This poem is inspired by the short clip I recently posted, It's a Beautiful Day and I can't See it.
It's a Beautiful Life
It's a beautiful day, but I can't see it
Eyes shut tight
That keep in secrets
I see no colors
See no sights
All I sense is shifting light
It's a beautiful song, but I can't hear it
Mouths move silent
Though I'm near them
Hear no laughter
Hear no songs
This silence, I hear all alone
It's a beautiful day, but I can't praise it
Sunlight streaming
I can't explain it
Can't rejoice
I can't jump in
My words are caught and stuck within
It's a beautiful day, I can't enjoy it
Frozen limbs
No longer function
I can't run circles
Can't jump high
I sit and watch the world pass by
It's a beautiful life, I know, I feel it
Deep inside
I sense it's stillness
Sense the laughter
Sense the light
I sense the things you shut out tight
This beautiful life, get up and live it
Sacred moments
Precious seconds
Don't sit idly
The time is here
Don't let these chances disappear
Related Posts
It's a Beautiful Day and I Can't See It
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Movie Review - Stress: Portrait of a Killer
This week at work my fellow co-workers and I started talking about stress. How interesting it is, with all of the things it does to you, your body, your life in general. It's an epidemic that we all know about, yet we are never able to break free of it's grasp, even knowing the horrible things it can do to us.
Where I work there is such a thing as a Stress Leave of Absence. Yes, a break from work because work might just in fact be killing you. That tells you something about my day life, doesn't it?
We all know stress is bad for us, but how bad is it really? And where does it stem from? I happened to have recently seen a documentary on it called Stress: Portrait of a Killer, that answers those very questions. The documentary is based on research by various professors, but one in particular named Robert Sapolsky. He has been studying baboon behaviors for over three decades and has made many interesting discoveries, one more so than the others.
The normal indicators of stress are of course work, peer, and relationship pressure. Each one having their own measurable effects on us, yet work stress seeming to be the most disastrous of all for our health.
Think about it. How many of you fear going into work every day? Or are afraid of your boss and what they might throw at you next? You don't even have to be in the office to start feeling stress itself creeping up on you, giving you a headache, making your shoulders hunch up and hurt. It turns out that the most stressed people in the world are those that are the workers, while the least stressed people are those that are the ones who make the decisions, or the bosses. Your hierarchy in the company you work for directly affects how stressed out you'll be. The higher up you are, the better, while the lower down you are, the worse off you'll be. The workers are the ones that have to make the ideas and goals of a company happen, the ideas that the bosses are constantly thinking up. There is a big difference between an idea and making that idea happen in a day to day setting.
Not only does stress cause heart attacks, anxiety, depression and insomnia, there is also a direct link between stress and belly fat. That little pudge around your midsection is not because you are somehow doing your crunches wrong. No, your body purposely stores fat there when you get stressed out. The problem with our society, America to be specific, is that we do not value things that are stress relieving.
In most of Europe they eat dinner together as a family still, which takes a good two hours at least to wind down and relax. They have mid-day breaks for tea, naps, or just extra long lunches. They value sitting back and taking their time at a lot of things we rush through. This is just one of the many, many reasons I love Europe. In the good old US of A we admire the people who can multitask, who can get more done with less, who basically run themselves into the ground. We do not value those who take the time to stop and smell the flowers. In fact, we think they're lazy.
What Professor Sapolsky found was that stress actually affects us long before we see the signs of it. That ulcer you have- it didn't just happen over night. It's been building up in your poor little body for a very, very long time. That's why, when you do finally have something happen, it's a long road back to a healthy you. The very interesting thing that he discovered about stress, however, was accidental.
He had been studying this one group of baboons for years and one year when he went back to spend some time with them he found that many of them had died as they had found rotten meat in a trash can near their habitat. However, only the leaders of the pack - the bosses - ended up dying. The workers had no chance of getting any food as the bosses were, of course, in charge and kept them back while they pigged out. They had no idea their selfishness was actually saving the lives of the others.
Professor Sapolsky thought his research would end with that one group due to the deaths. What a surprise to him to find years later that the baboon group of workers, who had survived, were thriving and happy. Happy! All the years prior the workers showed symptoms of intense stress, unhappiness, anger at being at the bottom of the ladder. Now they all work together in the habitat, fight less, and appear to have very limited stress. They are essentially doing better than they ever did with the head honchos bossing them around.
Interesting...
I'm not saying we all go poison our bosses food, no, no. I'm just saying how interesting that nature took care of itself like that and all the workers are just fine. Better, actually. How very interesting indeed.
The most important thing to take away from this, other than Professor Sapolsky's awesome 60's hairdo, is that if our culture wants to shift, wants to escape the unnecessary aches and pains of stress, we must change what we value. We must learn to let things go. Learn to understand that tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that, will all have new tasks with new things to do. Work has no ending. It will always be there which means there is no point in ruining ourselves for something that is going to change next month anyway.
The trick is getting our bosses to agree, but, we can do it. I would say that anyone reading this is someone who has an increased sense of awareness. There are more and more of us springing up all over the place and we can make a difference. My old boss was open minded enough to hear me out on yoga. Then he let me talk about life coaching, then nutrition, and before you know it I found out he was just like me. I would never have known that if I hadn't tried to be myself and believe what I believe, without holding back for fear that the corporate world would judge me. I fully believe there are people just like that all over, but the work place as we know it has taught us to be boring, to blend in, to be "just like everyone else" so we can be accepted. I say let's shake that idea up. Poisoning them is not an option- I repeat, not an option, but we can help them to see other ways.
Most importantly, take it upon yourself to slow down. This is my Be the Best theory. You take care of you, first and foremost. Leave work when you're supposed to. Sleep in on the weekends. Take some deep breaths and let the world slip away. You can be an amazing multi-tasker as well as an amazing meditator, an amazing nap taker, an amazing slower paced you. The fact of the matter is your overall health and well being does, indeed, depend on it. You are in control of your destiny. Make it a beautiful, stress free one.
What stresses you out?
Twitter
Related Post
To Be the Best
Where I work there is such a thing as a Stress Leave of Absence. Yes, a break from work because work might just in fact be killing you. That tells you something about my day life, doesn't it?
We all know stress is bad for us, but how bad is it really? And where does it stem from? I happened to have recently seen a documentary on it called Stress: Portrait of a Killer, that answers those very questions. The documentary is based on research by various professors, but one in particular named Robert Sapolsky. He has been studying baboon behaviors for over three decades and has made many interesting discoveries, one more so than the others.
The normal indicators of stress are of course work, peer, and relationship pressure. Each one having their own measurable effects on us, yet work stress seeming to be the most disastrous of all for our health.
Think about it. How many of you fear going into work every day? Or are afraid of your boss and what they might throw at you next? You don't even have to be in the office to start feeling stress itself creeping up on you, giving you a headache, making your shoulders hunch up and hurt. It turns out that the most stressed people in the world are those that are the workers, while the least stressed people are those that are the ones who make the decisions, or the bosses. Your hierarchy in the company you work for directly affects how stressed out you'll be. The higher up you are, the better, while the lower down you are, the worse off you'll be. The workers are the ones that have to make the ideas and goals of a company happen, the ideas that the bosses are constantly thinking up. There is a big difference between an idea and making that idea happen in a day to day setting.
Not only does stress cause heart attacks, anxiety, depression and insomnia, there is also a direct link between stress and belly fat. That little pudge around your midsection is not because you are somehow doing your crunches wrong. No, your body purposely stores fat there when you get stressed out. The problem with our society, America to be specific, is that we do not value things that are stress relieving.
In most of Europe they eat dinner together as a family still, which takes a good two hours at least to wind down and relax. They have mid-day breaks for tea, naps, or just extra long lunches. They value sitting back and taking their time at a lot of things we rush through. This is just one of the many, many reasons I love Europe. In the good old US of A we admire the people who can multitask, who can get more done with less, who basically run themselves into the ground. We do not value those who take the time to stop and smell the flowers. In fact, we think they're lazy.
What Professor Sapolsky found was that stress actually affects us long before we see the signs of it. That ulcer you have- it didn't just happen over night. It's been building up in your poor little body for a very, very long time. That's why, when you do finally have something happen, it's a long road back to a healthy you. The very interesting thing that he discovered about stress, however, was accidental.
He had been studying this one group of baboons for years and one year when he went back to spend some time with them he found that many of them had died as they had found rotten meat in a trash can near their habitat. However, only the leaders of the pack - the bosses - ended up dying. The workers had no chance of getting any food as the bosses were, of course, in charge and kept them back while they pigged out. They had no idea their selfishness was actually saving the lives of the others.
Professor Sapolsky thought his research would end with that one group due to the deaths. What a surprise to him to find years later that the baboon group of workers, who had survived, were thriving and happy. Happy! All the years prior the workers showed symptoms of intense stress, unhappiness, anger at being at the bottom of the ladder. Now they all work together in the habitat, fight less, and appear to have very limited stress. They are essentially doing better than they ever did with the head honchos bossing them around.
Interesting...
I'm not saying we all go poison our bosses food, no, no. I'm just saying how interesting that nature took care of itself like that and all the workers are just fine. Better, actually. How very interesting indeed.
The most important thing to take away from this, other than Professor Sapolsky's awesome 60's hairdo, is that if our culture wants to shift, wants to escape the unnecessary aches and pains of stress, we must change what we value. We must learn to let things go. Learn to understand that tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that, will all have new tasks with new things to do. Work has no ending. It will always be there which means there is no point in ruining ourselves for something that is going to change next month anyway.
The trick is getting our bosses to agree, but, we can do it. I would say that anyone reading this is someone who has an increased sense of awareness. There are more and more of us springing up all over the place and we can make a difference. My old boss was open minded enough to hear me out on yoga. Then he let me talk about life coaching, then nutrition, and before you know it I found out he was just like me. I would never have known that if I hadn't tried to be myself and believe what I believe, without holding back for fear that the corporate world would judge me. I fully believe there are people just like that all over, but the work place as we know it has taught us to be boring, to blend in, to be "just like everyone else" so we can be accepted. I say let's shake that idea up. Poisoning them is not an option- I repeat, not an option, but we can help them to see other ways.
Most importantly, take it upon yourself to slow down. This is my Be the Best theory. You take care of you, first and foremost. Leave work when you're supposed to. Sleep in on the weekends. Take some deep breaths and let the world slip away. You can be an amazing multi-tasker as well as an amazing meditator, an amazing nap taker, an amazing slower paced you. The fact of the matter is your overall health and well being does, indeed, depend on it. You are in control of your destiny. Make it a beautiful, stress free one.
What stresses you out?
Related Post
To Be the Best
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Maintenance: #1
Yesterday I went on here to find that my most recent post, "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall", had disappeared, along with some new drafts I wrote up. I then promptly freaked out like any good, sane writer would after they'd just been hit with amazing inspiration and had not ever, ever thought of saving the blog anywhere else since it never occurred to them that it would vanish into thin air. Then, to further heighten my panic, I checked with my friends to see if they had gotten an email copy, if it even existed, or if I was just crazy and dreamt everything up. So, Nichole and Matt - Thank you for your help. Everyone else, feel free to laugh at me now because they already did.
 |
| My words exactly! |
Turns out blogger is broken or having issues of some kind, so I apologize if you got a link that took you nowhere. Apparently they're working on it, but me and my OCD just wanted to fill you in on that little bit of info and apologize for it's weirdness. When they re-post it, it may send you another link or not...no idea, so maybe check back in a day or two. Seriously, beats me at this point. I do hope you like the blog. It was one of those moments when the words came without me really even trying, and those instances are precious in any writers life. There was no way I was going to be able to duplicate it.
I have a feeling this may not be the only time, therefore I have labeled this as #1 in preparation for technology to freak out on me sometime again in the future.
That being said, again, thank you all for your patience and understanding. From the bottom of my heart, I appreciate all of you for reading my blog. I may not be Edgar Allen Poe or Elizabeth Gilbert, but I get to live out my dream of being a writer on here with you. THANK YOU.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Without You
When I was little I, like so many children out there, wanted to be a lot of different things. A teacher, singer, pianist, dog trainer, tornado chaser, tiger trainer, architect, interpreter for the deaf, tattoo shop manager, pirate, and the wife of MacGyver. You know, the usual. No matter what my crazy, new idea was my mom and gramma always believed in me.
My mom had to raise me on her own since my dad had M.S. and died many years earlier. I know it had to have been tough at times, but she always did everything she could for me. She put me first and made me the priority in her life. I was a little rambunctious and wild as a kid and I'm sure, caused her much stress. I "ran away" once on accident. In my own defense, I didn't know I was running away. I thought I was saving my dog who had just escaped from our yard. I was five and I was on a rescue mission.
One time I tried to sell everything in our spare garage at a garage sale that we weren't actually having. It would have been very successful if the customers hadn't realized I was seven and running it on my own. Then there was the time I tried to hit her guy friend over the head with a frying pan. Yes...yes, a frying pan. You have to understand, I have always known it's my job to take care of my mom, who looks like a cross between Scarlett O'Hara and Mary Tyler Moore. She's beautiful. Just ridiculously beautiful. Over the years men have tried to go out with her, but even after all these years she's never gone on one date. If ever there were soul mates, it was my mom and dad. That being said, I took it upon myself to take out anyone I didn't like that was trying to be more than a friend and not paying attention to that particular rule...and I just didn't like this one guy who was a long time family friend, but too friendly for my taste. That's all I'm saying. She stopped me, but I tried.
She is also an excellent spider killer. I cannot tell you how many times we would have screaming matches trying to kill those things. I would scream, then she would scream, then we'd both scream. Eventually after everyone, including the spider, was deaf, she would kill it.
When I was 16 and had my first job she taught me the hard lesson of taking care of myself. I had to pay for the normal things: car insurance, gas, fun stuff I wanted, but then I had to pay for more grown up things like medical insurance and life insurance. For a long time there not only was I mad about that, but I was also pretty sure she might be out to get me. I mean really, what teenager has life insurance policies? Clearly she wasn't, but it did make me grow up fast. She would always tell me that it was up to me to take care of myself, that I should never rely on anyone to take care of me because you never know what could happen in life. They could die, leave, things could change, but as long as I had my own back I was good. Best advice ever mom, thank you.
My gramma is the most amazing woman I know. Not to make my mom seem any less important, but gramma's have wisdom that no one can have until they've become a gramma themselves. She is the most supportive, smart, funny and strong person I know. I honestly do not know what I will do when the day comes that I have to live without her.
When I was 18 I came home from a vacation with my first tattoo. My mom freaked out. My gramma told me she thought it was awesome, which basically sums her up pretty well. My grandparents house was a place for me to play, to create, to make whatever come true that I was imagining. She would let me tear her living room apart and build forts. She's the one who taught me how to bake German pancakes and Kuchen and this amazing chocolate cake that she made for everyone's birthday. She is, and always will be, very important to me.
I also have a lot of friends who are mothers, whether it be of people or animals, and every single one of them is amazing. I am only a dog mom right now, but I learn important lessons from all my friends with human children for my future years of being a mom. I don't know how you all do it, but you do and you do it so well. Your kids are blessed to have you in their lives and I am blessed to know and learn from you. Without all of you, family and friends, I wouldn't be who I am.
Now that I've written this my mom will probably kill me, but hey, I love her and she needs to be recognized. Good thing for me the most advanced technology she has is a cell phone and will most likely never see this. Whew.
Happy Mother's Day everyone! I hope you take time to recognize everyone important in your life.
Related Posts
Let Me Explain...
Sh*t My Dad Says and Stuff My Mom Does
My mom had to raise me on her own since my dad had M.S. and died many years earlier. I know it had to have been tough at times, but she always did everything she could for me. She put me first and made me the priority in her life. I was a little rambunctious and wild as a kid and I'm sure, caused her much stress. I "ran away" once on accident. In my own defense, I didn't know I was running away. I thought I was saving my dog who had just escaped from our yard. I was five and I was on a rescue mission.
One time I tried to sell everything in our spare garage at a garage sale that we weren't actually having. It would have been very successful if the customers hadn't realized I was seven and running it on my own. Then there was the time I tried to hit her guy friend over the head with a frying pan. Yes...yes, a frying pan. You have to understand, I have always known it's my job to take care of my mom, who looks like a cross between Scarlett O'Hara and Mary Tyler Moore. She's beautiful. Just ridiculously beautiful. Over the years men have tried to go out with her, but even after all these years she's never gone on one date. If ever there were soul mates, it was my mom and dad. That being said, I took it upon myself to take out anyone I didn't like that was trying to be more than a friend and not paying attention to that particular rule...and I just didn't like this one guy who was a long time family friend, but too friendly for my taste. That's all I'm saying. She stopped me, but I tried.
 |
| This is so me except not a cat, obviously. |
When I was 16 and had my first job she taught me the hard lesson of taking care of myself. I had to pay for the normal things: car insurance, gas, fun stuff I wanted, but then I had to pay for more grown up things like medical insurance and life insurance. For a long time there not only was I mad about that, but I was also pretty sure she might be out to get me. I mean really, what teenager has life insurance policies? Clearly she wasn't, but it did make me grow up fast. She would always tell me that it was up to me to take care of myself, that I should never rely on anyone to take care of me because you never know what could happen in life. They could die, leave, things could change, but as long as I had my own back I was good. Best advice ever mom, thank you.
My gramma is the most amazing woman I know. Not to make my mom seem any less important, but gramma's have wisdom that no one can have until they've become a gramma themselves. She is the most supportive, smart, funny and strong person I know. I honestly do not know what I will do when the day comes that I have to live without her.
When I was 18 I came home from a vacation with my first tattoo. My mom freaked out. My gramma told me she thought it was awesome, which basically sums her up pretty well. My grandparents house was a place for me to play, to create, to make whatever come true that I was imagining. She would let me tear her living room apart and build forts. She's the one who taught me how to bake German pancakes and Kuchen and this amazing chocolate cake that she made for everyone's birthday. She is, and always will be, very important to me.
I also have a lot of friends who are mothers, whether it be of people or animals, and every single one of them is amazing. I am only a dog mom right now, but I learn important lessons from all my friends with human children for my future years of being a mom. I don't know how you all do it, but you do and you do it so well. Your kids are blessed to have you in their lives and I am blessed to know and learn from you. Without all of you, family and friends, I wouldn't be who I am.
Now that I've written this my mom will probably kill me, but hey, I love her and she needs to be recognized. Good thing for me the most advanced technology she has is a cell phone and will most likely never see this. Whew.
Happy Mother's Day everyone! I hope you take time to recognize everyone important in your life.
Related Posts
Let Me Explain...
Sh*t My Dad Says and Stuff My Mom Does
Friday, May 6, 2011
It's a Beautiful Day and I can't See it
Ever have something that strikes you as so amazingly beautiful and touching you just have to share it with everyone you know immediately? That is exactly what I experienced when I saw this video five minutes ago. It makes you re-think a lot of things. So incredibly touching in a tiny time of two minutes.
It reminded me of a company Justin's friend works for, Foundation for Blind Children. Please check them out if you have a chance. They are a truly great organization and any and all support will make a huge difference to them.
I loved the theme song as well and located the artist and video for you, below. Thanks to Tammy for sharing this on Facebook!
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Thursday, May 5, 2011
A Wealth of Knowledge
I promised this a while back and wanted to be true to my word and provide you with the information of some truly fantastic teachers and healers.
I fully believe in giving credit where credit is due and a lot of credit goes to these wonderful people for everything they have taught me. Here are some of my teachers blogs and/or web sites that are really quite amazing and wonderful. I hope you find as much wisdom in them as I do.
Mary Bruce
Mary is the amazing, wonderful, extremely talented woman who taught me yoga. My journey into health and wellness started with her and I hope one day to continue with more of her fantastic teachings. She is the reason I can hold plank forever, and ever, and ever. Or a few minutes at least. She is simply fantastic and an incredible person to study with. I could say a million great things about her if I had the time and space on this blog.
Dr. William Franklin
William is a genius, basically. He has a wealth of knowledge on all things exercise related, is a Naturopathic doctor, and also has an overall wonderful outlook on the workings of the inner mind and how we think. His class was one of my very favorites because of the way he was able to make me see things differently. Plus, he used quotes in all his presentations and I love quotes. He also taught me the correct way to do a push up and a renegade row, and I must say I'm better than some of the guys at my gym.
Chef Rachel
Rachel is an incredibly talented chef who has written some of my very, very favorite cookbooks. I kid you not, her cooking just makes me feel better. I would go to class and be tired, feel lousy, and not really want to do anything after a long day of work and one meal later (of her amazing creations) I was good to go! All of her recipes are gluten free and based mainly on the Paleo lifestyle (protein, veggies, fruits). The Garden of Eating has fantastic recipes for all meals, all seasons, everything. It has cooking tips and tricks as well. Fear not, sweet toothed friends, as she has also written The Ice Dream Cookbook which has oh-so yummy dessert recipes.
Don Matesz
Don is an acupuncturist, a Holistic Practitioner, and has his Masters in Oriental Medicine. I thoroughly enjoyed his classes. He taught me amazing things, like how to heal yourself naturally with foods, how fasting works in the body, and what resistance training vs. cardio training is all about. He also saved me from a virus that no one, not one of my Western docs, could figure out for 18 months of my then miserable life. I couldn't eat, life was horrible, food hated me and I hated it. Don fixed me up with some Chinese herbs and I've never had a problem since.
Find his blog here.
Melanie Jackson
Melanie is the guru of all things Ayurvedic. You need to know what Kapha, Pitta, and Vata are really all about? She's your girl. She is also the one who taught me all about skin care as she originally designed the aesthetics program at my sister school, the Southwest Institute of Natural Aesthetics (SWINA). Melanie is a truly lovely person, inside and out.
SWINA
Linda Bennett
Linda is one of my very favorites. She's is a fantastic Life Coach and Hypnotherapist. I was never into the hypnotherapy thing and never even thought I could be hypnotized, but thanks to Linda I now see it in a whole new light and yes, I've even been hypnotized a few times. Plus, she life coached the heck out of me one day and by doing so, helped me figure a lot of things out in my life. To put it lightly, she has mad skills.
Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA)
Of course I can't forget about my wonderful school! This is where my path lead me several years back. It's a very different type of school, but that's exactly why I like it. I would go, from my everyday Corporate America job, to school and everything would be better, just like that. I went in as myself and came out as a much better version of me, or so I think anyway. SWIHA has left me with not only a wealth of knowledge, but AMAZING friends. Here's what I love from it, aside from the obvious:
- You work on you while you learn how to heal other people. A huge bonus in itself.
- There's art work on every single wall, everywhere you go.
- There was a gentleman who would play his keyboard in the halls before night classes would begin. Not sure if he's still there but that was one of the highlights of my day, listening to the music filter through the school.
- The student clinics offer massages and facials that are amazing and as a student you get a heck of a discount (I will probably go back to school just for that reason, I kid you not).
- Did I mention the friendships? I met my lovely and talented friend from Japan at school. How awesome is that? People from all over the world come here to learn. I'm pretty proud about that fact.
- I still talk to all of my teachers. I can reach out to any one of them if I need them and they'll be there.
If you have any questions, let me know!
I fully believe in giving credit where credit is due and a lot of credit goes to these wonderful people for everything they have taught me. Here are some of my teachers blogs and/or web sites that are really quite amazing and wonderful. I hope you find as much wisdom in them as I do.
Mary Bruce
Mary is the amazing, wonderful, extremely talented woman who taught me yoga. My journey into health and wellness started with her and I hope one day to continue with more of her fantastic teachings. She is the reason I can hold plank forever, and ever, and ever. Or a few minutes at least. She is simply fantastic and an incredible person to study with. I could say a million great things about her if I had the time and space on this blog.
Dr. William Franklin
William is a genius, basically. He has a wealth of knowledge on all things exercise related, is a Naturopathic doctor, and also has an overall wonderful outlook on the workings of the inner mind and how we think. His class was one of my very favorites because of the way he was able to make me see things differently. Plus, he used quotes in all his presentations and I love quotes. He also taught me the correct way to do a push up and a renegade row, and I must say I'm better than some of the guys at my gym.
Chef Rachel
Rachel is an incredibly talented chef who has written some of my very, very favorite cookbooks. I kid you not, her cooking just makes me feel better. I would go to class and be tired, feel lousy, and not really want to do anything after a long day of work and one meal later (of her amazing creations) I was good to go! All of her recipes are gluten free and based mainly on the Paleo lifestyle (protein, veggies, fruits). The Garden of Eating has fantastic recipes for all meals, all seasons, everything. It has cooking tips and tricks as well. Fear not, sweet toothed friends, as she has also written The Ice Dream Cookbook which has oh-so yummy dessert recipes.
Don Matesz
Don is an acupuncturist, a Holistic Practitioner, and has his Masters in Oriental Medicine. I thoroughly enjoyed his classes. He taught me amazing things, like how to heal yourself naturally with foods, how fasting works in the body, and what resistance training vs. cardio training is all about. He also saved me from a virus that no one, not one of my Western docs, could figure out for 18 months of my then miserable life. I couldn't eat, life was horrible, food hated me and I hated it. Don fixed me up with some Chinese herbs and I've never had a problem since.
Find his blog here.
Melanie Jackson
Melanie is the guru of all things Ayurvedic. You need to know what Kapha, Pitta, and Vata are really all about? She's your girl. She is also the one who taught me all about skin care as she originally designed the aesthetics program at my sister school, the Southwest Institute of Natural Aesthetics (SWINA). Melanie is a truly lovely person, inside and out.
SWINA
Linda Bennett
Linda is one of my very favorites. She's is a fantastic Life Coach and Hypnotherapist. I was never into the hypnotherapy thing and never even thought I could be hypnotized, but thanks to Linda I now see it in a whole new light and yes, I've even been hypnotized a few times. Plus, she life coached the heck out of me one day and by doing so, helped me figure a lot of things out in my life. To put it lightly, she has mad skills.
Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA)
Of course I can't forget about my wonderful school! This is where my path lead me several years back. It's a very different type of school, but that's exactly why I like it. I would go, from my everyday Corporate America job, to school and everything would be better, just like that. I went in as myself and came out as a much better version of me, or so I think anyway. SWIHA has left me with not only a wealth of knowledge, but AMAZING friends. Here's what I love from it, aside from the obvious:
- You work on you while you learn how to heal other people. A huge bonus in itself.
- There's art work on every single wall, everywhere you go.
- There was a gentleman who would play his keyboard in the halls before night classes would begin. Not sure if he's still there but that was one of the highlights of my day, listening to the music filter through the school.
- The student clinics offer massages and facials that are amazing and as a student you get a heck of a discount (I will probably go back to school just for that reason, I kid you not).
- Did I mention the friendships? I met my lovely and talented friend from Japan at school. How awesome is that? People from all over the world come here to learn. I'm pretty proud about that fact.
- I still talk to all of my teachers. I can reach out to any one of them if I need them and they'll be there.
If you have any questions, let me know!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
My Two Cents on War and Peace
"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." - Mahatma Gandhi (Something to ponder)
Let me preface this by saying I'm not a political person at all. I don't watch the news, read the paper, nothing. This is all just ideas running through my head. Let me also say I hate, loath, and despise arguing with people over politics. So please, take this as me trying to work through thoughts in my head. I'm trying to be open minded and still respectful of everyone.
I have friends and family that have served in various branches of the government protecting us all at one time or another, and I appreciate EVERYTHING they do. I fully admit I don't have the courage to join up, go to some other country and live in dirt and dust while trying to kill people who have done us wrong. I don't have the courage and I could never do it anyway. I kill spiders and scorpions and that's where it ends for me. I'm not even good at that.
On a friends Facebook post I saw that someone had written "Death should never be celebrated but, at best, mourned as a necessary evil." That I understand. That line stood out to me since that was what I had been thinking about today. Murder is murder, plain and simple, right? Whether we are righting a wrong, getting justice or revenge, it still boils down to the same thing in the end, so morally I wasn't sure what to think of the Osama news and us throwing parties.
We were all told he's the bad guy and that the bad guy should be killed. I just don't like the idea of celebrating it the way we are. I'm trying to be fair though, and I'm thinking that if someone hurt a family member of mine I would probably want to see them pay in some way or another. I don't even like admitting that I feel that way, but I do, yet I don't think I could ever kill someone and then celebrate my taking of another persons life. I would still feel bad about it. I might be able to beat them up really good and then celebrate though...I honestly don't know, I'm just saying there are different levels of right and wrong and for me murder plus parties is on the wrong list. Let it be known I am in no way putting down the person who got him, I'm just trying to compare. I know it's his job to do this exact thing and in that respect, he should be proud. He did exactly what he was supposed to for his country.
Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy living in the good old US of A and I appreciate everything we have here, but the one thing my travels have taught me is that (at least where I've been, which is all mostly peaceful places) people are all basically the same. We are all scared. We all have hopes and dreams. We all make mistakes and act like idiots sometimes. We are, essentially, all human. But...with that aside, I have mixed thoughts for other reasons.
First, I never know what to believe, period. The news is more opinion than fact and even more often fiction than anything else. How many times have we seen news stories contradict each other? I'm pretty sure that happens every day. I never, ever, ever know what to think of our government. Is it all lies? I mean it certainly seems that way sometimes. We know for a fact a lot of things they've told us were bologna, so when can we ever really trust anyone to give us the plain and simple truth? And why should we trust that they will? This all boils down to my "no on actually knows anything" theory about basically every big thing that we all get riled up over. To me it's all like rumors. Until I hear it with my own ears from that very person, why should I believe anything else? It might be interesting, but I don't necessarily want to bet the bank on it.
Second, back to me being anti-politics. I don't like arguing with people over what is or what isn't, when none of us actually know because we're not the ones pulling the strings. I tend to fall somewhere in the middle of the idea where there should be no war and additionally, there should be no peace. Nothing can be entire because it would then be perfect and perfect doesn't exist. What I do lean towards is everybody (and I do mean everybody) minding their own business. By that I mean that each country should keep to themselves and not worry about everyone else, unless of course they genuinely need help. Who's to say our way is the right way? For us, maybe it is. Heck, maybe it's not! We get things wrong all the time. All. The. Time. Yet we like to make everyone think the way we do, do the things the way we do, believe the way we do. I know that's an impossible thought, but a thought none the less. I would like to think money and power won't control the world one day as well, but there goes me and my thinking again.
My big issue is this: When you really consider it, all politics do are make us pick sides against each other. Let me repeat that...pick sides against each other. "I'm right, you're wrong, no I'm not, yes you are, blah blah blah." Why do we do that to ourselves? Why do we allow ourselves to waste time arguing with our friends and family over these things? Why do we have to be right all the time? United States of America, correct? Not Divided-because-we-argue-about-everything States of America.
I'm still struggling with the idea of us dancing in the streets after we've murdered someone. I feel like we might be asking for trouble and quite frankly, haven't we had enough? I certainly don't want any more mothers losing their sons and daughters to some new battle. I don't want us going to some other country and killing a bunch of kind, innocent people that just so happen to live there. I think of it like this: How many of us here in the USA are all just living our lives, period? And if some other country came and tried to take us down many, many of us good and innocent bystanders would probably die. It's the same in other countries as well. We have to be fair about that at least.
I still, and probably always will, struggle with the idea of lies and misinformation. I have a hard time believing anything the government tells us anymore. A few years back I watched a 9/11 documentary which made me question everything about 9/11. Everything. Maybe it was movie magic, but it made me second guess what I had been told. I won't go into that because I'll be here all night, but it made me wonder about a heck of a lot of things. Now, I'm not trying to freak everyone out, but I'm an equal opportunity believer. By that I mean that I like to give everything a serious amount of consideration while trying to push my emotions aside so that I think clearly rather than react emotionally. This doesn't always work, but I try as much as I can.
Now that I've written a small novel and rambled a little bit, I must admit that I feel a little better. So thank you for putting up with me. I'll probably never talk about politics again since it's really not my thing, but just needed to throw this out there in the mix of everything everyone else is saying and deal with it in the one way I really know how, which is writing.
I hope, from the bottom of my heart, that all of you have a good night and happy dreams. I mostly hope that at some point our world finds a way of working with, rather than against, each other.
Let me preface this by saying I'm not a political person at all. I don't watch the news, read the paper, nothing. This is all just ideas running through my head. Let me also say I hate, loath, and despise arguing with people over politics. So please, take this as me trying to work through thoughts in my head. I'm trying to be open minded and still respectful of everyone.
I have friends and family that have served in various branches of the government protecting us all at one time or another, and I appreciate EVERYTHING they do. I fully admit I don't have the courage to join up, go to some other country and live in dirt and dust while trying to kill people who have done us wrong. I don't have the courage and I could never do it anyway. I kill spiders and scorpions and that's where it ends for me. I'm not even good at that.
On a friends Facebook post I saw that someone had written "Death should never be celebrated but, at best, mourned as a necessary evil." That I understand. That line stood out to me since that was what I had been thinking about today. Murder is murder, plain and simple, right? Whether we are righting a wrong, getting justice or revenge, it still boils down to the same thing in the end, so morally I wasn't sure what to think of the Osama news and us throwing parties.
We were all told he's the bad guy and that the bad guy should be killed. I just don't like the idea of celebrating it the way we are. I'm trying to be fair though, and I'm thinking that if someone hurt a family member of mine I would probably want to see them pay in some way or another. I don't even like admitting that I feel that way, but I do, yet I don't think I could ever kill someone and then celebrate my taking of another persons life. I would still feel bad about it. I might be able to beat them up really good and then celebrate though...I honestly don't know, I'm just saying there are different levels of right and wrong and for me murder plus parties is on the wrong list. Let it be known I am in no way putting down the person who got him, I'm just trying to compare. I know it's his job to do this exact thing and in that respect, he should be proud. He did exactly what he was supposed to for his country.
Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy living in the good old US of A and I appreciate everything we have here, but the one thing my travels have taught me is that (at least where I've been, which is all mostly peaceful places) people are all basically the same. We are all scared. We all have hopes and dreams. We all make mistakes and act like idiots sometimes. We are, essentially, all human. But...with that aside, I have mixed thoughts for other reasons.
First, I never know what to believe, period. The news is more opinion than fact and even more often fiction than anything else. How many times have we seen news stories contradict each other? I'm pretty sure that happens every day. I never, ever, ever know what to think of our government. Is it all lies? I mean it certainly seems that way sometimes. We know for a fact a lot of things they've told us were bologna, so when can we ever really trust anyone to give us the plain and simple truth? And why should we trust that they will? This all boils down to my "no on actually knows anything" theory about basically every big thing that we all get riled up over. To me it's all like rumors. Until I hear it with my own ears from that very person, why should I believe anything else? It might be interesting, but I don't necessarily want to bet the bank on it.
Second, back to me being anti-politics. I don't like arguing with people over what is or what isn't, when none of us actually know because we're not the ones pulling the strings. I tend to fall somewhere in the middle of the idea where there should be no war and additionally, there should be no peace. Nothing can be entire because it would then be perfect and perfect doesn't exist. What I do lean towards is everybody (and I do mean everybody) minding their own business. By that I mean that each country should keep to themselves and not worry about everyone else, unless of course they genuinely need help. Who's to say our way is the right way? For us, maybe it is. Heck, maybe it's not! We get things wrong all the time. All. The. Time. Yet we like to make everyone think the way we do, do the things the way we do, believe the way we do. I know that's an impossible thought, but a thought none the less. I would like to think money and power won't control the world one day as well, but there goes me and my thinking again.
My big issue is this: When you really consider it, all politics do are make us pick sides against each other. Let me repeat that...pick sides against each other. "I'm right, you're wrong, no I'm not, yes you are, blah blah blah." Why do we do that to ourselves? Why do we allow ourselves to waste time arguing with our friends and family over these things? Why do we have to be right all the time? United States of America, correct? Not Divided-because-we-argue-about-everything States of America.
I'm still struggling with the idea of us dancing in the streets after we've murdered someone. I feel like we might be asking for trouble and quite frankly, haven't we had enough? I certainly don't want any more mothers losing their sons and daughters to some new battle. I don't want us going to some other country and killing a bunch of kind, innocent people that just so happen to live there. I think of it like this: How many of us here in the USA are all just living our lives, period? And if some other country came and tried to take us down many, many of us good and innocent bystanders would probably die. It's the same in other countries as well. We have to be fair about that at least.
I still, and probably always will, struggle with the idea of lies and misinformation. I have a hard time believing anything the government tells us anymore. A few years back I watched a 9/11 documentary which made me question everything about 9/11. Everything. Maybe it was movie magic, but it made me second guess what I had been told. I won't go into that because I'll be here all night, but it made me wonder about a heck of a lot of things. Now, I'm not trying to freak everyone out, but I'm an equal opportunity believer. By that I mean that I like to give everything a serious amount of consideration while trying to push my emotions aside so that I think clearly rather than react emotionally. This doesn't always work, but I try as much as I can.
Now that I've written a small novel and rambled a little bit, I must admit that I feel a little better. So thank you for putting up with me. I'll probably never talk about politics again since it's really not my thing, but just needed to throw this out there in the mix of everything everyone else is saying and deal with it in the one way I really know how, which is writing.
I hope, from the bottom of my heart, that all of you have a good night and happy dreams. I mostly hope that at some point our world finds a way of working with, rather than against, each other.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Quotes by Tyler Shields
I found this video recently and thought it was very interesting. Dark, but artistic and deep. The quotes are what really got me. Here are my favorites:
Can you remember yourself before you were scared of life?
Love is like breathing. You have to let it in to give it out.
What good is armor if you never take it off?
All of your imperfections are what make you perfect.
The most important person you need to know is yourself.
Can you remember yourself before you were scared of life?
Love is like breathing. You have to let it in to give it out.
What good is armor if you never take it off?
All of your imperfections are what make you perfect.
The most important person you need to know is yourself.
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