Above Average with Angel

Happy Monday! Welcome to another "Below the Average" segment where I take on a personal topic with the same Above Average content but below the average podcast length. On this episode, I talk about my relationship with humor, the roots to my lack of confidence and insecurities, and how humor has created a kinder perspective in my life. I hope you guys enjoy this episode! 

Hi Everyone! In this episode I bring my very special friend, Euna Kang, as we discuss our faith, spirituality, and religion as young adults. Euna and I find a lot of strength through our faith that has guided us in how we navigate our struggles, the evil in this world, and our personal growth. I learned so much through this exchange of perspective and am so thankful that she has set time out of her day to share her wisdom. I hope you guys enjoy!

Here are some concepts we discussed:

Faith - "Faith is our belief and trust in a Higher Power, even when there is no empirical proof. It is believing in things we cannot perceive through the five senses, but which can be felt through the sixth sense: intuition. Our intuition tells us that there is something bigger than ourselves — the signs of this are everywhere if we open our souls to them — and faith is our belief that this is true." (Source)

Religion - "Religion may be defined as, “Any system of belief about a deity, often involving rituals, a code of ethics, a philosophy of life, and a world view.” It is straightforward and can be experienced through our senses. Religion gives us a sense of belonging to a community of like-minded individuals who worship a Higher Power in the same way and refer to it by the same name. Because of this, religion is easy to embrace, but also easy to reject." (Source)

Spirituality - "Spirituality brings purpose and meaning to life. It helps us understand our place in the world and honor the thing that are greater than just us — community, service to others, and a relationship with a Higher Power. " (Source)

I also apologize that the audio cut of at the end!

Happy Friday Everyone! Today on another "Below the Average" session, I wanted to talk about embarrassing moments. I feel like I've always lived a life of internal discomfort and I get emotionally overwhelmed with just about anything. I'm definitely getting better at that now but listen in to hear some of the more memorable as well as the trivial embarrassing moments I've had so far. Hope everyone has a great weekend and I'll talk to you guys next week! 

In this episode I bring in my childhood friend, Fil-Am advocate, young professional, & creator of IG food blog @poquisquared, Austin Chavez! Listen in as we discuss the unrealistic expectations we had of adulthood growing up, how we are navigating the realities of young adulthood, and what we are learning and unlearning in the process. 

I find this topic important to discuss especially with the young millennials going through the transition from college to the working world. I am here to validate your feeling of confusion and discomfort! I'm there with you. You are not alone, and it is not solely your fault. I hope this episode shows a side of me and Austin that you can identify with. Young Adulthood is uncomfortable, but growing through it is necessary. So let's all be here for each other as we find our own ways in this world! 

Hi Guys! Welcome to my first attempt of the "Below the Average" segment. Where I share the same Above Average content but below the usual podcast length. Ideally the goal is to create shorter episodes to balance the super long ones I normally make.

Today I share with you my thoughts on gossiping and cancel culture. I'm pretty nervous not gonna lie. I don't think I've ever been this expressive and truthful in a while. I think of myself as a "diplomat" which means I say things in ways that ensures I'm not rubbing anyone too much or hurting anyone's feelings. HOWEVER, it's my goal before I'm 30 to gain more confidence in my values, my opinions, and my general thoughts. How can I improve myself and how I think, if I don't actually verbalize them? Enjoy!

Correction, I used the word "excommunicate" as a synonym for "cancelled" which is not correct at all. My mistake! Here are the definitions of the two:

Cancel Culture: the practice or tendency of engaging in mass canceling as a way of expressing disapproval and exerting social pressure

Excommunicate: excluded from the rights of church membership

So as you can see from the definitions above, they are not the same thing.  Sorry guys for the confusion, I'll take this as a lesson learned.

Happy Monday and welcome to the first episode (Episode 11 overall) of Above Average Season 2!I brought back my guest from my very first episode, my brother, Leif (Biboy) Jomuad, to walk me through his relationship with toxic masculinity. In this episode I talked about a couple key points. As a person that still has a lot to learn, please try to use my episodes as a source of perspective not the only source of information. I hope this acts as a starting point for you to do your homework as we all navigate these unfamiliar concepts together. Here's some basic points that I briefly touched up on in this episode to give you a head start in your own research!

Toxic Masculinity: Toxic masculinity refers to the notion that some people’s idea of “manliness” perpetuates domination, homophobia, and aggression (Source 1). In modern society, people often use the term toxic masculinity to describe exaggerated masculine traits that many cultures have widely accepted or glorified. According to traditional toxic masculine values, a male who does not display enough of these traits may fall short of being a ‘real man' (Source 2).

There are many definitions of “toxic masculinity” that appear in research as well as pop culture. Some researchers have come to agree that toxic masculinity has three core components. Toughness: This is the notion that men should be physically strong, emotionally callous, and behaviorally aggressive. Antifeminity: This involves the idea that men should reject anything that is considered to be feminine, such as showing emotion or accepting help. Power: This is the assumption that men must work toward obtaining power and status (social and financial) so they can gain the respect of others (Source 1).

The Male Gaze: the perspective of a notionally typical heterosexual man considered as embodied in the audience or intended audience for films and other visual media, characterized by a tendency to objectify or sexualize women (Source 3). In the male gaze, woman is visually positioned as an “object” of heterosexual male desire. Her feelings, thoughts and her own sexual drives are less important than her being “framed” by male desire (Source 4).Visual media that respond to masculine voyeurism tends to sexualise women for a male viewer. As Mulvey wrote, women are characterised by their “to-be-looked-at-ness” in cinema. Woman is “spectacle”, and man is “the bearer of the look” (Source 4).

Sources:
Amy Morin, LCSW. “What Is Toxic Masculinity?” Verywell Mind, 26 Nov. 2020, www.verywellmind.com/what-is-toxic-masculinity-5075107.
Johnson, Jon. “Toxic Masculinity: Definition, Common Issues, and How to Fight It.” Medical News Today, MediLexicon International, 21 June 2020, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/toxic-masculinity#what-it-is.
“Male Gaze.” Oxford Reference, www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100128610#:~:text=1.,visual%20media%3A%20see%20also%20objectification.
Janice Loreck Teaching Associate in the School of Media. “Explainer: What Does the 'Male Gaze' Mean, and What about a

Hello friends! Today I discuss my journey from being clueless about my finances to being less clueless. I walk you through my old spending mindset/habits, to how I set up my savings and investments! This is also my last episode for the season! Thank you everyone for sticking by me until now. Look forward to Season 2 in the Spring!

It's 2021, and as an overly reflective person, you guys know I had to dedicate an episode on the lessons I learned last year and my manifestations for this year! Let me know if any of my points resonated with you guys, we all out here!

Helloooo! Join me and Caryl as we discuss the differences, similarities, and gripes we have on the topic of body image between a millennial and a gen z! Growing up as the eldest in a culture that had unrealistic body standards, I was always so lost when it came to body Image. This discussion is necessary and so I hope you listen in! Also, I hope everyone is having a great holiday season. Eat all the good food and drink water yall!

Hello Hello! I invited one of my role models, Andrea V., to discuss and reflect on our journey towards self love and self empowerment. This is probably my most favorite topic to discuss. I can talk about this for days. Listen in as we share what self love is for us, how to start, how to get back to it, how to be honest with our insecurities, and everything in between. 10/10 quality content!