In my culture, when parents have children, they usually gift the child a 24K necklace or any other object that is gold, such as a bracelet for girls. My father gave me a 24K necklace with a Buddha pendant when I was about ten years old. That is the item I cherish the most, and it brings me joy. I’ve never, even now, considered myself a devout Buddhist, but the only thing that really connects me to this faith is my parents and my wife. Even though I am not fully Buddhist, I do find joy in the culture. It’s an entertaining and lively religion. There are many festivals throughout the year. Through those festivals, I am able to meet friends and family in a fun and festive setting. There are dancing, drinking, and plenty of socializing. Buddhism is very vital for emotional support when some close to you dies. There is a whole ceremony and ritual that happens when these things happen. The temple is open daily, although you must make an appointment sometimes. This means that if something is troubling you, the Buddha is always there to listen and give advice. As I said before, I’m not fully Buddhist, but this religion brings me the most joy.

My religion is Buddhism. We have many Thai temples across Atlanta. Once a year, we have a massive festival called “Songkran,” which means the new year. During this festival, All Thai people from all over Ga come to celebrate. Everyone is invited to join the festivities. Many things go on during the party. They have stalls that sell authentic Thai food. Some you have to buy, but some are free until it’s all gone. When I go, I usually bring food and money in an envelope for the monks. I also sit in the auditorium with other Buddhist members and listen to the hymns and chants of the Buddhas. Being a member of the Buddhist community makes me feel closer to many things. Closer to nature, closer to spirits of past relatives, closer to happiness. In one of the rituals, we pour a bottle of water slowly into a cup while the Buddha chants. After he finishes, we take the water and find a tree where we pour water on it and place a food item, usually some fruit, then we pray and tell our ancestors that water will keep the tree alive and eat and drink at this tree. As the festival gets later into the night, we all get together outside and dance or traditional dance and drink and socialize with each other. What I have learned and will carry on from the teachings of Buddha is to conquer greed, specifically the need for money. I make enough that I am happy, so I give a lot away when I eat out. I usually tip 30%.

Every Monday, I get together with my friends to play poker. My wife and son will usually accompany me if my wife is not working that night. It’s just a small group of us; they are very close friends. While we play, we talk and laugh about many things, such as love, relationships, jobs, breaking news, life, and anything that comes to our minds. I can talk about anything with this core group. They are my interdependence. Although I feel a strong connection with my friends, I feel the most connection with my wife. When she joins us, I laugh more (we all laugh more) because she is funny when she gets drunk. My son is an only child, so it helps him that he can enjoy interdependence with the other children. He is always happier, and the other kids are forming great connections. After a long week of working, studying, and caring for my son, I always look forward to Mondays. Mondays has steak, beer, wine, laughter, and even fights, but it’s never that serious. It is the day I can relax and enjoy time with great friends and family, making and keeping new connections and having a sense of interdependence with them.

I have done drugs before and have never been addicted, so why am I addicted to Social Media? The only answer has to be it’s the worst form of a drug. When I sign into Facebook, it gives me a quick high, maybe from anticipation that someone might have commented favorably on one of my posts. The night before, I posted a picture of me holding $500 and smiling. My Facebook friends didn’t see me losing $1000 at the casino. Social media “is built to distend our sense of identity. ” It causes us to present ourselves differently and create multiple personalities. Online I am handsome and confident, but I am semi-attractive and insecure in real life. As I scroll through my Facebook, my time feels wasted. It keeps my interest by showing things I’m interested in. Facebook collects information from me for many years and then uses its algorithms to present it back to me. After 15 minutes of scrolling through random posts, I get headaches and depression. Compare that to taking a 15-minute walk and feeling pleasure and joy. It’s hard to wain off this drug of social media. It has destroyed my sense of scale by distorting my perception of what is important or significant because it presents me with an enormous amount of information and opinions. Social media is not always bad. It quickly connects me with friends and family and gives breaking news. Where it can be a distraction is when it begins to consume my life and provides fake news. So it is crucial for me to limit the time spent on social media and discern between real and fake news.