[DISCLAIMER] Raised under the religious tenets of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Churches of Christ faiths (respectively), my beliefs were conflicted when later identifying as religiously agnostic and listening to the album Blasphemy (2014) by lyricist Ras Kass and producer Apollo Brown. After all, I was taught that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit was the only unforgivable sin, per Matthew 12:31. Nevertheless, given my agnostic worldview by the time Blasphemy was relea

[DISCLAIMER] In 1989, as a youth, I attended lyricist LL Cool J’s Nitro World Tour, which featured rapper Eazy-E, his group N.W.A, rapper Slick Rick, legendary group De La Soul, and though he was scheduled to perform, rapper Too $hort was unable to attend the Denver, Colorado concert. One of the songs I most looked forward to hearing by Slick Rick was “Hey Young World”, from his debut studio album The Great Adventures of Slick Rick (1988). I envisioned that the track was

[DISCLAIMER] As Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) was formed by the late psychologist Albert Ellis, who reportedly developed the first cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) psychotherapeutic modality in 1955, this blog entry is part of an ongoing series regarding his book, Ask Albert Ellis?: Straight Answers and Sound Advice from America’s Best-Known Psychologist. Now, REBT uses the ABC model to illustrate that when an undesirable Action occurs and you Believe an unhelp

[DISCLAIMER] In common parlance, the term loser relates to a person or thing that loses (to fail to win, gain, or obtain), especially consistently. With this in mind, I now turn to the album The Last Few Years (2022) by lyricist Endr Won, on which he released the track “Flowers” and states: When they said I was a loser, I was a lost cause—long gone, don’t waste your time. Just another drug abuser, an alcoholic, and for a while I was proving you right. I started to believe

[DISCLAIMER] As Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) was formed by the late psychologist Albert Ellis, who reportedly developed the first cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) psychotherapeutic modality in 1955, this blog entry is part of an ongoing series regarding his book, Ask Albert Ellis?: Straight Answers and Sound Advice from America’s Best-Known Psychologist. REBT has a longstanding foundation within the field of mental, emotional, and behavioral health (collective

[DISCLAIMER] I’ve long-enjoyed the pastime of miniature golf. When given the option to choose (to select freely and after consideration) activities for the friends with whom I spent time in Bomb City, they anticipated that I’d select going to a movie theater, a gun range, or to play miniature golf. In my head, my miniature golf skills were good (of a high or desired quality). Moreover, I maintained that I was good (of a favorable character or tendency) for having possesse

[DISCLAIMER] Photo credit, Designed by Magnific, fair use What comes to mind when hearing the term unfavorable conditions? Do you imagine something like a small sea vessel navigating choppy waters of the sea? That’s one way of thinking about unfavorable conditions, pertaining to circumstances, environments, or states which are disadvantageous, challenging, or harmful to success, growth, or well-being. Yet, that’s not quite what this blogpost is about. Rather, unfavorabl

[DISCLAIMER] As Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) was formed by the late psychologist Albert Ellis, who reportedly developed the first cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) psychotherapeutic modality in 1955, this blog entry is part of an ongoing series regarding his book, Ask Albert Ellis?: Straight Answers and Sound Advice from America’s Best-Known Psychologist. I invite you to consider the pessimistic perspective of person X. After a number of alterations to her work

[DISCLAIMER] On the collaborative album by lyricist Kota the Friend and music producer Statik Selektah, To See a Sunset (2023), is the song “Real Ones”. Noteworthy, it contains a sample of Bettye Swann’s track “Either You Love Me or You Leave Me” (1975) and has a relaxed quality to it. In his first verse, Kota states, “People judge left and right, everyone is fallible [liable to be erroneous]. Fuck the world! Focus on the babies comin’ after you. Middle finger to your opi

[DISCLAIMER] As Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) was formed by the late psychologist Albert Ellis, who reportedly developed the first cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) psychotherapeutic modality in 1955, this blog entry is part of an ongoing series regarding his book, Ask Albert Ellis?: Straight Answers and Sound Advice from America’s Best-Known Psychologist. REBT uses unconditional acceptance (UA) to relieve self-induced suffering. This is accomplished through use

[DISCLAIMER] As Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) was formed by the late psychologist Albert Ellis, who reportedly developed the first cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) psychotherapeutic modality in 1955, this blog entry is part of an ongoing series regarding his book, Ask Albert Ellis?: Straight Answers and Sound Advice from America’s Best-Known Psychologist. To adequately address the subject matter of this blogpost, I thank you for granting my use of a personal an

[DISCLAIMER] As Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) was formed by the late psychologist Albert Ellis, who reportedly developed the first cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) psychotherapeutic modality in 1955, this blog entry is part of an ongoing series regarding his book, Ask Albert Ellis?: Straight Answers and Sound Advice from America’s Best-Known Psychologist. REBT uses the ABC model to illustrate that when an undesirable Action occurs and you Believe an unhelpful n

[DISCLAIMER] Although recorded in 1993, the track “Runnin’” (commonly referred to as “Runnin’ from tha Police”) was released in 1995, written and performed by lyricists 2Pac, the Notorious B.I.G. (“Big”), and rappers Stretch, Dramacydal, and Lil’ Vicious, and was produced by Easy Mo Bee. The song was featured on the compilation album One Million Strong (1995), commemorating the 1995 Million Man March in Washington, D.C. This occurred during the time that I was in high sch

[DISCLAIMER] The above photo features a New World Translation of the Bible that was bestowed upon me by my dad on August 14, 1989. Regarding this specific translation, one source states: The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT, also simply NW) is a translation of the Bible published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society; it is used and distributed by Jehovah’s Witnesses. Unlike many of the other children with whom I attended Crawford Elementary School

[DISCLAIMER] As Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) was formed by the late psychologist Albert Ellis, who reportedly developed the first cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) psychotherapeutic modality in 1955, this blog entry is part of an ongoing series regarding his book, Ask Albert Ellis?: Straight Answers and Sound Advice from America’s Best-Known Psychologist. Now, I consider that I have over 2,400 blog entries in the Blog portion of my professional website. Therein

[DISCLAIMER] As Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) was formed by the late psychologist Albert Ellis, who reportedly developed the first cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) psychotherapeutic modality in 1955, this blog entry is part of an ongoing series regarding his book, Ask Albert Ellis?: Straight Answers and Sound Advice from America’s Best-Known Psychologist. Although it isn’t uncommon for people to think or believe themselves into a problem, it isn’t likely that t

[DISCLAIMER] I was once in an intimate partner relationship with a woman who had a phobia, which the American Psychological Association (APA) defines as “a persistent and irrational fear of a specific situation, object, or activity (e.g., heights, dogs, water, blood, driving, flying), which is consequently either strenuously avoided or endured with marked distress.” Also, the APA defines fear as: [A] basic, intense emotion aroused by the detection of imminent threat, invo

[DISCLAIMER] The above photo was taken months before I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. I’m featured posing with members of a family who took me in from my residence at a children’s home. For context, the American Psychological Association (APA) thusly defines family: 1. a kinship unit consisting of a group of individuals united by blood or by marital, adoptive, or other intimate ties. Although the family is the fundamental social unit of most human societies,

[DISCLAIMER] When listening to an electronic dance music (EDM) DJ set by Mary Gripa, I heard her spin the track “Lift Me High (Extended Mix)” (2026) by Moeaike, Gaetano Laterza, and Roberto Dell’Osso. The upbeat lyrics state: Lift me higher, don’t let me fall through the fire I hear your call, I hear your call Lift me higher, don’t let me fall through the fire I hear your call, I hear your call Because I often address less than optimistic topics within my blog, when dis

[DISCLAIMER] Earlier this morning, when checking my mailbox while the sky was still dark, I observed the behavior of an armadillo, of the nine-banded variety. Because the placental mammal is nocturnal by nature, it likely didn’t anticipate or expect me to be out and about while it strolled around. The creature probably had poor hearing, as my knees and ankles make the sound of crackling firewood when I walk. Thus, the armadillo didn’t hear me approaching, as I apparently