In 1999, I was working at a small public-relations firm in Avon, Connecticut. My dentist was in the next town east, which, oddly enough, is West Hartford. (Everything is relative.) Exiting I-84 on Prospect Street, I drove north on Prospect, intending to turn left onto Farmington Avenue, the street on which my dentist’s office was […]
Author’s Note: This story is an elaboration on a comment I posted in a thread initiated by my friend, Tammy Eldredge. It’s also a faithful recounting of an actual event and a very valuable lesson. In 1974, I was playing in a band with some guys who rented a house on West Street in Rocky […]
As readers of my ravings likely know by now, my father was a U.S. Marine. To him — and, so, to us — time was an adversarial construct. There was no later. There was no gradually. There was no patience. There were just two things: (1) Now. (2) Now, God damn it! Growing up in […]
I did not grow up with cell phones, social media, or electronics as my main source of communication. It was a different world in the ’60s, ’70s, and even the ’80s. Today, there is information overload, communication via text/email, and a culture that has practically eliminated the art of conversation. If you are of the […]
As a girl of the 1950s and growing up in a small town in Jamaica, I was constantly reminded of the need to be conscious of other people’s opinions. “What will people say?” “What will people think?” “You know, people don’t appreciate that.” Who were these ‘people’ my mother was concerned about and why? It […]
Shara Lewis-Campbell is the co-founder of Beauty & the Beast Publishing, a book publishing and media company. In the spirit of Nadine Gordimer, Shara believes all writers have a social responsibility in all arenas. Shara’s speciality involves publishing aspiring writers atypically from the industry, providing them with a voice and opportunity as social beings, creatively […]
Life has a way of bringing us full circle back to our passions. Danny Budiski, a singer/songwriter has had a dream his entire life to be a star. He spent his younger years training his voice and playing in touring bands but never reached the pinnacle of his music goals. It is not easy to […]
There is no script for how to handle grief. Everyone deals with grief in his or her own way. Because of this, we really should never judge anyone for how they react or behave when they’re faced with the loss of a loved one–whether family or friend. What we see may be only a part […]
In this episode, Laura Staley shares her passion for creating or guiding people to a holistic transformation. She explains that this may include people who have been traumatized and terrified in their space. They just haven’t felt at home in a physical space or physical environment, for whatever reason, and maybe they haven’t felt safe […]
Where do I begin? My mind says: How do I stay sane in an insane world? My heart says: Stay focused on love, joy, peace, and happiness. Others say: But how can you do that when there is so much pain, distress, negativity, and chaos? My voice says: Be still, find as much positivity as […]
