Week 11 Review: International Romani Day

 This week, one of my favorite topics included in the course announcements was about International Romani Day. The reason this one stood out to me is because of the world music class I am currently taking. In it, we spent a couple of days watching a movie called "Latcho Drom" which documents the travels of a Romani group from India to Spain. It focuses primarily on the music of the people, and the music is rather depressing. They have a tragic backstory, and they all just wish to be accepted bu the world.

Image: Roma woman and daughter, source

Week 10 Review

This week, my favorite piece from an announcement was about punctuation. In the picture, it showed various punctuation that aren't often used. In fact, I was only familiar with one of them -- the interrobang. Something I like about the different punctuation marks is that it allows for greater nuance in meaning. Sometimes a question mark just won't do. Here's the picture:

Class Announcement: http://ouclassannouncements.blogspot.com/2017/03/friday-march-31.html
Image Source: http://writingwithaesop.blogspot.com/2016/01/little-known-punctuation-marks.html

Week 4 Review: Mindset

via TinyBuddha.com

One item from the class announcement for February 11 that caught my attention was advice about mindset. I think this caught my attention because of how often we forget the truth of it. You always have yourself to talk to, and your own mind isn't going to stop itself. It is so easy to become critical of yourself or to constantly think negative thoughts. But soon, you accept the critiques as being indicative of yourself, and that's when self-confidence, self-image, and mental health begin to decline. Negative thoughts breed negative perspectives. But if you can remember to be kind to yourself, you can create a positive self-image. Dr. Gottman says healthy relationships need 5 positive comments for every negative one. If a relationship needs this ratio, then surely your internal thoughts needs this too.