Craig Ruvere

24Jan 2025 by CJ

Impress Others with Who You Are, Not with What You Have

On days when I try to make sense of this nonsensical world, I often find myself lost in deep reflection on various topics. On this particular day, I pondered why we invest so much time and energy trying to impress others, even those we don’t know. As is often the case, I received some unsolicited wisdom that reminded me of what is most valuable in life. This time, the insight came from a daily motivational message that arrived in my inbox every morning. “The only way to impress me is by being a good person. I don’t care what you have, what you wear, where you live, or what you drive. I just have a deep respect for people with pure hearts and good intentions.” From childhood innocence to the…

05Jan 2025 by CJ

A New Career Path Awaits Those Willing to Take a Chance

Information & Education

"Your journey to a new career path is an opportunity to not just survive but thrive and create work that's meaningful to you." - Seth Godin. My grandparents married in 1941, during a time when it was customary for many couples of that generation to adopt gender roles in their marriage. My grandfather explored a new career path outside the home to earn the necessary finances for their family. At the same time, my grandmother managed the household with ingenuity and creativity before eventually caring for their two children. While their gender roles and individual contributions were clearly defined, collectively, they each enhanced their existence's overall quality and abundance. By 1965, after spending 24 years managing the household and raising her two children to be responsible and independent young adults,…

17Dec 2024 by CJ

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…