12Jan 2015 by CJ

Hoarding time benefits no one – sharing your time is the greatest gift

Generosity & Kindness, Life & Living, Love & Relationships
“Nothing annoys people so much as not receiving invitations.” ― Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest Something I’ve come to miss most in my life is the regularly scheduled Sunday dinners my Italian American family used to host. Typically they were held at my grandmother’s house, with a huge bowl of pasta covered in red sauce as the centerpiece - accented by dozens of meatballs and sausages, a crunchy loaf of Italian bread and a chopped salad. I’m getting hungry just writing this! My cousins were there, aunts and uncles and me all set to enjoy the weekly gathering filled with stories, laughter and reminiscing. Regardless of your schedule, you always knew there was an open invitation at grandmas, with plenty of food, company and love of family. But…
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30Dec 2014 by CJ

What matters in life is who you are, not what you have.

Life & Living
This morning on my way to work, while stopped at a red light, I noticed a young woman standing on a snow-covered street corner shaking from the frigid temperatures. In her hand she held a sign made out of corrugated cardboard and a thick black marker. It read simply, “Spent rest of money on rent. My 2 daughters need food.” It’s easy for onlookers to assume these individuals are drug users, degenerates or simply con artists playing on the sympathy of others during the holiday season. But I sometimes wonder if that kind of reasoning is concocted so we don’t feel a moral obligation to give of the abundances we find ourselves fortunate to possess. I couldn’t imagine standing on a street corner having to beg for food or money…
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23Dec 2014 by CJ

Keeping holiday memories (and those we miss) alive

Love & Relationships
“When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things - not the great occasions - give off the greatest glow of happiness.” ― Bob Hope When I was a little boy, my grandmother purchased me a tiny Christmas tree for my room. It stood proudly atop my dresser – probably all of 12 inches tall, with a handful of multi-colored lights interspersed between the artificial branches. I can still remember the enjoyment I found sitting in the darkness of my bedroom – the only illumination coming from that little tree, while listening to the Alvin and The Chipmunks holiday cassette over and over again. It was a solitary celebration I suppose, but to this day I still can remember how special it felt to have that little…
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18Dec 2014 by CJ

The holidays are a time for celebration and sadness

Love & Relationships
“There isn’t anyone you couldn’t love once you’ve heard their story.” ― Mary Lou Kownacki If you were flying like a bird, whose graceful wings provide the ability to carry you across thousands of miles of varying landscapes, the world below might look fairly non-descript. Human beings would appear like thousands of tiny ants all running around chaotically from one place to another – all seemingly “the same”. Outward appearances often reveal very little about a persons triumphs and failures. The facades we create when we walk out the front door each and every morning conceal sorrow, insecurity, fear and a host of other feelings and emotions we keep safely guarded from everyone but those we truly know we can rely on. The other day I found myself somewhat humbled…
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16Dec 2014 by CJ

Where are you Christmas? I think I might have found it.

Life & Living, Youth
Originally posted on December 11, 2014. As of this writing, there are exactly 15 more days until the conclusion of 2014. It was a year not uncommonly filled with its share of highs and lows and looking back it’s difficult to imagine where the last eleven months have escaped. But as John Lennon once said, “life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” But before we welcome in a new calendar year, we have another time-honored holiday to celebrate – Christmas. A subject of continuous debate, and the recurring theme of countless movies, books and television specials, is what is the true meaning of Christmas. While arguments surrounding its true meaning are subjective, it’s hard to decipher a logistical explanation when December 25th is continuously shrouded in dazzling…
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