Month: June 2025

Recess Was My Favorite Subject (and Detention Was My Major)

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From classroom exile to the playground courtroom, this is a tale of a kid who couldn’t sit still, talked too much, and graduated with a Ph.D. in after-school detention. But hey, at least he turned it into a lifelong love for exercise—and a fiercely loyal heart.

I enjoy exercising. I’ve always enjoyed it. As a kid, I couldn’t sit still in school. My first grade teacher had me move my desk apart from the rest of the class besides being a kid that couldn’t sit still, I was too sociable for a teacher who like order. Although she may have temporarily modified my behavior, it was probably the reason recess was my favorite class in elementary school. I could scream, run, and shout, and it still didn’t calm me down. In today’s environment, the counselors and educators would’ve probably said I needed to be drugged. They would tell my parents I wasn’t normal. As a reflect on it, I’m glad they never had that conversation with my teachers. My behavior, both physical and socially, didn’t really improve as I went through each grade. My fifth grade teacher kept me after school 150 days out of 180. I think I must’ve set a record. I had the longest school day of any kid I’ve ever known. There was one day when she kept me after school and my younger brother, who was in first grade, was outside waiting for me in the playground. When I got out of prison as I called it I went to get him. There was a boy from my class picking on him and my brother was crying. What’s an older brother to do? I had no choice I got involved in a fight. My fifth grade teacher saw me from the window, came outside and yanked me off the boy who was picking on my brother. She decided I was guilty and put me back in prison for another 30 minutes. What has all this taught me? I’m not quite sure if it taught me anything. I’m still sociable. I still can’t sit still. And, I’m overly protective of my daughters. I must be a slow learner.

Three Reflection Questions:

  1. What childhood behaviors of yours still show up in your adult life—and are they strengths in disguise?
  2. Were there moments from your school years that shaped your current lifestyle or values more than you realized?
  3. How might today’s education system respond differently to a child like your younger self?

Light for the Journey: Love as Light, Joy as Armor: Wordsworth’s Guide to a Radiant Life

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Serene will be our days, and bright and happy will our nature be, when love is an unerring light, and joy its own security. William Wordsworth

Reflection:


Wordsworth paints a vision of life not weighed down by fear or doubt, but lifted by love that never falters and joy that guards itself. This isn’t just poetic dreaming—it’s an invitation to live from the soul’s truest compass. When we let love lead and joy rise from within, serenity isn’t far behind—it’s already here.

Writing Prompt: Your Mission: Write a Spy Thriller That Won’t Put the CIA to Sleep

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Tired of reading thrillers where the only thing undercover is the writer’s talent? Let’s fix that. Here’s a prompt that’ll ignite your creative fuse faster than a bugged briefcase in Berlin.

Writing Prompt:

A CIA operative posing as an American embassy janitor in Prague intercepts a late-night encrypted message—one that wasn’t meant for the agency, but for them. It’s signed by a codename they haven’t heard since the Berlin Wall fell… their mother’s. And suddenly, sweeping the marble floor isn’t the only thing they’re cleaning up.

3 Questions to Dive Deeper:

  1. What is the operative’s personal connection to the mission—and how does it blur the line between duty and loyalty?
  2. What was buried in their past (or in someone else’s) that’s now being unearthed, and who stands to gain—or die—from its exposure?
  3. What happens when the agency realizes the operative knows more than they should… and trust becomes the real weapon?

New Podcast: You Can’t Return Grief at the Self-Checkout

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What do a mistaken tea purchase and a 100-degree South Texas day have to do with grief? Everything. In this reflective episode, Ray unpacks how life, unlike a supermarket, doesn’t offer exchanges or refunds—and how we must keep moving forward through the world grief leaves us in. Guided by the poems of Theodore Roethke and Jane Hirshfield, we discover that taking our waking slow, learning as we go, and finding deep resilience is how we begin to heal. Pour yourself something cold (check the label), and join us on a poetic, personal journey of strength, sorrow, and survival.

5 Salient Points from the Episode:

  • Life isn’t like a supermarket: You can’t return the parts you didn’t want—grief stays with you.
  • Theodore Roethke’s poem “The Waking” offers a gentle mantra: “We learn by going where we have to go.”
  • The importance of movement: Both literal and emotional—“mobility is movement” applies to healing, too.
  • Jane Hirshfield’s poem “Optimism” reminds us of the inherent resilience in all living things, including ourselves.
  • Even in grief, growth is possible: Slowly, painfully, and beautifully—we unpeel layers, step by step, toward life.

Consumed in Grace ~ A Poem by St. Catherine of Sienna

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Consumed in Grace

St. Catherine ot Sienna

I first saw God when I was a child, six years of age.
the cheeks of the sun were pale before Him,
and the earth acted as a shy
girl, like me.

Divine light entered my heart from His love
that did never fully wane,

though indeed, dear, I can understand how a person’s
faith can at time flicker,

for what is the mind to do
with something that becomes the mind’s ruin:
a God that consumes us
in His grace.

I have seen what you want;
it is there,

a Beloved of infinite
tenderness.

Source

Healthy Foods: Want to Live to 100? The Secret Might Be on Your Plate

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Introduction to the Blue Zones
In five corners of the world, people live longer—and better—than anywhere else. These magical places are called the Blue Zones, and their secret isn’t locked in a laboratory. It’s simmering in a pot, dancing on a plate, and walking in sandals. Want in? Read on.

Welcome to the Blue Zones, where centenarians aren’t anomalies—they’re neighbors. These regions (Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Ikaria, Greece; and Loma Linda, California) have something remarkable in common: people live longer, healthier lives thanks to a combination of plant-forward diets, active lifestyles, strong social ties, and a deep sense of purpose.

And food? Oh, food plays a starring role.

Over the next seven days, we’ll spotlight one food each day that’s been linked to longevity in the Blue Zones. We’ll break down four compelling reasons why you should be eating it—and to keep things delicious and local—we’ll wrap it up with a Tex-Mex recipe featuring that food.

Healthy Tips: What’s Really Hiding Under Your Beltline?

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This 5-part series delivers real talk, real tips, and real results—without the crunches. Visceral fat loves to party around your waist—and it’s invited heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure as plus-ones. This series kicks them all out, gently and smartly.

Forget muffin tops—visceral fat is the uninvited guest hiding deeper and more dangerously. Let’s expose it and kickstart the healthy habits to evict it.

Strategy: The Daily Two-Swap Rule

💡 Swap two things today—one food and one habit.

  • Food swap: Replace one processed snack (chips, cookies) with a handful of raw nuts or a piece of fruit.
  • Habit swap: Instead of scrolling for 15 minutes, take a gentle walk around the block or do light housework.

✅ Why it works: This builds awareness and momentum without overwhelm.

Motivational Tip:

You’re not lazy. You’re just overdue for the right plan. This time, it’s built around you.

Next Teaser:

Tomorrow, we’ll head to the kitchen—not the gym—to melt fat naturally.

Child, Child ~ A Poem by Sara Teasdale

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Innocence may dream, but truth never sleeps. “Child, Child” dares us to ask—when did we stop believing in dreams and start dancing with reality?

Child, Child

Sara Teasdale

Child, child, love while you can
The voice and the eyes and the soul of a man;
Never fear though it break your heart —
Out of the wound new joy will start;
Only love proudly and gladly and well,
Though love be heaven or love be hell.

Child, child, love while you may,
For life is short as a happy day;
Never fear the thing you feel —
Only by love is life made real;
Love, for the deadly sins are seven,
Only through love will you enter heaven.

Source

Today’s Quote: The Toughest Battle? Being Authentically You.

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“To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight and never stop fighting.”― E.E. Cummings

Spaghetti, Stoplights, and Supermoms: The Dinner Dilemma Solved at 5:42 PM

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Dinner decisions shouldn’t feel like hostage negotiations—but somehow, by 5 p.m., they do. Between the office drama, soccer duty, and a family with wildly incompatible taste buds, one mom makes the ultimate call: spaghetti saves the day. Again.

There is the common question that I think happens in most late afternoons.. “What’s for dinner?” One possible scenario where that question occurs is on the drive home from work. Perhaps some working moms may have experienced this situation when they’re rushing home and people are counting on you to make dinner.

You’re juggling thinking about dinner with all the problems you’re carrying with you from work . Then you remember, I’ve got to be a soccer mom tonight. Why didn’t I stick something in the crockpot before I left for work? If I call ahead for pizza delivery before I get home I think I can make everybody happy. Then again, pizza goes straight from the lips to the hips. When you’re 10 years old and playing soccer that doesn’t bother you. Tom won’t watch his weight, so I have to watch it for him plus my own. I could order sushi but only Tom and I would like it and I’m not sure he does. At the next stoplight I’m going to text Tom and tell him to put a big pan of water on and turn it on . I have spaghetti and a jar of sauce. I think everybody likes spaghetti. I’ll grab a loaf of crusty bread at the supermarket. Use the self checkout and be home just as the water starts spoiling. Crisis solved.

Working moms who keep it all going, how do they do it? Science can’t figure it out.

  1. What’s your go-to dinner solution when you’re exhausted, running late, and everyone’s hungry? (Be honest—frozen waffles? Cereal? Creative leftovers? Let’s hear it!)
  2. Have you ever felt guilty about your dinner choices—even though you’re doing your best? (Why do you think so many of us put that pressure on ourselves?)
  3. If your family had to cook dinner without you for one night, what would they make—and would you eat it? (Now be brave and tell us the truth!)

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