Everybody Has Advice One thing I have learned over the years is that advice is everywhere. Family members, friends, coworkers, and even strangers often have opinions about how we should live. Now the internet has given millions more people a way to tell us what they think we should do. Most of them can sound
Consider the Source: Learning Whose Advice to Follow Read More »
A System That Did Not Treat Us the Same As a young Black man coming of age during the Vietnam War, military service was more than a political debate taking place in Washington. It was hanging over the lives of young men my age. We knew that a letter from the Selective Service System could
The Draft Was Not Equal: Black Men and the Vietnam War Read More »
What “Feel It to Heal It” Means I have heard the expression “You have to feel it to heal it,” and there is wisdom in those few words when they are understood carefully. Pain that is constantly avoided does not necessarily disappear simply because we refuse to look at it. Grief, disappointment, fear, anger, and
Learning to Feel Without Being Overwhelmed Read More »
Understanding the Body as a Temple I have heard the expression “your body is a temple” for most of my life, but I understand it differently today than I did when I was younger. A temple is usually thought of as a sacred place, somewhere deserving respect, protection, and thoughtful care. When I apply that
My Body Is the Home My Spirit Lives In Read More »
When the Body Asks for Something Different There comes a time when the body begins asking us to pay attention in ways we may have ignored when we were younger. For much of life, we are encouraged to keep moving, push harder, accomplish more, and somehow find the energy to do it all again tomorrow.
Learning to Slow Down: The Wisdom of Moving at My Own Pace Read More »
What It Means to Be Mentally Free “No one is free whose mind is not like a door with a double-hinge swinging outward to release their own ideas, and inward to receive the worthy thoughts of others.” — Ralph M. Lewis gives us a powerful definition of freedom that goes far beyond politics, laws, or
The Freedom of an Open Mind Read More »
What I Mean When I Talk About Attraction I have come to understand the law of attraction less as magic and more as a way of thinking about attention, intention, and behavior. The phrase “like attracts like” sounds simple, but life is more complicated than wishing for something and waiting for the universe to deliver
When Intention Gives My Choices a Direction Read More »
Why a Strong First Interview Can Still Go Nowhere Sometimes you walk out of an interview knowing you did well and still never get invited back. That can leave you confused because you replay the conversation and cannot identify anything that went terribly wrong. You answered the questions, connected with the interviewer, explained your experience,
The First Minute of an Interview Can Shape Everything That Comes After Read More »
Something About This Does Not Sit Right With Me I will never completely understand how a company can announce record profits and almost in the same breath tell thousands of employees they have to go. Maybe I understand the business explanation, but understanding the mathematics does not mean I have to like the human consequences.
Record Profits and Pink Slips: When Corporate Loyalty Meets the Bottom Line Read More »
History Has a Way of Making Me Uneasy When I look at the political climate today, I keep finding myself pulled backward into American history. The name that keeps coming to mind is Andrew Johnson. Johnson became president after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865. At the time, millions of formerly enslaved Black people
When Black Progress Is Followed by American Backlash Read More »