Tag / New Year’s Day

by Frank Maduri

The Year in Review 2016

The calendar has flipped and 2016 is now over, with a New Year ahead I always reflect on the achievements of the past year with a focus on the present and how I can continue to improve in all aspects of my life.

I am incredibly grateful for the support and encouragement provided by my readers and for your continued committed and dedicated time in reading as well as sharing my work with others. I am truly blessed and completely humbled and honored to have reached some new audiences in different parts of the world.

I have been recognized for my work in the area of sports writing, news writing, and for my work in Catholic media. My contributions have been well received and well circulated, for which I am very grateful.

This past year also marked the publication of a collection of my poetry on Amazon. I am still awestruck by the support and the kind feedback that collection of creative work has garnered.

Last year, on Frank’s Forum I put together a Year In Review and it was really successful in connecting with new readers and committed readers of my writing work as well. I have reprised this concept for 2016 but with a format change to highlight the months to make it easier to follow.

January
The start of 2016 brought with it the first of many (which I am so completely blessed) well received articles for the Catholic media. This piece, on Our Lady Untier of Knots was shared over 2,000 times between Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and other social media sites:
http://www.catholic365.com/article/3323/our-lady-untier-of-knots-a-personal-reflection.html

The month of January also brought with it a continuation of my quest to raise awareness on GMOs in food products with this piece about Campbell’s Soup:

Know If It Is GMO: Campbell Soup Label Disclosure

In staying with the theme of environmental issues, this article was very important to me personally – it was produced for Medium about the Flint, Michigan contaminated drinking water tragedy:
https://medium.com/@FMaduri/tragic-decision-flint-drinking-water-disaster-ac5f2e485cdf#.me52jlwy0

February

It is generally a shorter month and one where I was working on many projects in the creative writing area while producing some news writing less frequently.

This article about Super Bowl 50 made it as a front page featured story for Sportsblog.com which has tens of thousands of writers submitting content to the site, so I was incredibly honored that this was selected and distributed globally via Google News:
http://fjmaduri.sportsblog.com/posts/12659956/super-bowl-50–manning–cam—-the-cult-of-personality.html
This article for Medium continued the environmental awareness work that is important to me – it was a piece on the level of plastic pollution and what that means for our ecosystem:
https://medium.com/@FMaduri/plastic-pollution-projections-world-economic-forum-report-7270ec6d0539#.7m3fr1pti

March

I know that many of my devoted readers have read in the past that my poetry is the most passionate work that I do, I am very connected to my poetry and it is very important to me. That being stated, this poem was shared over 750 times via social media platforms:
http://www.catholic365.com/article/3752/poetry-battlefield.html

This sports business article on the new stadium process for the Tampa Bay Rays made it into international distribution to multiple countries through Google News and was so well read that I earned an award from the site for the MLB division which was a great honor and achievement:
http://fjmaduri.sportsblog.com/posts/14699523/tampa-bay-rays–the-new-stadium-quest.html

My push for continued awareness of the GMO issues with our food supply was the topic for this article:

Senate Rejects Anti-GMO Food Labeling Bill

April

One of the most well received poems I have ever been blessed to write:
https://allpoetry.com/poem/12422884–Refugee–by-Frank-J.-Maduri

An important change to rules regarding cable television and providing choices to the consumer:

Cable Unboxed – President Obama & Consumer Choice

May

The article below was one that is close to my heart and that I heard from many readers via email how it resonated with them:
http://www.catholic365.com/article/4320/remaining-open-to-the-holy-spirit.html

A big news story in the GMO debate regarding an industry report and the reaction it caused:

Tainted: Academies of Science GMO Report

June

I have had success in writing articles about mergers and acquisitions and that continued in 2016:

Mega Makeover: Mondelez / Hershey Merger Proposal

This article for Medium was about the major changes Applebee’s made to their restaurants:
https://medium.com/@FMaduri/big-gamble-applebees-bets-on-menu-reboot-f4ebd7cd08c5#.f2bn0wo64

This article on the NHL expansion to Las Vegas was very well regarded which I am grateful and humbled by:
http://fjmaduri.sportsblog.com/posts/20362375/follow-up–big-gamble–nhl-expands-to-las-vegas.html

July

This article for Medium was on the collapse of the honeybee colonies which is a huge issue in our environment and for our society:
https://medium.com/@FMaduri/colony-collapse-disorder-honeybees-pesticides-1d3c1d1b8769#.41fk1dhzz

This article was very personal to me and it was an honor to produce:
http://www.catholic365.com/article/4783/the-jericho-road-moment.html

August

This was a huge news story – the EpiPen price increase:
https://medium.com/@FMaduri/extreme-need-extreme-greed-big-pharma-the-epipen-price-gauging-debacle-dc43f2c8fa25#.2csqm9c3c

This piece for my blog was a very important one that I gained some very insightful feedback and was circulated to a variety of veterans groups about the military veteran suicide rate:

Twenty Two Tragedies A Day: The Veteran Suicide Rate Spike In America

September

Summer turned into Autumn and I was honored to write this piece for Patch on the development of my local Mall and the residents’ concerns:
http://patch.com/new-jersey/longbranch/monmouth-mall-redevelopment-debacle

This piece was also an honor and a blessing for me to produce and it was also distributed globally which was a huge blessing for me:
http://www.catholic365.com/article/5207/reflections-on-the-passion–victory-and-salvation.html

October

The month of October came with the news that Sears was rapidly failing. My article on that iconic American retailer was met with some very compelling interactions with readers about the state of the future of retail shopping:

The Inevitable Demise of An American Icon: Sears

I am very fortunate to have readers who are so loyal and they have provided me feedback in the past that they enjoy the “roundup” type sports articles – so I included this NFL article of that format which was well received and for which I am grateful:
http://fjmaduri.sportsblog.com/posts/27016064/nfl-roundup—–four-weeks-into-2016-season.html

November

This article is on a topic that I feel is going to be integral to our future – water being traded as a commodity:

The Commodification of Water

Over the course of the past few years I have covered the issues facing the San Diego Chargers and their future in that city as well as in the NFL’s race to put a team in Los Angeles. This article was particularly well regarded by others in the sports media:
http://fjmaduri.sportsblog.com/posts/29049372/follow-up–san-diego-chargers-ballot-initiative-for-stadium-funds-fails.html

This article was shared close to 2,000 times across various social media platforms and I am blessed to have my name associated with it:
http://www.catholic365.com/article/5542/the-power-of-prayer-the-holy-rosary-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary.html

December

I was honored to join the website community, Varsity Views, which is owned by USA Today, to produce sports content for their site. This piece did really well and was selected as an editor’s choice:
https://www.varsityviews.com/community/frankjmaduri/charged-up-the-nfl-and-l-a-the-saga-continues/c/58470c9c21c3640400ab6024?bust=y5i

This piece was especially well regarded and was an inspiring story to produce:
http://www.catholic365.com/article/5645/our-lady-of-kibeho–marian-apparitions-in-rwanda–the-chaplet-of-the-seven-sorrows-of-mary.html

Thank you all for your continued support in 2016 and I look forward to continuing to bring forth content in 2017 that will inspire and uplift those in the audience. Happy New Year!

by Frank Maduri

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

The Holiday Season is here, the traffic and busy nature of the stores as well as the crush of the final shopping days are upon us, and then it will all be over. The holiday parties for companies, the gatherings for family and friends, and then it will be quiet again. I continue to reflect on the days surrounding Christmas and New Year’s Day, and I realized something that compelled me to write this commentary.

 

In all of the stress, the lists, the rushing around, and the unpleasantness of travel leading up to the holidays, we as a collective society have the tendency to miss out entirely on the joy and peace that Christmas can provide to us. We can get so caught up in our needs and the pressures existing in our own lives, that we can easily neglect the needs of others in our own families as well as those less fortunate.

 

I am guilty of it myself, it is difficult at times to see “the big picture”, but it is critically important to take some time to reflect and do that for your own sake, and for those around you. Christmas is a time for giving and sharing, it is a time to look back on your work and your life over the past year. It is a time of looking forward to the New Year ahead, and the promise and challenges that it will present.

 

It is a time to prepare to make adjustments in our lives, to set new goals, and to reevaluate the various components in our lives. Christmas is a holiday that has an ever changing meaning throughout our lives. That is a key difference from other holidays, which remain for the most part, pretty static through the years.

 

Early Memories

 

My earliest memories of Christmas are of my Grandparent’s home in a New York suburb, and the warmth of the house as the preparations for the holiday were being made. I remember going with my extended family into Manhattan and looking at the windows set up with holiday scenes in all the large department stores. We also would stop at the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, and we would visit Saint Patrick’s Cathedral for some moments of quiet prayer.

 

I remember the excitement of Christmas Eve, going to Mass that evening all together, returning home for the big family dinner, and then talking with my sisters and my cousin about what we thought would be underneath the tree for us the next morning.

 

The excitement of a child on Christmas morning is one of pure joy, when you are younger, the spiritual component of the day is not fully understood. The secularization of the day has made it about Santa Claus and toys, and that is a big component of Christmas when you are a child. The world is so innocent, and as a kid, that morning was a really special time because later in life you get stripped of that excitement; until you have it with your own children or other children in your extended family.

 

I spent every Christmas at my Grandparent’s home through my entire childhood and through high school and college. I have some warm memories of those days. It was very nice to spend it together with my family. I am grateful and appreciative of that time spent with my Aunts, Uncles, and cousins. My Grandparents enjoyed hosting the holiday too. I loved how happy those days made my Grandparents, and I am fortunate to celebrate this year with my Grandfather.  My Grandma was always one of the first adults up with us, her grandchildren, early in the morning.

 

She would make Folgers coffee and joke about the commercial and whether the aroma really would wake up the other adults in the house. I think our screaming and mayhem must have woke everyone up! Those days, those memories are good ones that I am blessed to have. So many people have had it far more difficult than I have, though every family has their fair share of hardship. The years moved forward, and family dynamics change, and those days are now just memories to me.

 

Later years

 

The spiritual meaning of Christmas has taken on an increasingly significant role to me as I grew older. I have a different perspective on the day and the meaning of Christmas than I did when I was a child. In my life, as in the journey that each one of us is on, I have experienced hardship, pain, and loss.

 

The circumstances around these events have shaped my life and had an impact on the person that I am today. I remember some years where the future was very uncertain, and I would sit next to the Christmas tree and feel the light and peace that the season can deliver. I felt hope for the days and weeks ahead.

 

Conversely, I have had other years where I would listen to Christmas music and not feel anything. I would sit next to the Christmas tree at night, and feel so lonely, so isolated, and so alone. The medical community can attest to the increased level of depression and anxiety at Christmas and throughout the two weeks that mark the holiday season.

 

It is helpful at those points to get out of your own head, and offer to assist others. It is helpful, and at some points, necessary, to talk about what you may be feeling. We all have problems or issues which may seem to get increasingly difficult at Christmas. I was watching a business news channel the other day, and I was thinking about all the people who have lost their jobs in corporate layoffs at Christmas and how terrible that must be for them.

 

I also think about the veterans, the homeless, and those who are sick either physically or mentally. I hope that the New Year will bring me an opportunity to do more to help them, to rise above my own limitations and to find a way to make a difference in the lives of others.

 

In closing, as Christmas is upon us, it is a time to celebrate and reflect on the blessings that we have, and to identify the changes each one of us can make to have a greater impact, in a positive way, on those we come in contact with each day. I hope that this commentary has helped you to determine ways in which you can initiate those changes. I thank you all for your continued support of my blog and my other writing work.

 

I wish all of you, from my family to yours, a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a blessed and Happy New Year!