An Unexpected Therapy
By Betty Lane Almost every morning that I stand in front of a mirror to cleanse and moisturize my face, then apply some kind of make up, I cannot help smiling, as I think, however fleetingly, about my unorthodox start as an independent beauty consultant and what that business decision has meant for me and my family through the past many years, despite the fact that ultimately working towards realizing my potential and achieving my dreams led me in an almost altogether different direction. Until 1998, I was known for my remarkable ability to bounce back from suffering, big obstacles, and tragedy. I had survived childhood neglect and abuse, having grown up with ...
April 10, 2013My Grandmother’s Eyes
By Beth IIiff My grandmother’s eyes were a deep shade of mossy green. Like the ivy climbing up her back gate. Green as the pine trees that covered the mountain where she lived. Or as green as the jade turtle she always carried in her purse. My mother’s eyes are just like my grandmother’s. And mine are just like my mother’s. I would sit between them in Grandma’s old pick-up truck. Three pairs of green eyes sparkling as we laughed and bounced down the mountain road into town. “You hold this fella for me,” Grandma would whisper in my ear. She would slip the turtle from her purse into my lap, “We’ll be ...
April 1, 2013Watch Me Bounce 2013 “Meme” Contest: Enter Here
Stories connect people. In our daily lives we use words, pictures and videos to relate special moments. At Watch Me Bounce, we’d like to suggest that stories might even be expressed through memes, which are pictures with captions. Memes can be a simple, yet powerful way to illustrate a point. Why not consider using them to Inspire Resilience? Here’s your challenge: Create a photo + caption combination (a "meme") to tell a story that will inspire people and encourage them to bounce back from stress and adversity. Your submission can be as simple as a photo with an inspirational quotation or as complex as an original comic strip. This contest has an open ...
March 18, 2013The Gilded Cage
By Seema Chatterjee The pigeon waited impatiently in her gilded cage. She paced up and down, squinting in the sunlight, as the gold bars of her nest, alchemized to a burnished bronze. Glancing at her watch she sighed. Where was the baron her beloved crow? Where was her loved one? Orchards of mandarins, oranges, grapefruit and lemon, loomed before her. Listlessly, she sipped on some water, longing for a piece of orange to suck on. Her eyes scanned over bushes of hawthorns and hickories, high bush blueberry, wild grape and honeysuckle and her mouth watered uncontrollably. Did she dare to step out just for a bit? She could ...
March 15, 2013Resilience Spotlight: Celia Tomlinson, Entrepreneur, Engineer, Author,and Motivational Speaker
Watch Me Bounce Interview with Celia Tomlinson, Entrepreneur, Engineer, Author, and Motivational Speaker WMB (Watch Me Bounce): Please tell us a little about what you do. CT (Celia Tomlinson): In 2008, I retired as President & CEO of RHOMBUS P.A. Inc., a company that I founded in 1983. RHOMBUS, a full-service engineering and environmental firm, provided services in states including NM, AZ, NY, LA, AR, TX, WY, OR, WA. Since 2002, when my autobiographical book Don't Ever Tell Me YOU CAN'T was published, I have been a professional motivational speaker. Perhaps to fully appreciate my situation, I must mention that I came to the United States alone in 1968, confident that ...
February 15, 2013The Draw of Broken Eyes and Whirling Metaphysics by Clifford Brooks: Review
Clifford Brooks, a veteran poet, has injected a new collection of verse into the greater scope of Southern literature. His work stands out, however, in that it is not only beautiful, but tells a beautiful story as well. His poems burst with examples of the need for-and illustration-of the concept of psychological resilience. Clifford writes from the heart, yet still pays clear attention to detail. His work can at times appear simplistic, while impregnated throughout with terms\ideas that are advanced in both intellectual and cultural fashions. He reveals human existence from a new light. One example that caught this reviewer's attention occurred at the book's end in his epic entitle The Gateman's ...
February 7, 2013Two Ounces of Purring Resilience
By Marla Morrow McMullen Our most humbling lesson in resilience began on August 2nd, 2010 when my husband Bob called from work saying he found a newborn kitten that had been abandoned by its mother. One of his co-workers was willing to take the kitten but didn’t have the time for the constant attention it would need so Bob and I agreed to raise the kitten until it was old enough to go to his new home. The army depot where my husband works is teeming with wildlife such as cats, mice, snakes, coyotes and hawks. Bob couldn’t bear the thought of a newborn kitten being nourishment for a wild animal ...
February 1, 2013Friday the Thirteenth
By Tiana Ferrante Hurricane Charley, I hated you. It is fitting you came on August 2004, Friday the thirteenth. I solemnly watched the television as the eye, the most powerful part of the hurricane, neatly rolled over my innocent Florida town, Punta Gorda. Numb with the colorful pictures on the TV, especially that cool, hypnotic, swirling thing I saw, I little thought of it as I sat on my aunt’s rug in Jupiter, Jupiter, Florida, that is. I was not expecting anything extraordinary, in fact, I was paying more attention to the car ride than to the destination. Then, they took me to the house, on Tripoli Boulevard, after finding it by ...
January 15, 2013The General
By A & M Fuentes There is nothing as deplorable as riding the public transportation around this crazed, sprawling city. If you manage to decipher the cryptography of colored lines and numbers on the bus schedule brochures, I am certain you could also become a successful mathematical analysis or a respectable forensic linguist. Just to be clear, there is no reason why you should even trust those flimsy pieces of propaganda they call The Bus Schedule — all the buses arrive when they are good and ready, and that could be an hour from now, or three. Once seated on the bus the overwhelming odor of human run off, bitter sweat, musky ...
January 1, 2013The Magical Woods
By Veronica Oniro “She may not make it through the night. The next 24 hours will be the most crucial and if she makes it through, she still will not be out of the woods for quite some time after.” Those words resonate in my head almost 35 years after they were said. Within a period of just one week, my sister went from a ten year old little girl playing outside, to laying in a hospital bed fighting for her life. This was the first of many uphill battles she would have to fight. Within the first twenty-four hours of being hospitalized, she was diagnosed with a very rare disease called Wegnersgranulomitosis, a ...
December 16, 2012