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Tag: Artdog Quote of the Week

Because Halloween is for the adults these days, it can get crazy out there!
Halloween is for the adults?

Halloween is for the adults?

A Halloween Quote of the Week It’s not quite Halloween yet, but many people I know have been preparing for weeks already. Making or reserving rental costumes, planning parties, and putting up sometimes elaborate decorations takes time. That’s just for the adults. It really does seem that, more and more in recent years, Halloween is for the adults. No, Halloween’s not for kids anymore–if it ever was. I guess there may have been a brief period when it was mostly all for the kiddos. But that’s hard to imagine, these…

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This image is part of a globe with the words "Earth Day."
Are we paying attention yet?

Are we paying attention yet?

The Artdog Quote of the Week Are we paying attention yet? We’re heading into the Final Decade (or less) of last-minute chances to pull ourselves out of the (literal) fire. I hope we’ll all take this idea that Every day needs to be Earth Day more to heart. The evidence is all around us. Are we paying attention yet? I fear not enough of us are.

Faith, meet challenges!

Faith, meet challenges!

The Artdog Quote of the Week Creativity requires a certain measure of boldness. Any time you put your original creation out there in the world, you put a part of yourself on the line.  Doesn’t matter whether it’s a thought, a dance, a story, a piece of artwork, an invention, your own performance skill, or what. That takes courage. It takes faith. It takes believing in yourself, and being willing to publicly fail.  Publicly failing sucks. It hurts. But it doesn’t inevitably happen. You take a risk. And when it doesn’t…

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Double standards and our kids

Double standards and our kids

The Artdog Quotes of the Week  Here’s a double dose of quotable thoughts, this time on double standards, and that touchy subject of how to rear our children. When toy manufacturers still market to “the pink aisle” and “the blue aisle,” what’s a parent to do? What creative choices must we make, to empower our children to grow up in ways that help them blossom into their full potential–whatever that may encompass? IMAGES: Many thanks to the Gender Equality blog, for…

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Awakening creative joy

Awakening creative joy

Artdog Quote of the Week It’s back-to-school season this month, and my focus now shifts to the vital importance of nurturing creativity in schools. I’d like to tie this month’s theme to last month’s “strength in diversity” theme. I see the two as being intertwined. We cannot be strong in our diversity unless ALL of our children receive the best possible education. Creative connections made in schools are some of the strongest motivators. As a teacher who’s worked in both rural…

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Liberty: Mission NOT yet accomplished

Liberty: Mission NOT yet accomplished

Artdog Quote of the Week:  In case you were wondering, John F. Kennedy said this in his Inaugural Address on January 20, 1961. He was speaking to the world, during the Cold War with the then-Soviet Union, and he had human rights all over the world–particularly in impoverished countries elsewhere–on his mind when he said it.  I’m not sure he gave as much thought to the poor of the United States when he addressed “those people in the huts and…

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Happy Birthday, USA!

Happy Birthday, USA!

The Artdog Quote of the Week:   I think there has never been a time when the great experiment of democracy in the United States has not been enduring a test of one kind or another, and this period in history is certainly no exception.    We’re currently mired in an ideological struggle between ever-more-sharply-divided factions, each of which perceives the country to be in peril–but the perils they perceive are much different from each other, and the struggle threatens once…

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A role model for being alive

A role model for being alive

We sure could find worse models to emulate. The old cliche about “everything I need to know” doesn’t hold water–there are many things our dogs can’t teach us (how to balance a checkbook or write a blog post, for example). But the basic attitude of a dog toward life, and toward humans, is another story altogether. Would that we ALL treated each other as gently and with as much compassion as well-socialized dogs treat us. IMAGE: Many thanks to Mactoons for this…

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Amazing healing powers!

Amazing healing powers!

While not a cure-all, you might be surprised. Sometimes the best cure for depression is something that gets us out of ourselves and focused on other things . . . . such as the love and needs of a puppy or rescue dog. Consider adopting a canine companion from your local animal shelter, if you’ve started to feel as if no one really cares about you.  There’s no mistaking when a dog loves you! Of course, that love must be…

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