Random Musings by beYOUteous (Winter 2023)

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RANDOM MUSINGS A magazine b y b eYO Ute ous

ON BEING AUTHENTIC Sojourner Truth & Queen Elizabeth I

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ueen Elizabeth, the last of the Tudor Monarchs, daughter to Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, was born September 7, 1533 in

Greenwich, England. Sojourner Truth was born Isabella Baumfree, a slave in Hurley, New York.

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R ANDOM MUSINGS BY BE YOU TEOUS

ON BEING AUTHENTIC: SOJOURNER TRUTH & QUEEN ELIZABETH I

Being authentic means being vulnerable, honest, transparent and that we should strive to lead our lives according to our own reasons and motives.

An article by Inc. Magazine on the topic of showing authenticity states, “Take the focus away from more money, more power, and inflating your ego and instead turn your focus to finding your true self [...] and pursuing your dreams in a selfless and ethical, truly authentic way.”

Returning to Sojourner Truth and the topic of being honest, vulnerable, and transparent. In her “Ain’t I A Woman?” speech delivered at the Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Georgia (1851), she shares: One was an African-American women’s rights activist and abolitionist, the other English, well-educated... the last Tudor Monarch. Born over 260 years apart on opposite sides of the world, both were courageous and determined. Queen Elizabeth I claimed the throne at 25 and held it until her death 44 years later. For a time in her youth, she was imprisoned in the Tower of London. Sojourner Truth was one of the few African American women to participate in both the abolition of slavery and women’s rights movement. She was the first AfricanAmerican to win a lawsuit in the U.S.

Authenticity. What Does It Even Mean To Be Authentic...

To Be True To Yourself?

The courage to be yourself means speaking from the heart and sharing weaknesses, feelings and failures. It’s the degree to which a person’s actions are congruent with their beliefs and desires, despite external pressures to conformity.

In her speech to the troops at Tilbury (August 9, 1588) Queen Elizabeth I says, “I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too.”

R ANDOM MUSINGS BY BE YOU TEOUS

That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well!

And ain’t I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me!

And ain’t I a woman?

Then they talk about this thing in the head; what’s this they call it? [member of audience whispers, “intellect”] That’s it, honey. What’s that got to do with women’s rights or negroes’ rights? If my cup won’t hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn’t you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?

Opening up to others is the way to be authentic and establish genuine lines of communication. Sojourner Truth, first sold at nine years old for $100 and a flock of sheep, escaped to freedom with her daughter in 1826. She’s quoted to have said, “I did not run away, I walked away by daylight.” While she fought for women’s right, she never lived to see the equal rights amendment pass in 1920. Queen Elizabeth I is remembered for establishing Protestantism in England, the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and creating an environment where the arts flourished... lending her name to the Elizabethan Era. 4

OBTAINING KNOWLEDGE THROUGH

P L U TAR C H :

SUSPENSION OF JUDGEMENT

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To make no mistakes is not in the power of man; but from their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future.

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lutarch was a first-century Greek Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi whose works influenced notable authors and scholars, including William Shakespeare and Francis Bacon. He’s said to have been born in Chaeronea, a city of Boeotia in central Greece around 45–47 CE where his family had long been settled.

R ANDOM MUSINGS BY BE YOU TEOUS

PLUTARCH

When Plutarch was born, his home, Chaeronea, had been subject to Romans for more than two centuries. Here the Thebans, Athenians, and other Greeks had fought against Philip of Macedon and his son Alexander, vainly, in 338 BCE. Family tradition recalled that Plutarch’s great-grandfather had to carry on his back grain to supply Antony’s forces at Actium in 31.

Plutarch gained much of his education in the city of Athens, Greece, and Alexandria, Egypt studying philosophy, rhetorics, and mathematics.

For the first years of his adult life he traveled widely throughout the Greek and Roman world, and spent many years in Rome as a lecturer, where he made the acquaintance of eminent Roman writers and scholars. His friends included the consuls C. Minicius Fundanus, L. Mestrius Florus (who granted Plutarch his Roman citizenship), and Q. Sosius Senecio.

He wrote a number of works against the Stoic and Epicurean philosophies. Against the Stoics are mainly the works On the Self-contradictions of the Stoics (De stoicorum repugnantiis), On the Common Notions against the Stoics (De communibus notitiis), On the Cleverness of Animals (De sollertia animalium), and On Moral Virtue (De virtute morali).

Plutarch’s main works against the Epicureans are: That One Cannot Live Happily Following Epicurus (Non posse suaviter vivere secundum Epicurum), Against Colotes (Adversus Colotem), Is ‘Live Unnoticed’ Well Said? (An recte dictum sit latenter esse vivendum).

Plutarch endorsed the idea suggested in the Timaeus that the universe is a unified whole with humans being an integral part of this unity, which means that both the physical world and natural phenomena as well as human beings and human society should be approached from a cosmic/ metaphysical point of view.

He appeared to be particularly sensitive to the question of how we acquire knowledge. According to this interpretation, suspension of judgment is the best way to avoid overhasty commitment to opinions, since the appearances on which they are based can be deceitful.

R ANDOM MUSINGS BY BE YOU TEOUS

In Plutarch’s view, human beings come to understand through the intellect by making use of the notions or concepts with which the intellect is inherently equipped. That is, the embodied soul recollects what it knows from its inherent familiarity with the intelligible realm. This knowledge of intelligibles is superior to sensory “knowledge,” which can only remain at the level of belief and speculation.

We can achieve this kind of knowledge, Plutarch suggests, only when “souls are free to migrate to the realm of the indivisible and the unseen.” We can, Plutarch says, decide what to do, how to live our lives, but not how life will turn out in terms of desired or intended outcomes of our actions.

Plutarch, as a Platonist, regards soul as responsible for all life and all motion of any kind. The world and all living beings have soul.

The author of more than 200 works, he is known primarily for his Parallel Lives, biographies that over the centuries have heavily shaped popular ideas of Greek and Roman history.

Parallel Lives is composed of forty-six biographies, written in a particular style that emphasizes the moral character of his subjects, rather than a chronological or complete list of all their known activities.

Approximately half of his subjects are famous Greek statesman, generals, and philosophers, and the other half are Romans. In each case he identifies characters of similar situation or character and writes an accompanying essay stressing the similarities and differences. He contrasts, for example, Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar, Cicero and Demosthenes, Coriolanus and Alcibiades.

Plutarch, a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, spent most of his life in his native city and in nearby Delphi. He died in the city of his birth after his procuratorship, which was in 119, and before 125 while Hadrian was emperor in Rome.

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ROASTED FIGS WRAPPED IN HAM WITH BLUE CHEESE INGREDIENTS •

4 ripe but firm figs

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8 slices Parma ham

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3 oz Italian blue cheese, such as gorgonzola, chopped into small pieces

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1 small bag arugula

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balsamic glaze

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extra virgin olive oil

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salt and freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS 1.

Preheat the oven to 350F

2. Using a sharp knife, cut a cross into the top of each fig, then gently squeeze the bottom of each fig in order to open the fruit.

3. Divide the blue cheese among the figs, stuffing the pieces into the top of them.

4. Carefully wrap two slices of Parma ham around the middle of each fig, leaving the tops uncovered.

5. Place the prepared figs onto a baking tray and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the Parma ham is crisp.

6. To serve, divide the arugula among four serving plates. Place one roasted fig on top of each pile of rocket. Drizzle over the balsamic glaze and olive oil and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

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R ANDOM MUSINGS BY BE YOU TEOUS

Literary Terms Crossword 1

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LIFESTYLE & FASHION

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ACROSS

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6) Symbolic tale

1) "To be or not to be," notably

8) Metaphor's cousin

2) Style

9) Your general feeling

3) Use of white for purity, e.g.

10) Side-by-side situation

4) Future sign

14) Spoof

5) Two unlike things compared

16) "Peck of pickled peppers," e.g.

7) Poet repeats at end for effect

17) Unexpected outcome

11) City Hall as a word for mayor, e.g.

18) Quote at the start of a chapter

12) Subtle reference 13) Seeming contradiction 15) Mental pictures

Free Crossword Puzzle, Compliments of © Memory-Improvement-Tips.com

R ANDOM MUSINGS BY BE YOU TEOUS

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K Y O T O S O U R C O C K TA I L

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INGREDIENTS

DIRECTIONS

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2 grapefruit slices

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2 dashes green Tabasco sauce

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3 ounces sake

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1/2 ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed

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3/4 ounce agave nectar

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Garnish: grapefruit slice

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Garnish: mint sprig

In a shaker, muddle the grapefruit and Tabasco.

2. Add the sake, lemon juice and agave nectar with ice, and shake until wellchilled.

3. Strain into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice.

4. Garnish with a grapefruit slice and a fresh mint sprig.

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Measuring approximately 2” in length from 14k gold-filled wires, these earrings feature delicate gold rocailles, providing a polished look.

Available in green, red, blue, mustard yellow, and black.

R ANDOM MUSINGS BY BE YOU TEOUS

LIFESTYLE & FASHION

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