It was a year ago today that started the beginning of the end for my wife. She had just suffered her 4th and most severe heart attack that would in 78 days result in her death. Those 78 days were the most stressful of my life! Being an Aspie I had more emotional breakdown during that time than I thought was even possible. For me, … Continue reading RetComLife #36 – A Different Mindset…
Vicariously is not a word I often use here on RJsCorner, but it has been entrenched in my being from a very early age. I began life as a very dysfunctional kid in an ultra-dysfunctional family. I didn’t know that at the time, wisdom showed me that fact much later. I know I am not unique in this situation, everybody has their own story, but … Continue reading Vicariously … (800 Words)
As far as I am concerned, everyone wears a mask. It is just the way we cope in the world. I have read so many articles in the last few months from those who have autism about wanting to tear off their mask and become their “real” selves. If everybody did that, the world would become totally unhinged and chaos would likely become the norm. … Continue reading Unmasked vs Unhinged.
I have been struggling about six months now, trying to decide whether to call myself autistic. My main trouble with that is that I just don’t relate to what the general population thinks is autistic. To them, there are two classes of autism. The first is the savant, that is a person who is exceptionally talented in one area of life. It is estimated that … Continue reading I Choose Asperger’s
The trouble with living on the margins is that we too often get trampled by the mainstream herd. The mainstream is like a massive herd of cows, or maybe I should say sheep. It is kind of like a super-tanker, it can’t be turned quickly. Trying to get the mainstream to understand those on the margins is a very long-term thing. It simply doesn’t happen … Continue reading The Trouble Of Living On The Margins.
For the last twenty years I have re-read the book shown on the right. Due to all the stuff that has happened in my life this year, I almost forgot about this annual tradition. I would have to say that this is probably the most insightful book I have ever read. It was published in 1994 when both sisters were over 100-years old. These two … Continue reading Having My Say About “Having Our Say”
The New RJsCorner is taking a pretty serious shift from past content. Politics, and the ugliness that it entails, is no longer part of this site. The primary focus is now learning about the diversity of man, and accepting and maybe even celebrating those who are different from you. It is about my primary shift to a positive focus. I will leave the negative things … Continue reading Welcome To The New RJsCorner…
“My wife’s death five months ago yesterday caused me to do some pretty serious soul-searching. It made me realize that I was just going-with-the-flow in too many areas of my life. I was aimlessly moving from one day to another without much purpose. When I found out how quickly things can change, I become more determined than ever to live the rest of my life … Continue reading Resetting my Life Goals
I have been casually studying of Aristotle for many years, and have recently started another book about him. He was definitely a dreamer/thinker that I could never even imagine being. It is amazing to me how so many of his thoughts still apply today. Since he is one of my heroes, it just seemed natural that I look to him as to what he said … Continue reading The Pursuit of Happiness #4: According to Aristotle
All my life I have been stuck between two worlds. Perhaps the most severe is when I went totally deaf 34 years ago. It was obvious that I was no longer in the hearing world, but by the same token I wasn’t, and never would be, in the Deaf world. The isolation that resulted was frustrating, depressing, and almost tragic. But that would not be … Continue reading Stuck Between Two Worlds…
I have made it no secret here on RJsCorner that I struggled through life trying to figure out what was wrong with me. My very narcissistic mother who abandoned me when I was nine years old did nothing but amplify those negative feelings I had about myself. In hindsight, I am kind of glad she left, as I don’t know how much damage she would … Continue reading Finding Yourself In Your Differences
I have been blogging for almost fifteen years now, thirteen of them here at RJsCorner. I will soon exceed 5,000 posts here, and for the last five years or so, the posts are, as my header says, is a daily journal about my view of the world. I don’t imagine very many of you have visited older posts I have written over the years, but … Continue reading About Journaling… One More Time
While this question is maybe not be directly associated with my RetComLife, it is central to where and how I live the remainder of my life. So, I think it deserves your attention in this category. Given my recent experiences, I now realize I don’t want to waste a minute of the time I have left on this earth. My procrastination time is quickly disappearing. … Continue reading RetComLife # 12 – What Do I Want To do With The Rest Of My Life?
I have always been enthralled about the Michelangelo’s painting on the ceiling chapel of God touching man. If God is the omnipotent being with all the wisdom of the universe, then just to touch his finger would probably make me the smartest person in the world. I’ve been struggling the last few months to try to figure out what I want to do with the … Continue reading The Secret Of Life…
I had an epiphany of sorts the other day. Since I am now in a retirement community, I am around older people every day. A big majority of them either use walkers or canes to get around. There are over one-hundred independent living apartments in my community that share a common dining room. During each meal, but especially the dinner hour, there are almost as … Continue reading RetComLife #11 – The Wheels of Life
I’m sure most people think of hospice as that short period that ends the suffering of terminal patients. This post will try to explain that this description is simplified at best, and actually somewhat misguided. As my wife continued her final eight days in hospice at our new home at the best senior community in our region, she was without pain because of the regular … Continue reading End of Life Trauma #9 – The Final Week.
I never thought I would describe myself as being a victim of PTSD, but when thinking about what I went through during the end-of-life three-months with my wife, the description seems to fit. That is what this post is all about. I am glad to see that PTSD is no longer confined to what a soldier faces on the battlefield. It rightly applies to so … Continue reading PTSD…
I have been away from RJsCorner for more than two months now dealing with health issues of my beloved wife. I will start off with the end and then take you through the process to how we got here. My wife of 36 years passed away on Wednesday and was buried yesterday. Yeah, we had our spats like all married couples did, but she was … Continue reading End Of Life Trauma – Starting At The End
The above headline came from CNN on my daily news feed this morning. It sounds pretty dreadful that 153 hospital workers have refused to be vaccinated. These are the types of titles that get all the attention. The greater shock value the more likely they will be seen. CNN, and just about everyone else, knows this. The problem is that the title is a very … Continue reading Refusing The Vaccine…
Day 4 We went to the Canada Science and Technology Museum before trying to check into our hotel. They had a lot of neat exhibits there and a wall of fame that had about thirty pictures and related bios there. I recognized a few, but not many, names on that wall. Of course one thing they did invent here was the snowmobile. Here is a … Continue reading On-The-Road Canada: Day 4-7 Ottawa
There is a difference between worshiping Jesus and actually doing what he told us to do. I remember the documentary entitled “From Jesus to Christ” in 1998 on PBS Frontline. It was the serious beginning of my spiritual search for meaning. Becoming more familiar with the actual events of the period of the first 150 years of the common era (CE) helped me understand how … Continue reading RLL – Worshiping vs Following
Some people are forced to the margins, some seek them out, but for most it is likely a little of both. Being marginalized against your will is most often a bad thing. But sometimes good things can come from being forced there. Things that result in positive action. A case in point is the Republican Party’s attempts to keep people of color from voting. That … Continue reading LOM – Some Are Forced, Some Seek It Out…
I recently watched a new episode of Last Tango In Halifax which is a British TV show about two retirees who were in love in their youth meeting again and getting married. I have to say I am watching much more British TV now than ever before. Endevour is probably my favorite. But, that’s another post… Anyway, on that show, one of the retirees mentioned … Continue reading LOM – I am A Word Collector
The cartoon above from ProgressiveChristianity is probably the most effective way to counter those like the previous Supreme Court Justice Scalia. He proclaimed that he always looked at the constitution as what the founding father intent was. In other words he viewed the world with 18th century eyes and ignored anything since then. When the Constitution was written, it was law that African Americans were … Continue reading What About The Founding Fathers??
Sometimes I cling to the margins with my fingernails, and sometimes I stomp on them with both feet. I haven’t been in the mainstream for so long I don’t even realize what it is anymore. I have been deaf for going on thirty-five years now and believe me that requires some serious margin clinging. It just amazes me how the mainstream has no idea of … Continue reading Deaf People Cling To The Margins
For this Revisit Wednesday I bring you a post from June 2012 about a topic that I have always had trouble with and that is that women are supposed to know their place. “Knowing your place” has throughout history been a tactic to keep segments of society subservient to the ruling class. The very idea bugs me to my core. *****************June 2012 *********************** 1 Timothy … Continue reading Women Be Quiet!!!
I know from personal experiences that saying you doubt something in your church can get you in some pretty serious trouble. I will make a bold statement for you. I am sure you have doubts, probably even serious doubts, about what you are told to be facts in your church too. Even Mother Theresa had them so don’t even bother to deny it! But, all … Continue reading Doubts are seldom allowed In The Church…
When I came across this building, I couldn’t believe my eyes. It is actually a mural painted on the side of a building in Old Town Quebec. And it was not the only one. The green fence is real, everything else is a painting. Continue reading Creativity – Canadian Style
Of course, everything I say here at RedLetterLiving is my opinion, but sometimes it seems particularly necessary to make that declaration. Since I am going to compare some religious establishments on the post, this is one of those times As a little bio for this post, I give you a quick history of my six stages of Christian life: I was baptized into the Catholic … Continue reading The Church Needs Shame…
This post originated on my blog at RedLetterLiving, but I think it will get the broader attention here that it deserves. Anyone who has read many of my words over at RedLetterLiving knows that I don’t have a very positive attitude of much of what is found in the Old Testament. That part of the Bible is about Jewish history and the myths associated with … Continue reading Tree of the knowledge
I know that there are many out there that still believe that “government is the problem”, but I will again try to convince you that without our government many of the things that we deem essential today would like not have happened. If that argument won’t appease you, then I will try to convince you that government is where the “people’s business” has to happen. … Continue reading Government Is A Premier Entrepreneur
Divine Intervention means different things to different people and religious organizations. For many in the religious community it means that we must pray to God not to get cancer or even be sick, and if we do get sick, we must leave it up to him to cure us. Doing this puts everything in God’s lap and practically no responsibility to us personally. In coordination … Continue reading Divine Intervention
This is the second of three revisits to my initial posts on a book that changed my spiritual view of the world. I do these revisits so that you might better understand where I am going now by showing you where I have come from March 12, 2013. I was certain if I could preach the perfect sermon the altar would fill with people overcome … Continue reading If Grace Is True – Revisit #2
I have got to put this picture back on the revised-edition of RJsView as it is one of my favorite memories from my visits to our northern neighbors. This old guy has likely spent a very long life in a very cold place. When I came across him, I almost had the feeling that I was invading his space, but got the idea that he … Continue reading My Acadian Friend
From looking at my post counts here at RJsCorner I see that I am pretty much ignoring my number five pillar, breaking down myths. I need to pay more attention to that topic so this post will be about a deaf myth. It’s true that people who are deaf sometimes can read lips but lipreading is in no way an adequate substitute for hearing. In … Continue reading Breaking Down Myths – Most Deaf People Can Read Lips
I seem to often get Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day mixed up. Aren’t they both primarily to recognize our American soldiers? I think maybe it is time to broaden the concept of one of those days. We need to recognize others outside our military who provide us with valuable services. That is what this post is all about. Just what is the definition of “memorial”? … Continue reading Thank You For Your Service…
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