‘Commentary’ Archives
Raise Your Voice:
Headstone Markers By PETER MOLENAAR Note: the stone for my own “resting place" has been chosen, hopefully ahead of time. December 30, 2021… Readers of the alley know Sue Hunter Weir is this neighborhood’s “master of cemetery.” It was at the American Swedish Institute’s open house that we chatted while tabling for the paper. She was stunned to learn from me that Lynne Mayo had passed away in September of 2020. I had only just recently come to know this myself… no thanks to COVID. It was via the 17th Avenue Community Garden that Lynne had become a “significant friend” some 20+ years ago. As life went on, geography and our common activism created occasional encounters, the last one taking place at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, a venue that day for a global warming protest. Why had she turned her head away? I realize now that a cancer was developing. Hey, I am grateful for the imperfections [...]
A New New Year’s Resolution
By MARY ELLEN KALUZA January always brings up the whole New Year's resolution business – a promise to change our behavior. As I thought about resolution ideas, I found myself getting cranky. Resolving to do anything besides making it through the day in the darkest and coldest time of the year is insanity. The last thing I will do in January is throw away the remaining Christmas cookies or go out in the cold to exercise more. The failure rate of New Year's resolutions is 80%. Eighty percent! Why would we set ourselves up for failure only to feel worse about ourselves? Yet, it comes up every year: we are asked to set a goal we almost certainly will not achieve. That is not to say we shouldn't set goals that will help us prosper, live longer, and enjoy those longer lives. I propose we hold off on making promises to ourselves until the sun is higher in the sky and we aren't so cranky to increase our chance of success. “Fourth Month of the Year's [...]
