[DISCLAIMER] I invite you to consider that one source states, “We’ve all heard the phase before – ‘Don’t cry over spilled milk.’ It’s a classic saying meant to remind us that getting upset over things we can’t change won’t do any good,” using milk as a symbol of something valuable, yet easily lost. Sometimes expressed as “there’s no use crying over spilled milk,” the meaning of this idiomatic expression infers that there’s no point in being upset over something that has a

[DISCLAIMER] With my approach to mental, emotional, and behavioral health (collectively “mental health”), I use unconditional acceptance (UA). When teaching psychoeducational lessons on this helpful tool, I invite people to accept – without unfavorable conditions – that they are imperfect. For example, as a fallible human being, I don’t tell myself something along the lines of, “Unless I can be entirely without fault or defect, then I won’t endure without protest or react

[DISCLAIMER] I’ve just heard about the reported death of singer Oliver Tree. His song “Life Goes On”, from the album Ugly Is Beautiful (2020), has served as content for many electronic dance music (EDM) remixes. Over the years, I’ve enjoyed both the original track and its modifications. According to one source, “Tree stated in an interview that ‘Life Goes On’ is about ‘a problematic relationship where one person treats the other person badly […] shouldn’t waste time on to

[DISCLAIMER] When providing psychoeducational lessons on Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), I teach people about the ABC model of self-disturbance (how people upset themselves through use of irrational beliefs). Now, I’ll address a finer point of this psychotherapeutic model of wellness. For context, REBT uses the ABC model to illustrate how when an undesirable Action occurs and you Believe an unhelpful narrative about the event, it’s your unfavorable assumption, n

[DISCLAIMER] Hate the Sin, Not the Sinner When enlisted in the United States Marine Corps (1996-2007), my religious foundation in the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Churches of Christ informed my worldview. Of course, as a fallible human being, my faith-based perspective wasn’t practiced perfectly. For example, I was taught Leviticus 20:13 which states, “‘If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to b

[DISCLAIMER] On the 2014 album The Tortoise and the Crow, by talented hip hop producers and lyricists The Grouch and Eligh, is the melodic track “So Complicated”. Noteworthy, I stated in a blogpost entitled Complex Systems vs. Complicated Systems: The term “complex” relates to a group of obviously related units of which the degree and nature of the relationship is imperfectly known. As an example, my cellphone is a complex system of components. Also, the American Psycholo

[DISCLAIMER] Realizing that the Electronic Daisy Carnival (EDC) recently took place in its home of Las Vegas, Nevada, I took to YouTube so that I could watch and listen to DJ sets from the largest electronic dance music (EDM) festival in North America, as I saw one of my favorite modern DJs perform. During his DJ set, French EDM producer and DJ going by the name of I Hate Models spun the track “4 by 4 Beats (I Don’t Care)” by Belgian EDM producer and DJ going by the name

[DISCLAIMER] “Son,” my dad told me when I was a child, “I don’t know why I brought children into this world when it’s so wicked [morally very bad; evil],” per 1 John 5:19. He went on to explain that anyone with knowledge of the Bible would do well to reconsider the desire to have kids. This was a revelation to me, as my dad had four children! Furthermore, his admission was contrary to what my late stepmom told me when saying it was an “abomination” not to abide by the bib

[DISCLAIMER] I’m a fan of Oakland, California-based underground hip hop collective Hieroglyphics, also known as the Hieroglyphics Crew and Hiero, consisting of lyricists Del the Funky Homosapien, Casual, Pep Love, and all four members of the group Souls of Mischief (lyricists Phesto, A-Plus, Opio, and Tajai), as well as DJ Touré and producer/manager Domino. In 2001, Hiero released the album Hiero Oldies Vol 1 that contained the 1990 track “Step to My Girl” by Souls of Mis

[DISCLAIMER] In Existentialism: Meaning Versus Meaninglessness, I discussed a fellow military police (MP) patrolman from the United States Marine Corps, when assigned to Camp Kinser (1997-1999), to whom I referred as “Jugador.” He and I were fairly close when stationed in Okinawa, Japan. Jugador and I wound up again being stationed together when I was assigned to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (2001-2003). Unfortunately, he and I lost touch around the time when I experi

[DISCLAIMER] On the intro of “Take Me Back”, from the album Tha Truth, Pt. 3 (2017), Houston, Texas rapper Trae tha Truth states, “Say, you remember that shit? Talmbout them days, nigga. We pull up, nigga. Sta-Flo, starched down!” If you’re unfamiliar with Texas hip hop, then you may be lost. The phrase “talmbout” is a conjunction of the words “talking” and “about.” Also, Sta-Flo is a potent liquid starch which people from the South use when pressing (i.e., ironing) creas

[DISCLAIMER] I’m a fan of Wu-Tang Clan, a hip hop collective consisting of lyricist RZA, lyricist GZA, lyricist Method Man, lyricist Raekwon, lyricist Ghostface Killah, lyricist Inspectah Deck, rapper U-God, rapper Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard. Therefore, when enlisted in the United States (U.S.) Marine Corps, serving in Okinawa, Japan (1997-1999), I purchased the group’s second studio album Wu-Tang Forever (1997). It contained the t

[DISCLAIMER] When assigned to the Marine Security Guard (MSG) detachment (det) in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil (1999-2000), my Brasilian Portuguese tutor gave me advice which she’d plausibly have given to those about whom she cared. “Xuxu,” she said, “Stay away from piranhas!” For context, “xuxu” (pronounced “shoo-shoo”) is a Brasilian Portuguese slang term that, in my case, was used endearingly to mean “cutie.” As for “piranhas,” the tutor wasn’t referencing fish. Rather, it’s