My Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr feeds have been taken over by an increasingly acerbic conversation between fans and critics of the newly released 50 Shades of Grey movie and the book that inspired it. With the best of intentions, a critic of the movie could share a long list of reasons why it’s unhealthy—such as… Read More 50 Shades of Shaming: Regaining the Lost Art of Conversation
Happy Valentine’s Day! Taking a day to celebrate romantic love is sweet indeed. After all, from romantic love is born a family; romantic love creates a healthy space where children are raised; a healthy family creates a strong family; and a strong family unit contributes to the well-being of society. Rethinking that gift, are you… Read More A Valentine’s Day Special: Applying the Lessons of Romantic Love to Other Relationships
Yesterday, a friend of mine suddenly and unexpectedly passed away. It was difficult news to receive, not just because it was unexpected, but mostly because this young man was an incredible source of joy to all those around him. He is the kind of person the world today needs more of. As his friends around… Read More The Joy of Being Part of a Strong Community in Times of Grief
Justice and unity are both essential in creating healthy communities. But when it comes to the practical application of both within the same setting, things can get a little difficult (to put it mildly). I’m sure many have faced a situation where for the sake of unity, an injustice was perpetuated. It recently happened to… Read More Justice and Unity in Interpersonal Relationships: Gently Rocking the Boat
Community building is a wonderfully complex process that contains many layers and elements. One of these elements are relationships, in all shapes and forms: between family members, between friends, between lovers, between coworkers, between store workers and customers, between people who regularly commute together, etc. There are many ways to reinforce each of these relationships… Read More Building a House (and a Community) With Cards
Punctuality is considered an important part of the character of a well-rounded person. Many are taught early on that being punctual is important. It reflects our own trustworthiness as well as respect for other people’s times. Many also learn that a pattern of constantly changing plans at the last minute reflects the opposite: that we… Read More The Balancing Act between Punctuality and Flexibility
On the positive end of the continuum, a great community can take all its members to places they never dreamed possible. There are different definitions of a community and, as access to the internet is increasing to more and more people around the world, more of our brethren have the ability to go online and,… Read More And so, it Begins: Some thoughts on NaNoWriMo
While I strongly believe and have been participating in “IRL” community building efforts, I am still relatively new to online community building efforts. I tried out NaNoWriMo in 2008, but other than meeting a few people and writing quite a lot, I didn’t really get into the NaNoWriMo community. When the show was live, I… Read More Learning to Use Online Communities Efficiently: My First Bloggiesta Blogging Experience
Have you ever watched the flow of traffic in a heavily frequented area from a high vantage point? No one vehicle is more important that the other; all must pass. As soon as one vehicle thinks of itself as more important and tries to get ahead of itself, it causes some sort of backlog. In… Read More No, Really, The Queen is not the Only Reason You Won that Chess Game
In recent weeks, there has been an increasing number of negative comments on my Tumblr dashboard, my Twitter and Facebook feeds, and in the various opinion blogs I follow about Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s wedding choices, especially when it came to light that they are standing to make a lot of money off their… Read More We can also Profit from their Wedding: Why We Should not Talk Negatively about Kim and Kanye’s Big Day