life lessons

  • “I am German and am waiting for the Germans to come back; they have gone to ground somewhere,” Victor Klemperer wrote in his diary. He was the son of a rabbi and a World War One veteran who chose to stay and somehow survived. The warning signs were there then. They are here now. Trump’s…

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  • A lot of people keep asking this, so let’s be clear. If you’ve ever seen Mexican flags waving at protests in California, or Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, or anywhere in the Southwest, and wondered why, it’s time for a little history and a lot of truth. California, along with large parts of the…

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  • I’ve never understood the idea that there’s some man in the sky who demands we only marry the opposite sex. Really think about that — you’re telling me the ultimate force of love and creation is obsessed with our bedroom choices? That’s not divine, that’s control dressed up as religion. If your God insists on…

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  • This is a good place to begin. I never know how to react when someone says, “Happy Pride.” For me, Pride isn’t about rainbows and niceties. It’s about in-your-face defiance, inner strength, and being visible—for the person who’s been beaten down so badly they’ve not just retreated to the closet but nailed the fucking door…

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  • I was talking with my husband, Rick, the other day—just one of those quiet moments after we’d dropped our bags and taken a deep breath. We’ve been on the road for a month now, weaving our way from one city to the next, and I could tell he sensed something in my mood. Madrid had…

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  • Yesterday, in the heart of the Madrid train station, we stood shoulder to shoulder in a dense, unmoving crowd. We waited more than four hours to pass through security, just to reach our train platform. Our train was delayed by three hours, and the atmosphere was thick with heat, frustration, and fatigue. The crowd pulsed…

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  • As Good Friday arrives, I find myself grieving not just the crucifixion of Jesus, but the crucifixion of everything He stood for. In a world where religion is being twisted into a weapon, and hate is preached in the name of love, I wrote this letter to God. It is a cry for truth, for…

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  • Have you ever noticed how some people seem to deeply feel the emotions of others, almost as if they’re experiencing those feelings themselves? It’s an intriguing distinction that I’ve been contemplating: the difference between being a true empath and just having a knack for reading body language. Take a moment to picture someone in tears.…

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  • Research Truth

    There’s so much craziness online right now. I’m running everything I post through analytics to see if it’s true. You saw this with my post this morning. Tell people what’s going on and then back it up with fact. Here’s an example: There are a lot of reports of people dying in ICE detention centers.…

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  • Autogenocide might sound like something straight out of a dystopian novel, but it’s a concept that’s increasingly being discussed—and hotly debated—in our society today. In its simplest form, autogenocide is about a society causing massive self-harm through its own policies and actions. It’s a blend of “auto” (self) and “genocide” (the systematic destruction of a…

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