Detroit Body Mind Soul: How It All Began
To encourage our grandchildren to read the daily meditations in the wonderful book, ”Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young, my dear, (deceased 2021) wife, Trula, had me buy copies of the book for each of our grandsons. About one year later, when she passed away, after 58 years of an idyllic marriage to my high school sweetheart, I wondered if they were actually reading the daily meditations as Trula had hoped. So, I decided to send them a copy of each day’s page on a daily basis. Soon after that I began adding my own comments based on my own life experiences and beliefs to encourage them in their daily lives.
Now, after more than 2 years of doing this, the list of recipients has grown to over 140, with frequent responses that indicate that the recipients are being benefited by the meditations. As a result of that, what started out as some daily encouragement for my grandsons, has grown into a Life Stuff Blog for anyone who would like to receive the three times weekly ( M, W, F) musings.
Also, I have had a daily habit for some time, of reading a chapter of the Old Testament in the morning when I arise and then reading a chapter of the New Testament each night before going to bed. I now use the morning readings, or other quotes, as inspiration for whatever thoughts come to me after the reading. Those thoughts have turned into my daily musings for the Life Stuff Blog.
So, that is how the Mind and Soul part of DetroitBodyMindSoul.com began. The body part of this Life Stuff Blog had a totally different origin.
It has been my good fortune over the years (I am now aged 81) to have enjoyed a very healthy life. I am still able to walk over a mile 3 or 4 times a week while also doing some stretching and light weight strength exercises that I have done for years.
Even though I have had sciatica and scoliosis for many years, my stretching routines have allowed me to avoid any more sciatica attacks since the last one in 1983. I am blessed, it appears, with unusually good health and vigor despite my advanced age.
A friend of mine, Clarence Griffin, whom I met through a mutual friend a few years ago, has during that time constantly encouraged me to share my routine for staying healthy and my “wisdom” from such a blessed and varied life with others. So, I will soon be producing videos of my exercise routine as well as my mental routine that gives me a positive attitude towards life and has contributed greatly to my unusual health status.
I look forward to sharing the attitudes and experiences of my young life up to this present day in the hope that by sharing my life and experiences I can help someone have a better future than they might otherwise have had. I hope that you will join me on this adventure! I can’t wait to see and hear what I’m going to do and say!
Detroit Tasker Flanagan Jr.
About Detroit Flanagan
Born in Sand Springs OK, but his family relocated to Los Angeles when he was age 4. Where he spent most of his adult life. After graduation from LA’s John C. Fremont High School with back to back L.A. City Basketball Championships, he was awarded a full scholarship at Loyola University of L.A., He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics and a minor in philosophy from what is now Loyola Marymount University. He later became the first and youngest African American Alumni President at LMU where he has remained active through the years.
He married his high school sweetheart in his Junior year at LMU. Having gone through Air Force ROTC, he served four years as an Aerospace Munitions Officer with tours in Denver, Montana and his final year in Vietnam. He spent over 20 years as a member of SAG and then SAG/AFTRA where he did commercial acting for such companies as Doritos, AT&T, Travelers insurance, The Marines and Kia. He was a sales manager and sales executive for a large New York insurance company for 15 years. He served as Site Director for the LA Sports Academy, a nonprofit on the campus of Audubon Middle School in Los Angeles for over three years, working with 216, 6th, 7th and 8th graders in a program founded by former Laker great Walt Hazzard to combine academic excellence with the desire to learn to play basketball.
After publishing his poetry book “Women & Simple Truths”, he became the progenitor of a series of seminars on “ABC’s of Building a Winning Life”, “Parenting 101”, and “Relationships 101” which he conducted throughout Southern California and twice on Okinawa, Japan. For fourteen years, he taught for LAUSD where he helped hundreds of high school dropout students earn GED’s and diplomas. After retirement from LAUSD, he substitute-taught math, reading and substance abuse avoidance to California parolees for seven years.
Along his life journey, he also found time to work with an anti-gang program called Project Gangs in which actual street gang members were featured in a play to depict the downsides of the gang lifestyle. He played the role of the “good cop” in the play “Gangs” for over five years. This program, Project Gangs, founded by Harry Bey, toured high schools throughout L.A. County and received numerous citations and awards from city, county and state officials our efforts at gang abatement.
When, after a 58 year idyllic marriage, the love of his life passed away he decided to return to Los Angeles where he had spent most of his life.