Hey Clay,
What advice can you give me to achieve a healthier mind, body & spirit balance in my life?
Tag: advice
Letter No. 9: Why All the Buzz About Black Lives Matter?
Hey, Clay.
I’m a little confused on the #blacklivesmatter movement. What is the message, and what do they want us to know about it. I have yet to receive a clear message on what it stands for. I know it has created spin offs like #alllivesmatter and #copslivesmatter. I know they want more policing of the police. What do they recommend we do to support them?
Letter No. 7: What’s The Best Way to Say That You Don’t Believe in a Higher Power?
Hey Clay,
I need your help navigating one of society’s emerging new awkward situations.
Letter No. 6: How Do You Make Your Parents Feel Wanted But Not Needed?
Hey, Clay.
I have always been very independent from a young age. I was the child that my parents were always proud of and boasted about. They still do to this day and tell everybody, “Our child is living the dream life, we are so proud.” Unfortunately something is missing. We have never made the transition from parent-child relationship to parent-adult relationship. I’m having issues with this.
Letter No. 5: Should I Attend My Gay Friend’s Wedding?
Hey, Clay,
I’m a 62-year-old heterosexual male who grew up in the South with all the beauty and values southern living afforded. It wasn’t exactly a “Gone with the Wind” existence, but there were clear lines drawn between accepted and unaccepted behavior and right and wrong. Most of those distinctions were moral ones I learned according to a Christian upbringing which I needed to operate successfully in society, but when it came to Blacks and gays, there was an inherent and practiced prejudice taught by society and not by the Bible. I have spent most of my adult life discarding or un-learning the negative, racist ideas instilled in me from a young age. however, some of those beliefs still are attached to my core and may stay until I am gone from this life.
Letter No. 4: Am I Black or Not?
Hey, Clay.
Am I Black or not?
My mother is white, and my father is Black. I’m biracial, identify as Black, but look white. Black people always tell me I’m not Black enough, it’s like I constantly have to prove my Blackness. “You like hard rock? Obviously you’re not Black enough.” Oreo cookie.
Letter No. 3: It’s Not A Small World After All
Hey, Clay!
I have young kids who I am trying to raise to be compassionate and friendly to people they cross paths with, no matter their nationality or physicality.
When our oldest daughter was still alive and we would take her places in her wheelchair, I was always happy to answer people’s questions about her, the device she used to communicate, and her ability to understand.
Letter No. 2: What Forgiveness Looks Like
Hey, Clay.
As every family has it’s dysfunction, mine was pretty far on the dysfunctional spectrum, bordering chaotic. My parents had five children and they divorced when I was young. All five children had different relationships with my mom, varying from ones with firm boundaries to a rather enmeshed one my mom had with one sibling I’ll call Golden Child.