Looking Back at an Earlier Kind of Marriage I sometimes hear men say that today’s man has to work much harder to find a good woman than his grandfather did. They may also believe that women today bring less to a relationship than women did in earlier generations. The statement is exaggerated, but the frustration
Were Our Grandparents Better at Love, or Did They Live in a Different World? Read More »
Pain Has a Voice There is one voice in life I have learned not to dismiss too quickly, and that is the voice of pain. I am not talking only about the physical pain that comes when I injure myself. Life contains many kinds of pain. Pain comes into our lives in many ways, through
Listen to the Pain, but Learn What It Is Trying to Tell You Read More »
A Story That Almost Sounds Made Up Every once in a while, something happens in American government that sounds so strange I have to stop and make sure I understand it correctly. In 2026, President Donald Trump was involved in one of those situations. He and other plaintiffs sued the Internal Revenue Service and the
People Will Try to Define You One of the realities of life is that people become comfortable with the version of us they already know. Once they have placed me in a particular category, they may expect me to remain there. If I have spent years doing one kind of work, they assume that is
You Are More Than What You Have Always Done: Knowing When to Reinvent Yourself Read More »
Beauty Is Usually Described as an Advantage We live in a culture that generally treats physical attractiveness as an advantage. Attractive people can receive more attention, more romantic interest, and sometimes more favorable first impressions. Because of that, it is easy to assume that a beautiful woman moves through life with an easier road than
When Beauty Becomes Complicated: The Social Price of Being an Attractive Woman Read More »
A Number That Should Get Our Attention I recently heard somebody say that Florida had finally become number one in something nobody should celebrate: declining reading performance. The statement was meant to be provocative, but underneath the humor was something that deserves serious attention. Researchers studying educational achievement across the country have described what is
When Children Cannot Read, the Whole Society Pays Read More »
The Telephone Call Many Employees Fear Leaving one job for another can bring a particular kind of anxiety. I may have completed the application, survived the interviews, and finally received the offer I wanted. Then someone tells me the new employer is going to verify my previous employment. Suddenly I begin wondering what my old
What Will My Former Employer Really Say About Me? Read More »
Someone May Know Me Before I Know They Exist When we first started sharing our lives on social media, I do not think we fully understood how much it would change the way we connect with one another. I may believe I am simply posting photographs, celebrating accomplishments, talking about a vacation, sharing an opinion,
The Stranger Who Already Knows You: Love, Social Media, and Manufactured Familiarity Read More »
Somebody Taking the Time to Know Me There is a particular kind of intimacy that has very little to do with grand romantic gestures. It happens when a man takes the time to learn her slowly. They are not rushing to claim her after only two conversations. They are not calling her the love of
The Intimacy of Being Learned Slowly Read More »
I Can Love the Comedian and Still Question the Joke I can respect a Black comedian and appreciate her talent while still feeling uncomfortable with some of the humor. That discomfort comes when her Blackness, appearance, relationships, or dignity becomes part of the joke. At times, it can feel as though she is being invited