The Future of Our Country Is At Stake

We The People must take action NOW to rid ourselves of this festering boil, this destroyer of the heart and soul of our nation, this butcher of democracy, this fraudulent dictator-king wannabe – BEFORE any further damage is done. If we wait and hope for the best, or if we rely on any other nation to “save” us, it will not end well. Any saving must be initiated from within if we want to avoid catastrophic outcomes. It is our duty to save ourselves.

We must… 

The Bumpy Road to Recovery

At the end of each year, the company I work for holds a day-long planning and reflection meeting. We review our company successes and what needs improvement for the upcoming year. We also reflect on our personal goals and achievements. One of the questions asked is, “What did you learn this year?”

That question can sometimes be hard to answer. It’s like when I was in school – I always felt like I learned a lot, but I couldn’t test well enough to prove it. This year was the exception. I’ve learned so much in the last 12-15 months and only wish I had another lifetime to put it all into practice.

First and foremost, as cliché as it sounds, life truly is very, very, VERY SHORT. 

Someone once said, "I don't know how you do it."

I said, "I wasn't given a choice."

The Road I’d Have Rather Not Taken

August 18, 2023 marked the one-year anniversary of my breast cancer diagnosis. After a final mammogram that day, I was informed that I had no new cancer developments. That was certainly celebration-worthy news, but I let the day go by without much fanfare.

My cancer journey’s bumpy road has included several unexpected road blocks and detours along the way. Until now, I’ve shared those challenges with only my closest family and friends, as well as my boss and co-workers. So, if you follow my blog, you'll understand now why I haven't posted anything since last year. I appreciate your understanding and would like to share my story now with my readers.

Things I Rediscovered Today

Throughout my life, most people have pegged me as someone who has only two emotions – happy and mad – when, in fact, I experience the entire range of emotions that fall between those two extremes. Maybe I’m just so good at hiding my emotions most of the time, that those two are the only ones anyone can ever recognize or acknowledge or assume that I must be feeling. 

Welcome to Murica

Imagine, if you will, living in the alternate timeline created by a single diverging event, one that happened in November 2016 – the timeline where Donald Jackass Trump wasn’t elected president and didn’t have the opportunity to shove the fanatical Republican agenda down everyone’s throat in an effort to take control of anyone who’s not a straight white “Christian” male. Yes, that’s right, I put quotation marks around the word “Christian.” 

If my opening paragraph didn’t make you immediately stop reading, I want you to imagine that alternate timeline marching progressively forward, rather than regressing back to the oppressive Dark Ages, where a Pro Life movement really is about advocating for the life of a child rather than about controlling women.

Resistance is Futile

According to the Borg of Star Trek fame, “Resistance is futile.” Characters in the popular sci-fi franchise couldn’t successfully resist being assimilated into the Borg Collective and were turned into hybrid organic/cybernetic beings and became part of the hive mind. If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that resisting change can indeed be futile – or fatal in the case of the COVID-19 virus.

The Big Empty

I think; therefore, I am.

When I was a child, I used to lie in bed at night and wonder what it would be like to be dead, to no longer exist. I imagined death as a never-ending plane of darkness filled with absolutely nothing, where nothing ever happened, and where I would be trapped for all eternity. The concept of a vast emptiness of non-existence overwhelmed me; it was too much to comprehend. 

Life Is Indeed a Journey

Each decade has had its own distinct energy and character. The 60s were rebellious, the 70s wild, the 80s conservative, and the 90s saw the beginnings of another technology boom. Despite the doomsday prophecies of Y2K and 2012, we rang in the new millennium with a promise of futuristic gadgets based on science fiction, of hope for a better world, and a movement toward a more compassionate, accepting people.

Picking Up The Pieces

"Picking up the pieces" means you have broken and need to make yourself whole again. But I don't believe you can ever be truly whole again. While the pieces inevitably do get put back together, sometimes they don't fit the same as they used to, or some of them get lost and those holes get filled in with something else. The "whole" is never the same; it becomes different, new, more beautiful.

Taking A Road Trip With Life

There’s a saying that has stuck with me: “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” Most of what I planned for my life hasn’t happened… yet… and because of that, I’ve learned getting through life is like taking a road trip.

I love road trips. But Life got in my car, pushed me out of the driver’s seat, told me to hold on, and took me for a crazy ride. A little too crazy, a little too fast, and a little too unpredictable. Other times, Life was driving Miss Daisy so slowly, the snails were zipping past us. Life also sped through red lights, went down some one-way streets the wrong way, and turned left instead of right a few too many times. Some detours made it impossible to backtrack. Meanwhile, the map flew out the window and my compass broke along the way.

Too Many Tears

A poem for the times, by J.D. Hanning

I weep for Humanity
mourn the loss of compassion
and stand bitter in the wake of greed

If I Wrote Stand-up Comedy

I’m so broke...(Traditional over-used opening line, but I'll use it anyway.)

I’m so broke. I was trying to think of ways to earn some extra money. One day, this brilliant thought came to me: “I need a sugar daddy, someone to help ease my cash flow problem.”

We The People

My wish for the world is that we can find peace and begin to heal the rift that is tearing our country apart. I struggle to make sense of how things have gone so horribly wrong; and in that process, I may voice my concerns and question why certain things have happened. If I didn’t love America and ALL the people in it, I wouldn’t be so passionate about this subject. I don’t want anyone to be hurt or offended. I want every adult and child to feel safe, whether they’re in their homes, at their jobs, attending church (or not), out shopping, walking down the street, or at school. I want the hate to go away and I want people to stop pointing fingers of blame at each other.

That being said, one question still remains: “How do we fix this mess?”

What Is Our Legacy?

In the wake of the elections and heated emotions on both sides, I've asked myself so many times how we could be so polarized as a nation. I'm sure people on both sides of the fence believe they're right and the others are wrong. Putting all of the political differences aside, there's probably some very important questions we should all be asking ourselves, no matter which side we take:

Will History Repeat Itself?

Since the electoral college ignored the will of the people and handed Trump the oval office, those who opposed his candidacy are being told to be tolerant, to move forward, to “get over it.” Americans, we cannot afford to look the other way and adopt a “wait and see” strategy. Now is not the time for indifference or complacency; we have far too much at stake to be quiet. It is a time to rise up in peaceful protest and make our voices heard.

Don't Judge My Safety Pin

My words are my gift. What I have to offer is my voice and I will not be silenced. It may not seem like enough to some people, but it's how I can make a difference. I show up in other ways when I am able, but I always speak up and I will always speak out to right a wrong. I may not be able to change the world, but I might change one life, one person, one feeling, one moment.

Lady Liberty Weeps

Today, millions of people mourn the death of a great nation. Sadness and anger flood social media as Americans wake up to find their nightmare has just begun. Donald Trump has won the presidential election and, in the process, has provoked citizens to turn against each other. His campaign has given validation to every hate group in the country. He has personally sanctioned the ugliest side of human nature to raise its fists against anyone deemed inferior. Lady Liberty weeps for her people as the Confederate flag flies with misguided patriotism and pride over the south.

A Fearful Nation

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” So said the Jedi Master Yoda in the 1999 movie, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Wise words for a short, green fictional character.

Ever since the 911 attacks, Americans have turned their lives inside out with fear, much like they did in the 1950s. Just substitute “communist” with “terrorist” and it’s the same hysteria. We live in fear of terrorists. Fear of guns. Fear of Muslims. Fear of using the wrong bathroom. Fear of breastfeeding in public. We have become a country of scared little sheep, suspicious of anything and everyone who’s different.

The Brink of Disaster

What if your right to vote was taken away from you? How about your right to decide how many children to have? How would you feel if all the progress you’ve made throughout the course of your life had been stripped away and invalidated? What if it was okay for people to treat others with disrespect, to sexually assault someone, or to advocate racial segregation and deportation? Would you be okay with that?

What if that was just the beginning? What if we didn’t just send our sons off to foreign countries to fight wars? How would you feel if those countries brought their wars to our shores? What if you were so busy waving your flag on the Trump bandwagon that you couldn’t see the train wreck waiting for all of us around the corner? Would you dismiss someone if they told you it was coming?

How Not To Pitch To An Agent

Last weekend, I attended the 2016 Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers conference in Denver with my friend and fellow indie author, Melissa Stacy. To say this was an eye-opening event would be an understatement. It was a great learning experience, though, and I’m already planning to attend next year’s conference. However, I’ll be better prepared for that one.