In many ways our common practices, those things we do year in and year out, define us as a community or communities. In political stump speeches, national and local candidates ask rhetorical questions like, “What do we stand for as a nation?” and “Are we unified by greed and fear?” Then, depending on the candidate,…
Advanced warning: I am not a religious person, but I have history. Lots of it. My family was Catholic during my childhood and at least for a generation before that, but has Jewish roots on one side and quite possibly on both. As a young boy I found great solace in church and its beautiful…
On Facebook I recently posted my annoyance with people who seem to require five or more feet of space around them while waiting in lines. I see this regularly in coffee shops, convenience stores, and ice cream shops. In the case of this last one, I saw a person next in line who was so…
From the time I first studied psychology as an undergraduate, I recall four things vividly. Likely the last to actually happen is the one that stands out most. I was ready to declare my psychology major at the end of my sophomore year when a professor told me in class that I could not be…
Last week after I was in class for well over an hour, I suggested we take a 10 minute break. I dashed to the restroom and, when I got to the urinal, I discovered that my fly was open. A minute later, as I was washing my hands, I debated if I were going to…
Keep a circular breath flowing, Gary. Notice the freshest possible air coming in through your nose and, unobstructed, out through your mouth. Breathing in, breathing out. Breathing in, breathing out. There is only the air — freshest and sweetest possible. Only the air… Then I was gone. When I came back to the mat on…
In my week of writing about criticism, I took what for some might have seemed like a detour yesterday to write about voting and the disenfranchisement of my late husband by a system that disabled him. Let me explain. Paul had Type IV Multiple Sclerosis, a particularly pernicious form of the disease that was progressive…
My late husband, Paul Mandracchia, loved to vote and nothing could dissuade him from doing so. Those who knew Paul were aware that the last several years of his life it took him forever to get dressed. Often there were three of us in on that project. Usually Jose or Anneke or Leslie joined me…
One of the by-products of having been raised poor and later working class is my ongoing challenge stating what is politic. I am often in the position of saying what is deemed unwise, not judicious, or imprudent. For many more years than I care to estimate, I have been cautioned, marginalized, and – at times…
Col. Chris Austin Hadfield, a retired Canadian astronaut, is perhaps best known for his cover of David Bowie’s Space Oddity from outer space. Born in 1959, Hadfield recalls his early dream of space travel beginning at about age 7 during a TED talk he recorded in 2014. After his dream became reality, he has been remarkable…
Creating Community for Everyone 