“Nearly all of us are learning of things we could have never predicted, unless we were the scientists whose voices have all too often not been ‘heard.’ And so, we understand that whether or not we know what comes next, it does not always prepare us for how we will respond.”
Opinion
“America, God is not our scapegoat. God did not create these problems; we did. And whether you are holding up the Bible as a magical talisman or whether you think the president is the Antichrist, God wants no part of our partisan fiddling as the nation literally is burning. In another time of national crisis, President Lincoln once said, ‘Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side. My greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.'”
“As our entertainment options have exploded, they have also become more fractionalized. Everyone can now have their own gated community of content, where you never have to be exposed to anything that you don’t like or that you disagree with.”
“My days are filled with manic highs and mind-numbing lows. There are days where I am just ‘fine’ and days where I can barely get off the couch. There are days where I feel like I am drowning and being swallowed up by sadness. Of course on these days parenting is the hardest. Thinking and breathing hurts. Doing anything hurts. Parenting is the last thing on my mind. I can hardly take care of myself, so how do I take care of another human being?”
“The cost to the Village and the people of Constantine from the aspects of including recreational marijuana sales here is incalculable. In fact, any new ordinance in the Village should spell out restrictions on marijuana for the protection of citizens — youngsters to the older generations — NO marijuana smoking in or adjacent to our parks and public spaces with adequate signage to that effect.” — Rebecca J. Shank
“White Americans, no matter their profession or standing in life, can no longer stand silent. We can no longer quietly judge the actions of others and hope the problem will fix itself, because it won’t.”
“I’m not sure which one of us decided that we should see the Mona Lisa first, but as soon as we were inside the building and holding a map in our hands, we set out to find her.”
“We as people do this often, alter our behavior in response to invisible triggers. Things like over-apologizing, or self-sabotaging by repeatedly not showing up for ourselves as a means of survival. These types of behaviors are rooted in trauma, and if you are continually functioning in this way, sorry to tell you but… ‘you missed a spot.'”
“Cadence is my best friend. Cadence is a carbon copy of me. She is one of my favorite people and the one that can frustrate me the most because we are the same person. Cadence is my ‘typical’ child who has an autistic brother.
“And sometimes I feel like I have failed her.”
“‘Murder Most Foul’ seems to suggest Bob Dylan turned to music to help him cope with the terrible events of November 1963. Could he be suggesting that in our current COVID-19 crisis, we too should turn to music to help us? By releasing this song in the middle of the pandemic, is Dylan adding one more musical resource?”
Normal has gone and won’t be back any time soon due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here lies an unusual fork in the road, but a crossroad just the same. A question. Who in this moment will you be? Some of you, like myself, have stood at this familiar intersection before. Maybe after the loss of a job or relationship or sudden crisis. It was glaringly obvious you had reached a point and had to decide who you were going to be in that defining moment and beyond. This is just like that.
But the question lingers. Is the Corona Champion legitimate? Will the Tampa Bay Lightning still be a Stanley Cup Champion if they hoist the Cup in a 5,000-seat college arena, skating past empty seats while the Red Hot Chili Peppers are played extra loud to drown out the crickets? Would Kevin Garnett’s legendary declaration of “Anything is possible!” rung out to the heavens the same way without a cheering crowd behind him? If Bill Russell was at home for his own safety instead of standing in the confetti shower with Garnett?
Maybe not. But the soul of the game is the playing of the game.
It’s OK to ride the struggle bus at times. But maybe it’s time I jump off that bus, pull up my PJ pants, because let’s be real, that’s all I’ve worn in the last month, and start walking down a new path of motherhood. The path that leads me to being the best mom I can be today instead of the perfect mom.
Even for the greats it all comes to an end at some point. To be a college or high school athlete, you have to deal with this realization a lot sooner than you would like. Hanging up the cleats for the last time is a feeling that will last with you forever.
Around the world there was little time to brace for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has rocked so much to the core, including me. As a daughter, friend, wife, mother… human, I am concerned about not only those that I love, but also those that I don’t know all over the world.
In the midst of planning, cleaning and assisting, one unexpected emotion that kept circling back was grief. It took me by surprise, but its presence was undeniable. Grief.
Do you ever wonder where later has gone? I often think it goes to the back of the closet and gets lost with those Christmas gifts you forgot you bought. As an adult, later seems like something small and trivial. As a child, later seems like something you’ve wished for but it never happens. And that makes me mad.
Why is it so hard for organizations such as the Black student union or the Latino student union to collaborate with the Western Democrats or the Western Republicans? Why is it so hard to have that color representation in something as big as politics, especially in college?
I like to look out the window — I think I get that from my dad. While I was growing up, my parents had an agreement that my mother would drive the car anywhere we went as a family; I’m told it was so that my father could look out the window without imperiling the rest of us.