Tag: history

“Maxxing” to the Rescue?

The Sun, Edvard Munch, 1910–11. Photo © Munchmuseet.

 

“Maxxing is shortcut for maximizing.” It’s Dictionary.com’s 2026 Word of the Year. It works as a noun, verb, adjective or adverb. What? You are not using it in your everyday speech (yet)?

It’s OK. You have 2 months to update your 2026 vocabulary.

In case you are curious, here are some competitors for this year’s “word of the year”: affordability, data center, odyssey, and “Unc” — abbreviation for “uncle,” with Gen Z and Gen Alpha poking “fun” with ageist stereotyping  of older individuals who are judged “uncool,” trying too hard, or just not “getting it.”

According to the director of lexicography for Dictionary Media Group, Steve Johnson, “Maxxing….crossed a lot of different domains…we not only look at the data behind the word usage, but we also are really looking to see what’s capturing something distinctive that describes the year.” Are you upping your sleep habits or “sleepmaxxing”? Have you finally kept one of your New Year’s Resolutions and now are “gymmaxxing”? What about your leisure time or “cozymaxxing”? Even the government is in on “maxxing” snacking, as in some messages for “homelandmaxxing.”

Emily Mae Czachor, Reporter and News Editor at CBSNews.com, writes that the word has roots, as in “maxing out” one’s credit card. Johnson focuses on the optimization definition as stemming from game theory; he references Dungeons & Dragons’ “min-maxing,” or the shoring up of a character’s strengths in one area to cover for weaknesses. Is this what politicians attempt to pull off?

Do you favor “maxxing” on election campaign ads? This election cycle has seen “maxxing” of money spent on candidates’ brand (often including trash talking an opponent). According to AI Mode, midterm elections in 2026 broke all records for money spent on total political advertising. Estimates are projected to reach a “maxxing” amount of $11.6 billion. This does not seem like national “optimization” when people cannot afford to fill their gas tanks at the pump. Imagine what those billions might achieve in the education of our nation’s youth. And let’s shed some light on our planet’s climate crisis with a few billions.

Johnson reports, “This trendy term can be used on its own or added to the end of any word to convey you’re doing something to the fullest or optimizing it as much as possible.”

If all of this leaves you out of the trendy loop, consider “normalmaxxing!” This allows you to be up to date with Dictionary.com, but to reject pressure to optimize everything. Or consider “nothingmaxxing.” A YouTube feature attracting millions of viewers offers “taking boring breaks” by filming a guy staring at a blank wall for 10 minutes. Gen Z followers then filmed themselves doing nothing. This digital-break phenomenon likely will garner some researcher’s interest!

I just hope turned-off voters stop staring at digital screens or blank walls long enough for “maxxing” voter turnout in every election cycle.

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

546. What are you “maxxing” in your life?

547. How might you spend billions of dollars if you had access?   

Land of Free or Land of Fear?

Why do so many people in America have fear riding shotgun in their jeans front pocket? Perhaps they cannot reflect upon President Harry S. Truman’s understanding: “America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.” But what exactly is our job at hand?

Let’s start with upholding The Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

This Declaration was written in 1776 and signed on July 4th by John Hancock (President, Continental Congress) and Scots-Irish Charles Thomson (Secretary, Continental Congress) who was born in County Londonderry, Ireland. Most of the 56 signings appeared August 2nd with the final signing on November 4th.

It’s fascinating that an immigrant, Charles Thomson, was so instrumental in our country’s founding document. Who knows his story? His father set sail for America with his 5 children when his wife died in 1739. Charles was 9-years-old.

This Scots father died at sea, losing his possessions. The orphaned children were separated upon landing on American soil. Charles, initially taken in by a blacksmith, became a tutor in Latin at Philadelphia Academy (a predecessor of the University of Pennsylvania).

Charles exemplifies determination. He prepared the Journals of the Continental Congress, co-designed the Great Seal of the U.S. and was responsible for adding Latin mottos to the Seal’s reverse side – Annuit coeptis (“Providence favors our undertakings”) and Novus ordo seclorum (“New order of the ages”). Both refer to lines by Roman poet Virgil. Then after nearly 2 decades of work, Charles Thomson’s translation of the Bible’s Old Testament was published in 1808.

As the U. S. marks its 250th anniversary, we celebrate the 6-30-26 Supreme Court decision to strike down an executive order to end birthright citizenship. The Court (6-3) upheld the Constitution’s 14th Amendment delivering citizenship to (almost) everyone born on U.S. soil.

As the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute notes, our 250th celebration is “…about people, places, and stories—millions of them…[it] can be a unifying moment—not because everyone sees the past the same way, but because anniversaries help bring people together. They offer a shared starting point…this milestone is a chance for all Americans to learn more about the country and each other.”

Oh, at least 8 of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence where immigrants, born in England or Scotland, along with Alexander Hamilton who was born in British West Indies. Robert Morris, born in England, nearly bankrupted his assets to fund the Revolutionary War. Morris supplied Washington’s troops when the Continental Congress was unable to do so.

Courageous, imaginative, and unbeatable determined immigrants are a backbone of our country.

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

512. What history have you learned about America’s founding?

513. What stories will you pass on about the 250th year of the U.S.?  

Flowers and Flags

May hosts Mental Health Awareness Month; it also is the month honoring Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage, as well as National Military Appreciation. Putting these celebrations together gives one pause. It is a complicated triangle.

Memorial Day is when we grieve for American soldiers who died in service to their country. Initially, the day was called “Decoration Day” due to a ceremony begun by freed enslaved people, members of the U.S. Colored Troops, in Charleston, SC in 1865. Graves of Union soldiers were decorated with flowers and flags. After World War I the ritual grew to commemorate all soldiers. It is noble to honor sacrifice and valor.

Who honors the sacrifice and valor of innocent people of Japanese descent, nearly 120, 000 strong, who were seized by the U.S. government in 1942 and incarcerated in 10 isolated concentration camps? Approximately 2/3 were U.S. citizens who had their assets frozen. Japanese Americans made up 1/3 of Hawaii’s population. Mass removal was not completed there due to “labor needs,” but some were sent to mainland camps. After their years of detainment, the release of these Asian Americans in 1945 entailed a transportation ticket and $25.00. In 1988 the U.S. government delivered a formal apology and initiated reparations.

War strips humanity naked, sometimes literally as in the rape and plunder realm, but also figuratively. Many innocent people lose their livelihood and in in some instances, their very lives in continuous wars today. Are we supposed to appreciate such military actions?

Research listed on an official website of the U.S. government, the National Library of Medicine, reports on ill effects upon a soldier’s life in killing in combat in the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Supporting previous research, findings related “…that bearing responsibility for death in a warzone is associated with PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder), depression, anxiety symptoms, suicidality, and hazardous alcohol use.” The researchers isolated “rumination” as a factor for negative post-deployment reactions. PTSD has haunted many veterans for decades.

Who is paying attention to mental health awareness in our government? Mental Health Awareness Month has been observed since 1949, but it is not highlighted enough. Awareness of both physical and mental wellness is not just an issue for soldiers but also for solders’ families.

 I want to endorse one government agency, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), for its toolkit of resources with themes on mental health for each week in May:

  • Week 1 — Understanding mental illness;
  • Week 2 — Early support matters – recognizing signs in children and youth;
  • Week 3 — Words matter and words can heal;
  • Week 4 — Supporting loved ones – connection is a powerful form of care.

Let’s make a better effort, America, to take up these themes as positive action steps all year.

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

500. Yes, this is the 500th question I ask in PoP: What does Memorial Day mean to you?

501. How might you promote mental health awareness? 

AI vs. A Culture of Reading

The average American reportedly reads (but may not finish) 12-13 books a year according to a Gallop poll. However, this number is misleading because “heavy” readers skew the data. (I confess to being a “heavy” reader.) The median number is 2-5 books per year. An estimated 17-40% of adults in the U.S. read no books in a given year. Gallop reports that women read more than men (approximately 15.7 books versus 9.5). College graduates are more likely readers with 90% reading at least 1 book annually, while 34% of individuals with H.S. or less years of schooling read 1 book per year. Surveys in recent years report declining numbers of books read annually.

We have AI to read for us. Will the reading slippery slope become more pronounced? I wonder how AI affects students doing their own research of a topic. How might AI impact overall reading (learning) habits? Linguist Naomi S. Baron, Professor Emerita, American University, also has concerns. She is worried about AI “…accelerating an ongoing shift in the value people place on reading as a human endeavor.”

Yesterday’s Cliff Notes are today’s “Blinks.” Apparently meant to be in the blink of an eye, one can skim a years-in-the-making book in a 15-minute summary. BooksAI is another “reader” for reading assignments. With Google NotebookLM, AI compares 2 books for your student assignment with the addition of posing questions to look smart in class.

As a contrast, Iceland has a culture of readers. Often cited as the most literate nation in the world, over half of Icelandic residents read 8+ books a year and 1 in 10 publish a book in their lifetime. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Iceland has the most writers per capita in the world. AI estimates that 1 in 5000 people publish a book in the U.S. despite a self-published-book rise.

There is an endearing tradition, Jólabókaflóð (The Christmas Book Flood), in Iceland each Christmas. Books are gifts on Christmas Eve. Each Icelander typically will receive at least one book. With no knowledge of Iceland, this is a tradition I began with my children years ago and I continue it annually. I applaud Iceland’s country-wide tradition.

With its long, dark winters, Iceland has long celebrated a tradition called kvöldvaka, an evening time of honoring storytelling in communal spaces. A person might read from a book, recite a poem, or re-tell a story from Iceland’s early history. Children learned to read and write in such a setting while honoring their country’s history and geography. At a time when many were poor, the literacy rate in Iceland was high.

This makes me wonder how Americans spend their winter evenings. Is every person glued to a solo digital gadget? Are students skimming AI summaries rather than reading books? How might these AI “traditions” affect our culture?

Can we embrace both AI and reading?

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

472. How do you use AI?

473. How many books and/or eBooks do you read a year?   

Democracy Pearls

Sitka spruce tree, 1000 years old (191 ft. tall, 55 ft in circumference), Quinault Rain Forest, WA

Just as the “world’s largest spruce tree” appears to have a tilted top, democracy seems tilted these days. Let’s imagine that like the massive and strong roots of this magnificent Sitka spruce tree, the massive and strong roots of democracy can hold steady.

Stanford University is sponsoring a webinar series called “Reimaging Democracy.” When I first received the email invite, my unspoken question was to ponder why we have to “reimagine” something that we were taught –  from childhood onward – was an American birthright.

Professors of Law at Standford, Jud Campbell and Fred Smith, opined about whether our country is experiencing a “constitutional crisis.” This is unsettling territory. Neither of the professors believe that we have “crossed the Rubicon,” but each used phrases like these: “…a moment of transformation…a moment of uncertainty…there are increasing signs that we are at greater risk…people use politics to solve problems.” Interviewer Bernadette Meyler asked a burning question of each speaker: “What keeps you up at night?” Smith answered with his own question: “Are we going to have fair and free elections?” Campbell added, “I share that fear as well. To say something different, we have come out of differences before, but the information system today of divided opinion may not come together.”   

In an earlier webinar of this series, American political scientist Francis Fukuyama was featured. His book, The End of History and the Last Man combined philosophical notions from earlier centuries. A strong influence upon Fukuyama was Plato (428-347 B.C.) who is attributed with this idea of democracy: “…dealing with all alike on a footing of equality, whether they be really equal or not.” Add another 1000+ years, and a German philosopher, George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831), was another influence with his vision that each period of history is an improvement on prior eras. Does such “old guard” thinking prevail today? Equality is challenged on many fronts. Can current history be considered an “improvement” from prior times?  

Is democracy up for grabs? If so, whose hands are going to catch a democracy that seems off-kilter, as if it were tossed into thin air?

I watched a kite flyer trying to maneuver strong headwinds and determined rain along the Pacific Ocean this weekend. The kite dipped and swerved with jagged and jerky motions as if it might plunge from the sky at any moment. However, despite kite trauma, I did not see the kite fall. I do not see democracy falling either. There are checks and balances in a democracy. It is up to each citizen to call for checks and balances in times of questionable circumstances.

Lyrics from Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen’s “Democracy” seem pertinent:

“Sail on, sail on

O mighty Ship of State!

To the Shores of Need

Past the Reefs of Greed

Through the Squalls of Hate

Sail on, sail on, sail on, sail on.“

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

438. How do you define equality?

439. What does democracy mean to you?    

Cultural Change and Climate Change

Receding Nisqually Glacier and its Mount Rainier runoff in 2025

Washington state Nisqually indigenous people are described as people of the river and grass. Nisqually original homeland consisted of nearly 2 million acres encompassing present-day towns of Olympia, Tenino, and Dupont, including a reach as far as Mount Rainier. Nisqually life in the Puget Sound watershed has existed for the past 10,000 years. However, drastic changes for the tribe occurred 150+ years ago with the arrival of Euro-Americans. Many current families live along the Nisqually River 14 miles east of Olympia on a reservation of approximately 5000 acres with tribal land holdings nearby of 1000 acres (which only were reacquired in the past 25 years).

Fort Nisqually was established in 1833 as the first white settlement on Puget Sound. Shifting land allotments for the peaceful Nisqually people are painful reminders of shifting movement of the Nisqually Glacier and Nisqually River on Mount Rainier. Shifting names accompany this impressive mountain: Tahoma, Lushootseed, Cowlitz, Klallam, Upper Chehalis, Twana, and Chinook Wawa preceded Mount Rainier, named for Rear Admiral Peter Rainier. Renaming a mountain is symbolic for relocating communities. Relocation is challenging; forced relocation is traumatic.

Both steep topography and roaring rivers characterize Mount Rainier. When developers situated roads and buildings alongside the grade of a river, they did not anticipate shifting climate changes. Repeat flooding severely damaged the Carbon River Road, taking away car access to some northwestern parts of Mount Rainier National Park. On the western edge, the Longmire development sits adjacent to Nisqually River. The river is “up” 30 feet in elevation higher than park buildings and roads which rely on a levee for protection. In 2006 one storm dumped 17.9 inches of rain over a 36-hour period on Mount Rainier, causing the park to close for 6 months.

Nisqually Glacier is losing land mass and retreating at a more rapid pace in the past century due to rising temperatures. When the summer melt period exceeds winter snow accumulation, receding glaciers pick up their melt pace. At one point Nisqually Glacier was recorded as moving as quickly as 29 inches per day! Glaciers are Nature’s laboratories for climate change. Unless there is some global stabilization of temperatures, the projection is for increased glacial retreats which in turn lead to dangerous debris flows into Mount Rainier’s rivers.

Cultural changes as well as climate changes can impact local ecosystems in some drastic ways. We often do not address the long view on a consistent basis. The concept of “7 generations ahead,” an ancient Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) credo, needs to be everyone’s credo.

 Oh, I did not mention yet that Mount Rainier is an active volcano. A cousin active volcano, Mount St. Helens, blew its lid in 1980, changing the topography in the surrounding valleys. Layers of mud and debris were sent flowing for 17 miles, while ash fell all the way east to Montana. Yikes!

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

419. When you think of climate change, what are your first thoughts?

420. How are today’s U. S. cultural changes affecting you?         

Memorial Mammals

Blue whale skeleton, Natural History Museum, London

Gigantic blue whales (100+ feet long) were rescued from extinction in the 1960’s. Hunters gorged on profits from whale meat, oil, and baleen. Blue whale numbers fell from nearly 350,000 to approximately 400 in the late 20th century. While these mammals slowly grow in numbers, they remain an endangered species due to marine pollution and climate change on an uptick.

Today is Memorial Day when we mourn a different mammal’s demise – humans (average height 5.5 feet). In addition to pollution and climate changes that threaten humankind, our species seems fixated on wars. It is impossible to know an approximate numbers of soldiers and civilians who lost life in war-related “hunting” in different desired profits, especially land grabs, and/or power over certain “others.”

I received an education about war and its lingering trauma effects when working with veterans in my family therapy private practice. I cannot imagine being sent to a far-away place and then hunting down the people who live there, whether soldier or civilian. How could one know from a distance if a person was the intended target? The term “collateral damage” bothers me. Civilian casualties are considered murder in circumstances not bound by military definitions. Veterans in countless wars shot their guns “in the air” rather than killing another of their kind. When we give air to all the stories from veterans, perhaps we then might engage in civil problem-solving.

However, it is no wonder that veterans decline to speak about their experiences. They carry an emotional backpack that they believe they must hide and protect. Who can make the personal decision to dishonor their government’s orders? Returning Vietnam soldiers felt scammed when realizing the war hoax of a President who did not know how to end disastrous results. Coupled with personal value systems shattered, soldiers suffer silently.

I once participated as a volunteer in an innovative program called Vet Art. We used forms of art to engage Vietnam War veterans in coping with their lingering trauma. Like my veteran clients, both men and women soldiers told war grief stories of shame and guilt. While listening to and caring for other vets in a safe group environment, soldiers discovered that their emotions were universal although each had unique ways of exiling the pain they lugged through current life.

Americans have a lot to learn about grieving from the Dutch. Beginning in 1945 Dutch citizens “adopted” the graves of 8,301 U.S. soldiers buried in the Margraten American Cemetery. Considering U.S. soldiers their liberators in preserving democracy, Dutch families have preserved this grave adoption for 70 years. Many graves are passed on, generation to generation, even writing the respectful grieving ritual into wills. Dutch families search for and contact families of their adopted fallen soldier. On Memorial Days, some biological family members attend ceremonies with their Dutch-adopting family. Might such cross-culture caring keep us from extinction?

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

397. What stories linger for you about war experiences?

398. How might you honor cross-culture sacrifices today? 

Ancestor Pearls

Ever curious, I traveled to the UK to find my English ancestors in the Yorkshire dales (Viking word for valleys). On my plane ride over the ocean I read the history of Yorkshire’s people – industrious and opinionated – check and check. I also found a new understanding about my 9-times-great grandfather. Gathering Yorkshire lore, there is a line-up of possible gene diversity in early times. My Lonely Planet travel guide gives a history of a variety of people occupying Yorkshire. Originally there was a local tribe called “Brigantes” who were linked to the Celtic goddess Brigantia. But many adventurers desired claim to the lovely rolling hills and dales of Yorkshire. A revolving door of conquering warriors settled there:

  • AD 71 — Romans fought off Brigantes, building roads and fortifications.
  •  AD 122 — Roman emperor Hadrian, born in Italica, used the fort at York for “campaigns.”
  • AD 325 — Roman priest Paulinus converted Yorkshire people to Christianity.
  • AD 410 – Roman Empire rule ended in Britain with Anglo-Saxons taking charge.
  • AD 866 — Vikings arrived, making York a successful trading post.
  • AD 954 — King Eadred of Wessex took command, ousting the Vikings.
  • AD 1066 — King Harold II held off a Norwegian invasion, only to die at the Battle of Hastings.
  • AD  1066 – Vikings rebuilt York, including the beginning of the large cathedral…
  • AD 1644 – “Civil” War nearly destroyed the city of York.

My ancestor, Joseph Whitacre (also spelled Whitaker), was born in Yorkshire in 1680. Was he part-Viking? Was he Norwegian? I already knew that he was a Quaker who set sail from Liverpool to Philadelphia on the ship Britannia in 1699. The pacifist Quakers were persecuted for their religious beliefs. They rejected the Church of England’s rituals containing elaborate ceremonies and set ways of worship. Quakers held a different understanding of divinity, believing in the “Inner Light,” or the presence of divinity within each person.

In the University of Leeds Brotherton Library basement, my daughter and I viewed microfilm records of the Quakers in Yorkshire in the 1600’s. There were so many names beginning with the letter W and my relative was not at the beginning of the W names (not listed alphabetically). The last name of Wilson might be next to Wood. When I finally saw Whitaker, John, whose father was also John, it was amazing!

Unfortunately, there was no occupation listed for his father, or his mother’s name, but I found what I was really interested in – his identity confirmed, his hometown named, and his siblings’ names. I was able to visit the site of his Quaker Meeting House, and his family’s town of Halifax, important in the wool industry at the time. Halifax was delightful, nestled in the dales of Yorkshire…one immigrant family line traced to their hometown, three lines to go.

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

395. Where did your precious ancestors live?

396. How many diverse groups of people might make up your family tree?  

Women’s Herstory Month 

“Women are like teabags. We don’t know our true strength until we are in hot water.” Whether First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt actually said this is unknown, but women’s true strengths often go unrecognized, even by women themselves. Let’s reflect on a mostly unknown woman’s story and her accomplishments.

Austrian-American Gerda Hedwig Lerner taught American history and initiated the first college course on women’s history in 1963 while an undergraduate in New York’s New School for Social Research. Subsequently, she created the first known master’s degree program in women’s history at Sarah Lawrence College and first doctoral woman’s history program at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her mission was simple: she wanted to offer studies in “people who did not have a voice in telling their own stories.”

Lerner’s early history included anti-Nazi resistance in Austria as a Jewish woman. She volunteered for “Red Aid” to help those who were arrested. Along with her mother, Lerner was jailed for 6 scary weeks, spending her 18th birthday imprisoned. She lived in a cell with two Christian women who were detained for political reasons. Her cell mates shared food with her as Jews received restricted meals. Lerner was able to immigrate to America with the aid of a sponsor – the family of her resistance fiancé. There are many poignant immigrant stories of individuals who escape dire circumstances to later enrich our collective history.

With her second husband, Lerner co-authored the screenplay of Black Like Me based on white journalist John Howard Griffin’s epic 6 weeks of traveling in the South disguised as a black man. Her doctoral dissertation told the story of resistance sisters from a slaveholding family who left their Southern home to become abolitionists in the North.

Learner became a founding member of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and began publishing books on women’s history with such titles as Black Women in White America (1972), and The Female Experience: An American Documentary (1976). She organized the first Women’s History Week in 1979, modeling it after a weeklong celebration of women’s contributions to culture and community by the Sonoma, California school district.

President Carter followed up with the first presidential proclamation to assign the week of March 8 as National Women’s History Week in 1980. Congress passed a resolution declaring a national celebration the following year. With the support of the National Women’s History Project, in 1987 Congress extended this recognition of women to our current month-long event every March. The United Kingdom and Australia followed to celebrate every March. Canada chose October for their women’s history recognition to correspond with their Persons Day on October 18th.

The 2025 theme of Women’s History Month, “Moving Forward Together,” celebrates equality and women’s collective strength. Equality includes children and men. Equality includes immigrant families. My equality ancestors were immigrants. How about your equality ancestors?

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

375.  How many women do you know who accomplish great things but are mostly unknown?

376. What women’s stories can you tell in Women’s Herstory Month?