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Author Archive for: "Bruce Mulkey"
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 My Spiritual Journey
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Uncategorized
Posted March 8, 2021

My Spiritual Journey

Even though both my Mom and Dad’s Texas forebears were staunch Southern Baptists, I don’t recall going to Sunday school or church during my early childhood, and I was never baptized (which [...]

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 Happiness Now!
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Uncategorized
Posted February 19, 2021

Happiness Now!

You can be happy if you want to be. While you may have little control over the events around you, you have total control of the happiness in your own life.

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 Our 46th President!
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Uncategorized
Posted January 20, 2021

Our 46th President!

Shonnie, Gracelyn, and I held hands and watched intently as President Biden repeated the final words of the oath of office: “I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of [...]

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 What Happens in 2020 Stays in 2020!
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Be happy now, Embracing our connection, Reclaiming Democracy, Shifting cultural paradigm
Posted December 30, 2020

What Happens in 2020 Stays in 2020!

2020 has undoubtedly been a year of tremendous challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic resulting in more than 340,000 deaths so far, a severe economic downturn, and disruption of our daily lives. The [...]

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 On Aging: Accepting What Is
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Be happy now, Embracing our connection, My personal path
Posted November 30, 2020

On Aging: Accepting What Is

“Don’t trust anybody over thirty!” My rallying cry during the Sixties, when I was twenty-something, seemingly bulletproof and forever young, living as though those days would never end.

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 60 Years Ago: Our (Barely) Winning Season
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, My personal path
Posted November 9, 2020

60 Years Ago: Our (Barely) Winning Season

In the Sixties, autumn in Tullahoma (TN) revolved around the high school football team—the Tullahoma High School Wildcats.

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 Get Out & Vote!
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Reclaiming Democracy, Shifting cultural paradigm
Posted September 28, 2020

Get Out & Vote!

The 2020 general election is upon us and could prove to be the most important election in the history of the U.S., an opportunity to uphold our democratic values and stop the slide toward [...]

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 What We Did on Our Summer Vacation!
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Be happy now, Caring for our children, Embracing our connection, Healthy living, My personal path
Posted August 14, 2020

What We Did on Our Summer Vacation!

Realizing that Shonnie’s graduate studies at Western Carolina University were about to resume and Gracelyn would soon begin online classes at Evergreen Community Charter School, we began planning [...]

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 My Friend Robert Todd passed away on Saturday
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, My personal path
Posted June 29, 2020

My Friend Robert Todd passed away on Saturday

I am sad to write that my friend Robert Todd passed away at 2:25 A.M. on June 27 after a long struggle with pancreatic cancer.

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 Message to Asheville City Council members re police violence
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Uncategorized
Posted June 6, 2020

Message to Asheville City Council members re police violence

I am deeply disturbed by the recent violence perpetrated by officers of the Asheville Police Department, especially their harsh treatment of medics and the destruction of their medical supplies [...]

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 The Story of My Life
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By Bruce Mulkey
In My personal path
Posted May 5, 2020

The Story of My Life

This autobiography was a September 1960 assignment written for Mrs. Clara Garrison's 5th Period English class, Tullahoma High School, Tullahoma, Tennessee.

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 On Turning 77 in 2020
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By Bruce Mulkey
In My personal path
Posted April 28, 2020

On Turning 77 in 2020

As I was writing this for my seventy-seventh birthday, in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, a scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail flashed into my consciousness: A couple of grubby-looking [...]

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 2020 . . . So Far
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Be happy now, Embracing our connection, My personal path, Shifting cultural paradigm
Posted April 14, 2020

2020 . . . So Far

You may have seen that meme that was going around social media a week or two ago: “Dear 2020, none of this sh*t was on my vision board.” Well, life so far in 2020 has presented a number of [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Caring for our children, Embracing our connection, My personal path
Posted April 9, 2020

Every student deserves a Ms. Mitchell

Most of my teachers have faded into a nameless, faceless blur. However, there was one savior in the midst of my 12-year confinement. Ms. Mitchell came to Bel-Aire Elementary (Tullahoma, [...]

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 With your support we made it!
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Be happy now, Embracing our connection, Healthy living
Posted February 11, 2020

With your support we made it!

YES! We made it! Shonnie’s breast cancer diagnosis in November and Gracelyn’s intuitive sense that it was essential to remain near her mom at all times, led to weeks of unsettledness and [...]

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 Podcast: Finding My Way Back Home
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Caring for our children, Embracing our connection, My personal path, Shifting cultural paradigm
Posted January 23, 2020

Podcast: Finding My Way Back Home

"Finding My Way Back Home" recounts my journey from toxic masculinity to a more mindful manhood, a voyage that includes participating in a transformational workshop, peeling back the encrusted [...]

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 The Roman Room: Favorite Watering Hole of My Youth
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, My personal path
Posted December 31, 2019

The Roman Room: Favorite Watering Hole of My Youth

Fifty-six years ago, New Year’s Eve 1963, I was slogging through six or eight inches of wet snow toward an evening at my favorite watering hole, the Roman Room. A junior at the University of [...]

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 Seventy-eight years ago today . . .
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By Bruce Mulkey
In My personal path, Reclaiming Democracy
Posted December 7, 2019

Seventy-eight years ago today . . .

Seventy-eight years ago today, Sunday, December 7, 1941, my dad, Mack Mulkey, a recent college drop-out working at the local Dr Pepper plant, drove a borrowed pickup truck the fifteen miles down [...]

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 Pry Me Off Dead Center
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Be happy now, Embracing our connection
Posted December 2, 2019

Pry Me Off Dead Center

O persistent God, Deliver me from assuming your mercy is gentle. Pressure me that I may grow more human not through the lessening of my struggles but through an expansion of them that will [...]

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 Podcast: A Tale of Two Daughters
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Caring for our children, Embracing our connection, My daughters, My personal path
Posted November 16, 2019

Podcast: A Tale of Two Daughters

"A Tale of Two Daughters" is the story of how, and why, I slipped the surly bonds of toxic masculinity and transformed from emotionally-stunted misogynist to awakened advocate of equality, from [...]

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 Evergreen—A charter school committed to becoming racially inclusive
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Caring for our children, Embracing our connection, Shifting cultural paradigm
Posted October 4, 2019

Evergreen—A charter school committed to becoming racially inclusive

Evergreen Community Charter School is currently taking significant steps toward becoming a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive community.

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 How John Hoover Inspired Me to Transform My Life
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Be happy now, Embracing our connection, My personal path
Posted September 20, 2019

How John Hoover Inspired Me to Transform My Life

In Knoxville in 1983, I screwed up my courage and began therapy with a local psychologist, John Hoover, a tall, brawny man with an engaging and amiable manner. I immediately had the sense that I [...]

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 Thank you, Howard Hanger, for keeping the main thing the main thing!
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Caring for our children, Embracing our connection, My personal path
Posted August 4, 2019

Thank you, Howard Hanger, for keeping the main thing the main thing!

Thank you for the huge role you've played in our lives, Howard. Thank you for keeping the main thing the main thing. Thank you for being you.

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 My One and Only Sex Education Class
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Healthy living, Just for laughs
Posted June 8, 2019

My One and Only Sex Education Class

In 1958 during my sophomore year at Tullahoma (Tennessee) High School, every boy in the school was ordered to the gymnasium bleachers with the male teachers for a sex education talk by a local [...]

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 We were married 20 years ago today!
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, My personal path
Posted May 30, 2019

We were married 20 years ago today!

Early in 1999, Shonnie, in her professional capacity, was setting up at a health fair at the Asheville Civic Center. While we rather liked being committed to one another but not married, we'd [...]

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 A Serendipitous Encounter
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, My personal path
Posted May 29, 2019

A Serendipitous Encounter

Shonnie and I were married at Bend of Ivy Lodge outside Asheville 20 years ago tomorrow, May 30. In honor of that occasion, over the next few days I’ll be posting a few episodes from my [...]

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 Finding My Way Back Home Redux
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, My personal path
Posted March 11, 2019

Finding My Way Back Home Redux

It was a warm June evening in 1961, the night of my graduation from Tullahoma High School. I’d just returned to Tennessee from playing in a high school all-American football game in Fort [...]

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 Introduction from my book Happiness Now
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Be happy now, Embracing our connection
Posted January 18, 2019

Introduction from my book Happiness Now

You can be happy if you want to be. While you may have little control over the events around you, you have total control of the happiness in your own life.

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 Happy New Year 2019!
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Be happy now, Embracing our connection, My personal path
Posted January 5, 2019

Happy New Year 2019!

January 1, a new year, some might say a clean slate. During my wild impetuous youth, the first day of the year typically meant horrendous hangovers and, at some point, the hair of the dog. In [...]

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 Finding My Way Back Home
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, My personal path
Posted September 27, 2018

Finding My Way Back Home

In 1943, I entered life a unique, loving, vulnerable, entirely authentic little being. Before long, however, in reaction to the insensitive, thoughtless, or ignorant words and actions of the [...]

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 My friend Harry Nelson
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, My personal path
Posted July 19, 2018

My friend Harry Nelson

My friend and former brother-in-law Harry Nelson has died.

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 My essay is featured at the Washington Post!
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Caring for our children, My daughters, My personal path, Shifting cultural paradigm
Posted June 15, 2018

My essay is featured at the Washington Post!

Yes, I'm excited today because my personal essay "With over 40 years between the birth of my two daughters, I am two different fathers" is featured at the Washington Post On Parenting section.

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, My personal path, Reclaiming Democracy
Posted June 5, 2018

Bobby Kennedy was assassinated 50 years ago today.

"Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not."

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 I Turn Three-Quarters of a Century Old Today
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Be happy now, My personal path
Posted April 28, 2018

I Turn Three-Quarters of a Century Old Today

Seventy-fucking-five. Three-quarters of a century. Thirty percent of the time the U.S. has existed. In my twenties, seemingly bulletproof and brimming with bravado and condescension, I’d [...]

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 Letting go of fear, ill will, and my trusty six-gun
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Caring for our children, My personal path, Shifting cultural paradigm
Posted February 16, 2018

Letting go of fear, ill will, and my trusty six-gun

Well, they didn’t pry it out of my cold, dead hands. But my only remaining firearm has just left the premises.

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 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Co-op
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Healthy living, Shifting cultural paradigm
Posted January 22, 2018

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Co-op

We popped into French Broad Food Co-op during the Women's March in Asheville on Saturday for a few snacks and something to drink. And as I wandered the aisles, I thought, maybe it's time to re-up [...]

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 Happy Holidays from the Lavender-Mulkey Clan!
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, My daughters, My personal path
Posted December 21, 2017

Happy Holidays from the Lavender-Mulkey Clan!

Wow, 2017 is about to come to an end, and in some respects, none too soon. But despite the extraordinary political challenges we’ve confronted in our nation this year, 2017 has been a fulfilling [...]

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 A Number’s Game: Does Age Really Matter in A Relationship?
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Be happy now, Embracing our connection, My personal path
Posted December 18, 2017

A Number’s Game: Does Age Really Matter in A Relationship?

Shonnie and I were recently interviewed for the BedLoveBeyond podcast, this episode about couples with significant age differences (Ours, by the way, is 28 years.).

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 After the Funeral
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, Poetry
Posted November 27, 2017

After the Funeral

When you told me you needed a drink-drink and not just a drink like a drink of water, I steered you by the elbow into a corner bar, which turned out to be a real bar-bar,

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 Saturday night family dance
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Be happy now, Embracing our connection, My personal path
Posted September 19, 2017

Saturday night family dance

When the Avett Brothers began to sing “No Hard Feelings,” Shonnie walked over, embraced me, and without exchanging a word, we began to slow dance to the music.

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 How to help Houston
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, Treading lightly on our planet
Posted August 29, 2017

How to help Houston

Suggestions on how to help in Houston from Our Revolution

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 Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front by Wendell Berry
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Be happy now, Embracing our connection, Treading lightly on our planet
Posted August 6, 2017

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front by Wendell Berry

Be joyful though you have considered all the facts

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 An Open Letter to My Daughter Gracelyn  in the Era of Donald Trump
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Caring for our children, Embracing our connection, My personal path, Shifting cultural paradigm
Posted June 12, 2017

An Open Letter to My Daughter Gracelyn in the Era of Donald Trump

Today I write this letter to you so that you might better understand the tumultuous transformation that’s currently underway in our nation.

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 We shouted out, “Who killed democracy?” when after all, it was you and me.
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, My personal path, Reclaiming Democracy, Shifting cultural paradigm
Posted May 9, 2017

We shouted out, “Who killed democracy?” when after all, it was you and me.

I believe we, the citizens of this nation, have been asleep for the past several decades. We began to pay more attention to our TV shows, our favorite celebrities, our sports teams, our fancy [...]

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 Becoming Myself
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Be happy now, My personal path
Posted April 4, 2017

Becoming Myself

Nothing to live up to, Nothing to live down. No one to castigate, No one to crown . . .

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 Failing some tests is truly painful.
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, My personal path, Shifting cultural paradigm
Posted March 27, 2017

Failing some tests is truly painful.

I am a recovering racist. I grew up white in the South of the 50s and 60s. Most of the schools I attended were segregated. And I have rarely had more than superficial contact with men and women [...]

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 The Entire Journey–an astounding Super Bowl ad . . . from 84 Lumber
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, Shifting cultural paradigm
Posted February 6, 2017

The Entire Journey–an astounding Super Bowl ad . . . from 84 Lumber

Brighten up your day with this poignant ad from 84 Lumber. Better bring some tissues.

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 We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, Reclaiming Democracy, Shifting cultural paradigm
Posted February 2, 2017

We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

An essay I wrote during the Bush administration in 2003 that's highly relevant today.

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 Presidential inaugurations I’ll always remember
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By Bruce Mulkey
In My personal path, Reclaiming Democracy, Shifting cultural paradigm
Posted January 20, 2017

Presidential inaugurations I’ll always remember

The first presidential inauguration I attended was Richard Nixon’s in 1969. Well, I guess I should say that I was actually there for the counter-inauguration . . .

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 Happy New Year from the Lavender-Mulkey Clan!
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Be happy now, My daughters, My personal path
Posted December 30, 2016

Happy New Year from the Lavender-Mulkey Clan!

Well, another year has passed, and what a year it’s been. It will be intriguing to see what 2017 will bring. In the meantime, Shonnie, Gracelyn and I want to share what we’ve been up to in 2016. [...]

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 Talking the 2016 post-election blues
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Reclaiming Democracy, Shifting cultural paradigm
Posted November 28, 2016

Talking the 2016 post-election blues

On a warm Texas morning on Wednesday, November 3, 1948, I remember my mom, Sue Mulkey, a life-long Democrat, gleefully asking our next-door neighbor, “Well, how do you like our new president?” [...]

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 Donald Trump’s hyper-masculine facade
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, Reclaiming Democracy
Posted November 16, 2016

Donald Trump’s hyper-masculine facade

One might think that Donald Trump is brimming with high self-esteem. He is not. What Donald Trump demonstrates is pseudo-self-esteem. He unconsciously hides his fears, insecurities, and [...]

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 The Family Dance
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Caring for our children, Embracing our connection, My daughters
Posted September 22, 2016

The Family Dance

It was Saturday, and that meant pizza and homemade ice cream night at the Lavender-Mulkey home. And, as frequently happens, it was time for a family dance.

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Be happy now, Embracing our connection, Shifting cultural paradigm
Posted September 21, 2016

It’s In Every One Of Us

For your viewing pleasure on International Day of Peace.

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, Reclaiming Democracy
Posted September 11, 2016

In the wake of 9/11 how will we choose to be?

I wrote this op-ed for the September 15, 2001 edition of the Asheville Citizen-Times. As you read this my wife, Shonnie, will finally be home. That will never be said again for thousands of our [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Caring for our children, Embracing our connection, My daughters, My personal path
Posted September 7, 2016

Breathing new life into my purpose

I wrote this on December 31, 2010 and am reposting it in honor my daughter Gracelyn’s 6th birthday today. * * * “What is your purpose in life?” the guardian of the gate at the men’s retreat [...]

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 Hi, I’m Bruce, and I’m a recovering racist.
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, My personal path
Posted August 10, 2016

Hi, I’m Bruce, and I’m a recovering racist.

Hi, I'm Bruce, and I'm a recovering racist.

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, Reclaiming Democracy
Posted July 15, 2016

Can The United States Transcend White Supremacy? by Robert Jensen

Facing what seems like an endless stream of news about racialized conflicts and violence, many people call for us to get beyond our history and find solutions for today, concrete actions we can [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Just for laughs, My personal path, Shifting cultural paradigm
Posted July 11, 2016

My one and only high school sex education class

In 1958, during my sophomore year at Tullahoma (TN) High School, all the boys in every class were ordered to the gymnasium bleachers with the male teachers for a sex education talk by a local [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, My personal path, Reclaiming Democracy
Posted June 17, 2016

Letting go of fear, ill will, and my trusty six-gun–reposted

Well, they didn’t pry it out of my cold, dead hands. But my only remaining firearm has just left the premises. Having grown up and lived in the South I’ve owned shotguns, .22 rifles, and an [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Caring for our children, Embracing our connection, Shifting cultural paradigm
Posted June 13, 2016

Adult behavior fosters youth violence–December 15, 1999

Here’s a commentary about violence in our nation that I wrote for the Asheville Citizen-Times late in 1999 that seems unfortunately appropriate for these times.            [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Reclaiming Democracy, Shifting cultural paradigm
Posted June 7, 2016

My thoughts on the 2016 presidential election

Last evening Shonnie, Gracelyn and I were in the kitchen cooking dinner and listening to This Land is Your Land: Songs of Freedom. Buffy Sainte-Marie and her rendition of “The Universal [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Caring for our children, My personal path, Shifting cultural paradigm
Posted June 6, 2016

Spanking gets results . . . just not those you’re likely to desire.

My great-grandmother, Mae McCarthy (better known as Ma), who enjoyed dipping snuff and preferred another layer of body powder to regular bathing, had a Victorian attitude when it came to [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, My personal path
Posted June 2, 2016

My cherished friend Sharon Parish

My personal remembrance of my cherished friend Sharon Parish, who passed away ten years ago. I wrote this for her daughter Lily Parish’s “Whispers,” a collection of stories [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, Musical interlude
Posted May 17, 2016

Rest in peace, Guy Clark.

Guy Clark died today at the age of 74. Rest in peace, Guy. Pack up all your dishes. Make note of all good wishes. Say goodbye to the landlord for me. That son of a bitch has always bored me. [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, Reclaiming Democracy, Shifting cultural paradigm
Posted April 4, 2016

What Was Really Behind North Carolina’s Anti-LGBT Bill

It was, in the end, about a 21st century governor who joined a short, tragic list of 20th century governors. You know at least some of these names, probably: Wallace, Faubus, Barnett. They were [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, Shifting cultural paradigm
Posted March 28, 2016

What Men Really Want from a Lover

What do guys really want? Male stereotypes might have you believe that joining our pals for binge watching NCAA basketball tourney games while consuming lots of cold beer and hot pizza fulfill [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, Reclaiming Democracy
Posted March 20, 2016

A few illogical arguments for the elimination of Saddam Hussein, 10/12/02

The relentless march to war by the Bush administration and camp followers proceeds. Congress has folded like a cheap suit, giving the President the authority to bully another second-rate power [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Caring for our children, Embracing our connection, My personal path
Posted February 8, 2016

I found it, I lost it, I found it again.

While living by myself in a little cottage on Mount Bonnell outside Austin in the early nineties, I was without a significant other for the first extended period in my life. Fortunately (though I [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Reclaiming Democracy, Shifting cultural paradigm
Posted January 30, 2016

I support Jasmine Beach-Ferrara for Buncombe County Commission

Below is my recent letter to the Asheville Citizen-Times backing Jasmine Beach-Ferrara for Buncombe County Commission. BACKING BEACH-FERRARA FOR SEAT ON COMMISSION When Amendment One passed in [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, Reclaiming Democracy, Shifting cultural paradigm
Posted January 18, 2016

May the dream become reality.

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Shifting cultural paradigm
Posted December 31, 2015

Happy New Year!

What will you release? And what will you begin?

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 All alone in the forest . . . yet not alone at all
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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, My personal path
Posted December 29, 2015

All alone in the forest . . . yet not alone at all

To be able to run through the forest, strong, quick strides, uphill, downhill, breathing in my surroundings, fully present, conscious of my connection with the web of life. No concern for money, [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, Reclaiming Democracy
Posted December 25, 2015

Christmas in the Trenches

Poignant song about the spontaneous 1914 Christmas Truce between the British and German troops, a song written and performed by John McCutcheon. What if we realized our so-called [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Be happy now, Embracing our connection
Posted December 24, 2015

Seasons greetings from the Lavender-Mulkey Clan!

Well, we’re back from Costa Rica doing our best to keep alive the Tico lifestyle of pura vida: Go with the flow! And in that tradition, we wish all of y’all a meaningful holiday [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, My personal path, Shifting cultural paradigm
Posted December 12, 2015

I Don’t Mind Growing Old; I Just Don’t Want To Be There When It Happens.

“Don’t trust anyone over thirty,” I arrogantly proclaimed during the Sixties, when I was twenty-something and imagined I was bulletproof and would remain forever young. [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Be happy now, Embracing our connection
Posted November 26, 2015

Happy Thanksgiving!

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, Quotations
Posted November 10, 2015

Love is the ability . . .

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By Bruce Mulkey
In My personal path
Posted October 26, 2015

Thought for the day

The other day, I apologized to my wife Shonnie three or four times for various instances of inconsiderate behavior, including speaking disrespectfully to her. I’d certainly recognized and [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection
Posted October 21, 2015

My friend, Ken Kinnett

I first met Ken Kinnett and his wife Loyd in 1987 at Way of a Warrior, an intensive weeklong workshop that took place outside of Dahlonega, Georgia near the southern terminus of the Appalachian [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Shifting cultural paradigm, Treading lightly on our planet
Posted October 13, 2015

Think we Americans have enough stuff?

I’ve been curious for a while about the prevalence of storage unit facilities in the U.S. and whether this phenomena exists in other nations. So, here are the facts: The United States has [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In My personal path
Posted September 15, 2015

How I stopped avoiding my calling and learned to love the thesaurus

The Journey by Mary Oliver One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice – – – though the whole house began [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection, My personal path
Posted September 11, 2015

Ground Zero

I dreamt about a hellish place Of smoke and dust and fire And volunteers responded to A call that came from higher. Feeding workers hearty meals Washing dust and grime Cheering cops day in day [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Caring for our children, My daughters
Posted August 15, 2015

Teach Your Children Well

Loved this song in 1970 when my daughter Lilla was two, and I love it now as my daughter Gracelyn is about to turn five. “Teach Your Children Well” by Crosby, Still, Nash and Young [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Be happy now, Embracing our connection, Just for laughs
Posted August 13, 2015

The cesspool of sin

A few years ago, the late state Sen. Jim Forrester described Asheville as a “cesspool of sin,” and the folks who live here began creating bumper stickers, shirts, and jokes lampooning those [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Quotations
Posted August 11, 2015

On writing

“Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.” — Mark Twain “Thus, in a real sense, I am constantly writing autobiography, but I have to turn it into [...]

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By Bruce Mulkey
In Embracing our connection
Posted August 11, 2015

The tale of two wolves

One evening an old Cherokee Indian told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people: “My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, envy, [...]

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