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WE’RE ALL FAMOUS:  Part 1

Over the weekend as I was chilling on a bar balcony in Downtown sipping on a tasty cold beer, a young guy from the table next to us leaned over and asked “Hey, are you Hector Garcia?”  As I extend my hand to shake his, I’m like “Yeah, what’s your name?”  As he gave me his name he stated “I follow you on Instagram!”  I embraced my Instragram fame for those brief moments and made a new real life friend, who I too had already been following.  In fact he’s a great local artist that you should follow at @whatevs_jacob

I shared this with a friend the next day who jokingly said “You’re famous bro” and it was at that moment that I realized that if we’ve chosen to use Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and any other social media tool, then the truth is WE’RE ALL FAMOUS.  Because of Instragram I’ve met some great people the same way I met Jacob, with one of my closest friends being met for the first time with the words “Hey, you’re that girl from Instagram!”.  The rest is history.

So yes, all of you are famous and while many don’t use their online fame wisely, many do and have a great following.  Meeting people online first is now the norm with first time meetings being accompanied by those famous words “Hey, you’re the person from Instagram”.  With this said, I wanted to provide some social media tips that I’ve been wanting to share that I feel will help us all live socially happy together.  There are no rules to this game, but maybe there should be a few.  Here are my few.

HAVE FUN AND DON’T TAKE THINGS PERSONAL

My number one piece of advice is to simply have fun.  Many people take things so personal on social media and are ready to fight you if you say something they disagree with.  The walls of Facebook should be full of happiness and laughs, not hate, anger, or ranting.  I have no problem deleting someone that doesn’t know how to follow this first rule.  Your experience on social media should make you laugh everyday and if you’re not then you’re doing something wrong or maybe you should search for more keyboard cat videos to cheer you up.

BE OPEN TO OTHER OPINIONS

If you’re going to post something online, be open minded and leave room for opinions that are different than yours.  Don’t be that censor who continually deletes comments that you disagree with.  When I post anything that is considered a “hot topic” I allow my friends and followers to hash stuff out and respectfully disagree.  If it gets out of hand and I see that a few are becoming mean with each other, I’ll put a stop to it.  But I never ever censor.  If you’re going to do that, then you have no business posting in the first place.

DON’T USE FACEBOOK TO SEND SUBLIMINAL MESSAGES

I see this one all the time and it’s sad and funny at the same time.  Please don’t be this person who uses their Facebook status update as a way to deliver a subliminal message to an ex boyfriend or girlfriend or to that person who did something to hurt you.  It’s ridiculous and yes, you look stupid when you do this.  I’ve actually called people out on this and encouraged them to take the post down and handle this “hurt” in a different and non-public way.

POST VIDEOS & PICS OF PUPPIES EVERYDAY

This one goes without saying.  Make the social media world a happy place by at least doing this once a day.  Make it a habit or else.

MORE MODESTY IN THE NAME OF FITNESS

With the rise of fitness and crossfit there are many people who have made some very lucrative careers as fitness models or “spokes persons” for fitness.  I follow a few that are legit with one person having almost 2 million followers on Instagram.  With so many reaching for the same type of success, modesty isn’t something being reached for at the same time.  In fact modesty has been thrown out the window, with many using “fitness” as a reason to post photos of themselves in panties and bras, or maybe none at all.

I saw a meme once that stated “Back in the day you’d be lucky if you could get a girl to send you half naked photos by text, now all you have to do is follow them on Instagram”.  Bring back modesty and if you’re truly promoting fitness, then promote that, not soft porn.

BE YOU

Be yourself.  Be unique.  Be different.  This is the way we communicate today and people just want to see us for who we are, not some fake social media personality.  Just be yourself and be awesome.  Have fun and remember, at least one pic or video of puppies per day.  You’ll easily get at least 50+ likes on those posts.  LOL.

Enjoy.

@hectorgarciahtx

Posted on February 23, 2016 In Blog , , , , , , ,
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BLACK LEADERS, PLEASE STAND UP.

(Original post in December 2014)

A few years ago during one of the most polarizing presidential elections of our time, I stood firm against a man that many were rallying behind with sheep like tendency.  He came out of no where and was promising the world, change, and many very misguided people worshipped him as if he were Jesus reincarnated.  I saw right through that man and was very vocal about my distaste for what I already knew were empty promises and politics in their purest form.  To date I’ve been proven right by my suspicions, with no real “change” taking place in this country.

With 2 more years left in Obama’s administration we’re experiencing a division in this country that we haven’t seen since the Rodney King situation in 1992.  Tensions are hot and heavy and the distance between each situation is becoming shorter and shorter.  Not too long ago people were protesting the Trevon Martin case, and just a few months later the protesting continues with two or three “similar” situations back to back, a black person being killed by a white one.  The latest is the questionable death of Michael Brown, a young man who was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer after having been attacked by Brown and resisting arrest, followed by the death of Eric Garner, a man who resisted arrest and was choked out by a police officer, resulting in his death.  Both are situations that have been hyped by the media and race baiters as racially driven killings.

Obama has provided “speeches” in regards to a couple of these situations but as with anything that he does, there is no power in his words and it’s very evident.  He has lost his luster and no one is paying attention.  As America’s first “black” president his own people don’t even care what he has to say and they’re angry.  If you pay attention and watch closely, the protests and rioting is not only a race of people that is angry with the system, but it’s a cry for real CHANGE, something this president never gave us.

WHERE ARE OUR REAL LEADERS?

With every riot and protest, I ask the same question in my various social media platforms, and that is “Where are the real leaders?”.  And to be more specific, my question is in regards to Black leaders.  Where are they?  The black community has to settle for poor excuses for leadership such as Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson and in Houston we have the ridiculous and very angry Quannel X.  But where are the true leaders who can speak for the black community and give some direction and leadership to a people that are crying for change.

Why am I calling for Black leadership only?  It’s because the situations at hand have become about race, and the Black community won’t listen to anyone else.  They want answers and they want to be led, whether they know it or not, however there is no one leading.

There’s a young black man that I follow on Facebook who goes by the name Prince EA.  This person is very eloquent and very well spoken, sharing some very deep wisdom on a weekly basis.  When I first came across one of his videos I immediately felt inspired and I was like “this is the voice and message that we need.  We need leaders to speak truth the way this young man does.” His message is powerful and it appears as though his heart is in the right place, with every message communicating a very sincere love for people and the world around him.  It’s a voice like his that I feel could help produce real change and I can only assume that this is a voice that the Black community wants to hear.  But what do i know, right?  I’m just another minority wanting something better than what I see in front of me.  You can follow Prince EA on Facebook.

YEAH, I KNOW, I’M NOT BLACK

I will never pretend or assume that I understand the struggles of the Black community.  Even as a latin man and minority, I will never experience the racism or discrimination that Blacks have to endure or have endured since the early 1600’s here in America.  What I do know however is what I see in front of me, and that is a country that is bleeding and hurting and crying out for direction and leadership.  I see a community, a race, that wants justice, a race that needs real leadership to rise up from within and guide them.

Where are the Prince EA’s?  Where are the Martin Luther King Jrs?  If you’re out there, please stand up.  Speak up.  Your people need you.  They want you.  This country needs you.  Please stand up.

@hectorgarciahtx

Posted on January 18, 2016 In Blog, Life, Personal Growth, Politics , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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ALL COMMENTS MATTER: WHY I STOPPED DEBATING ONLINE ABOUT RACE, RELIGION, AND POLITICS.

To a fault, I can be one of the most opinionated people that you’ll ever meet and I will always have something to say about anything and everything.  Give me a story with little facts about a young black kid who gets killed in a neighborhood by a “white/mexican” security guard and I’m all over it, especially if social media and the news carelessly begin tagging it as a race / hate murder.  Or feed me video footage about blacks terrorizing their city in anger and I’ll have lots of opinions to share about their careless reaction.  Or hey Facebook, feed me the latest trendiest videos and posts about Hillary Clinton being a big fat liar or Obama helping feed the race division that’s in our country so that I can get sucked into the 5,000 comment thread and waste half of my day doing so.  Want my thoughts about Joel Osteen and his mega mansion and him having no right to own a house that big, even if it was purchased with money from the many businesses that he has owned before even becoming a pastor?  Just post some awesome hate memes about it and I’m all over it.

OUR OPINIONS MATTERS MORE THAN WE KNOW

I believe our opinions matter and we all have something to say, but after realizing how much meaningless time I was wasting doing it on Facebook I took a step back and said No More.  This came about through a mixture of two things:  One, a dear friend of mine who I hadn’t met in person yet, shared some very inspirational words with me about how much MY opinion mattered and how much impact it could be having on those that follow me.  Two, a personal change in my life revealed what truly mattered in my life and it didn’t include stupid Facebook opinions about the latest trendy topics.

I can’t remember her words exactly, but this friend of mine one day messaged me and in the nicest and most tender way possible said “Hector, do you know how powerful your words and your opinion are?  Do you realize how many people follow you and look up to you?” (paraphrased) She expressed how, whether I like it or not, there are people who look up to me and are influenced by my words and actions.  There are a variety of groups and organizations that I’m involved in, and with that comes positions of “leadership” that I never really pay much attention to.  So if I have a very divisive opinion about a topic of race, for example, I’m influencing many people that I don’t even know about.  This became clear to me one day as I was out on a group bike ride, and while waiting in line at a bar someone who I would have never even assumed was reading my blog posts got my attention when he said “Hey man, I loved your recent post about being a better person.  Very inspiring”.  This was a young man in his 20s who I don’t think even “Liked” my Facebook post about the blog.  Haha.  It was encouraging to hear those words from him, while at the same time a reminder of how far my online words can reach.

WHAT REALLY MATTERS

There’s no better time to receive a real perspective on life than when you’re going through challenges or some type of loss.  That was the case for me a few months ago and my interest in getting caught up in silly Facebook debates stopped instantly.  None of it mattered in the grand scheme of things.  I had just lost someone that I loved very much, and my opinion on another race riot or police shooting meant zero to me.  It was during this time that I realized how trivial it all was and how much time is wasted on debating topics that are simply trending items and nothing more.

Think about it, everyday we are fed videos, photos, memes, and news updates on trending topics and stories and those stories become the topic of “discussion” for a couple of weeks.  All it takes is seeing one of our friend’s opinions on these stories and we all of a sudden feel the need to be heard as well and we dive in.  If these stories would never have been put in front of us, we would never have known about them and in turn, never would have had that crazy opinion that we posted on Facebook.  Also, within a week or so, there’s already a brand new trending topic waiting for you to get sucked into.  No one wins in these debates either, no one.  You might think that you’re debating but in essence no one ever really backs down or concedes.  That’s not a debate, that’s a shouting match.  When is the last time you remember someone in a Facebook post debate say “you know what guys, you’re right, I’m wrong, I’m changing my opinion on this matter”?  Probably never, right?

HAVE FUN

I love Facebook, Instagram, sometimes Twitter, and some occasional Snap chatting.  This is how we communicate today and in and of itself, these communication mediums are not bad things.  For me personally, I use them to communicate and be stupid with friends and promote my business and the many events that we create.  Facebook should be fun and we shouldn’t use it as a platform to bitch and whine all of the time.  Have fun with it.  Let’s all lighten up and not get sucked into the machine.  And don’t be that person that decides to delete their account because you can’t “handle it”.  Those people crack me up, because they always come back.  Yes, always.

So today, have fun.  Let’s see pics of your kids, your dogs, your lunch, you running in the rain, or some funny memes.  But don’t get caught up in a stupid online debate, because all it’s going to do is piss you off at some point and the only person that will suffer is your puppy, who didn’t get a chance to be seen today or get over 40 likes in an awesome Facebook post.

All comments matter.  Make yours count today.  The weather is awesome here in Houston.  Get outside and enjoy it.  We’ll be waiting for your happy posts and pics.

@hectorgarciahtx

Posted on September 12, 2015 In Blog , , , , ,
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Technology and the Passive Hand Shake

March 26, 2009 — 1 Comment

handshake

This past weekend, my wife and I attended a surprise party for one of her uncles. My wife is Filipino and what that means in regards to parties is that there is enough food to feed about 5,000 people! Seriously, if you want to go to parties where it’s a given that you will take a bag full of food home, then go find some Filipinos to become friends with. You won’t regret it. White people, learn from the Filipinos and Mexicans. Stop having parties that only provide chips, dip, and one plate of tuna sandwiches and some cookies. You should be ashamed of yourself! ha. Sorry, I had to throw that in there. It’s all good. No hurt feelings, right? Just take your party food up to another level, please.

Well, this post is’nt about food or parties, it’s about a young man. While at this party, there was a young guy (we’ll call him Mike), maybe in his late teens, and from the time that we entered the house till we left, he spent most of his time off to the side with his head and eyes buried in a Nintendo DS. Of course I step out and address these kinds of people who try to hide out and avoid being social, but I was probably the only one who acknowledged “mike” (other than his parents). But even when I did, his response was weak and not full of a lot of life or enthusiasm. His hand shake was weak as well.

This encounter confirmed some thoughts I’ve had for quite a while about young people and the affects that technology has on them, particularly young men. This is a generation of young boys who are growing up under the care and teaching of a computer or gaming system, allowing technology to replace their need to be social through the most basic form we know, which is human to human. Technology is keeping our kids glued to a screen and universe that doesn’t require them to be truly social.  We call the use of tools such as Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace as “social media”, but anyone can type thoughts and pretend to be whatever they want online.  “Social Media” doesn’t require a lot of work or effort.

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In Blog, Minstry Tools, Students , , , , , , , , , ,
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