Pragmatic & Pretty

Today’s listening is  La Belle’s ‘Marmalade’ as performed by the entourage of bad ass women (Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya, & P!NK) on Moulin Rouge’s soundtrack .   Have you ever met two individuals who were very obviously soul mates?  Some people don’t believe in that notion, because they’ve never seen the living embodiment of it but I have seen soul mates reoccur in my life numerous times.   My Aunt Selma and Aunt Bertha were one such instance of a soul bond — they put the Soul in Soul Sisters .   They were biological sisters and my Grandma T.’s aunts so my Great-Great Aunts. Both sisters were born in the 1910's and were only three years apart in age.  And, they definitely earned the title Great-Great .   For approximately eight years, my family spent a great deal of time with my two Great-Great Aunts. Most of my memories are of their beautifully lush Philadelphia two-story home that they bought and owned together.   You see, my Great-G...

Listening for this reading is brought to you from the late, great Aretha Franklin   and her song " Still Waters Run Deep ".  Franklin was a contemporary (peer) of my Grandmother and this is a song my Grandmother would have loved.  So please, tune in while you read this little ode to Grandma T. I lovingly tell everyone that my Grandma T. was basically the black female version of  Steve Irwin . She was all about the environment and the world we lived in as Humans. She loved life and she loved the environment even more. She saved every critical piece of paper or every sentimental item, but she junked the rest of the nonsense. We were only ever allowed what we could actually eat — no more, no less. We were expected to clean up our play areas including the outdoor ones. We were expected to take care of the youngest first and work our way backwards toward the oldest -- always. She wanted us to strive to be the best in everything and she set the same example for us by ...

I hope if you can internalize any message today, this message from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr . is the one that sticks with you all the most. This is a bonus post for today, January 15th, 2024, so I will keep it as brief as Dr. King's message to us. Truly, I didn’t plan on writing this, but I felt after spontaneously ( thanks ads ) hearing this message while editing today's planned post, A Dream About Narrative Medicine , that it’s vital for anybody that reads this blog to hear this speech. If you have a dream or if you have ever had a dream, please listen to Dr. MLK Jr. give us a great message on: “ How To Design Your Life’s Blueprint ” I’ve summarized the key notes for you below, but it’s best if you hear it from the man who gave us these entirely too wise words. What you need to Achieve and Follow your Life’s Blueprint: A Deep Belief in Your Own Dignity/Worth and Your Own Somebody-Ness: Don’t let anybody ever make you feel that you aren’t somebody and make sure that yo...

"What happens to a dream deferred"  asked poet Langston Hughes  in a poem titled " Harlem " in 1951.  "I have a dream today," Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr . told us all about his dream in one of the most significant speeches of the 20th century in 1963.   Have you ever had a dream so real that when you woke up, you thought you were in an alternate reality because "this" -- the real world -- couldn't be it for you... That dream was just too good...  Where did it go? Why did it go? Most importantly, how do I get it back? Narrative Medicine has always been that dream for me.  My path towards it was anything but cohesive and I hit every single obstacle along the way. I documented just about every single one of them, too. From my earliest memory I wanted to be a Writer.  I wanted to Write about the things I Love and the things that make my Brain smile and the things that make my Heart soar. And I wanted everybody to read what I wrote and feel a si...