Recycling is not a new term for all of us, it’s the process of segregating our waste into different types or kinds whether  it’d be organic or inorganic, plastic, metal, glass or paper and sort them out to reuse again.  It’s one of the  best way to care for our environment and a resolution to our over consumption.

Here in Vallejo, we have the RePlanet facility wherein people of the community can take their empty plastic bottles and glass bottles to sort them out for recycle in exchange of some money.

SORTING

It is done by segregating the bottles into big plastic containers. The workers of the facility will then take the containers to weigh them inside and after few minutes, you’ll be given a piece of paper indicating the amount of money equivalent to the weight of all the bottles you have. The bottles were put in a big machine where recycling begins.

PRICING

It’s amazing how the RePlanet facility maintains the environment of their workplace. Although its a recycling facility, the workers were organized and the place wasn’t that bad. I also believe that the price equivalent per pound was just fair and not very cheap, what more can you ask for right? Making money with your trash and taking care of the planet Earth.

RECYCLING FACILITY

PAYMENT OFFICE

As responsible people, us mankind should take a big leap in doing actions for our environment! Our lives depend on the planet we live in, we should take care of it for our own sake and for our future generations. God has blessed us this wonderful planet, if we continue to abuse all it’s wonders and destroy it’s beauty, will there still be life for your future family? Think about it, this is just a simple act of concern for your environment, if I can do it, you can to or you can do way better than this!

“Some people prefer to bury themselves in sorrow, succumb to the pain of hurled rocks that life throws at them, but others stand up and fight back.”

 In the short story, The Day it Happened, author Rosario Morales encompasses an issue that many women in different  communities encounter in their lives which is domestic violence. Morales unveils the story of a couple who had been married for six months and were already in a pattern of countless abusive fights. She crafts the story of the protagonist Josie, a character who takes a stand for herself and decides to abandon her marriage for her own wellbeing and for the baby growing in her womb. The story’s, plot, settings, point of view, style, and dilemma convince the reader to absorb the essential theme of the story which is that one should never tolerate domestic abuse.

In the exposition, the twelve-year-old girl narrates in third person the story of the protagonist Josie as she tries to break free from her husband, Ramon, who is the antagonist. The setting of the story is in an apartment building around 1992 somewhere in New York city. The plot begins with the background story where the narrator details that, at first, Josie would not admit there was anything wrong with her marriage; she was in denial. In her mind, she had married the ideal man, and she justified his bad behavior and bad temper by saying “He can’t help himself. He doesn’t mean it.” (Morales 75). The author deliberately mentions through her simple writing style that there were other men in the apartment building who were aggressive to their wives as well. For instance, “Joe who liked to bully his wife” or “Tito who talked all the time about ‘wearing the pants in the family’.” (75). This portrays that other women sympathized with Josie, but they felt powerless to help because they could not even help themselves. This is an example of the internal dilemma that women face.

Women in abusive relationships feel embarrassed and retain that struggle and pain within themselves until they start to believe that there is nothing wrong with their marriage. Through the background story, the author manages to show to the reader that Josie was not the only one going through a tough marriage but that there were others and many of those women had gathered to witness a life changing event that was about to happen when Josie decides to pack up her suitcase to leave and wait in the taxi to break the news to Ramon.

It was indeed the gathering of the onlookers that gave a hint to the audience the rising action of the story, “We streamed out the door into the small crowd that had gathered by now” (75).  It was a spectacle to the neighbors, most likely because nothing like this had happened before. No woman had had the courage to swallow their fear and confront a man that treated them as if they were an item of possession. At five o’clock, Ramon strolls down the street, he avoids the crowd and keeps his eyes fixed on his shoes as he walks. He does not look up until he hears Josie call his name from the crowd.

The climax begins when everyone notices as Ramon’s expression changes when he hurls himself at Josie and grabs her leg; how he suddenly looked so vulnerable as if all the strength that made him strike like a lion before, had transferred to the “cute,” “small” and “plump” woman that was now standing before him. She was no longer afraid to look straight into his eyes, she was no longer a victim of a lost battle but rather a survivor. She spoke with confidence and told him that she was leaving him. Ramon, upon realizing Josie’s intentions burst out into tears and asks for forgiveness. Josie probably felt a tinge of sadness for him and she probably could have taken his apology and forgive him, but he had done enough damage. Men like Ramon do not change, and Josie knew that.

The story descends with the falling action. Ramon reluctantly lets go of Josie’s leg as Olga, the neighbor, emerges from the crowd and kneels down with him to convince him to let go because there was nothing for him to do. Josie was not the little girl that he knew, the girl that he constantly bullied and took advantage of.  Josie finally is liberated from Ramon’s grasp something that symbolizes her bravery and strength. She was not a fragile woman anymore, rather she was a responsible mother who had to put her child first. This leads to the resolution, where Josie gets in the taxi and tells the driver to drive off. The women in the apartment building surly felt different because they had seen Josie walk away from her abuser. They know it can be done. Or if anything else, the men probably treated their women a little better because they knew that like Josie they could walk away. An act of bravery from a woman is all that needed to happen for other women to reassure themselves that they are not alone in this fight. They understood that they were not the problem; just as Ramon told Josie when she was leaving “you are young, you do not understand” (76) at that moment Josie could have relinquished to his words but instead she remained adamant.

REFLECTION

Author Rosario Morales successfully manages to deliver a strong message of hope for women around the world through her use of plot, settings, point of view, style and dilemma. She instills a sense of strength in women who are experiencing domestic abuse but also in little girls like the twelve-year-old narrator that witnessed Josie as she stood up to her bully husband. Throughout history, women have been depicted as weak individuals, deprived of their rights and treated unfairly. That is why it is important that stories like The Day It Happened exist and continue to empower women who find themselves in any situation where their rights as human beings are violated. This story speaks truth and it illustrates that domestic abuse should not be tolerated in any way.

Have read this story before? What’s your opinion about it? Kindly share it in the comments and I’ll be happy to connect with you. Please read our other book reviews from our recent posts!

Holiday season is over and a new chapter has begun. It’s New Year! Do you have a new years resolution this year? If so, these motivational quotes will help you be inspired to achieve those goals you have set in as your resolutions.

Grow yourself from your past, build your confidence from your experiences. Make concrete resolutions this year and have hope for a better you and better future. Your experiences are the building blocks of your character, use these to be your strength for the struggles you may encounter in the journey of achieving your goals.

Be calm and focus. Keep your mind on your goals rather than negative emotions.

Although there are people who are jealous and will make you feel bad, always remember that you are the only one who knows yourself well, don’t allow that negative views of others affect your self worth. Your kindness, values and ethics will bring you inner peace despite all the chaos around you. You are not born to please others but only to one, and it is God.

To make the right decisions is to make good choices. Opportunities are endless, make a choice, take the risk and make a better change for a brighter future. Be smart and choose wisely, decide to what is for the better, your life is happening now, it is only YOU who can help yourself to make that change. Take a step and move forward with confidence and courage!

The future belongs to those people who do hard work and invest all their efforts in making their dreams a reality. Success are for those brave men who are courageous enough to face their fears. The struggles will be hard to face but taking the risk will be worth it. You will never know unless you try!

Publisher’s Note:

In this enchanting sequel to the number one bestseller The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom tells the story of Eddie’s heavenly reunion with Annie—the little girl he saved on earth—in an unforgettable novel of how our lives and losses intersect.

On this new released book of Mitch Albom, I gathered some inspiring quotes that I hope will inspire you about life. I wrote my own reflection and opinion to each of these and I share my thoughts based on my own understanding and belief.

“No story sits by itself. Our lives connect like threads on a loom, interwoven in ways we never realize.”

I believe in the saying everything happens for a reason, people come in your life with a purpose and somehow our lives are connected to each other. Even though we all have our own stories here on Earth, at some point, we meet people in between and touched their lives we never thought we did. Like a thread woven in a fabric, we make real life stories together and be a part of each other’s lives.

“The tale of your life is written second by second, as shifting as the flip of a pencil to an eraser. There are so many times our lives are altered invisibly. The flip of a pencil, from written to erased.””

Making decisions is the most critical responsibility of being a human. We make our own tales depending on the decisions we make, whether it’d be good or bad, the result is the path we choose to take. It could lead you to success or regrets, rewards or loss, just like a pencil starting to draw the dream into reality or an eraser that would make that bright future disappear.

“ The disarming power of children: their need makes you forget your own.”

Motherhood is a journey where I begin to understand the value of being a woman. Words aren’t enough to describe the true joy and the unconditional love I have for my baby. I feel so grateful everyday that I was blessed to take care of a new life that came into this world out of love and from my own flesh and body. I love her more than I love myself, it’s the nature of being a parent. With the love I have for my baby, I provide everything she needed, her satisfaction is very important than anything else. I would say, being a parent is selfless, our children’s needs are the most priority that we tend to forget our own.

“First loves often remain in the heart, like plants that cannot grow in sunlight.”

Just exactly how the word describe itself, that was when you first experienced anything that makes your heart beats differently, something like a romantic feeling. The feeling usually stays even without you noticing, just like a seed that stays there planted within you.

“All children keep secrets. All parents do the same. We mold the version we want others to believe, boosting the disguise and tucking away the truth. It is how we can be loved by our closest family members and still, at times elude them.”

Who knew us better than ourselves,right? This particular quote made me asked myself why can’t we just be ourselves and be a living proof of truth? Why is it very natural for us to cover the flaws of our real identity in front of someone other than ourselves? Adulthood is more complicated than childhood therefore secrets are definitely harder to handle than keeping a child secret. Most often, whenever adults try to keep the secret as secret as possible, the cause will be a lie, one lie after another.  We try to be the other version of ourselves so others will believe and see us differently than who we truly are even though it already takes away our self truth.

“The wrongs we do open doors to do right.”

We learn from our mistakes and through falling, we learn how to stand and get back on our own feet again. Second chances are opportunity to not make the same mistakes again but to do all things right.

“Love comes when you least expect it. Love comes when you most need it. Love comes when you are ready to receive it or can no longer deny it. Love comes when it comes.”

Love comes in mysterious ways and I believe it’s also fate or destiny. Love is so magical and powerful. Although it comes in different ways, there’s one thing I am sure of, it is undeniably the most valuable thing that we all deserve, to love and to be loved.

“Loss is as old as life itself. But for all our evolution, we are yet to receive it.”

Life is fragile, life is uncertain. We were born and we live our years of existence but yet we shall return where we came from, from dust and soil. It is inevitable, we are human beings and our lives are not our own. As who and what we are, each of us has their end of time. We shall experience loss and suffer from sorrow and grief, it’s part of life and we are yet to receive it whether we like it or not.

“If you truly love someone, you’ll find a way back.”

True love is rare to find, no matter how hard it is, you’ll find a way to get to the person who you truly care for. True love can move mountains even to the most impossible ways just to be with that person who you want to be in your life.

“You lose something everyday you live , sometimes it’s as tiny as the breath you just expelled, sometimes it’s so big you think you won’t survive it.”

Little things are most often neglected and unnoticed just like how we exhale air everyday. It is indeed a fact that we lose something everyday, as simple and as practical of this example but real loss for me is grief and suffering. It is the hardest struggle you needed to get through in life, you move on or live with it.

I am a big fan of Mitch Albom’s type of writing and I’m glad I have read again another sequel of one of his famous books. I always feel positive towards life after I read his stories about heaven, it inspires me to be good and be a kind soul to every living here on Earth and make my life more meaningful by touching  the lives of others. I hope I have provided you a little bit of inspiration and if you do have your own thoughts about each of the quotes I listed here, please feel free to comment and let me know your opinions.