Give Yourself the Gift of Joy

June 7, 2021June 7, 2021 Lynette M Burrows

You know each person has a certain level of intelligence we call an IQ. Maybe you’ve heard that each individual has a unique ability to perceive, manage and regulate emotions, an emotional IQ. Did you know you also have an individual level of joyfulness? You can choose to live up to your joy potential—or not. Don’t overlook it. Give yourself the gift of joy. Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.” Dennis P. Kimbro What is Joy? Some people use joy and happiness as synonyms. Even Merriam-Webster defines happiness as “a state of well-being and contentment: JOY.” But that’s not quite right. According to Merriam-Webster, joy is “the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing one’s desires.” That’s a dry answer. The APA Dictionary of Psychology says joy is “a feeling of extreme gladness, delight, or exultation of the spirit arising from a sense of well-being or satisfaction.” This dictionary explains the difference between active and passive joy. “Both forms of joy are associate with an increase in energy and of confidence and self-esteem.” Be Honest with Yourself Life is full of ups and downs. No […]

On Memorial Day Remember Women Who Made the Final Sacrifice

May 31, 2021May 30, 2021 Lynette M Burrows

The practice of honoring those who have fallen in battle dates back to ancient Greeks and Romans. This Memorial Day enjoy your holiday, but also take a moment to remember women who made the final sacrifice as well as all the men who’ve died in military service for our country. Continuing with this blog’s tradition of reporting on women of history, I remember women who made the final sacrifice while serving in one of the United States military services. I include links where lists of names or histories of individuals are available. The American Revolutionary War During the American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775-September 3, 1783) women often accompanied their husbands. They foraged food, cooked meals, mended uniforms, and tended the sick. We know women served on the front lines, too. They swabbed cannons with water and carried water for the soldiers to drink. Women also acted as spies. Stories about Margaret Corbin, and Deborah Sampson are available on this blog. Were some women who posed as men in the military killed during their service? Probably, but records are incomplete. The American Civil War According to battlefields.org, an accurate count of women who served in the Civil War (April 12, […]

A Drag King with Zero Tolerance for Discrimination

May 26, 2021May 25, 2021 Lynette M Burrows

Some say she threw the punch that started the Stonewall Uprising on June 27, 1969 and launched the Gay liberation movement. No one really knows who threw that punch, but Stormé DeLaverie (day-la-vee-ay) was an entertainer, a bouncer, an activist, and a drag king with zero tolerance for discrimination. Early Life Her mother was a black servant in her white father’s household. Born in New Orleans in 1920, Stormé never knew the exact her date of birth. She chose December 24th. Her father gave her a private education, and her grandfather raised her. Interracial marriages were illegal in New Orleans, but according to Stormé, her mother never wanted for anything. Eventually, they moved, and her father legally married her mother. Facing Discrimination “I was a negro with a white face.” Everybody beat young Stormé up, the white kids and the black kids. After one incident where “they left me hanging on the fence,” she wore a leg brace for a year. Her injury left a scar, and she remained crippled in that leg. Her father finally told her that if she didn’t stop running, she’d be running the rest of her life. “I stopped running when I was 15 and […]