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The home of Uncommon Sense: Providing Clarity, Promoting Intelligence

Hourglass

Self-Development, Time Management

The Sand in the Hourglass

Most of us squander the most precious resource we have – our time. A lot of this is due to poor planning. Sometimes it is due to a lack of clarity around our sense of purpose. And both of those remain our own responsibility. Let’s start with the second one. Our life, our very existence, […]

Ara Norwood September 16, 2023

Not shaking hands

Leftism, The Elephant in the Room, Transgender Issues

Another Example of Confronting the Left

In the previous issue of Uncommon Sense, I shared with you a letter I wrote to the Mary L. Stephens – Davis Branch Library up in Davis, California. If you recall, I was confronting a male librarian who had invited Sophia Lorey, a former college soccer player, to give a speech at the library about […]

Ara Norwood September 16, 2023

a man's hand writing in a journal

From Ara's Journal, Teaching

On Being a Teacher

Fundamentally, I am a teacher. That entails my acquiring knowledge from many sources and dispensing that disparate knowledge in coherent ways to unformed minds. Teachers make contributions to society only indirectly. We don’t directly build bridges, create new technologies, or provide landscaping services. We don’t heal people using pharmaceuticals, nor do we judge legal cases, […]

Ara Norwood September 16, 2023

open dictionary showing the definition of the word dictionary

The World of Words

Blinkered

Building Your Power of Expression Blinkered, adj. Pronunciation: ˈbliNGkərd Meaning: Those in the equestrian world might refer to a blinker as something that serves as a blinder for a horse. More broadly, it can refer to a person who has a narrow or limited outlook on a situation. Usage: I consider your approach both small-minded […]

Ara Norwood September 16, 2023

Obese Man Walking With Groceries

Boiled Frog Syndrome, Self-Development

Slaying the Boiled Frog

There are forces all around us that pull us into the vortex of mediocrity and slothfulness. I call this tendency The Boiled Frog Syndrome. Most of you have heard about this metaphor. The short version is that if a healthy frog is dropped in a pot of boiling water, that frog with take immediate, decisive […]

Ara Norwood August 30, 2023

Half-Man Half-Woman

The Elephant in the Room, Transgender Issues

Confronting the Left

Recently a library up in northern California invited a woman named Sophia Lorey, a former college athlete, to come to their library and deliver a speech about what it’s like being a college athlete. Ms. Lorey graciously accepted the invitation, but during her speech, she made a comment about how men who pretend they are […]

Ara Norwood August 30, 2023

a man's hand writing in a journal

From Ara's Journal, Social Science

On Social Science

What’s with the new fad of claiming one is a Digital Creator? What are they creating, apart from a persona? What does it even mean? At first, I thought it sounded kind of unique: “What do you for a living?” “Oh, I’m a Digital Creator. . .” “A what?!” But I’ve begun to notice that […]

Ara Norwood August 30, 2023

open dictionary showing the definition of the word dictionary

The World of Words

Intuit

Building Your Power of Expression Intuit, v. Pronunciation: inˈt(y)o͞oət Meaning: To intuit is to understand, comprehend, or work out by instinct. Usage: I intuited his real identity. I need to do a little more intuiting before I can decide on a proper course. Please revisit the documents and see what you can intuit from them.

Ara Norwood August 30, 2023

Woman reading a book

Reading, Self-Development

Why Reading Matters

When asked how it is possible to know how to launch rockets into space, Elon Musk responded, “I read books.” I like his answer. A large portion of what I know came from reading books. Let me spell out for you what it is you are encountering when you read a valuable book. First, you […]

Ara Norwood August 17, 2023

Stack of Newspapers

Media Bias, The Elephant in the Room

Shocking News about the News Media, Part 2 of 2

So if you missed the previous issue of Uncommon Sense (#288) you will want to go back to that issue first and read the Elephant in the Room column before you read this column, which represent Part 2 of 2. In fact, you may want to go back and read Part 1 just to reorient […]

Ara Norwood August 17, 2023

a man's hand writing in a journal

From Ara's Journal, Sympathy

Craving Attention

I picked up a really great book at my local Barnes & Noble this week. In fact, I also picked up an equally great book at the same Barnes & Noble the week before. But this journal entry is not about the books. It’s about something strange I noticed. In fact, I have been going […]

Ara Norwood August 17, 2023

open dictionary showing the definition of the word dictionary

The World of Words

Paramour

Building Your Power of Expression Paramour, n. Pronunciation: ˈperəˌmo͝or Meaning: Please don’t be a paramour. And please don’t acquire a paramour. A paramour is a lover – typically, however, a lover who is involved with someone married to someone else. If you are a married man and you have a paramour, you have a mistress. […]

Ara Norwood August 17, 2023

Hand holding a credit card.

Debt, Self-Development

Removing The Debt Albatross

I had some productive coaching sessions with two different individuals recently that made a huge impact on their financial life. They do not know each other, but they had something in common. They both possessed several credit cards and, as a result, had a lot of credit card debt. One had around $33,000 in credit […]

Ara Norwood July 31, 2023

Stack of Newspapers

Media Bias, The Elephant in the Room

Shocking News about the News Media, Part 1 of 2

I am a news junkie. I admit it. I’m hooked. But very little that I read in the news surprises me. Most of what I read, much of it falling in the category of bad news, is actually rather predictable. Indoctrinating children about Trans madness? Typical. Mass shootings? No surprise there. Climate change hysteria? Duh! […]

Ara Norwood July 31, 2023

a man's hand writing in a journal

From Ara's Journal, Language

Brain Damage

“It is possible that we have adapted ourselves to disinformation, to Newspeak, to public-relations hype, to imagery disguised as thought, to picture newspapers and magazines, to religion revealed in the form of entertainment, to politics in the form of a thirty-second television commercial.” – Neil Postman It was from Neil Postman that I first learned […]

Ara Norwood July 31, 2023

open dictionary showing the definition of the word dictionary

The World of Words

Variegated

Building Your Power of Expression Variegated, adj. Pronunciation: ˈver(ē)əˌɡādəd Meaning: Exhibiting different colors, especially as irregular patches or streaks. The word can also denote something that is marked by variety. Usage: The end result was a collection of variegated yellow bricks I was captivated by his variegated and amusing observations. The teenager’s variegated hair glowed […]

Ara Norwood July 31, 2023

screws on a table being pulled by a magnet

Influence, Leadership, Self-Development

Influence

I want to alert you to 5 individuals I am deeply drawn to. Let me describe them. Person #1 is an individual that is sinking in the mire of extreme poverty. Being impoverished and destitute, he is unable to even afford to attend school and is dependent on being self-taught to gain any measure of […]

Ara Norwood July 19, 2023

woman with arms stretch in victory

Leftist Hydra, The Elephant in the Room, Victories, Winning

Confronting the Leftist Hydra, and Winning!

I often use this column to raise the warning voice of the dangers facing our nation from the rotten stench of the Woke-Left. In that sense, I am somewhat of a Jeremiah. However, while those dangers are very real, I think it high time I take a moment and point out the great work that […]

Ara Norwood July 19, 2023

a man's hand writing in a journal

From Ara's Journal, Sensitivity

On Sensitivity

A few months ago, I found myself in a Chipotle restaurant. This was in the winter. It was around 9:00 PM when I was finished eating and I was ready to leave. It was dark outside. I had parked my car in a side parking lot that had no lighting at all, so it was […]

Ara Norwood July 19, 2023

open dictionary showing the definition of the word dictionary

The World of Words

Nostrums

Building Your Power of Expression Nostrums, n. Pronunciation: ˈnästrəms Meaning: A nostrum is a word that can be used in two distinct contexts. For instance, in the field of pharmaceuticals, a nostrum could be a medicine of some sort, especially one that is not truly effective or legitimate, often prepared by a quack. But a […]

Ara Norwood July 19, 2023

man looking in the mirror

Self-Development

The Elusive Element of Self-Awareness

By reviewing my personal journals going back 10 to 12 years, I’ve reminded myself of things I’ve observed in the mannerisms of people I’ve encountered. Such a review causes me to recollect that there are people out there that have some rather strange needs. One manifestation of this need is to publicly disclose one’s flaws, mistakes, […]

Ara Norwood June 30, 2023

protest crowd with a LGBTQ flag

The Elephant in the Room

The Sinking Filth Taking Place in June 2023

Periodically I use this column to highlight what I noticed in a given month thanks to the social contagion known as Leftism – a warped and wicked societal germ that poisons everyone and everything it touches. Leftism is destroying our nation in particular and Western Civilization in general. In taking stock of what happened in […]

Ara Norwood June 30, 2023

a man's hand writing in a journal

From Ara's Journal

Fight Your Fight

I’ve often been transfixed by the sports of boxing and wrestling, as well as by the martial arts. I myself joined a boxing club early in life, studied professional boxing throughout the 1970s and 80s, and kept tabs on the sport. In Junior High and High School I competed on the wrestling team, wrestled in […]

Ara Norwood June 30, 2023

open dictionary showing the definition of the word dictionary

The World of Words

Puerile

Building Your Power of Expression Puerile, adj. Pronunciation: ˈpyo͝orəl, ˈpyo͝orˌīl Meaning: This word refers to things that are childishly silly and trivial. When someone is being puerile, they are demonstrating a lack of maturity, seriousness, or good judgment. Think infantile, juvenile, inane, etc. Usage: The argument, as currently presented, betrays a rather puerile tint that […]

Ara Norwood June 30, 2023

stak with sides on a plate

Self-Development

A Sure-Fire Way To Secure Customer Loyalty

Someone gave me a gift card to a restaurant called Texas Roadhouse. I had hung on to it for a few months and then decided to treat myself to lunch last week. It was my first time there. And I have to say, I was quite impressed. I’m a “true believer.” Why? For starters, the […]

Ara Norwood June 23, 2023

face painted with lgbtq flag

The Elephant in the Room

Thrown To The Wolves

by Christopher F. Rufo I have been engaged in an ongoing dialogue with a physician who works in a major children’s hospital in a blue city. This physician has witnessed firsthand how transgender ideology has captured the medical profession and jeopardized the first commandment of the healing sciences: do no harm. He has now chosen […]

Ara Norwood June 23, 2023

a man's hand writing in a journal

From Ara's Journal

The Forgiveness Quandary

People do the wrong thing on occasion. Sometimes the “wrong thing” means they hurt or betray or otherwise disappoint someone. I’m not talking about cases in which the person on the receiving end of the slight is hypersensitive or thin-skinned. I’m talking about actual, unarguable wrong-doing where Person A made commitments to Person B, and […]

Ara Norwood June 23, 2023

open dictionary showing the definition of the word dictionary

The World of Words

Panache

Building Your Power of Expression Panache, n. Pronunciation: pəˈnaSH, pəˈnäSH Meaning: Flamboyant confidence of style or manner. Usage: The line uttered by Clint Eastwood’s character in describing John Malkovich’s character was: “Oh, he’ll call again. He’s got, uh, panache.” He entertained Palm Springs society with great panache. It was a demanding role, but he carried […]

Ara Norwood June 23, 2023