BEHIND THE GLOSSY MASK WE WEAR By Yilva Kalmanson

By Yilva Kalmanson

During the 19^th century, decorative masks often were worn by guests attending parties hosted by aristocrats.  Non-aristocrats would use the disguise to cover up a suspicious activity. At those masked balls people could say what they wanted without the fear of being identified by other member of the community.

Masks are a powerful form of disguise, it is something that can be used to conceal the real identity of the person. Probably the most difficult thing in the world is to show others who we really are. I do not even think most of us know who we really are because we are so used to wearing social masks for most of our lives. The problem is that when the time comes that you want to reveal your true self to another we cannot remember how to remove the mask. We have become the mask.

Today, masks are used to represent our roles in society. The game always is between appearance and reality and the endless round of masking and unmasking when we get home. When we are in public we wear our “social masks” permitting us to present different versions of ourselves to other people. Depending on the situation, we have different ways of presenting ourselves at work and in public than we do when we are alone. Some of us like to play the role of the “successful businessman,” others the “clever one,” or the “sexy girl,” the “good mother,” the “playboy” and many others. It all depends of what we want people to believe we are, not necessarily who we really are.

Masks also allow us to feel “safe” and block others from discovering our raw or true nature.  Even if normalcy does not exist in our lives, we like to wear a mask of normalcy so that we can project an illusion of wellbeing and hide all our fears and defects. 

The key to true happiness is to accept who we really are without thinking about who we are not and what is lacking in our lives. That is why people who live in societies that lack an abundance of material things feel more content with themselves and what they do have because they don’t feel the need to pretend to be better then others. They do not need to use social masks because they are satisfied with what they have and are comfortable living in their own skin – unlike most of us.

The best of all the roles I have found in life is being myself. It allows me to stop thinking about who I “should” be and allows me to begin a new journey of helping others because I want to, not because I want to show others my “good citizen” mask. The meaning of life started for me when I stopped thinking about what others think of me and began a whole new way of thinking about the well being of others.

Acknowledging who we really are is the only way to achieve reality in life.

The Street Knowledge of Street Entertainers

By Yilva Kalmanson

At some point in our lives we all have seen street performers. Many of us have even been street performers of some type whether as a way to earn our living or simply by accident by taking part in a public event.

In the Plaza Bolivar in downtown Caracas, Venezuela, where I used to walk through every day on my way to work, I used to see all kind of people performing in public: protesters, musicians, mimes, jugglers, eccentrics, street singers., etc. On my list of street performers, I also include the beggars, thieves, shoeshine boys and drunks.

The disgrace of some people becomes the entertainment for others. Even after many years, I still remember walking through the Plaza Bolivar to my office every morning and seeing “El Borrachito”  (an old drunk) always sitting next to his nephew the shoe shine boy. One day coming back from work I saw a great multitude of people standing around the man who was on the floor shaking and foaming at the mouth with bubbles saliva mixed with blood oozing out.  He was shivering and several people were trying to save the poor man who appeared to have had an epileptic seizure. Others gave him money or food because they felt so sorry for him.

A few weeks later, I had to work later than normal and when I crossed the Plaza all of the sudden I saw the shoeshine boy with a sponge and a shampoo bottle applying lather to the man’s mouth. I soon realized that they were actually street performers. They were pretending that the old drunk was suffering from cruel epileptic seizures to motivate people to give him food, money and attention from the world that they have been excluded from.

Another street performance I will never forget was when I was driving down one of the main streets of an affluent section of Caracas and witnessed a horrific car accident. A car with a driver and two passengers hit a truck full of watermelons. The impact of the car hitting the truck was so great that the bodies flew to the ground and the watermelons spread all over the street and onto the sidewalks. Many of the watermelons had broken open and some were laying in pools of blood from the victims who had died or were severely injured.

Soon after the paramedics arrived, I saw a group of poor people picking up the watermelons to take them home to eat. I could not believe what I was seeing. I did not know if I should have been sorry for the people who died in the car accident or disgusted by the hungry people who had the nerve to eat the watermelons after such a bloody accident. Of course, some people chose to leave the scene of the accident immediately but also there were a lot of spectators who seemed to be watching the people eating the pieces of broken watermelon left on the ground with a morbid sense of curiosity.

The shoeshine boy and the drunk knew that faking an epileptic seizure was a good way to attract people and take advantage of them so they could not only get food and money but also compassion and attention. Soon after I came to realize that even the more cruel diseases or the most heinous accidents became a form of entertainment for some people. 

The New Urban English Language

Due to the proliferation of social media, increased globalization and other demographic changes, how we use language is changing the face of language.

How we use language today emphasizes linguistic and social differences between online and off-line communications. This trend also has had a major impact on global English as used in the non-English speaking world. These changes have produced a new urban hybrid language.

We as parents sometimes wonder what our own children are saying. But the English language is changing in general not only at the youth level but also at other levels including adults. The way we communicate with others is changing everyday.

The imposition of English as the primary language in the world has generated lots of changes everywhere. Despite that fact that the Spanish language is richer in the wide range of words with specific meanings, not only the Americans but the British have managed to do very well in creating a new whole dictionary with urban expressions or words of the moment.

If you want to be updated about this new language trend you can subscribe to the “Urban Dictionary” online and get e-mails containing the latest expressions and the way you can use these new word—some of which you may not even heard of.

Here are some of the new creations:

A woman who loves fashion is a “fashionista,” a men who loves fashion is a “fashionmista.”

A marriage between a man and woman is a “marriage” but a marriage between members of the same gender is a “garriage.”

A something that is unfashionable and boring is  “uncool.”

Something that is somewhat frightening or strange is “freaky.”

Combining the words IPod and pedestrian, there is now a word for someone who is crossing a street with an Ipod in his ears called “Podestrian.”

Another combination of words is Facebookaholic to describe someone who is addicted to Facebook.

“Computerated” is the shortening of two word (computer and generated) to describe something that is produced with a computer device.

“Blogger” is someone who posts blogs on the web, like me.

For the cellular phone lovers and text messages, you can also use

“Lol” for laugh out loud.

“RDC” for really don’t care.

“XOXO,” for hugs and kisses.

As you can see, our language is changing just as quickly as our world does.

XOXO,

                                                                        

Copyright: Yilva Kalmanson

El nuevo argot norteamericano

El estado de las lenguas que se hablan en el mundo  está en plena transformación; la globalización, los factores demográficos y la profileración del internet están generando cambios en el panorama lingüístico en el mundo.

El idioma español o castellano ha sido una lengua ibérica y a pesar de ser más extensa en vocabulario  que el inglés, tanto los norteamericanos como los ingleses se las han ingeniado para crear todo un argot de nuevas palabras.

La imposición lingüística norteamericana como por ejemplo, ha prevalecido a nivel mundial. Si quereis estar al dia con el nuevo léxico en inglés, te puedes suscribir al “Urban Dictionary” en el web para recibir automaticamente correos electrónicos con las expresiones urbanas del momento.

He aqui algunas de las nuevas creaciones:

Una mujer que le gusta vestirse a la moda es “fashionista” y un hombre es “fashionisto”.

Cuando un hombre y una mujer contraen matrimonio, la palabra es “marriage”,

Cuando dos personas del mismo sexo contraen matrimonio,la palabra es “garriage”.

Para los amantes del móvil y los mensajitos telefónicos, la creación de las abreviaturas es interminable:

“Lol” para “laugh out loud”, lo que significa : Reir en alta voz

“RDC” para “really do not care”, lo que significa: Realmente no me importa

“Xoxo,” muchos besos y abrazos

                                                                                                            Yilva Kalmanson

EL ESPEJO YA NO ES TU MEJOR AMIGO

La madurez es un proceso  que combina los cambios fisiológicos, psicológicos y sociales.. Los cambios en la persona producen respuestas emocionales de tristeza , frustración y a veces rebeldía.

Los cambios nos afectan mucho porque nos damos cuenta de que  ya no actuamos como antes y que  en ciertos aspectos como en el caso de la memoria , por ejemplo , nos afecta pensar que ya no funciona de la misma manera que antes. Un ejemplo de cambios fisiológicos,s, se podrían  mencionar los cambios en nuestra piel, pelo, cuerpo. etc.  Nos cuesta aceptar que el espejo ya no es nuestro mejor amigo y que la forma de “Pera” que por lo general le llega a una persona de cierta edad,  está en camino y viene para quedarse.

Por otro lado, madurez significa la búsqueda del significado real de la vida . De un modo u otro dejamos que  ese  “Yo” , que tanto nos agobia,,  vuele a otro plano para darle paso a los seres que realmente amamos y a las cosas que realmente apreciamos..  Ahora percibimos el mundo com más claridad, los fracasos son como triunfos. y los triunfos como grandes logros.  Nuestros temores se han aplacado un poco más y nuestras metas son más claras.  

El comienzo de la liberación reside cuando  sentimos que hemos alcanzado un cierto nivel de madurez tanto física como emocional. La mayoría de la personas consideran que son más felices porque se sienten más maduros al saber conducir  y reconocer sus emociones de una manera más eficaz que cuando eran más jóvenes y con menos experiencia.

Siempre va a existir  ese niño que vive dentro de nosotros. Algunas veces es saludable liberarlo  y llevarlo de paseo pero siempre teniendo en cuenta que el adulto  es el jefe y  que este es el que debe predominar por encima de todo.

                                                                                                     By: Yilva Kalmanson