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Review: Can’t Hurt Me

What if?

David Goggins’ poses this seemingly simple question, and yet, if we respond to it with the drive and commitment he demonstrates in his motivational memoir, Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds, it will take us our whole lives to answer. That’s a very good thing.

If we respond to that question with courage and trust, the answer will amaze us. Not only will we exceed our goals, but a whole new world of exciting goals open up for us.

I don’t usually go for inspirational books. That doesn’t mean I don’t need the message or won’t respond positively to it — these kinds of books with 5 steps or 8 steps or however many steps to success just don’t happen to resonate with me.

To be honest, I skipped the action pages at the end of the chapters. But the chapters! Damn! This guy is a total badass! A Navy SEAL, an ultra race champion, and now, motivational speaker, David Goggins is the personification of perseverance.

This book will definitely inspire you, if not to run a 100 mile ultra race, then certainly to take that first baby step toward your goals. Highly recommend!

caveat: the language in some places is a little rough, but I like that the tone and style project an authentic voice.

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Happy New Year 2021!

Google has a cuckoo clock wishing us a happy new year, and I’m still kinda excitedly waiting for the aliens, so there’s that to look forward to .

W e hear that 2020 was a year for the history books, and it certainly was for a number of reasons. The pandemic took too too many lives and wreaked havoc on businesses as well as personal finances. For many, it was a heartbreaking year. Let us remember that each year, when taking a personal view, can be an annus horribilis. But there were also moments of joy and an abundance of grace. Let us hope and pray that 2021 brings us peace in all areas of our personal and public lives.

Instead of a long list of resolutions, I’m taking a different tack this year. I’m yearning to grow closer to the Lord, and what better way to do that than to strive to become more like the Blessed Mother? I’ve embarked on Fr Edward Looney’s wonderful daily retreat, A Heart Like Mary’s: 31 Daily Meditations to Help You Live and Love as She Does.

On this first day of the year, and first day of the retreat, I’m working on patience. Perhaps it’s something we can all work to cultivate. I hope your year is full of God’s blessings!

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Review: WW84

Watching Patty Jenkin’s new film, WW84, the latest DC treatment of Wonder Woman, left me nostalgic for my childhood. The opening sequence took me back to the carefree days when I ran through the woods and fields near my home with a pack of neighborhood kids. We were always pretending to be warriors and carried makeshift spears and twine bows with stick arrows. Oh! How eight-year-old me would have loved this movie. Fifty-eight-year-old me adored it.

Little Diana is a spunky self-assured child, but Gal Gadot’s portrayal as the adult Diana brings a charming sweetness and strength to the role that is disarming and brings to life a richness in the character that captures the foundational element of Wonder Woman: love.

I explore the comic book character of Wonder Woman in my book, Super Girls and Halos, because I’m fascinated with her origin story – not just her unusual birth on the island of Amazons, but her creation by William Moulton Marston. Here is a superhero whose superpower is love.

Now let me be clear, Wonder Woman is a badass through and through. A demigod. A warrior. An intelligent woman with physical prowess capable of domination. Instead of leveraging that power for personal gain, she leads with love to help humanity. Wonder Woman’s strength is her femininity, what St. John Paul II calls the genius of women.

In Wonder Woman, Diana Prince take on the enemies of humanity to put an end to war, and we see the great cost of many lives sacrificed, including her love, Steve Trevor. In WW84, the sacrificial nature of love once again saves the day. Set decades after Wonder Woman, WW84 introduces a Diana who is chic and accomplished in the often-times hilarious backdrop of the eccentric fashion of the 80s.

Always ready to help humankind, Wonder Woman finds herself on a quest to reverse the damage brought on by humanity’s selfishness. The world is caught up in the dangerous antics of a villain granting everyone’s deepest-held wishes. Weakened in battle, Wonder Woman’s sensitivity appeals to the villain’s own capacity for love to save the day.

As always in superhero movies, the special effects are spectacular. Some visual gags and 80’s era comic relief play well, too. However, it is the character story arc that continues to draw me in, and I am left wanting more of Diana Prince’s adventures.

Oh! Don’t forget to watch the credits!

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