Craig Ruvere

17Dec 2024 by CJ 2 Comments

A Midlife Crisis is Uncertainty of One’s Life Purpose

Life & Living

"I think midlife crisis is just a point where people's careers have reached some plateau and they have to reflect on their personal relationships." - Bill Murray. I have always been highly self-reflective, frequently expressing the thoughts and emotions that arise from this process in my writing and conversations with others. After all, the only way to genuinely improve oneself is to look back on our lives and reflect on our actions and decisions with complete transparency. Self-reflection is challenging and often requires us to confront uncomfortable truths about our choices, discomfort necessary for achieving meaningful results. As I explore this stage of life, I realize that aging alters our perceptions and impacts how we tolerate ourselves and our shortcomings. While I wouldn't necessarily label it a midlife crisis, reaching…

17Nov 2024 by CJ

Hope Begins in the Dark…Begins with Us

Generosity & Kindness, Life & Living

"Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don't give up." ― Anne Lamott While many of my fellow Americans have been celebrating the results of the 2024 Presidential Election, I cannot. I've struggled to reconcile with reality, unwilling to acknowledge what I've witnessed and experienced about humanity lately. In short, electing a president who is blatantly racist, homophobic, sexist, elitist, and narcissistic means much of society sees nothing wrong with his rhetoric. They downplay messages of hate against our fellow Americans as nothing more than amusement at the expense of those who are deemed unworthy in a society led by wealthy white supremacists. Such overt behavior…

25Oct 2024 by CJ

Mainstream Media Normalizes Bullying Behavior

Information & Education, Life & Living

“As the mainstream media has become increasingly dependent on advertising revenues for support, it has become an anti-democratic force in society.” Robert Waterman McChesney, an American professor Parents and teachers have an invaluable impact on shaping a child’s moral and ethical values. Whenever a child misbehaves at home or in the classroom, parents and teachers are often the voice of reason in the situation. They use the bad behavior as a teachable moment to help ensure that such behaviors aren’t repeated in the future. Educator and author Beth Lewis defines a “teachable moment” as “An unplanned opportunity that arises in the classroom where a teacher has an ideal chance to offer insight to his or her students. It is not something that you can plan for; rather, it is a…

20Oct 2024 by CJ

Cheap Car Insurance is Evident When You Have a Car Accident

Information & Education

It's been said that the average U.S. driver will experience three to four car accidents during their lifetime, filing a claim with their car insurance company about every 18 years. Car accidents are an unavoidable part of our day-to-day lives. Being cautious and using good judgment while driving can help reduce risks. However, nothing is guaranteed, especially with the number of drivers on the road at any given time. For reference, as of 2023, the United States Department of Transportation reported approximately 233 million licensed drivers nationwide. With so many drivers, all with varying degrees of aptitude and responsibility, it's unsurprising that in 2022, approximately 5.8 million drivers were involved in non-fatal car accidents, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's recent report. I have been driving for 32…

02Sep 2024 by CJ

Extracurricular Activities May Be Too Much of a Good Thing

Information & Education, Youth

“When it comes to extracurricular activities, many children are getting too much of a good thing.” Carl Honore, best-selling author and journalist. I spent my youth in a modest New Jersey suburb in the 1980s, and if perspective and the passage of time have taught me anything, a great deal has changed since then. At 49 years old, when I compare my formative years to those of children today, I feel like a relic, a dinosaur, an old-timer. Here are a few examples of why. Our phones were hanging on kitchen walls, not buried in our pockets, with a curly cord that cleverly uncoiled, though easily tangled, so you could walk around the house to talk. Cable television was becoming a thing, and to change the channel, you had to…