GABRIELA YARELIZ

Tuesday Badinage

By: Gabriela Yareliz

It was a spring day today. I was trapped inside for the entirety of it. In the forecast is: snow. Yes! (Sarcasm dripping all over this people). It seems like we will be experiencing the four seasons this week. New Yorkers are simply living through it and trying to just “let it go,” Frozen-style, and gird our tights and leggings to stay warm. I hope the meteorologists are lying. Is that a bad thing to wish?

This week, even though it’s only Tuesday, has been exhausting.

Today, I finished Limitless by Nick Vujicic. Here is some inspiration from the last chapter:
“The greatest miracle is the transformation from the inside out. The greatest purpose is to know God as a friend and to have the blessing of going home to heaven, where no pain, no sickness, no hardship will ever find you.[…]While I am in this life, I try to have an impact that will last just as long. It won’t matter how much money I made or how many nice cars I’ve owned. What will matter is that I reached out to someone and served a purpose greater than my own.[…]Love each other as if it’s your last day on this earth. Live life to the fullest and appreciate every day that you wake up and take a breath.” pg. 158-159, Limitless, Nick Vujicic

Can I just say, life is strange. Things come full circle. You suffer; you learn; you share with those going through what you went through in the past; you grow; you get pulled up; you pull others up… it’s a fascinating cycle.
Sometimes, some things are never resolved (the way we envision resolution). I have seen so many changes, turning points, big moments–I can’t help but think about life; its intricacies and how God connects us all.

On a not-so-random note: I can’t wait until spring!

xoxo.
-GY

Celebrating Women: Queen Rania

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Queen Rania of Jordan. Her story of becoming queen is every girl’s dream. Her YouTube channel has reached millions around the world. She is a voice for empowerment in education, health, development, youth and cross-cultural dialogue.

She is a mother, recipient of the FIFA 2009 Presidential Award, and she actively works with the United Nations and UNICEF to promote education for young women and a better world.

When I was in middle school, I remember finding her in a magazine, called Vanidades. It was the first time I had ever seen her, and I thought she was so beautiful. The magazine is ironically called “Vanities” (almost like a Spanish version of Vanity Fair meets Vogue). The piece was about her as life and work, and her intelligence astounded me. From that day forward, my admiration for her has continued to grow. I cut out a photo of her, and it was on my wall in my room ever since.

Role-model material. She inspires young Arab women, but as you can see, her influence has gone far beyond the Middle East.

theprincesslettersproject.files.files.wordpress.com

Celebrating Women: Eva Longoria

By: Gabriela Yareliz

She is the producer of Latinos Living the American Dream, The Harvest (showing the truth of migrant farm-workers in the U.S.), Food Chains, among other notable film and TV projects.

She has shown her commitment to activism for the Latino group in the U.S., and she was involved in campaigning for Barack Obama’s re-election. She is also one of the most recognizable Latina faces abroad. Her face is splashed across the world in L’Oreal advertisements. She also, despite her divorce, says she still believes in love. She went global in beauty, power and voice.

“I don’t regret anything I do or say.
I don’t like to live my life being censored.
I like to say what I feel,
and I think people respect that
because you’re honest.”
-Eva Longoria

Our wisdom is folly

By: Ellen G. White, taken from Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2

“He [God] will do more and better for us than to accomplish all our wishes, for our wisdom is folly.” – {2T 148.2}

Celebrating Women: Radhika Coomaraswamy

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Radhika Coomaraswamy is under the UN Secretary General as a Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict. She fought an arranged marriage, and in 1994 served as U.N. Human Rights Commission Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women (See: pg. 136, Marie Claire, March 2007). When asked who her role model was, she said Mahatma Gandhi, “the idea of fighting for justice while maintaining the moral edge over your opponent.” Enough said.

We’re all in the dance

Ending of: Paris, Je t’aime– I love this song.

Celebrating Women: Ms. Joy Ngozi Ezeilo

By: Gabriela Yareliz

From her biography information from the United Nations Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights:

“Joy Ngozi Ezeilo is a lawyer, feminist and scholar/activist. She earned a post graduate degree in law (LLM) from Queen Mary College, University of London, and a BL from the Nigerian Law School. She is a Senior Lecturer and teaches law at the University of Nigeria (Enugu Campus). She attended the International Institute of Human Rights and the International Centre for University Teaching of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. She holds a diploma in gender studies and also a diploma in peace studies and conflict resolution from CODESRIA, Dakar and the Uppsala University, Sweden.

Joy Ezeilo, was appointed the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children (2008-2011) in June 2008 and took up office in August 2008.”

Celebrating Women: Ana de la Reguera

By: Gabriela Yareliz
This month, March, is Women’s History Month. I have begun featuring women and their accomplishments. Women who make us feel empowered, women who are redefining beauty, and women who strive to make the world a better place.

Today: Ana de la Reguera– Actress and president of VeracruzANA A.C., which was born to help the people of Veracruz after Hurricane Karl in 2010.

“Just because you like to look good
doesn’t mean you stop being an intelligent person.
I can talk to you about the arts or makeup.
And tomorrow I can be with the governor
and discuss how we are going to drain a river.”
-Ana de la Reguera (Interview for Esquire)

Teaching girls they can be themselves

By: Gabriela Yareliz

I am absolutely adoring the faces emerging in the media:

Becky G
A new Latina rap artist. Where was she when I was growing up, when we were all praying 17 prayers a day for God to close the gap in our front teeth?

Mindy Kaling
Writer and actress. She is beautiful, and her humor is on point.

Fifth Harmony
Singers and dreamers.

[From: Fifth Harmony Wiki]

As women, we often feel pressure to change. As a culture, Americans have always been striving for perfection; perfect body (even if you have to starve), perfect hair (even if you have to clip in fake hair), perfect nails (even if you have to pay way too much at a place where your lungs are perforated by chemicals), perfect height (even if the shoes are painful) and perfect smiles (even if it means veneers).

Now, there are women of all shapes, sizes and colors that we can identify with. We can still improve, but we’ve got to start somewhere. Above all, diversity shows that what matters is what is in your heart and that there is beauty everywhere.

It’s nice to see women who remain true to themselves. It inspires other young women and girls. Girls are now being told it’s okay to be uniquely themselves.

Pave your own path.
Never forget where you came from.
Embrace even the things that make you different.
As we begin doing this, we show others that what makes you different makes you beautiful;
It’s fantastic to be yourself.

Can Women Afford to Lean Out Instead of Lean In?

This was great. Very interesting.