I have been keeping abreast (as much as my poor heart can take it) of the horrific events in and around Syria. The photograph of the drowned little boy shocked me just like it did many others; the outcry following it made me initially quite happy; perhaps his sacrifice would mean that others wouldn’t have… Read More Coherence: Asking of our Leaders only What We Work For Ourselves
Sahar’s Blog’s editorial calendar is pretty clear: Wednesdays are dedicated to product reviews. But once in awhile, things happen and plans change. One of these things is an amazingly powerful post Martha uploaded a little under a month ago. In it, she discusses how she was affected after being sexually abused by a family friend… Read More Positive, Powerful, and Empowering: Standing Up for Compassionate Justice in the Face of Sexual Abuse
If you are a long time reader of my blog, it will come as absolutely no surprise that I am a firm believer in the power of the individual to make a difference. And I believe in this power not only in the small or even medium things, but in the big things. One such… Read More Voicing Our Concern for Injustice: It Starts at the Very Foundation of Our Societies
“Till It Happens To You” is Lady Gaga’s powerful new song which she co-wrote for use in the documentary on campus rape in the United States called “The Hunting Ground.” The numbers make it clear that drastic action is needed to raise the kind of men who would never degrade themselves to subjecting someone to… Read More Respecting Human Dignity While Working to Eliminate Rape
The rumours that were floating around last week about a potential Spice Girls reunion made me of course reach for my cassette tape and pop in their tape navigate to Emi Music’s YouTube page. As I worked along to the infectious rhythms of the girl bands’ various songs, I sent the link to the “Spice… Read More Are the Spice Girls an Unhealthy Media that Should be Purged from My Media Diet?
Last June, I came across an article by John Haltiwanger in which he explained why optimists are always late. While articles such as his do help understand how people—ourselves or others—think and function, the way Haltiwanger went about excusing lateness as a natural consequence of a virtue didn’t jive well with me. I felt that… Read More Developing Virtues: Never One At the Expense of Another
I mentioned before that there are probably more good people in this world than bad ones. This is a completely unscientific statement, but I wouldn’t be surprise if a survey determined that, indeed, more people are prone to performing a kind deed rather than a bad one. How, then, can’t this majority of good people… Read More How the Selfish and the Selfless can Enter into an Unhealthy Relationship
It’s interesting how each person’s life struggles seem to distil to just a handful of challenges that occur again and again in various shapes and forms. A personal struggle of mine, which I blogged about previously (and one post of which will be reposted later on today), is the injustice that operates within so many… Read More The False Choice We Have to Make Between Helping Ourselves and Helping Others
One would think that, after what happened last month (here, here, then here—yes, it’s that long of a story, and yes, it’s well worth the read), I wouldn’t be thinking already of traveling again for a long time. But what do you want; the heart wants what the heart wants (and also, my friends won’t… Read More What Traveling Through a Tornado Reminded Me Of and What it Taught Me
Back in October, I uploaded a post on how unhealthy the relationship between selfish and selfless people can be. I got so many emails in response from individuals who felt drained because they would empty themselves out in the name of living a life of generous giving! We were all in the same boat: we… Read More Seeking a Limitless Source to Live a Sustainable Life of Generous Giving