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 […]
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 […]
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 […]