Happy Thanksgiving

In the US, it's time to give thanks for all that is good in life and what progress we've made as families, cities, states, a country and for humanity.

Certainly, we could talk about how much better or different things could be.

We can take up those conversation, with no intent to diminish what we've accomplished, but with an eye of what we could become as humanity and individuals.  We can take it up with an eye to the future for ourselves, our families, neighbors the nation, and the whole planet. 

Here's one topic I'll take up:  Let's aim to have a vegan Thanksgiving this year and in the years to come, as a first step to improve our love for animals, the planet and respect for both.

It's also a good step in reducing our planetary footprint, given the large usage of transport, machinery, warehousing, and forests for animal farming.

In the words of Gandhi, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

So, let's demonstrate how we can progress by treat them animals well and not eating them!

To kickstart it all, here's a list of recipes from Delish.com to give you some ideas: 31 Seriously Delicious Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Buck the Suppression: Vote Today!

It's inevitable!

In every election, there's one side that downplays the other's ability to make a difference...to vote!

That may be purely in words, like ads or articles about how one side will turn out more than the other, or it may be in actual voter suppression legal hurdles like requiring an ID.

In every instance, the words and the acts emphasize the importance of your vote.

Every vote counts in the message it sends; in the way we tell one side or the other that their tactics worked.

What message do you want to send?

Do you want to promote voter suppression? Then don't vote. Let the bad players know their tactics worked!

But if you want your voice heard...if you're tired of the ads and voter suppression, then your path is clear:

Ideas Aren't a Light Switch

I know it's tough for folks who know me to imagine this is true: I run out out of words regularly!

I've read many articles and blogs about the importance of writing every day.  It's a means of not only getting your ideas out, but to learn to better articulate them.

A common analogy is that of exercising: in order to have consistency and see results, you have to do it in regular increments, challenging yourself with every attempt.  Whether that means incrementally more difficult exercises or game opponents, in the case of exercises and sports, or incrementally more difficult subjects with respect to writing.

My challenge is that I don't think I can force a "revelation." I can't just turn on an "idea" light switch to spout out something that others may find helpful.

Sure, I learn something new on most days.  Some of those lessons, though, are private and I don't think they should or need to be shared.

Should I write about my familial interactions when I can't find anything else?  How about my physical ailments or health? How about bodily functions?

Certainly there are folks who can write about these who are passionate or experts about them.  Or I may decide to write about them if there are dramatic twists and turns as there were with our boy's health a few years ago.

Bottom line, I've not bought into this idea that anything and everything is worth writing about, nor do I see the utility of it for readers.

Of course, I realize this rambling seems like an attempt to fill space and get something published. It's really just sharing my frustration with the need to write.

It's true: sometimes we all run out of ideas and words.

And that's OK! We can wait to bake ideas before putting pen to paper or keystrokes to a document.

Compromise Is Not a Four-Letter Word

Where would we be without compromise?

In the United States, we'd be without a country that has served as an example of democracy!

If it weren't for compromise, our forefathers wouldn't have been able to set aside their differences and form our nation.

In fact, a very controversial topic then and now almost prevented it from happening: slavery.  George Mason, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin were in agreement that, in the words of Mason, the, "augmentation of slaves weakens the states; and such a trade is diabolical in itself, and disgraceful to mankind."

They didn't want to admit Georgia and South Carolina into the Union.

The delegates from those states didn't want to be a part of the Union if they couldn't have slavery.

And yet, they compromised to continue to allow slavery since they knew the greater good for the Union was to form the United States.

As evil as slavery is, they formed a union...and almost half a century later fought to abolish slavery.

Their compromises makes me wonder whether our current rigidity on every issue, in politics, business and personal relationships, our intolerance of fallibility in others, and our inability to see our own, has made us so inflexible as to become brittle, unable to bring about the change we need for the greater good.

Compromise is not a four-letter word.

Let's bend, find compromise and a better path that serves us all, knowing full well that it won't be perfect, but one that will eventually lead us to be greater people, families, businesses, society, nation and planet!

Let's compromise!