it except for you.  So how do you go about building that space?  Here are the TOP 10 Calm Corne...

  What is the Point…of small talk? And should it be the only way we communicate from now on? Let’s face it, we are in a world where it is brave and acceptable to be opinionated. In fact, if you are not opinionated then you are considered a welcome mat, a person who can be essentially pushed over. If you don’t express your opinions loudly, you are way overly accomodating and not assertive in a world that can eat you up alive.  And so, we have learned to have opinions, which is a good thing, but the negative aspect of this is that most of us have learned that our opinion is always right and the others are wrong because they think differently.  This leads to a limitation on topics that can be discussed at an event or a social gathering. You know someone is biased against a political party, so there is no way you are bringing up politics.  You know not to discuss cultures because you may accidentally say something to offend and be labeled a racist.  There are many t...

  Once a fan of Rom-com movies, I now prefer straight-up horror.   The reason? Rom-coms generally follow the same tropes.  From enemies to lovers or lovers to enemies to lovers.  Nothing distinctive, nothing new, and predictable endings. If the actors have chemistry on screen then you are rooting for them to get together. If not, you’re screaming at the screen like a grumpy relative, telling the characters to get back together with their exes instead. Besides, rom-coms are nothing like they used to be. They aren’t witty anymore and most of them border on vulgarity.  Romance Drama is far worse and has literally only one plot point that you will come across in every movie: The lead character dying from an incurable disease. And it is usually cancer.  To make it worse,  these movies hardly show realism when it comes to cancer.   The characters in movies hardly have a healthy color on their skin and are full of life. They are never in pain, ...

  There was a time when people raised their voices for things that actually mattered. History is proof that when people rallied together and spoke against tyranny or fought for equal rights, it worked.  Today, a lot of us live with the right to have our words heard, to be able to wear what we want, and to live the life we want because of the people who raised their voices for us.  A lot of us may not realize this, but freedom of speech is a privilege that a lot of people around the world still do not have, even though we would like to think they do.  But this freedom, to use our words to create an impact is often misused. Now it’s hardly ever used to raise awareness against injustice or to bring to light a crime that has been committed in the shadows.  What are voices being used for? To complain about something we didn’t like online. A short or a musical piece is ridiculed because someone thinks it has a hidden meaning. The content creator apologizes and then cr...

 I'll never understand the point of the paparazzi taking photos of celebrities without makeup and then posting them online as though it is sort of a privilege to see these people in their comfort zone. Celebrities are people, too, who, unless they have to do photo or film shoots, prefer not to be caked in makeup all the time. And let's face it, these so-called no makeup looks are hardly ever true. Most celebrities use minimal makeup when stepping out for casual outings. Obviously, they want their skin to breathe once in a while, yet these articles make a huge fuss about catching celebrities in their "element." As if catching them without makeup makes it for a rare and interesting journalistic piece. Yes, we live in a celebrity-obsessed era where the paparazzi make money by trying to capture every single movement made by any celebrity. But these no-makeup looks and articles based on them do not make celebrities as relatable as one would like to think. Are we supposed t...