Damen und Heren...

Cry for help

Doomed

It has passed a year that I moved back to my hometown. Things are getting better and worse. I have no words to describe this awkward feeling. I have accomplished greatest things. I am now teaching at schools that I have always dreamed of being part of. And yet, my mind/inner world has collapsed. I am lost. I feel alone. I need psychological help. I am so hopeless.

My Presentation Letter and Résume

>> How are you, dear Madam and/or Sir?

This is a presentation letter and hope you take your time to get to know me:

I am called Teacher Laila a hundred times a day, but I am also known as "Ms Burden". The latter is how I sign my literary work and other pieces of my insanity, daydreams, or deviations which are expressed quite often in the shape of poems, photos, shorties, and such.

My full name is Laila Chris Batista. I am  a Brazilian EFL teacher, a certified Journalist, translator, and a writer as human necessity. I have currently taught 470 students; I lecture 77 hours/week and  I hold a Bachelor’s degree in 'Social Communications' with a minor in 'Journalism' from UEL - State University of Londrina (Brazil) and in 'Liberal Arts' with a minor in 'Creative Writing' from SPC - Saint Petersburg College (USA).

My husband (MBA - Florida Metropolitan University) has run a private language school in Brazil, called PBF, since October 2002, where we both teach and coordinate the schedules for tests, events, and the like.

After having graduated in college in Brazil, in 1998, I decided to live abroad, in order to fully learn another language, get an international degree for my academic education process, and get to know a different culture. I lived in Saint Petersburg, USA, for five years (98 ~ 02). Now, I've just turned 41, got a business of my own, been married for 19 years, and I've decided to live back in my home country for good. All my personal goals have been nearly accomplished. Adding to that, I've got hundreds of manuscripts and 'almost' nothing published.

Am strongly seeking for a temporary teaching position in summer or winter international language programs so that I can sponsor my own publications, and I am accepting any publishing opportunity as well as in international media, being electronic or hard-printed editorials, either temporary or permanently. Notice that I'm an agent-free writer and maybe that is why I write intensely. I have got two ongoing book projects: a poetry one and a fiction novel and have recently launched a book¹ of shorties intended for ESL learners entitled "American Jokes in Simple Language."

My experiences in journalism toward entertainment news and short story writing led me to the artistic literary practice. Through my education background, abilities, and desire to work, I believe I can be very useful to any editorial service. And when it comes to teaching English and tutoring other subjects, I've been working in this field since I was 10. I'd owned a language school in Brazil for 15 years as well.

I look forward to hearing from any educational institution,  publisher/editor, or ESL/EFL school which could make good use of my  knowledge and experience to help improve your services towards my will-power and strong wish to work. I am also open for  further discussions about any possible translation/version, proofreading, or any  independent publication of my manuscripts, as well as my participation in any collaboration through, revising, translating and/or developing versions in Portuguese, Spanish, English, and German. However, if you have no connections with this kind of business or you do not, but you've thought I am worth being read, contact me. I am highly willing to take over language teaching positions in any international school. I am fluent in English, Portuguese, Spanish, German and am able to teach these languages.

On the other hand, if you feel at least a tiny little dust of interest in knowing my work, click on any of those links located on the sidebar and leave a comment. Or better, go straight to the point and E-mail me:lailachris@gmail.com, WhatsApp me (+55-18-9977-42901), and subscribe to my YouTube channel "Teacher Laila's Video Class" (YouTube.com/iamserelepe)  and visit my site: www.teacherlaila.com

>> EDUCATION
>> 2016 Unicesumar / Maringa (Polo Presidente Prudente), PR e  SP, (Brazil)
Post-grad in Educational Management

>> 2012/13 University of South Caxias / Caxias do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, (Brazil)
>>  Bachelor's degree in Psychology (incomplete) - Minor Educational Psychology

>> 2002 Saint Petersburg College / St. Petersburg, FL (USA)
>>Bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts - minor: Creative Writing

>> 1998 State University of Londrina / Londrina, PR (Brazil)
>>Bachelor's degree in Social Communications - minor: Journalism

>> 1992 State High School Dr. Álvaro Coelho / São Paulo (Brazil)
>>High School Diploma

>> WORK EXPERIENCE

>>  2016~today
In Presidente Venceslau, SP (Brazil) -Anglo School for Primary Education www.colegioescoteco.com.br and Colégio Objetivo in High School Education - Language Coordinator/ English, Spanish, and Portuguese Instructor

>> 2016 ~ today PBF English/Español  and FISK School / Presidente Venceslau, SP (Brazil)
Coordinator/ English, German, Spanish and Portuguese Instructor; Independent Writer

>> 2016 - today  Curious.com / Melo, CA, (USA)
Online English, German, Spanish, and Portuguese Instructor/ Screewriter and Editor

>> 2002 ~ 2016 PBF English/Español School / Caxias do Sul, RS (Brazil)
Owner/ Coordinator/ English, German, and Portuguese Instructor/ Independent Writer

>> 1999 ~ 2002 Tokyo Bay Japanese Restaurant / Isla de Sol, Pinellas County (USA)
>> Hostess/Cashier at Tokyo Bay January 1998 - May 2002 (4 years 5 months)

>> Received guests, took reservations and take-out orders over the counter and over the phone. I controlled the cash register 6 days a week, from 4 to 11pm. I picked up all phone calls, cleaned my station, and folded origamis for decoration purposes or for children's entertainment. Tokyo Bay is a Japanese American sushi restaurant owned by a Japanese chef, called Eiji Sonogi, located on Isla del Sol, right at a golf club resort and down by the waters of Tierra Verde and Saint Pete Beach, Gulf of Mexico.

>> 2000 ~ 2002 All Natural Botanicals / Pinellas Park, FL (USA)
*International Marketing, Sales, and Customer Service Associate
* Participated in several national trade shows.
* Elaborated text for packaging and reviewed the company’s catalog.
*Added few Latin-American accounts.

>> 1996 ~ 1997 Radio Universidade FM / Londrina, PR (Brazil)
>> Radio News Reporter, Writer, Editor, and Producer
* Wrote the hourly breaking news: international politics, sports, and economy.
*Radiocasted the daily show “Atualidades” for entertainment topics.
*Collaborated with other shows interviewing and brainstorming.
* Took over live coverage of local events.

>> 1995 ~ 1996 SERCOMTEL / Londrina, PR (Brazil)
>> ESL Instructor in-company
*Taught associates English language using the educational method named Wisdom.
*Weekly attended meetings with other instructors and supervisors to improve and accelerate the employee’s foreign language skills.
*Helped the company to approach the international business standards of TQM.

>> 1994 ~ 1996 CRCOM Comunicação Empresarial / Londrina, PR (Brazil)
>> Public Relations
* Developed promotional campaigns, elaborated press releases and clippings for accounts such as Mazda, Nissan, and SEBRAE (Brazilian company).
*Organized the annual national business communication conference: joining remarkable professionals of advertisement and journalism fields with local university students in order to create and discuss new ideas in seminars and workshops.

>> EXTRA COURSES

>> Hollywood English Institute – Proficiency in English Language, 1990 - Brazil
>>Fisk English School – Certified English Teacher diploma, 1992 - Brazil
>>Pink and Blue-Freedom – Certified English Teacher, 1994 - Brazil
>>Londrina AME - Screenplay Writing Course, 1997 - BrazilMãe de Deus (German Catholic School - Goethe Institut) – German Language, 1994~1997 -
>> Tomlinson Adult Learning Center - English as a Second Language, 1998 -
>> TOEFL CBT - 210 score and IELTS.
>> Both taken in Saint Pete /FL/USA
>> English in Dublin - English as a Second Language, 2010 - Dublin/Ireland
>> English Days at Disneyworld - English as a Second Language, 2011 - Orlando/FL/USA
>> Acting Lessons at the Community Labs Project - 2012 - Performing a play written by myself along with other 13 actors before a 700 ticket buyers. 
>>Drum Learner since 2013

>> AWARDS
*The President's List - GPA 3.75

>> I hold a legal Brazilian passport, no illegal records, several former bosses's recommendation letters, and hold type R, USA Visa B1/B2, Social Security Number, a Florida Driver's License and a USA work permit granted by the American Government for international students, which is proper for work hiring and/or business attempts. I am looking forward to hearing from any job opening. I am willing to take over any position in any educational instituition being in the management department, faculty, or for  teachers' assistant.

Truly yours,
Laila Chris Batista

>> WhatsApp + 55 (18) 99774-2901
>> lailachris@gmail.com
>>languagecorner@yahoo.com
>> about.me/lailachris
>> http://www.teacherlaila.com
>> teacherlailachris.blogspot.com.br

THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

April 2002

To The World’s Religious Leaders

The enduring legacy of the twentieth century is that it compelled the peoples of the world to begin seeing themselves as the members of a single human race, and the earth as that race’s common homeland. Despite the continuing conflict and violence that darken the horizon, prejudices that once seemed inherent in the nature of the human species are everywhere giving way. Down with them come barriers that long divided the family of man into a Babel of incoherent identities of cultural, ethnic or national origin. That so fundamental a change could occur in so brief a period—virtually overnight in the perspective of historical time—suggests the magnitude of the possibilities for the future.

Tragically, organized religion, whose very reason for being entails service to the cause of brotherhood and peace, behaves all too frequently as one of the most formidable obstacles in the path; to cite a particular painful fact, it has long lent its credibility to fanaticism. We feel a responsibility, as the governing council of one of the world religions, to urge earnest consideration of the challenge this poses for religious leadership. Both the issue and the circumstances to which it gives rise require that we speak frankly. We trust that common service to the Divine will ensure that what we say will be received in the same spirit of goodwill as it is put forward.

The issue comes sharply into focus when one considers what has been achieved elsewhere. In the past, apart from isolated exceptions, women were regarded as an inferior breed, their nature hedged about by superstitions, denied the opportunity to express the potentialities of the human spirit and relegated to the role of serving the needs of men. Clearly, there are many societies where such conditions persist and are even fanatically defended. At the level of global discourse, however, the concept of the equality of the sexes has, for all practical purposes, now assumed the force of universally accepted principle. It enjoys similar authority in most of the academic community and information media. So basic has been the revisioning that exponents of male supremacy must look for support on the margins of responsible opinion.

The beleaguered battalions of nationalism face a similar fate. With each passing crisis in world affairs, it becomes easier for the citizen to distinguish between a love of country that enriches one’s life, and submission to inflammatory rhetoric designed to provoke hatred and fear of others. Even where it is expedient to participate in the familiar nationalistic rites, public response is as often marked by feelings of awkwardness as it is by the strong convictions and ready enthusiasm of earlier times. The effect has been reinforced by the restructuring steadily taking place in the international order. Whatever the shortcomings of the United Nations system in its present form, and however handicapped its ability to take collective military action against aggression, no one can mistake the fact that the fetish of absolute national sovereignty is on its way to extinction.

Racial and ethnic prejudices have been subjected to equally summary treatment by historical processes that have little patience left for such pretensions. Here, rejection of the past has been especially decisive. Racism is now tainted by its association with the horrors of the twentieth century to the degree that it has taken on something of the character of a spiritual disease. While surviving as a social attitude in many parts of the world—and as a blight on the lives of a significant segment of humankind—racial prejudice has become so universally condemned in principle that no body of people can any longer safely allow themselves to be identified with it.

It is not that a dark past has been erased and a new world of light has suddenly been born. Vast numbers of people continue to endure the effects of ingrained prejudices of ethnicity, gender, nation, caste and class. All the evidence indicates that such injustices will long persist as the institutions and standards that humanity is devising only slowly become empowered to construct a new order of relationships and to bring relief to the oppressed. The point, rather, is that a threshold has been crossed from which there is no credible possibility of return. Fundamental principles have been identified, articulated, accorded broad publicity and are becoming progressively incarnated in institutions capable of imposing them on public behaviour. There is no doubt that, however protracted and painful the struggle, the outcome will be to revolutionize relationships among all peoples, at the grassroots level.

*

As the twentieth century opened, the prejudice that seemed more likely than any other to succumb to the forces of change was that of religion. In the West, scientific advances had already dealt rudely with some of the central pillars of sectarian exclusivity. In the context of the transformation taking place in the human race’s conception of itself, the most promising new religious development seemed to be the interfaith movement. In 1893, the World’s Columbian Exposition surprised even its ambitious organizers by giving birth to the famed “Parliament of Religions”, a vision of spiritual and moral consensus that captured the popular imagination on all continents and managed to eclipse even the scientific, technological and commercial wonders that the Exposition celebrated.

Briefly, it appeared that ancient walls had fallen. For influential thinkers in the field of religion, the gathering stood unique, “unprecedented in the history of the world”. The Parliament had, its distinguished principal organizer said, “emancipated the world from bigotry”. An imaginative leadership, it was confidently predicted, would seize the opportunity and awaken in the earth’s long-divided religious communities a spirit of brotherhood that could provide the needed moral underpinnings for the new world of prosperity and progress. Thus encouraged, interfaith movements of every kind took root and flourished. A vast literature, available in many languages, introduced an ever wider public, believers and non-believers alike, to the teachings of all the major faiths, an interest picked up in due course by radio, television, film and eventually the Internet. Institutions of higher learning launched degree programmes in the study of comparative religion. By the time the century ended, interfaith worship services, unthinkable only a few decades earlier, were becoming commonplace.

Alas, it is clear that these initiatives lack both intellectual coherence and spiritual commitment. In contrast to the processes of unification that are transforming the rest of humanity’s social relationships, the suggestion that all of the world’s great religions are equally valid in nature and origin is stubbornly resisted by entrenched patterns of sectarian thought. The progress of racial integration is a development that is not merely an expression of sentimentality or strategy but arises from the recognition that the earth’s peoples constitute a single species whose many variations do not themselves confer any advantage or impose any handicap on individual members of the race. The emancipation of women, likewise, has entailed the willingness of both society’s institutions and popular opinion to acknowledge that there are no acceptable grounds—biological, social or moral—to justify denying women full equality with men, and girls equal educational opportunities with boys. Nor does appreciation of the contributions that some nations are making to the shaping of an evolving global civilization support the inherited illusion that other nations have little or nothing to bring to the effort.

So fundamental a reorientation religious leadership appears, for the most part, unable to undertake. Other segments of society embrace the implications of the oneness of humankind, not only as the inevitable next step in the advancement of civilization, but as the fulfilment of lesser identities of every kind that our race brings to this critical moment in our collective history. Yet, the greater part of organized religion stands paralyzed at the threshold of the future, gripped in those very dogmas and claims of privileged access to truth that have been responsible for creating some of the most bitter conflicts dividing the earth’s inhabitants.

The consequences, in terms of human well-being, have been ruinous. It is surely unnecessary to cite in detail the horrors being visited upon hapless populations today by outbursts of fanaticism that shame the name of religion. Nor is the phenomenon a recent one. To take only one of many examples, Europe’s sixteenth century wars of religion cost that continent the lives of some thirty percent of its entire population. One must wonder what has been the longer term harvest of the seeds planted in popular consciousness by the blind forces of sectarian dogmatism that inspired such conflicts.

To this accounting must be added a betrayal of the life of the mind which, more than any other factor, has robbed religion of the capacity it inherently possesses to play a decisive role in the shaping of world affairs. Locked into preoccupation with agendas that disperse and vitiate human energies, religious institutions have too often been the chief agents in discouraging exploration of reality and the exercise of those intellectual faculties that distinguish humankind. Denunciations of materialism or terrorism are of no real assistance in coping with the contemporary moral crisis if they do not begin by addressing candidly the failure of responsibility that has left believing masses exposed and vulnerable to these influences.

Such reflections, however painful, are less an indictment of organized religion than a reminder of the unique power it represents. Religion, as we are all aware, reaches to the roots of motivation. When it has been faithful to the spirit and example of the transcendent Figures who gave the world its great belief systems, it has awakened in whole populations capacities to love, to forgive, to create, to dare greatly, to overcome prejudice, to sacrifice for the common good and to discipline the impulses of animal instinct. Unquestionably, the seminal force in the civilizing of human nature has been the influence of the succession of these Manifestations of the Divine that extends back to the dawn of recorded history.

This same force, that operated with such effect in ages past, remains an inextinguishable feature of human consciousness. Against all odds, and with little in the way of meaningful encouragement, it continues to sustain the struggle for survival of uncounted millions, and to raise up in all lands heroes and saints whose lives are the most persuasive vindication of the principles contained in the scriptures of their respective faiths. As the course of civilization demonstrates, religion is also capable of profoundly influencing the structure of social relationships. Indeed, it would be difficult to think of any fundamental advance in civilization that did not derive its moral thrust from this perennial source. Is it conceivable, then, that passage to the culminating stage in the millennia-long process of the organization of the planet can be accomplished in a spiritual vacuum? If the perverse ideologies let loose on our world during the century just past contributed nothing else, they demonstrated conclusively that the need cannot be met by alternatives that lie within the power of human invention.

*

The implications for today are summed up by Bahá’u’lláh in words written over a century ago and widely disseminated in the intervening decades:

There can be no doubt whatever that the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source, and are the subjects of one God. The difference between the ordinances under which they abide should be attributed to the varying requirements and exigencies of the age in which they were revealed. All of them, except a few which are the outcome of human perversity, were ordained of God, and are a reflection of His Will and Purpose. Arise and, armed with the power of faith, shatter to pieces the gods of your vain imaginings, the sowers of dissension amongst you. Cleave unto that which draweth you together and uniteth you.

Such an appeal does not call for abandonment of faith in the fundamental verities of any of the world’s great belief systems. Far otherwise. Faith has its own imperative and is its own justification. What others believe—or do not believe—cannot be the authority in any individual conscience worthy of the name. What the above words do unequivocally urge is renunciation of all those claims to exclusivity or finality that, in winding their roots around the life of the spirit, have been the greatest single factor in suffocating impulses to unity and in promoting hatred and violence.

It is to this historic challenge that we believe leaders of religion must respond if religious leadership is to have meaning in the global society emerging from the transformative experiences of the twentieth century. It is evident that growing numbers of people are coming to realize that the truth underlying all religions is in its essence one. This recognition arises not through a resolution of theological disputes, but as an intuitive awareness born from the ever widening experience of others and from a dawning acceptance of the oneness of the human family itself. Out of the welter of religious doctrines, rituals and legal codes inherited from vanished worlds, there is emerging a sense that spiritual life, like the oneness manifest in diverse nationalities, races and cultures, constitutes one unbounded reality equally accessible to everyone. In order for this diffuse and still tentative perception to consolidate itself and contribute effectively to the building of a peaceful world, it must have the wholehearted confirmation of those to whom, even at this late hour, masses of the earth’s population look for guidance.

There are certainly wide differences among the world’s major religious traditions with respect to social ordinances and forms of worship. Given the thousands of years during which successive revelations of the Divine have addressed the changing needs of a constantly evolving civilization, it could hardly be otherwise. Indeed, an inherent feature of the scriptures of most of the major faiths would appear to be the expression, in some form or other, of the principle of religion’s evolutionary nature. What cannot be morally justified is the manipulation of cultural legacies that were intended to enrich spiritual experience, as a means to arouse prejudice and alienation. The primary task of the soul will always be to investigate reality, to live in accordance with the truths of which it becomes persuaded and to accord full respect to the efforts of others to do the same.

It may be objected that, if all the great religions are to be recognized as equally Divine in origin, the effect will be to encourage, or at least to facilitate, the conversion of numbers of people from one religion to another. Whether or not this is true, it is surely of peripheral importance when set against the opportunity that history has at last opened to those who are conscious of a world that transcends this terrestrial one—and against the responsibility that this awareness imposes. Each of the great faiths can adduce impressive and credible testimony to its efficacy in nurturing moral character. Similarly, no one could convincingly argue that doctrines attached to one particular belief system have been either more or less prolific in generating bigotry and superstition than those attached to any other. In an integrating world, it is natural that patterns of response and association will undergo a continuous process of shifting, and the role of institutions, of whatever kind, is surely to consider how these developments can be managed in a way that promotes unity. The guarantee that the outcome will ultimately be sound—spiritually, morally and socially—lies in the abiding faith of the unconsulted masses of the earth’s inhabitants that the universe is ruled not by human caprice, but by a loving and unfailing Providence.

Together with the crumbling of barriers separating peoples, our age is witnessing the dissolution of the once insuperable wall that the past assumed would forever separate the life of Heaven from the life of Earth. The scriptures of all religions have always taught the believer to see in service to others not only a moral duty, but an avenue for the soul’s own approach to God. Today, the progressive restructuring of society gives this familiar teaching new dimensions of meaning. As the age-old promise of a world animated by principles of justice slowly takes on the character of a realistic goal, meeting the needs of the soul and those of society will increasingly be seen as reciprocal aspects of a mature spiritual life.

If religious leadership is to rise to the challenge that this latter perception represents, such response must begin by acknowledging that religion and science are the two indispensable knowledge systems through which the potentialities of consciousness develop. Far from being in conflict with one another, these fundamental modes of the mind’s exploration of reality are mutually dependent and have been most productive in those rare but happy periods of history when their complementary nature has been recognized and they have been able to work together. The insights and skills generated by scientific advance will have always to look to the guidance of spiritual and moral commitment to ensure their appropriate application; religious convictions, no matter how cherished they may be, must submit, willingly and gratefully, to impartial testing by scientific methods.

We come finally to an issue that we approach with some diffidence as it touches most directly on conscience. Among the many temptations the world offers, the test that has, not surprisingly, preoccupied religious leaders is that of exercising power in matters of belief. No one who has dedicated long years to earnest meditation and study of the scriptures of one or another of the great religions requires any further reminder of the oft-repeated axiom regarding the potentiality of power to corrupt and to do so increasingly as such power grows. The unheralded inner victories won in this respect by unnumbered clerics all down the ages have no doubt been one of the chief sources of organized religion’s creative strength and must rank as one of its highest distinctions. To the same degree, surrender to the lure of worldly power and advantage, on the part of other religious leaders, has cultivated a fertile breeding ground for cynicism, corruption and despair among all who observe it. The implications for the ability of religious leadership to fulfil its social responsibility at this point in history need no elaboration.

*

Because it is concerned with the ennobling of character and the harmonizing of relationships, religion has served throughout history as the ultimate authority in giving meaning to life. In every age, it has cultivated the good, reproved the wrong and held up, to the gaze of all those willing to see, a vision of potentialities as yet unrealized. From its counsels the rational soul has derived encouragement in overcoming limits imposed by the world and in fulfilling itself. As the name implies, religion has simultaneously been the chief force binding diverse peoples together in ever larger and more complex societies through which the individual capacities thus released can find expression. The great advantage of the present age is the perspective that makes it possible for the entire human race to see this civilizing process as a single phenomenon, the ever-recurring encounters of our world with the world of God.

Inspired by this perspective, the Bahá’í community has been a vigorous promoter of interfaith activities from the time of their inception. Apart from cherished associations that these activities create, Bahá’ís see in the struggle of diverse religions to draw closer together a response to the Divine Will for a human race that is entering on its collective maturity. The members of our community will continue to assist in every way we can. We owe it to our partners in this common effort, however, to state clearly our conviction that interfaith discourse, if it is to contribute meaningfully to healing the ills that afflict a desperate humanity, must now address honestly and without further evasion the implications of the over-arching truth that called the movement into being: that God is one and that, beyond all diversity of cultural expression and human interpretation, religion is likewise one.

With every day that passes, danger grows that the rising fires of religious prejudice will ignite a worldwide conflagration the consequences of which are unthinkable. Such a danger civil government, unaided, cannot overcome. Nor should we delude ourselves that appeals for mutual tolerance can alone hope to extinguish animosities that claim to possess Divine sanction. The crisis calls on religious leadership for a break with the past as decisive as those that opened the way for society to address equally corrosive prejudices of race, gender and nation. Whatever justification exists for exercising influence in matters of conscience lies in serving the well-being of humankind. At this greatest turning point in the history of civilization, the demands of such service could not be more clear. “The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable”, Bahá’u’lláh urges, “unless and until its unity is firmly established.”

signed: The Universal House of Justice

Miss those times so bad

A few words from Laila Chris Batista... After a long while not posting anything new or significantly here. There it is:

I intend to post whatever might bring the difference, an extra flavor to everybody's thoughts. Won't let you down in case you wish to read this kind of writing. Bullshit, I'll write here whatever I feel like but I'm not a professional writer, therefore you'll find mistakes, awkwardness, flaws, and blemishes. Neither turn a blind eye on them nor take me for granted. Report my errors! Lemme know that you are willing to improve this ability in me. I am glad that I have been able to keep this blog alive for so long time. My pseudo is a combo of contrasting words HOPE and BURDEN. I don't know how I came up with that but I do know why. Our lives our based on opposite forces, evolved in extreme opposite energies. Life is bipolar by nature. I have got a borderline personality. I am the NEGRO DRAMA. Whoever gets to read this after I am dead, you should know you are now alive but I am not. "Really?" Maybe your father or your mother isn't alive either. Maybe you have never dealt with the loss of a loved one or you are exactly going through this pain at the moment, you all ought to know that people understand how hard this is being. Nevertheless, it is part of the game. LIVE ON! I myself might be gone now as well. And if you believe in ghosts, I might be sitting next to you. Many people hope to go to Heaven after they die and meet all the good people they had lost when they were alive. I honestly don't care for that very much. I'd rather stay around and be able to see all those who are alive and even move things over or make sudden noises just to scare people out. I'd crap my pants laughing at them all. So if you feel a light touch on your hands, or some whispering in your ear, or even some goosebumps in your legs, arms or in the back of your neck, I might be near. But do not worry, you've found my blog, therefore we are friends and I won't haunt you, unless you copy and paste my material without my permission or without crediting me. Now that you run across my blog and have read this note all along, we are now committed to help the world become a better place by not stealing ideas, on the contraire, we must spread whatever it is fun, cool, magical, informative, amusing, artistic, historical, so forth and so on, but we LINK pages and name names. We live fair.

Love you all.

Teacher Laila

I wanna die

Seriously... Just wanna die.
Help me kill myself.

Sweet talk

Valid during several weeks: This is a very agreeable influence that makes you feel quite positive and friendly toward everyone you meet. Also you are in tune with your feelings, and you speak with considerable sensitivity. This is a good time to meet new people, because you can project the most agreeable side of your personality. If you like to make sweet talk, that is, this is the time for it. Of course this is an excellent time to talk with someone about your feelings of love and friendship, for it will be easier than usual to talk about these feelings. Often embarrassment or shyness prevents you from doing this, but that should not be a problem now. In general, your approach to life today will be lighthearted, and you should enjoy the day very much. You may find it difficult to adopt a serious attitude about anything, however.

Agent Orange

Minha hometown: Presidente Venceslau...

Minha múltipla cidadania

Nos meses de Abril e Março acontece o  aniversário de muita gente que amo, daquela que me pariu e me amamentou até daqueles que me receberam como membra de suas famílias. O desmame foi meio que abrupto e inevitável. Saí de Venceslau aos 16. Fui exilada para a capital Paulista.  Não me acostumei com os Paulistanos, literalmente. Voltei para o interior, paranaense. Morei quatro anos nessa terra de Japas, Polacos e Italianos. Experiência que posso descrever em poucas palavras: necessária.

Depois de cinco anos distante, resolvi fugir do país. Aos 21 anos me vi com um diploma de jornalismo e um coração aberto para o American Dream. Saint Petersburg, Florida, conhecida como refúgio dos artistas Beats, a sede do maior acervo das obras do Salvador Dali, e dava para visitar constantemente e para mim, nada mais importava. Me formei em Artes Liberais, me tornei Americana na alma, mas as saudades do Brasil pintaram, fui aquela filha que reencontrou a mãe no aeroporto, abraçou, chorou, mas precisou se despedir e embarcar novamente.

Rio Grande do Sul lá fui eu. Parar no extremo sul, no alto das montanhas da serra gaúcha, parecia frio demais para ser verdade. E foi. Lá vi neve e nevar. Caxias do Sul tem coisas semelhantes ao Paraná como o "clima instável e úmido, a desconfiança e frieza nas relações sociais, e a cosmopolização, também gerada pela imigração européia voltada ao trabalho e a promessas não cumpridas." Foram quase 16 anos de gauchismo e ironicamente aprendi a não tomar mais álcool (vinho), tornei-me vegana e me interessei por tocar bateria e atuação (até então só escrevia).

O tempo passou, fui alfabetizada no gauchês, adquiri meu próprio apartamento, apresentei-me em palco para um público de 700 pessoas, larguei os cabelos normais, assumi tatuagens e comecei a lecionar alemão e português para gringos verdadeiros, comecei minha terceira graduação (psicologia), não terminei a faculdade, meu amor pela dança floreceu, sofri por decepções patrão/empregado risíveis, apanhei da vida,  saí do Rio Grande sem o terceiro canudo e com uma dívida astronômica para ter encerrado minha empresa. Adotamos 4 gatos no sul e mais 2 aqui em Presidente Venceslau.  Formei mais de 2000 alunos em Caxias do Sul, escrevi alguns livros, revisei as letras de alguns álbuns, fiz e desfiz amigos, fiz inimigos, saí da zona de conforto por perder funcionarios, mas ganhei paz de espírito por não precisar mais de lidar com sindicatos, advogados trabalhistas e "zero" seleção de funcionários. Aprendi muito, viajei um monte, li pra caralho, encontrei a profissão da minha vida e por fim, até que enfim, cheguei à conclusão que o lugar que me criou de fato, foi a minha  mente, após anos de terapia: é a nossa cabeça que nos cria.

Vinte e Seis anos de vida mambembe, oscilando entre culturas, aprendi-me. Hoje não sinto nada além do sentimento de missão cumprida. Fui pop, punk,  rebelde, mas nada fora de controle. Agora me aproximo geograficamente da minha terra de nascença, essa Venceslau tosquinha. Mas tenho passaporte e vistos bons: as visitas ao exterior serão assíduas. Talvez tenha a oportunidade de conhecer a Ásia e o Oriente Médio, os continentes que me faltam. Nesses meus 42 anos de vida, e 27 longe de casa, foram precisos para conhecer quem sou,  e moldar quem EU quero me evoluir. Tenho sonhado com isso.

Não por acaso que me identifico tanto com artes, IDIOMAS, astronomia, e neurociências. Não é coincidência que meu novo livro se chama ''MindSet'. Essa casa também é minha. Não estou sendo ingrata com a madrasta Caxias, afinal ela me criou e me ensinou muito, claro que não foi uma pedagogia baseada em Psicopedagogos, eu aprendi à base da porrada. Foram 4 anos e meio de análise para aceitar que o Brasil é onde nasci. Acontece que eu nunca me senti em casa, desde pequena (ou criança). Ainda sou exilada, "gringa", uma foragida,  exilada da minha alma. Ainda sou estrangeira. Ainda sou um clone de mim mesma.

E ainda sonho em encontrar o passaporte que me informe  sobre de onde vim; a minha verdadeira cidadania. Acho que chego lá...

De uma "Venceslauense",
Laila C. Batista

Taking a stand

Very likely you will have to convince someone of something today. This will probably not be an argument, but rather a situation in which you have to present your case with vigor and energy. But if someone tries to talk you into something, you will defend your own position vehemently and successfully. This influence is not as argumentative as it sounds. People will not see you as spoiling for a fight, nor will they be particularly likely to pick a fight. Instead they will respect you for taking a stand for your own beliefs. Your inner confidence in your ideas and beliefs will help you initiate and take advantage of the opportunities that come your way. Do not be reluctant to use them. Under this influence you should be successful.

My book is coming up...

Book.
The Book.
My book.
Booking the book
BOOK
Bitter book
It is on the way
Laila's book

Written on Jan. 2017

Please, don't

Follow me human
Color my soul
Peel my dream
Do not sever my goal

Buy me hope
Draw my silver lining
Bring me guidance
Do not quit fighting

Greet my teeth, roll up my sleeve, shell my fortune, frame my timing, but do not ever tell me what to do, when to do, and the worst: to change

Be continued...

By Laila Chris Batista

optimism

This influence has great potential for achievement, but you must heed certain dangers. Potentially the basic success drive signified by this influence will enable you to get ahead in all your endeavors, but especially in your work or profession. At its best this influence has a basic optimism that puts you in the right frame of mind to ensure that things will work out as you want.

However, there is the danger that you may overreach yourself, taking on too much and getting too involved. You may find yourself out on a limb when reality catches up with your overinflated expectations. But a far worse result is that you may become arrogant and overbearing in dealing with others. In your self-confidence you may assume an attitude of personal righteousness, a feeling that your aims and goals are much more important than those of anyone around you. It is extremely important that you be willing to compromise and make an effort to understand someone else's position. If you do not, you can be sure that others will make you feel the effects of their power. They will certainly not stand by and let you dominate them. But if you make a reasonable effort to include others in your efforts and in your success, this should not be a problem.

A related problem is the possibility of being carried away by some religious, metaphysical, spiritual or similar idea. But it is very hard to draw the line here, because at its best this influence makes you very properly concerned with religious and spiritual regeneration. The problem is to maintain your sense of proportion in these matters. Again do not try to force your ideas upon other people. It is natural and desirable that you want to communicate about these concerns, but let others make their own choices and also listen to what they have to say. Do not become so possessed by an idea that you will not listen to alternatives.

Enjoying beautiful art photography and perfect writing from a former student

"Depois de cair:

        Não sei como dei meus primeiros passos: mas, hoje, enquanto caminhava, vi um garotinho dando os seus. Ele provavelmente também não se lembrará de como foi, e eu escrevo agora porque não quero esquecer.

        Talvez ficar de pé tenha sido nosso primeiro medo de altura. Ele estava muito atento no chão, em todos os seus obstáculos. Já caiu algumas vezes, e como quem procura por equilíbrio, se protegia com os braços esticados para frente. Ele saberia se levantar. Sei que dizem que são estratégias biológicas de defesa: um “instinto natural”. 

        Baixei a guarda, desacelerei meus passos, e vi a velocidade criar distância conforme ele avançava os dele. O seu destino não era o “lá”, era até onde ele caísse para tentar de novo. Talvez eu devesse chegar lá também.

        Eu já estava parada quando alguém o pegou no colo antes que ele pudesse cair longe demais. Quando voltei a caminhar, sei que dei os meus primeiros passos também."

By Júlia Bonella

Look ahead, chin up, enlightenment now.

JAZZ DANCE TERMINOLOGY

General Vocabulary

* Choreographer: A person who composes a dance

* Choreography: A dance composition

* Downbeat: An accented beat which begins a musical measure

* Downstage: Toward the front of the stage or room

* Floor pattern: A path followed during a movement combination

* Lyrical: Smooth, sustained movement

* Stage left: The left side of the stage or room as one faces the audience or front

* Stage right: The right side of the stage or room as one faces the audience or front

*Upstage: Toward the back of the stage or room

*Upbeat: the unaccented mid-point between beats

Positions

* Brush: A movement in which one leg moves away from the standing leg and returns. The foot skims the floor as one moves it out or in.

* Contraction: Position or movement in which the center of the torso retreats

* First position parallel: Feet about 8" apart with toes facing front

* First position turned out: Heels together, toes facing the diagonal

* Flexed: Feet and toes are retracted back and heels are pressed forward

* Forced arch: on ball of the foot with heel off the floor and knee bent

* Fourth position parallel: One foot in front of the other with @ 10" between them . Toes facing the front

* Fourth position turned out: One foot in front of the other with toes facing the diagonal

* Lunge: Position in either 2nd or 4th where only one knee is bent and the other straight

* On the walk: Starting position for locomotor movement. Back foot is lightly resting on the ball of the foot

* Parallel: Stance where toes face forward

* Plié: A knee bend with careful alignment of the knees and torso

* Point: Feet are fully extended forward from the ankles

*Pretzel: A sitting position where one leg is crossed over the other and the bottom one is tucked in bent

* Retiré or passé: Position in which the toe of one leg touches the knee of the standing leg

* Second position: Feet side by side @ 24" apart ( can be parallel or turned out)

*Second position arms: Arms to the side at just below shoulder height

* Standing leg: The weight bearing leg

* Turnout: The outward rotation of the feet and legs from the hips. Toes to the diagonal.

* Working leg: The non-load bearing leg

Steps

*Ball Change:Syncopated weight shift onto the ball of the rear foot and back to the flat front foot

(Can be done as a travelling step)

* Chassé: Step together step

*Cut: Quick displacement of one standing leg by the other while remaining on the same spot

*Fan kick: A kick in which the working leg makes a sweeping arc in front of the body

*Fondue: A bending of one's standing leg all the way from releve to plie

*Grapevine: A series of steps that move sideways with a side, back, side, front pattern

*Hitchkick: A scissor-like movement where one leg is in the air while the other leg kicks up to pass it

*Isolations: Movement of only one part of the body

*Jazz walk: Many varieties but generally a turned out low walk using shoulder opposition

*Jazz pas de bourree: A back-side-front three step move in the floor pattern of an isosceles triangle

*Jazz square: A crossed front-back-back-front four step move in the floor pattern of a square

*Mambo: A front/back, back/front step with hips swiveling in a figure 8

* Piqué: A step onto half toe with a straight leg from a plie standing leg

* Relevé: A lift onto the toes

*Step: Transferring weight fully onto a foot

*Touch: A placement of the working toe or foot on the floor without shifting weight to it

Turns

* Chainés: Consecutive half turns traveling and rotating in a single direction

* Inside turn: forwards turn; A turn toward the standing leg

* Outside turn: Backwards turn; A turn away from the standing leg

*Paddle turn: Several small pivot turns that take one 360 degrees

*Pencil turn: Pirouette with both legs straight

* Piqué turn: Inside turn which begins with a step onto half-toe with an already straight leg

* Pirouette: Turn on one leg that begins in plie and goes to releve from a plie

* Pivot turn: Half-Turn on two legs with weight transfer from one leg to the other ; Feet stay stationary but swivel

* Soutenu: Full-Turn on two legs which begins with legs crossed, legs unwind and wind up crossed the other way; Feet stay on the same spot but swivel

* Spotting: Focusing on one spot while turning to prevent dizziness

Jumps

* Chassé: Step one foot, together in the air, land on the other foot; A gallop or slide

* Hitchkick: Kicking one leg in the air while it is up there jumping off the other one to join it to the first and landing on the first leg

* Hop: Taking off from one foot and landing on the same one

* Jump: Taking off of two feet and landing on two feet

* Leap: A jump from one foot to the other foot usually with an opening of the legs in the air

* Skip: Alternating hops from one to the other or with steps in between.

My Make-up Shrine

Nope. I am not into make up. Yeah, riiiiiight! I love being ironic. This is my small collection that I so much appreciate. I have always been this way. My mother never allowed me wear make-up. It has always been okay to change my hair color... But make-up? Never! Now it is my vengeance time. Yes, to tattoos. And Yes, yes, yes to "MAQUILAGE".

Making my world great again

How come mothers hate their daughters...

Genuine women get screwed over by everyone; friends, family, parents, yes even blood. Their nice energy positive vibe gets crushed by negative assholes, because miserable souls HATE seeing genuine spirit happy. They want you just as miserable as they are. That’s why they speak doubt into all your ambitious dreams.

This constant labeling judgement of genuine women, is done to break the spirit of her femininity; so she will buy into the lie that she is crazy, cognitively unaware, weak, “over-emotional”, inferior to men. This is done by jealous users who lack the selflessness to reciprocate those nice, positive vibes back to her. Not everyone DESERVES the NICE side of you. Make them EARN it by reciprocating all you give.

Until then, ignore them. Negative people treat you bad simply to stay on your mind. Don’t waste a second reflecting on nor responding to what others think of your life. Stop giving them power over you. Keep a healthy distance. Stay close enough to feed them care, yet far enough so they can’t bite your hand. Some friends and family are secretly jealous of your happiness. So let them be haunted by your absence.

Not every female who has a child is a mother. Females who aren’t naturally loving, affectionate and nurturing birth daughters more mature, loving & nurturing than their own mother. I am tired of getting these questions: “What are you going to do with your life?” “Why are you so lazy?” “Why are you getting so many tattoos and cats and buy those shoes?” “Why are you so skinny, aren’t you eating? “Why do you dress like that?” “Why are you so immature?” “Why do you get your hair dyed by those funky colors?” “Why don’t you just become a lawyer or a doctor & give up on your silly dreams?” “Why don’t you come to church?” “Why did you post that on Facebook?” Yet secretly, many mothers are jealous of their daughter’s beauty and confidence. They envy her youth and more than anything; they can tell their daughter is more mentally mature, nurturing, affectionate, kind, friendly and even more motherly than they are. This is because they don’t envy the material things their daughter possesses, they envy what they can never have, her genuine spirit. "Mothers, do your best to support your daughters’ career choices. Don’t put your daughter down; constantly telling her she’s wrong about every decision she makes. ENCOURAGE your daughter; be vulnerable for your daughter. Admit when you are wrong to your daughter.

Admit to her if you raised her to be guarded, not knowing how to accept love; providing from a man. Be apologetic towards your daughter, so she can have closure from her past. Some of the pain you mothers have put your daughters through growing up is currently holding her back, effecting her ability to trust, love and let someone who really cares about her into her heart, past her wall that you made her build up." Don’t let pride stand in the way of the love, affection & acknowledgement you need to give your daughter; she DESERVES that love. Don’t hold a daughter’s love of her mother hostage from her. Don’t hold the approval of decisions she makes from her like it’s ransom, only willing to release it when something tragic happens to you or her. You chose to have her. She did not choose to be born to you. Give your daughters love; attention, show them affection, so they don’t grow up with insecurities; seeking affection and love from every man they meet. I have such a rocky relationship with my mother, because my mother treat me like garbage, like life was an episode of family guy, and i am the Meg of the family.

 I feel like the reason some mothers secretly hate their daughters is, because she went through the same shit growing up and she’s too much of a coward to make a change & stop the cycle from continuing, how your mother treats you is not a reflection of your worth, nor is it a reflection of her lack of love for you. How your mother treats you is a projection of her lack of love for self & lack off affection your grandmother gave her growing up. Every time she looks deep in your eyes and yells at you, she’s not speaking to you; she’s speaking to herself; the projection of herself she sees inside you. When she says “I wish you were never born!” She’s looking at you, but talking to herself. She wishes she was never born, because she can see that she birthed a genuine, giving daughter whose love and trust she feels she doesn’t even deserve. I also want you to know she is not your mother; you are her mother.

The concept of time does not exist in the universe. Peter 3:8 tells us a millennium is like a day to The Holy Spirit, proving the concept of time exists solely in this earthly dimension our souls are currently trapped in. This is how a spirit is able to come into this world and be born before it’s mother, like your mother was born before you. Having a child is not what makes a female a mother, just like helping bring a child into this world does not make a male a father. It is the selfless love that a parent gives us, loving us more than they love themselves and more than they love life is what makes one a mother or a father. You are not your human form. That is the clothes your spirit wears while you temporarily visit this vaykay spot called “earth”. You are the spirit that lives inside your human form, thus; your biological ‘human’ mother is not the mother of your spirit. Mathews 12:48 says, ‘who is my mother?’ 50 says, ‘whoever does the will of The Holy Spirit in heaven is my mother.’ You are your mother’s mother, the selfless love you showed her all your life is proof of that. Just as many young women are more of a mother to their own mother than their mother is to them; your spirit is the mother of your body and soul.

This is why it is so important for you to never allow fake family to discourage you, make you doubt yourself, make you hate life and question your own existence. Guard your heart with your spirit and allow your mother spirit to protect your heart, mind and soul like a mother protects her daughters. You are not a human-being, you are a spirit being a human, for a short time. During your spirit’s vacation on earth do not allow the daughter, which is your human body, emotions & insecurity, to control your thoughts inside the mind of the spirit you are. Don’t just perfect your daughter-body; making sure it looks pretty, beautiful & flawless; brows on fleek & makeup beat. Also remember to perfect the mother-spirit you are. It is the energy who gives you your true beauty. All of you genuine women are breathtakingly beautiful, and yet it is not your pretty face that makes you beautiful. It is not your curvy body or your gorgeous hair that makes you beautiful. Your human form is a glass; I can see through your glass beauty daughter-body into the liquid beauty of your mother-spirit. Your beauty is a shine that is seen on your face as a pretty look, yet it comes from the glow of your inner beauty.

A Confident Woman doesn’t need to rely on compliments or thirst, nor live off attention from random guys on social networks or via Instagram likes to validate her beauty; she knows she’s beautiful before anyone else. Looking inside her self, she sees the smooth inner beauty she exudes, clearer than a mirror. All that I understand about a woman, I cannot take credit for. I was blessed with an amazing mother who taught me the importance of listening to a woman by first listening to her. I learned as men, all we have to do is listen to a Woman’s silence. Even when she is quiet, her thoughts are LOUD as hell.

Low self-esteem is lower than doubt; it is hate. When a person can hate so much, they will try to insult your intelligence by dangling the fact they possess a nice car or poses a substantial amount of money at you, that is low self-esteem. It is, because they are trivializing them self and minimizing their life’s existence into that of a Material possession. Hate comes into play, because it is not others who they hate, nor is it the ‘haters’ who they pretend to have to boost their ego that they hate. No, they hate themselves, they hate their life, so they view you as another possession in it; a thing. You’re not a woman to them; you’re a thing. That’s why they call you a ‘bad bitch’, because you’re a THING to them. Referring to you as a beautiful woman, or your by your birth name would be too human or un-thing-like for them to do. They don’t see YOU; the person. They see your boobs, curvy cakes, long hair; all things. They use the mantra, ‘it takes money to make money’ as a creed to pursue their hopes of POSSESSING you, as they view you as a possession, as a thing; just like money.

Humility is a sign of maturity; stubbornness is a sign of immaturity.

A confident person can apologize, but a prideful, insecure fool would rather stubbornly go down with the ship of lies, than grab the lifesaver of humility by admitting when they are wrong to save a relationship. Would it kill you to admit when you are wrong to your child? Why do you always have to be right? How can you be the head of a family, yet you can’t listen to anyone in your family? How can you be a parent, aunt, uncle or boss; yet mentally, you behave like a little child? If you blame your child for the way your relationship with them is; you are extremely immature.

Being a parent means you are held more responsible than your child. It’s up to YOU to be more mature and let go of your pride and ego to salvage the relationship. Be humble; if you are a grown ass parent and you hurt your child in any way, don’t wait until they are grown with children to try to apologize for lack of love you shown them growing up. By then it can be too late, because they had to suffer with that pain all their life. If you are a grown man or woman, don’t wait until someone is ready to leave you to apologize for how badly you’ve treated them the whole relationship.

Be honest, humble and apologetic RIGHT NOW. It is better to be loyal to the one you love and lose your pride, then to be loyal to your pride and lose the one you love. If you’ve been hurt by your mother, it’s not your fault. You have to let go of fighting for her approval & love yourself fully, let go of all self doubt & your will be able to let people in to love you as much as you love yourself.

Source: Many blogs on Behavioural Psychology

More January Fears... Or Challenges?

2012 - I was forced to move out my entire school to a whole new address. Fine, but it took us 6 months to get over this (fear) challenge. I had to hire more employees and hiring people in Brazil is the worst part about being an entrepreneur: loads of bureaucracy, expenses and Labour Union crap.
2013 - A student of mine was cold-bloodedly murdered. We had a local tragedy: almost 200 college students got killed in a party venue fire. Somebody I knew deeply was caught stealing our school big cash.
2014 - A teacher I had hired and believed in his/her potential quit his/her position due to ego related problems. I had to quit my Psychology major, therapy, and started getting heavily medicated. It was the beginning of my self ending.
2015 - Things got a little better at our business but Brazil got into a national crazy mothefuck*ng crisis. As a conclusion: businesses started shutting down; big ones, small shops, restaurants, clothing stores, industries, carriers, and therefore people began quitting getting educated because in a poor country in crisis what matters is getting healthy and fed. On July 10th, I was madly verbally abused by a nutty mother of a student's that I had to run to a police station and report the facts and almost sued the damn woman. Therefore, this year was going to be the last year we ran our own school. I was about to "retire" on being a language teacher (26 years teaching...)
2016 - On Jan 10th we announced our co-workers THE END was just around the corner. March 3rd, hubby and I moved back to São Paulo after 25 years. We began running one of our family business (no employees this time), Roberto got back into Judo training and I started singing, dancing, and writing in Portuguese.
2017 - This started as a disaster due to some super duper personal matters that I am not ready yet to write about here. I've been digesting the recent suicide of the son of a friend of mine. And at the same time, I am currently hired by 4/5 jobs... Money is not an issue anymore, kinda, however there is something super cruel breaking my heart, cutting my throat, numbing my senses... I wish I could rant about... but I can only go around and swallow the poison.

God help me and and guide my 2017.