Patience is a virtue. But good things are worth the wait. After first proposing to the Citizen Corps Council the vision for the ResilientALX Charter nearly a year and a half ago to address the vulnerabilities in our City, it makes me very proud to see how it has grown into a Charter that would be adopted by Alexandria City Council and embraced by our City Staff. My vision, spawned from an increasing understanding of our community vulnerabilities and from the model laid by the Eco-City Charter of 2008, could never have become a reality without the contributions of each member of the Citizen Corps Council. But in particular worth praise are Marjorie Windelberg, CERT Coordinator, and Taryn Wilkinson, Vice-Chair of CCC, both of whom stepped up to be co-chairs of the ResilientALX Subcommittee. After many meetings and working sessions in which the three of us flushed out a strategy, […]
MLK’s Dream and the Legacy of Vola Lawson
On this day, a day that our lawmakers have deemed be marked as a day of reverence for a great American, Martin Luther King Jr., I reflect on his legacy. But not his direct legacy, something which I will leave to the many who know it from their experience. I instead reflect on the legacy of thought and inspiration he and his family left on others: others who went on to implement many of the changes and see through the work to begin to rectify many of the injustices that he and the movement he led brought to national attention. In particular, I reflect on one woman who to me embodied many of the same values I see associated with MLK. She too was not content with the status quo of the day or the daily injustices that others would pass off as just the way it was. She saw […]
Farewell to 2020
On April 10, 2020, after 51 hours of labor, Danielle and I welcomed our daughter, Mariella, (little Mary) into the world. On April 29th, 2020, my Mom, Mary Margellen Howard Moran, was diagnosed with Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer. This came after she confidently strode into the emergency room at MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital and declared to the intake nurse that she had Pancreatic Cancer. She had felt nauseous for about 6 months and began to develop back pain. She had thought it was the flu, and then when the pandemic started, she was fearful that she had contracted Covid-19. Being responsible, she quarantined, but without a proper diagnosis, she kept chugging along, thinking that it was something she would get over with a proper regimen of optimism, Vitamin-C, herbal tea, healthy eating, and exercise. You see, she was relentless. She was 65 years old and by now a seasoned GS-13 […]
The Democratic Team of Rivals our Country Needs
A Democratic Team of Rivals, reminiscent of the cabinet Lincoln assembled to guide the USA through the tumult of the Civil War is needed again to guide America to face the crises today. These challenges must be addressed now. We have an opportunity with adept leadership, foresight, and thoughtfulness to stop the infighting and use the primary debate forum as an opportunity to have thorough policy discussions that can educate and help form our party’s platform with media contributing via thorough research and fact-checking. Use today’s technology and resources to make a new playbook for governance. President Trump has rewritten the communication and news cycle playbook. The candidates and self-described leaders of the Democratic Party have the opportunity to do the same. I present this slate: Joe Biden, President Cory Booker, VP Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Pete Buttigieg, Climate Change Czar overseeing EPA/DOT/HUD initiative to rebuild America to be […]
Calls for Governor Northam’s Resignation Cast Light on Broader Problem
I believe these calls for the resignation of Governor Northam are premature. We do not yet know all of the facts regarding the circumstances of the disgusting and now infamous picture brought to light Saturday featured in the Eastern Virginia Medical School. Until all of those facts come to light regarding that photo, I believe we must show restraint and instead focus on the facts that we do know. We know that Governor Northam has spent a life in service. Whether it be to children as a pediatrician, fellow soldiers in the army, or to his constituents as a State Senator, Lieutenant Governor, and now as Governor. He has a public service record of standing up for and serving all Virginians regardless of race, creed, gender, or sexual orientation. A most recent example is Medicaid expansion, which went into effect at the beginning of the year, a credit to Governor […]
Live Positively by Managing Your Ego
Living positively is a cornerstone to a good life. Whether you’re at work, the gym, or at home; having a positive mentality opens your world to happiness, opportunity, and success. Now as much as we want living positively to be as easy as remembering to look on the bright side of things, it’s not always that easy. Living positively requires an incredible amount of discipline, commitment, and often external support. Now assuming that all of that commitment doesn’t scare you off, let’s take a look at what’s in store when you decide it’s time to live positively. 1. You have to learn how to live positively. High-five for stating the obvious! But, seriously, living positively is a constant effort that requires a commitment to consistently learn and apply new techniques that work for you. Just as each of us changes as time goes on, so too must we adapt our […]
Stand-Up Paddle Boarding (SUP): Mind-Body Experience
What’s SUP? No, I’m not talking about what you’re doing right now. I’m talking about Stand Up Paddleboarding aka SUP, the water sport that has taken the world by storm. Despite its recent meteoric rise to become America’s fastest-growing water sport, SUP is not all that new. The earliest documented example of Stand Up Paddleboarding was Duke Kahanamoku in 1939, and since then, Stand-Up Paddleboarding continued to evolve. Through the 1960s the “Beach Boys of Waikiki” would stand up on their longboards to photograph tourists who were learning to surf, and before long SUP breached the mainland. It continued to grow in popularity among beach communities throughout California and now has penetrated the U.S. east coast shoreline, rivers, bays, lakes, and ponds. As Stand-Up Paddleboarding spread, so too have the types of SUP. Personally, I am a flat water guy who enjoys touring around the Potomac River with Balance Paddleboarding. But, […]
The Do Less to Do More Paradox
As humans, we are voracious. A byproduct of our constantly buzzing minds is an insatiable appetite for more. We are rarely satisfied, and there always seems to be something else that must be done. As we’ve conditioned ourselves to overload our to-do list, unproductive time can feel tortuous. Personally speaking, periods of idleness can feel more anxious than restorative. But valuing our time doesn’t mean we must constantly be on the go. Nor, does it mean we shouldn’t set aside time to relax, absent of work. I have found that the most effective way to achieve a happy medium of peace-of-mind and productivity is maximizing efficiency during work while protecting our free time. This balance allows us to complete tasks efficiently while ensuring we can spend time completely removed from those tasks where we often find new insights. One thing is certain: it takes a lot less time to do a lot […]
If You Love What You Do, Say It with Confidence
Full disclosure: I was inspired to write this because I I know that if I put it on paper (or screen in this case), I will have to follow my own advice. So in advance, thank you for entertaining me in my self-conditioning. I have failed to say what I do confidently more times than I can count. Simultaneously, I love what I do. Let me say again; I LOVE WHAT I DO. I spent years of punching the clock: arriving at 9:00 am, leaving at 5:00 pm, dreading waking up, dreading dealing with certain people, dreading the time I knew that I would be wasting while watching a clock, dreading calling a certain account, dreading telling people to buy something I wouldn’t buy myself, rationalizing to myself that it would all alright, and trying to cope. At that time, I did not love what I did. In fact, I […]