Category transcendence
FMM 2 2 18 Good for You
“The right to protect the health and well-being of every person, of those we love, is a basic human right.”~ Elizabeth Holmes. Country children in Jamaica (I don’t know if it happened in ‘Town’ – Kingston also) were subject to a particular tradition. At the end of every summer vacation, in order to be ready […]
FMM 1 26 18 Blind Faith
“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”~ Martin Luther King, Jr. They say you should never discuss politics or religion. After the past couple of years in American politics, you would have to be completely deaf, dumb and blind not to have been pulled into a conversation involving […]
FMM 1 19 18 The Nosebleed Section
“I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display it.” ~ Maya Angelou. I first felt the full force of racism in Jacksonville, Florida. It was 1978. I had driven there to take my Nursing Boards, what is now known as the NCLEX-RN. At that time there were three sites […]
FMM 12 29 17 Breaking Out
“Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.”~ Edward de Bono. I just awoke from a terrible dream. I won’t bore you with the details, but it involved having multiple simultaneous responsibilities and no way to accomplish all of them in any meaningful way. Oh yes, […]
FMM 12 8 17 Synergy
“And death shall have no dominion”~Dylan Thomas. One of the beauties of being transplanted from one culture to another at an early age (as I was) is that you learn very early to walk the line between two worlds. And it doesn’t seem strange. Children who learn to speak one language in the home, and […]
FMM 12 1 17 Choices
“Not what we have, but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance.” ~Epicurus. In the 1980’s, Jamaica went through some challenging times. The Prime Minister (Michael Manley, a self-declared Socialist) had aligned himself too closely to Cuba’s Fidel for the US to be comfortable, and actions were taken to squeeze the country. The IMF and the […]
FMM 11 24 17 Don’t get it Twisted
“When you practice gratefulness, there is a sense of respect toward others.”~Dalai Lama. Things were different when I was growing up. I see how easily I have moved into the ‘older generation’ category, reminiscing about how things used to be. But I remember the first time I wore long pants in the dead of winter […]
FMM 11 17 17 Push me Pull you
“The countenance of one man brighten up another; iron sharpen iron.”~ Joseph Hill. One of the problems with parenting is that you are mostly making it up as you go along. Children don’t come with a handbook. The way you were raised may influence you, but the world, the times and the social mores can […]
FMM 11 10 17 Blind Spots
“There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.” ~ Aldous Huxley. My brother was the only boy in our family, he was born after three girls. I was told that my purpose in life (I came after him) was to prevent him from being […]