The word yoga can be derived from two root words, according to Wikipedia. The first is “yujir,” which means to yoke, and the second is “yuj samadhau,” meaning to concentrate. Prior to writing this blog, I knew nothing about the origins of yoga, knowing only that it consisted of, seemingly, uncomfortable and difficult poses that helped practitioners become stronger and more flexible. Like most endeavors however, I suppose co...

Generally, the phrase “fake it ‘til you make it” has a positive connotation, meaning that while you may not have the job or position you want, you should always maintain the type of confidence a person who has grasped his goals would have. This sounds great, but how do we exact this rule without losing ourselves? Doesn’t faking rebut the wisdom imparted on us as kids to always tell the truth? Does faking it until we make it...

I am the youngest of five children and grew up in what would be considered a lower-middle class family. While performing research for this blog, I found there is a large gap between lower middle class and upper middle class families. Rather than demonstrating the disparity with numbers, I thought it would be beneficial to describe using popular television shows. “The Cosby Show,” a house headed by a medical doctor and the o...

Upon graduating college and returning to the D.C. area from Baltimore, my older brother inquired about the types of jobs for which I was looking. After satisfying his curiosity, he then asked me what my salary requirements were, to which I responded by saying I would not being applying for any positions offering less than 35-40 thousand dollars per year. He responded by laughing hysterically. It was not that what I had said...

According to The Choice, a blog hosted by The New York Times, “From the debut of ‘The Cosby Show’ in 1984 until the end of ‘A Different World’ in 1993, American higher education grew by 16.8 percent. During the same time period, historically black colleges and universities grew by 24.3 percent — 44 percent better than all of higher education.” I grew up during this time period. Influenced by the campus life and education de...

I recently listened to Destiny’s Child’s first record “No, No, No.” I remember thinking how good the original four member group sounded together. Like most people I had almost forgotten Destiny’s Child’s first record was a ballad. The song’s vocal arrangements were flattering and the music was nice. Those factors considered, the tune received minimal airplay. The audience Destiny’s Child attempted to reach wanted to dance,...

I have been experiencing hesitation in second gear that has gotten progressively worse. Because I have endured the cost and aggravation of putting a new transmission in a previous vehicle, I immediately assumed the worst. I went to a local transmission shop to ask one of the mechanics what he thought the problem was. After listening to me describe the symptoms and finding out how many miles the car had on it, he said I may...