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“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day, everyone! Today, I plan to celebrate the beauty of dreams, and the satisfaction of bringing those dreams to life.

“Be a bush if you can’t be a tree. If you can’t be a highway, just be a trail. If you can’t be a sun, be a star. For it isn’t by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

To learn more about Dr King, his impact, speeches like “I Have a Dream” and more, check out History’s site on Martin Luther King Jr.

I also appreciate this related quote:

“The best way to make a dream come true is to wake up.”

— Anna Wintour

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Photo by Luke Richardson on Unsplash

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“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.”

— Albert Schweitzer

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Photo by Milo Milk on Unsplash

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Between computer issues, capitalist f*kery, and my “(don’t want) to do” list, today is officially not my day.

No matter, it will all be fine. Fine, I say!

Hope yours is too:)

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Photo by Uday Mittal on Unsplash

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My mother sent me an article about Octavia Butler, one of a number I’ve seen recently in the wake of the LA fires. Butler was an award-winning sci-fi and fantasy author know for her all-too-realistic versions of the future. Although she died in 2006, a week of devastating fires in LA fit right in with her vision of 2025.

In fact, she was once asked how she was able to predict the problems of the future as accurately as she did, and her answer is a telling lesson for writers but also for people who want to make a difference.

“A Few Rules for Predicting the Future” by Octavia E. Butler – Seven Good Things

“I didn’t make up the problems,” I pointed out. “All I did was look around at the problems we’re neglecting now and give them about 30 years to grow into full-fledged disasters.”

Ouch.

But that’s not all Butler said. I recommend you read the essay in full. It’s not long, but it packs a punch.

“Okay,” the young man challenged. “So what’s the answer?”

“There isn’t one,” I told him.

“No answer? You mean we’re just doomed?” He smiled as though he thought this might be a joke.

“No,” I said. “I mean there’s no single answer that will solve all of our future problems. There’s no magic bullet. Instead there are thousands of answers, at least. You can be one of them if you choose to be.”

I so choose, and I hope you do, too.

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Photo by Luwadlin Bosman on Unsplash

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It turns out I’m super, and you might be too!

The National Archives needs Citizen Archivists who can read cursive

“Reading cursive is a superpower,” said Suzanne Isaacs, a community manager with the National Archives Catalog in Washington, D.C.

If you’d like to help the Library of Congress decipher History (yes, with a capital H), consider becoming a volunteer Citizen Archivist.

Because History is cool, and so are you.

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This is in Italian so I can’t read it, but you get the point. Photo by 
Alessio Fiorentino on Unsplash

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I’m having some technical issues today, please hold while I work a little magic…

Sh*t happens. We must remember that how we react to it will determine how we will feel about ourselves.

— Arnold Schwarzenegger

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Photo by Leeroy Johnstone on Unsplash

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A Moment of Zen

Need a moment of calm in your day? Try building a rock tower.

Rocks

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Photo by Magda Pawluczuk on Unsplash

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“Any fool can be happy. It takes a man with real heart to make beauty out of the stuff that makes us weep.”

― Clive Barker, Abarat

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Photo by Aryo Yarahmadi on Unsplash

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If you are watching the LA fires as I am, you may be moved to help. There are a lot of options, but it’s hard to go wrong with cash for food and shelter. 

World Central Kitchen is my go-to charity for disaster relief, plus there’s the Red Cross and other organizations helping on the ground right now. Here’s a New York Times article with links to charities, other information, how not to get scammed, etc.  

How to Help Victims of the Fires in Los Angeles

Raging fires have left five people dead, destroyed or damaged thousands of homes and other buildings and consumed thousands of acres. Here’s how you can help…

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Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash

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I recently heard that the second Friday of January is the day for broken resolutions (colloquially known by the uninspiring name of Quitter’s Day). This year, that day is January 10th. 

Oh wait, you may be thinking, that’s today. 

Indeed. 

If you signed up for a gym membership, started a diet, or otherwise laid out an optimistic Plan for a Future New You™, you might be losing steam about now.

No worries, it happens.  I’m here to say that even if you slept through your “definitely getting up an hour early and going to the gym” alarm, that’s okay. 

What matters is not whether you are holding fast to the letter of whatever law you set for yourself, but how you think about the type of person you want to be this year.

I don’t really do New Year’s resolutions but I do appreciate the chance to take stock of where I am and what I’m doing (or not).

A personal example: Am I writing as much as I’d like? No, but I’m working on it, and starting a new year gives me a chance to step back, reassess my current approach and think of ways to improve.

So whether you went to the gym today or not, wrote or not, checked off your resolutions or not, imagine what you want your life to be like. At the end of the day, the month, the year, what do I want to have done?

Today, take one step in that direction. Then take another. If those steps take you to the gym, great. If they keep going to some new and better vista, even better. Just keep moving, one step, then the next. 

Your life is waiting for you.

“A good beginning makes a good end.”

— Louis L’Amour

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