One of my favorite quotes is by one of my favorite authors.  Really, I’ve loved him since I was a kid. With all due respect, I’m going to bend his words a bit.  This has been the year no one expected.  When I made a quick trip from Orlando to Manhattan back in January, I had no idea what the rest of year had instore.  However, I still truly believe that when it comes to 2020, the following applies:

“Don’t cry that it’s over, be Thankful that it happened at all!” ~ Dr. Seuss

There is a lot to be Thankful for this year, in spite of the overwhelming circumstances worldwide.  Babies were born, graduations happened, weddings (hopefully sensible, social distanced, non-super spreader ceremonies) took place. Many people have been very productive during the pandemic, my friend Henry DeVries at Indie Books International tells me his publishing company is up 30% this year.    While others have survived the best way they know how, and surviving is something to be the most Thankful for.

It won’t be a Rockwell Thanksgiving, you really shouldn’t have that many people around one table, indoors, this year.  But still, there are many reasons to be Thankful.  Among these, for me, are my clients and colleagues.  

As Kelly Clarkson sings, “So I’m Thankful for the blessings and the lessons that I have learned from you.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

Life is full of transitions.  Some happen when you’re young and other people force you.  You go from diapers to the potty, that’s a transition.  Some happen when you’re older and you have a choice in the matter.  You go from High School to College, that’s a transition.  Some happen and start out happy.  You get married, that’s a transition.  Some you have time to prepare for.  You have a child, that’s a transition.  Some happen quickly.  You lose a major client because they’re closed due to a pandemic, that’s a transition.

There’s a phrase I’ve used for years relating to lying: “It’s not a lie if you told the truth as you knew it at the time.”  Circumstances change, and that can turn a once thought-to-be true statement into a lie.  Tomatoes were once thought to be poisonous.  Anyone who used to say that shouldn’t now be accused of lying today.  The same is true with transitions.  You make the best decisions you can based on the information you have at the time.  You can move to a new house thinking it’s perfect for your family, then they build a mini-mall right next door, you can’t blame yourself and say you made a bad transition.

Even when we think we’re not in transition, others around us are and their transitions affect us, so by default we are, too.  Sort of second-hand transitions.  It might be a friend or relative who is going through a transition and it affects our lives.  It could be a neighborhood, a state, or a country.  Even a foreign nation can go through a transition and it affects the U.S. or even us directly if we have international business ties. 

Even though another of my favorite phrases is: “Build a bridge and get over it.”  I’m not going to say that.  The fact is everyone goes through transitions differently. 

So, I’ll leave you with my most favorite phase of all: “BE KIND!”

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” ― Edmund Burke

This is one of my favorite quotes.  I was planning on doing the blog today on this quote and how it relates to the second highest voter turn out in U.S. history we’ve just experienced.  However, in researching the quote, it turns out there’s some controversy on exactly who said it. 

It was President John F. Kennedy who attributed the quote to Burke in one of his famously rousing speeches, but some people think John Stuart Mill said it, while others think it was Andrew Marshall who came up with it first.  My thoughts?  Who cares!  Take the meaning, not the man, who may or may not have said it.

We just had he second highest voter turnout, by percentage of population, in a U.S. Presidential election!!!  That’s wonderful!!!  Good men didn’t do nothing.  They, and women, turned out in record number for their version of good.  No more complacency, no more “oh, my vote doesn’t matter,” people mailed-in and stood in line to make sure they didn’t do nothing.  Regardless of which way you voted, you should pat yourself on the back for making sure that what you think is evil didn’t triumph.

Just for the record, the highest percentage of the population to vote in a Presidential election was in 1876 and it was 81.8% of eligible voters at that time.  2020 came close, and let’s hope 2024 comes even closer.  Well done, America, WELL DONE! 

Thank you. 

If you told someone, “I’m sure looking forward to the next three holidays!” they would undoubtedly think you were referring to Halloween, Thanksgiving, and then Christmas.  However, there are three holidays coming up just this weekend: Halloween, Day of the Dead, and All Saints Day.  I thought it would be interesting to take a look at these three, especially the two that don’t seem to get as much publicity.

Halloween, or All Hallows’ Eve, comes first on the calendar but not in tradition.  There are many Gaelic, Celtic, and Pagan influences on the holiday, but it was when these ancient customs and cultures blended with the spread of Christianity that we have the basis for our modern Halloween. Trick-or-treating has its roots in the medieval practice of mumming plays performed on feast days, included All Hallows’ Eve, Christmas, Twelfth Night and Shrove Tuesday.  It wasn’t until the early 19^th century that a mass immigration of Scots and Irish brought Halloween strongly to America.   

Day of the Dead is a true celebration of life.  Sometimes referred to as “the Days of the Dead”:

• October 31 is All Hallows Eve,
• November 1 is “el Dia de los Inocentes” or the Day of the Children and All Saints Day, and
• November 2nd is All Souls Day or the Day of the Dead “el Dia de los Muertos”

In Mexico, where most graveyards are publicly owned, families tend the graves of departed relatives to honor their ancestors.  In pre-Columbian Mexico the skull was seen as a symbol of life, not death, which is why you see so much brightly decorated skull merchandise this time of year, the modern “sugar skull”.

All Saints Day, or the Feast of All Saints, is celebrated on the first Sunday after Pentecost.  It began in 609 AD by Pope Boniface IV, the celebration was originally held in May each year, but only in a chapel in Rome’s St. Peter’s Basilica.  Pope Gregory III moved it to November, and in 837, Pope Gregory IV made it an official holiday on November 1^st throughout the church (known world).  Even in non-Catholic countries, the day is often an official holiday with private and governmental offices closed. 

Whatever your traditions, go celebrate!  We certainly don’t need reasons to celebrate lately, just the occasion.  The celebrations may have a shorter guest list this year, however, the true celebration is in our hearts.