Laundromat Lessons

Just the other day I brought a couple of winter comforters to the laundromat. I needed their extra-large washer, the one for eight bucks a load. When all the kids were around, I had an industrial sized washer that would accommodate stuff like this, but when it died awhile back, I got a normal-sized one. […]

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Covid Lemonade

I most definitely have Covid-on-the-brain. While I might not have the virus – yet – everything is muddled. With so much of my stuff cancelled, having all of this time, you’d think I’d be taking care of tasks I can’t generally get to. Alas, not so much. When everything was upended, so was I. And […]

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Gun Violence

Another shooting yesterday.  Do we even notice anymore?  Can evil be called a tragedy? Perhaps, but it’s many other things too. For awhile, I took part in gun safety protests, walking around NRA-supported businesses and politicians offices with my posters. My posters were never particularly eye-catching like so many, but they were useful to put […]

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Bias is Born

When I was a new therapist, I found myself involved in what is sometimes called a NIMBY issue.  NIMBY means “not in my back yard”, and refers to opposition to types of development or people living too close to one’s own living space.  My situation involved community resistance to state-mandated rental housing for individuals recovering […]

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Black History Month

I’ll know that things have really changed when I regularly see white women pushing black babies in strollers. I’ll know things have changed when a white person is accused of playing the “race card” when he or she mentions something related to race. I’ll know things have changed when they stop locking up young black […]

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Consistency

If you take a moment to really think about it, the diversity of our world, and its living things, is captivating. On the other hand, there are times when consistency is important. I read about a legislator in West Virginia who is an outspoken critic of civil rights for LGBT people. He is quoted calling […]

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The Naiveté of Cynics

We can be too optimistic and positive, to where we are simply naïve.  While naiveté may seem charming, it can’t accomplish much. It can be a pitfall for the faithful of any religious persuasion.  To ignore the reality of evil can lead us to minimize or overlook the suffering of the victims of evil. Nor […]

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The Cowboy Myth

The American cowboy myth dies hard. While classic cowboy movies have not been produced in a long time, the cowboy persona has a way of re-inventing itself as action heroes or high-tech warriors. Good and evil is still portrayed in a simplistic, one-dimensional way.  Violent means always justify ends; in fact our 21st century heroes […]

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Sexual Assault

The news cycles have been saturated with those pitching for or against the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. What a shame, and what an assault on the balance of power that our founding fathers saw as essential to a vigorous democracy, that it seems to be taken for granted that our highest […]

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