February 2020 Issue

I Found Love at the Lizard’s Thicket

I had my first encounter with Thomas at the Francis Marion Hotel in Charleston when he introduced me as the newly crowned Miss Chaleston (he dropped the r). It was so perfectly Southern. Knowing he judged pageants, I called him to ask if he would be interested in judging the Miss Charleston Pageant. I wanted to make a great impression so I acted queenly and mature. Here is how the conversation went: “Hello,” I said. “Hello,” Thomas said. Then we had some small talk. “What have you been doing?” I asked. Are you ready for this answer? This is exactly what he said: “Artificially inseminating my beef cattle.” Now, I

The Power of Love | Live Better, Love Better

What if we all began loving better? Would it change our lives, our communities, our world? I love music. I love the way songwriters catch an emotion and clothe it in words and melodies. I love how they can take a trumpet or a saxophone and, like an ancient mythological siren, pull me dangerously into deep thought about something that connects with my own emotions, or pondering thoughts about the meaning of life, or purpose, or love. A song like that caught me recently and it made me check myself. I had not intended to question the quality of my love but that is the dangerous mental playground this song

February Cabinet of Curiosities

As part of the celebration of African American history during the month of February, we would like to introduce you to the founders of Aiken County. Prior to 1871, the county of Aiken did not exist. It was not until March 10, 1871 that the county we know as Aiken was formed from large sections of Edgefield and Barnwell counties and from smaller sections of Lexington and Orangeburg counties. The following County Commissioners are considered founders of Aiken County: Senator C.D. Hayne, Representative Gloster Holland, Representative William B. Jones, Representative Samuel J. Lee, William Peel, Representative Prince Rivers, S.B. Spencer, and E.P. Stoney. Of these African American men, we know

Social Media | On Tolerance

If we’re transparent and honest, negative comments can become opportunities to improve customer relationships. If you’re on social media for any length of time, you’re eventually going to offend someone, even if you don’t mean to. It’s bad enough when you accidentally anger someone on a personal account, but when one of your business’s social accounts offends someone, that can be particularly fraught. Online reviews and reputation are hugely important to businesses nowadays, so much so that companies will mention Yelp or other reviews in their advertising, and sometimes even hire reputation management consultants to make sure nothing negative shows up in a search. Realistically, it’s impossible to have only

Polar Plunge | Scene Around Town

Polar Plunge – January 4, 2020 – The Fermata Club – Photography by Christine McKeel

Aiken’s Character Initiative | Tolerance

The Aiken Characteristic of the Month for February is tolerance. What is tolerance? Why is important? Why would a person want to exhibit tolerance in his or her actions? Tolerance is the ability or willingness to accept opinions or behaviors that are different from your own and that you may not necessarily like or agree. Why is it important? There is no one person who is 100% exactly like anyone else. We all live our lives through our own eyes, and no one else has witnessed life through our eyes. We all have different perceptions, thoughts, beliefs, habits, and experiences. We are all connected, and we can relate and share

2020 Financial Vision

Where do you want to be at the end of 2020, or three years from now, or five years from now? One of the basic needs that we desire for making good decisions is clarity. Until my mid-forties, I had 20/20 vision. Today, clarity comes with the help of my glasses. Sometimes we need a professional to help with clarity in other matters of life. When it comes to making decisions about investing for the future, clarity is a challenge. Just read my article from December. Multiple money managers were recommending that we prepare for single digit returns in 2020 and that volatility could be significant. That could still be

Celebrate Love | The History and Traditions of Valentine’s Day

Allow me to be among the many (hopefully for you it’s many) to wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day. For those of you who have great Valentine traditions in place, and look forward positively to celebrating the day with that special someone — CONGRATULATIONS! Given the popularity of the day, you are in the vast majority. For those that haven’t enjoyed the same level of long-term celebration on that day, allow me to shed some light on the challenges we face and the history of how those challenges have evolved. (Note, facts of history are always open to subjective interpretation. Some of those liberties have been exercised by the author.)

Be Loved

We are one people; we are only family. And when we finally accept these truths, then we will be able to fulfill Dr. King’s dream to build a beloved community, a nation, and a world at peace with itself. John Lewis The title of my editorial this month is Be Loved. It should be “Be Overwhelmed”. That is what I am this month: Overwhelmed. Fair warning — you will cry in this issue. You will be moved. You will be Loved and overwhelmed. The writers for Bella blew me away again this month. The themes for February are Black History Month and Love. It seems natural February should be about