03Nov 2014 by CJ

Lists are okay, but don’t live by them

Life & Living
I’m a list maker. Regardless of the circumstance, you can rest assured that somewhere there’s a notebook page with a numbered list on it – often revised over and over again. I’m a little anal, I know. The other day I came to realize that while my “lists” are meant to guide me, all they really do is cause my anxiety levels to rise, as I begin to feel overwhelmed by my self-inflicted deadlines. It can lead me to become agitated and cranky as projects pile up with little feeling of accomplishment. Sometimes I think I overcomplicate my life by assigning importance to things that simply don’t deserve it. I allow myself to get so caught up in my “to-do-lists” that I simply miss out on the little miracles going…
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29Oct 2014 by CJ

Personal accomplishment often comes quietly

Life & Living, Youth
500 dollars is a lot of money to have in your pocket. 500 miles is a long way to travel by car. 500 blog posts means you’ve got a hell of a lot to say. This post represents number 501 for me. What happened to 500 you say? Honestly, it came and went with little fanfare. I rarely keep track of how many posts I’ve logged since this blog went live in 2011. I write when I feel inspired, not just to build an arsenal of posts. But I have to say that I was somewhat surprised by this number. 500 posts seems like a lot to me, though other bloggers might think it’s just a small bleep on the radar. Still, I’m pretty satisfied with what I’ve been able…
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28Oct 2014 by CJ

People need to learn there’s a time and place for everything

Life & Living
Even though I’m only 39, I was born old. That’s probably why I still don’t fully understand the popularity of social media beyond giving society an open stage to perform on, with an audience always in attendance. Companies spend so much time focused on getting “likes,” yet find themselves unable to connect the effort to profitability. Though I’ll admit it’s a great way to build brand identity. But I think most of the trouble lies in what every day, ordinary people are posting. That “open stage” I spoke about often publicizes conversations and opinions that should otherwise not be shared with an online community of millions. It can be embarrassing and hurtful to those unsuspecting victims, and even damaging to the poster as employers and even colleges now search your…
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26Oct 2014 by CJ

Don’t underestimate the magic of ordinary days

Life & Living, Love & Relationships
There are some titles, quotations and song lyrics I find so simple and inspiring that I often find myself carrying them around in the back of my mind to be retrieved at a later date. One such example comes in the form of a title, from author Ann Howard Creel’s novel, “The Magic of Ordinary Days.” The word “ordinary” gets a bad rap in society. Far too often anything that’s ordinary is deemed boring and mundane in a world so pathetically obsessed with popularity and excitement. But I can tell you with great certainty that when your normalcy all but vanishes, you’ll soon find yourself craving the undeniable magic of ordinary days. Moments of exhilarating excitement are just that – moments. They can never be recaptured or relived and for…
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17Oct 2014 by CJ

The trouble with the truth is we all think we know what that is

Life & Living, Love & Relationships
The trouble with the truth - an odd statement when you think about it. I mean how could there possibly be anything problematic with regards to a word that has come to mean “a statement or belief which corresponds to reality”. I mean after all, reality is in fact what we deal with from the time we wake up until the time we close our eyes at night. One would assume that the alternative might be more deserving of an entire editorial piece. But I can’t lie, the truth isn’t always the easier of the two to swallow. From employers to government officials. From family members to friends. From our children to our spouses. The trouble with the truth is no one has the courage to face it. We live…
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