Elissa for Civilization

Elissa for Civilization Civilization is each of us responsible for our own lives and being considerate of one another. Elissa K. A ripe Gen X'er raised on Sesame Street, Mr.

Harvill, a Springfield, Missouri native, was drawn to both the familiarities and peculiarities of Tulsa, where she relocated in August of 2001 to start a new life with husband, Nathan, who had proposed to her earlier that year on a visit to the Rose Garden in Woodward Park. For five years, she worked as a writer and Assistant Director of Ministerial Relations at Oral Roberts University, until she left for Pennsylvania where Nathan studied law. For a season, she served as Public Relations Specialist and Front-of-House Manager at Allenberry Playhouse in Boiling Springs, until she was recruited to create an operations office in Mechanicsburg for the global missions organization, Global Awakening. There, she was promoted to executive assistant to the President. Since returning to Tulsa (and losing her father in 2010), Elissa has given many hours to volunteering and seeking further understanding, particularly in the fields of philosophy, theology, economics and government. She continues her independent study and writing and now seeks to directly contribute to local government. Rogers, Bob Ross, Bill Cosby and Milton Friedman, Elissa has a B.A. in English and Philosophy from Drury College. She currently resides uptown with her husband and their large feline at the University Club Apartments (the cylindrical chartreuse tower) and sings in the Centenary UMC choir.

09/18/2026

Preach! 💕

❤️
09/06/2026

❤️

The first American woman awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Jane Addams was born on September 6, 1860 in Cedarville, Illinois.

After graduating from Rockford College in 1881, Addams traveled to Europe where she was inspired by London's Toynbee Hall, the first "settlement house", where college-educated people "settled" in an impoverished area and volunteered services to help their neighbors, such as childcare, healthcare, and education.

Addams was determined to open a settlement house in Chicago and rented the former residence of Charles J. Hull in the city's poorest neighborhood. When Hull House opened in 1889 it offered classes on Shakespeare, classical music concerts, and discussions of fine art. Over time, Hull House incorporated a day care center, a museum of labor, and a theater, and offered practical classes on sewing and mending, mathematics and electricity, in addition to their curriculum in the humanities.

Outside of the settlement house, Addams was motivated to improve the physical conditions of her neighborhood, starting with the putrid garbage that bred rats in the alleys and streets where her clients' children played. When the city ignored her reports on the garbage conditions in her ward, she tried to get a job as the garbage collector. The city did not give her that job, but in 1895, appointed her the inspector of garbage. As inspector, Addams would make sure that the garbage bins were fully emptied and that the trash was properly burned.

Addams continued her work for social reform until her death in 1935, just four years after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.

📸: Jane Addams with children, 1930 (Underwood & Underwood)

09/04/2026

I feel very lucky that I had a mother who listened to me and loved me. And she was also a fan of Gloria. ❤️

Quality should not be a luxury. Well made is the greenest green.
09/04/2026

Quality should not be a luxury. Well made is the greenest green.

My dad handed me two clothespins. “This,” he said, “is the story of everything.”

In one hand: a clothespin from the 1960s. Solid hardwood, smooth from decades of use. It still works perfectly, some 60 years later.

In the other: a clothespin from 2025. Lighter, paler wood, brittle. The spring is thin and unstable. Marketed as “extra durable,” my dad just raised an eyebrow.

At first glance, it’s just two clothespins. But they tell a bigger story — the shift from durability to disposability, from craftsmanship to cost-cutting, from stewardship to constant consumption. This is planned obsolescence in action.

Products are designed to fail so we must keep buying. Slowly, subtly, they break. Frayed wires, cracked hinges, brittle springs. Not because we want more, but because the old was never built to last.

The costs are everywhere. Landfills overflow. Wallets empty. And maybe most quietly, our spirits grow accustomed to impermanence, to the idea that nothing is meant to endure.

What if this philosophy extends beyond objects? What if it shapes how we treat relationships, communities, homes, even the Earth — as temporary, replaceable, disposable?

It doesn’t have to be this way. That 1960s clothespin reminds us another path is possible. That we once made things to last, and we can again. That quality, care, and intention matter. That we can design for repair, for continuity, for meaning.

The story in my palm is about more than laundry. It’s about the choices we make — and the world they create.

08/29/2026

Yes!!!

Welcome to the show! 😁
08/29/2026

Welcome to the show! 😁

NEVER DEFEND AGAIN — word-for-word scripts for 30+ situations:http...

Truth. ❤️
08/12/2026

Truth. ❤️

“In spite of illness, in spite even of the archenemy sorrow, one can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways.”
― Edith Wharton

Edith Newbold Wharton (24 January 1862 – 11 August 1937)

07/30/2026

Trees don’t grow on money.

Read this with me!
06/15/2026

Read this with me!

Chicken tunnels are the answer!!
06/08/2026

Chicken tunnels are the answer!!

How Chicken Tunnels (Chunnels) Keep Your Flock Safe & Your Garden T...

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