Tag: Columns 2015

  • Thanks Grandma

    My grandmother lived to be over 100 years old. Her life was not just long but healthy. However, by her mid-nineties her eyesight began to fail and she spent most of her days sitting. This was a departure from what she was like for most of her life. She had previously been a virtual ball of perpetual motion. My grandmother was always working at something in the home. When she was not cooking, she was tending to any number of things. Except for her custom of sitting down to have a cup of coffee and a very plain cookie or cracker, I cannot remember her off her feet. She was a hard worker and a good person. I miss my grandmother. I miss all my grandparents.

  • Playground of the Mind; a Poem

    (*Inspired by the painting Señorita Kreativitet by E. Quevedo.) I was swinging from a branch in my mind. Going back and forth. A wild ride. Playground with unlimited space and no space at all. Imagination the only landlord. The mind. A place to be free or enslaved to the habits of bad thought. The mind, a frontier beyond all frontiers. A place that brings us joy. A place that retains our fears. In the sun, running on the beach. Blue sea. Blue skies. Smell of salt air. Funny. Outside it is cold and raining. But, in my mind, something else. And that is our mind. Whether we are in it or out of it. Hmmm, the phrases “out of my mind” or “out of his mind.” Do they even make sense? We are always in our minds. If someone does something apart from the norm, perhaps we should say, “Hey, he’s really in his mind.” Just a thought. Maybe I am thinking too much, as such.

  • You Left Me, But…, a Poem

    You had me dazzled. I wasn’t paying much attention. The flash came. I looked. Drawn to the sun. Pulled to the stars. My feet came off the ground. Silly me. But, but, but, I regained my composure. My feet came down to earth. I walked again and realized I was not flying. Ah, the return of level headedness. What a come down, emotionally. You confused me. I thought I knew but I didn’t, but I thought I did. I think. Or, well, I thought. I think. Whatever. I was unsure and looking back I knew I did not know, though at the time I was sure I did. You made my head spin. I was positive of, hmmm, of nothing. Now, I am sure I knew nothing. I think. You charmed me. Your words, your walk, your ways. You wrapped me in a warm, snug blanket. I fell softly asleep to the melody of your soothing song. I snored. I rested. I was warm and felt safe. You gently stroked my forehead. I was in a magical, mystical dreamland. And then I woke up. Boy did I wake up.

  • Walk It Back

    I remember going to the doctor when I was a kid. Some things stand out, like the doctor saying to me, “Stick out your tongue and say ah.” Going to get checked out for a cold was never something I found unpleasant, but waiting in the waiting room could get boring. However, it was not boring if my favorite magazine was available. In the back of the magazine was a maze. I would be in the waiting room of the doctor’s office so absorbed in doing the maze that when I was called to go in it was hard to get me to put down the magazine. I liked doing mazes. I found them engaging. Some were harder than others. One day, I discovered a shortcut to doing the mazes I found in this magazine. I did them backwards. I have never investigated the reason why, but doing a maze backwards – meaning starting from the finish line and tracing it back to the beginning – was always easier than starting from the beginning.

  • Sunshine Hope, a Poem

    Obliterating sunlight, casting out the demons of the night. Destroying fear. Restoring hope. Golden rays to bring us home. Home to our aspirations for a better future and a productive now. Obliterating sunlight, pulverizing our fears. Reminding us of what is dear. A source of strength. A source of renewal. The sun, our golden jewel. Talked to a guy the other day. He said, “There is no hope.” I restrained myself from calling him a word that rhymed. I figured he’d come around in time. That the sun would show him the sublime. That he would come to see the goodness of man. That he could understand a greater plan. But if not, not.

  • Consejos breves para aprendientes de idiomas

    Aqui tienen unos cuantos consejos breves para quienes estan aprendiendo una lengua. Un momengo, alto! De hecho todos estamos aprendiendo un idioma todo el tiempo. Y este es primer consejo. Aún su no estamos aprendiendo un segundo, tercer, o cuarto idioma, siempre estamos constantemente aprendiendo nuestro primer idioma. Leemos y escuchamos nuevas palabras y patrones de palabras casi a diario. tomar nota de ello nos puede ayudar a mejorar nuestras habilidades lingüísticas. Ente mayor conciencia tengamos de que estamos aprendiendo, más podemos enfocarnos en las nuevas palabras que encontramos, etc.para poder ponerlas en práctica.

  • El poder de los buenos hábitos

    La creatividad es importante. La energía es importante. La imaginación es importante. La voluntad de probar cosas nuevas es importante. Hay un montón de cualidades que podríamos poseer que puede trabajar de manera significativa en nuestro beneficio. Sin embargo, si no tenemos buenos hábitos, esas cualidades maravillosas que tenemos sólo se desperdician. El talento no es igual a éxito. Tener habilidades naturales no significa que necesariamente vamos a brillar en un área determinada. Lo que en última instancia nos traen éxito son nuestros hábitos. Estos hábitos de trabajo son como el combustible que nos puede impulsar a avanzar en la dirección correcta, lo que nos permite utilizar nuestras habilidades para un buen fin.

  • The Power of Good Habits

    Creativity is important. Energy is important. Imagination is important. Willingness to try new things is important. There are a lot of qualities we might possess which can significantly work to our benefit. However, if we do not have good habits those wonderful qualities might just go to waste. Talent does not equal success. Natural abilities do not mean that we will necessarily shine in a given area. What ultimately brings us success are our good habits. These good habits work as the fuel which can power us along in the right direction, allowing us to utilize our abilities to a positive end.

  • Happy Tidings Song, a Poem

    Sing a sampling of soothing sounds Energy and good will do abound Look for it while and when you can Understand the plan beyond mortal man Cookie cutter solutions are shown One size all methods are overblown Choose a path that’s clear and true Then live and see what you can do We can be positive, if we want to be We can fill our hearts with boundless glee We can be the “we” we want to be We can embrace mankind’s nobility

  • Steps

    If you have something to accomplish, create a plan to accomplish it. The plan need not be elaborate. In fact, keep things simple. The simple plan you create should include a number of steps – clear, definable steps – that will bring you to your goal. Too many times, we seek to accomplish a goal, yet either have no plan as how to accomplish it or become overwhelmed because we have not broken the process of accomplishing our goal into small steps. If I want to climb a mountain but can barely walk a kilometer on flat ground, perhaps it makes sense to first focus on getting into good basic physical condition. Realistically, I cannot train to climb a mountain unless I have some basic cardiovascular fitness.