Category: Blogging
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Holidays Around the World: Diwali, Festival of Lights
Diwali Day is the first of a five-day festival of lights celebrated by Hindus around the world. The holiday observes the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, hope over despair, and knowledge over ignorance. Celebrating those victories seems to me to be something people of all religions, or even of no religion, could…
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In Memoriam
I never met General Colin Powell. But I experienced his support for me personally one day in January of 2001, early in the week he took up his responsibilities as Secretary of State. I was in Sana’a, Yemen, that day, three months after the USS Cole had been hit by terrorists off the cost of…
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Holidays Around the World: Leif Erikson Day
Leif Erikson Day has been observed in the United States on October 9 every year since 1964. The date is significant, but not for the reason I thought. Until 1971, when Columbus Day (now Indigenous People’s Day) was observed on October 12 instead of on the second Monday of each month, Leif Erikson Day always…
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Holidays Around the World: Mexico’s Independence Day
In the US, or at least in the parts of the US I lived before moving to San Diego—the East Coast and Midwest—most people know two Mexican holidays: Cinco de Mayo (May 5) and Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). I didn’t realize May 5 wasn’t Mexican Independence Day until we moved to…
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Holidays Around the Country: US Coast Guard Day
This post breaks with the theme of international holidays, but it is in line with the theme of little known holidays or observations. August 4 marks US Coast Guard Day each year. The Coast Guard is one branch of the US military, charged with protecting our waters and shorelines, that is rarely in the news…
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Saying No
Saying no has never been easy for me. While I have a hard time asking someone else for something, I have internalized that being asked is a gift that means the asker believes I can do what is asked. So I almost always say yes. Except when someone asks me for money. I have internalized…
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Holidays Around the World: Canada’s Independence Day
Canada observes its independence day in the same month we do in the United States. Theirs is earlier, July 1. The date is only one difference between the significance of independence days of these neighboring countries. Where in the US, we observe July 4 as the anniversary of our announcement of independence from Britain, true…
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Use Your Head
Before I retired, I spent a good deal of time taking part in online webinars to keep current with new media trends. One resource I discovered is leadership and culture coach Christine Comaford, who for 30 years has been helping leaders navigate growth and change using her expertise in human behavior and applied neuroscience. Applied neuroscience.…
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World Refugee Day
The United Nations designated June 20 each year as World Refugee Day in order to highlight the needs, rights, and desires of refugees who have fled their homes in order to escape persecution and conflict. The goal is to keep the focus on the plight of refugees until ways to improve their lives are found…
Sandra Yeaman 