The Bra Street Rambler

“Trevor McKenney: I think some people are too scared, or something. I guess it's hard for people who are so used to things the way they are - even if they're bad - to change. 'Cause they kind of give up. And when they do, everybody kind of loses.” Pay in Forward (2000). Between my month long break to cope with family matters and my struggling to find motivation to write, I haven’t given you all a movie reference in some time. So, here it is; Pay it Forward is a movie I have watched many times and highly recommend to everyone. It is about a young boy who sets out to change the world when given the opportunity as part of a class assignment. In this movie, seventh grader Trevor McKenney comes up with an idea to help three people in a very big way asking only in return that they too help three strangers in big ways. A similar concept called Random Acts of Kindness is also present in today’s society and ranges in anything from purchasing a coffee for the next pe...

Sometimes you just have to laugh the boggart back into the closet. So, this past summer I discovered I have a sensitivity to a certain antibiotic, today I learned that it's to more than one kind. As I sit here typing away, I am resisting the urge to scratch at the less than pleasing evidence of these newly found allergies, all the while trying not to pass out from the drowsy effects of the Benadryl... and I'm laughing.  Why am I laughing at having an allergic reaction that is far less than pleasant? What else am I suppose to do!? I look like a sunburned cheetah or like I belong on Polkaroo! (for those of you who are too young to catch the reference, it was a children's show that featured a polka dot door and a pair of polka dot shorts) The thing is, I've had so much going on in my life lately that laughing really is the only thing left to do at this point. A rash is after all, truly the least of my current concerns.  Sometimes, life sucks. It's a simp...

We all know life is short, or at least we all know the saying. I think few of us truly grasp the concept unless we have had the unfortunate opportunity of facing Mr. Grimm Reaper for ourselves or having seen his handy work in those we have held most dear. The truth is, when Grimm drops by to say hi and our mortality, or that of those around us, is staring us down from the darkest parts of our being, it can be very difficult not to give in to despair. Not to mourn for what could have been and to despair over our mistakes, over what we would do differently given the chance and to beg for more time. Indeed, it can be quite easy to give in to our less than peppy sides and to simply give in to pity and give up. More difficult still is the ability to focus on the positive but it is in these circumstances that it becomes all the more important to try. Yes, sometimes the best way to get to the positive is to first allow ourselves to feel all of the negative, to allow ourselves t...