24Feb 2015 by CJ

Boundaries in relationships – keep them off TV

Life & Living, Love & Relationships
I’m losing hope that the world will ever become a place rooted in decorum (if society even knows what that word means in modern day 2015). Television continues to push the limits in order to gain viewers - and ultimately increase revenue. Nowhere is that more apparent than on cable channel WE tv – where a new reality show will soon launch called “Sex Box”. So here’s the basic premise. Set in front of a live studio audience, couples go into a sound proof box without any cameras or interruptions and have sex. Yes, you’re not misreading this. When they emerge (no doubt more tattered looking than when they entered) they have an honest discussion with a panel of therapists and sex experts about what just happened and the realtionships…
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12Feb 2015 by CJ

Kristen Chenoweth “Latte” tune always brings a smile

Generosity & Kindness, Life & Living, Love & Relationships
“Happy is entirely up to you and always has been.” ― Janette Rallison, My Fair Godmother   I’ve always been a music buff, and have dozens of songs in my repertoire that I consider my “go-to-tunes” depending on my emotional state of the day. If I’m melancholy, I typically choose a slow, highly orchestrated ballad whose underlying theme is filled with loss and despair. I have a lot of these songs. But when I need a little cheering up, there’s one song in particular that always makes me smile. Taylor the Latte Boy was recorded back in 2005 by beloved Broadway veteran Kristin Chenoweth – from her album As I Am. This well-crafted tune can bring a smile to my face the instant she begins singing. It’s as though it…
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09Feb 2015 by CJ

Valentine’s Day has very little to do with true love

Information & Education, Life & Living, Love & Relationships
“To love is to accept a soul entirely, not wishing that the person was otherwise, nor hoping for change, nor clinging to some ideal past.” — Richelle E. Goodrich, Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year For the majority of us, we’re only given one chance to fully experience a genuine, honest love with another person. The sad reality is that far too often time makes us unconsciously forget just how memorable, how valuable, how immeasurable that feeling truly is. Though definitions vary, love has commonly been defined as “a strong, complex emotion or feeling causing one to appreciate, delight in and crave the presence of another”. The ability to give and receive love has little or nothing to do with an exchange of gifts, and yet…
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04Feb 2015 by CJ

How a little boy reminded me that I have all that I need

Life & Living, Love & Relationships, Youth
Last night, after my two-year-old nephew headed off to bed, I heard him calling from upstairs, “Crait!” You might be asking what “Crait” means. As he continues to learn pronunciation and language skills, he’s having a little trouble with the letter “G”. Therefore “Crait” means “Craig”. I don’t mind really, though sometimes I don’t realize he’s calling me – such was the case last night. His mother yelled down, “He wants you to read him a book.” So I asked the adorable little boy, standing at the top of the stairs in his striped blue PJ’s, did he want me to read to him?  He quickly replied, “Yeah!” How could I say no. Every night before he goes to sleep, his mom and dad read to him. It’s so great…
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27Jan 2015 by CJ

The people we love will ALWAYS live in our hearts

Love & Relationships
“There is no death, daughter. People die only when we forget them,' my mother explained shortly before she left me. 'If you can remember me, I will be with you always.” — Isabel Allende, Eva Luna My wife and I were with my grandmother the night before she passed away. At that time she called the confines of a nursing facility “home” and age had certainly taken its toll on her body – rendering her almost unrecognizable (she was 93 when she passed). Some family members declined to visit my grandmother during this time – claiming it was too difficult to see what she’d been reduced to, and wanted to just remember her “as she was”. This “cop out” excuse is used more often than you might think in homes…
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