Uncategorized

Book Review: “Simple Lessons for a Better Life”

Published

10 years ago

August 1, 2015

Getting your news these days is a nerve-wracking thing.

Yes, you’re happy to note cat videos, new babies, and neighbors having fun. But who likes to see word of war, destruction, accidents, or death?

Yes, life means having both – but at this point, you feel as though there should be some sort of balance. Seek it in “Simple Lessons for a Better Life” by Charles E. Dodgen.

Things sure have changed since you were a kid.

That’s a common sentiment. People have probably been uttering it since two years after time began – but today, how do we “not exist in a perpetual state of fear and misery?” Dodgen, a clinical psychiatrist, answers that question with what he found in a nursing home.

As we age, and especially when we reach Senior Status, we become “dispossessed of the material features that defined… identities.” Dodgen says that’s the “original identity theft,” and while there’s no alternative to this loss, we can learn to cope with it. Everyone endures suffering and pain to some degree, but there is a way to separate the two, for instance.

“Pain in life is inevitable,” but a good support system can help overcome it to the point of toleration. If that support system is you, resist the need to “do something about it” and just comfort. Simple love and companionship work wonders; reach for it, and give it.

Photo courtesy of Christopher Dodgen

Recognize that depression lasts longer than demoralization; to ease the latter, positive reminders of the past are sometimes all you need. Try to remember that, though it’s certainly no fun, “loss allows for personal growth.” Understand that phantom pain can come from missing people, too, but activity helps and “a… gaping hole can be filled with new experiences.”

Keep in mind that you are your best health plan, and you can improve your own attitude and experiences, love your body, and balance your mind.

And finally, remember that there’s pain in life but what matters is what you do about it.

War, racial tensions, financial problems, dead lions, the list of woes all depends on where you sit.

“Simple Lessons for a Better Life” may be able to help you relax about things – or it may not.

As self-help books go, this one is unique: by examining the emotions of those who’ve lost a lot (home, partner, independence, health) and have moved to a nursing home, author Charles E. Dodgen shows how richer lives can come from adversity.

Yes, it sounds simplistic (and there are pages where it definitely is), but what Dodgen says consistently makes sense on at least some level. Though it may take a bit of between-the-lines reading, that’s particularly true when his advice encompasses the needs of caregivers, elders, and their children.

This is not a book of wisdom, so much as it’s a book of inspiration that needs to be savored and pondered to get the best from it.

If you’re dealing with adversity or just watching too much news, “Simple Lessons for a Better Life” may be just the thing.

“Simple Lessons for a Better Life” by Charles E. Dodgen, c. 2015, Prometheus Books, $18.00, 288 pages

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

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Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

6 months ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Special to The Post

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department (Oakland HCD) announced its awardees for the 2024-2025 New Construction of Multifamily Affordable Housing Notice of Funding Availability (New Construction NOFA) today Five permanently affordable housing developments received awards out of 24 applications received by the Department, with award amounts ranging from $7 million to $28 million.

In a statement released on Jan. 16, Oakland’s HCD stated, “Five New Construction Multifamily Affordable Housing Development projects awarded a total of $80.5 million to develop 583 affordable rental homes throughout Oakland. Awardees will leverage the City’s investments to apply for funding from the state and private entities.”

In December, the office of Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 City Councilmember, worked with HCD to allocate an additional $10 Million from Measure U to the funding pool. The legislation also readopted various capital improvement projects including street paving and upgrades to public facilities.

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is the media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

10 months ago

January 30, 2025

Oakland Post

Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 city councilmember. File photo.

Special to The Post

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units, including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Alameda County

Oakland Acquisition Company’s Acquisition of County’s Interest in Coliseum Property on the Verge of Completion

The Board of Supervisors is committed to closing the deal expeditiously, and County staff have worked tirelessly to move the deal forward on mutually agreeable terms. The parties are down to the final details and, with the cooperation of OAC and Coliseum Way Partners, LLC, the Board will take a public vote at an upcoming meeting to seal this transaction.

Published

11 months ago

January 11, 2025

Oakland Post

Alameda County Board of Supervisors Chairman David Haubert. Official photo.

Special to The Post

The County of Alameda announced this week that a deal allowing the Oakland Acquisition Company, LLC, (“OAC”) to acquire the County’s 50% undivided interest in the Oakland- Alameda County Coliseum complex is in the final stages of completion.

Oakland has already finalized a purchase and sale agreement with OAC for its interest in the property. OAC’s acquisition of the County’s property interest will achieve two longstanding goals of the County:

The Oakland-Alameda Coliseum complex will finally be under the control of a sole owner with capacity to make unilateral decisions regarding the property; and
The County will be out of the sports and entertainment business, free to focus and rededicate resources to its core safety net

In an October 2024 press release from the City of Oakland, the former Oakland mayor described the sale of its 50% interest in the property as an “historic achievement” stating that the transaction will “continue to pay dividends for generations to come.”

The Board of Supervisors is pleased to facilitate single-entity ownership of this property uniquely centered in a corridor of East Oakland that has amazing potential.

“The County is committed to bringing its negotiations with OAC to a close,” said Board President David Haubert.