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To your good health
“The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will instruct his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.” – Thomas Edison As I age, I’m paying closer attention to the diseases listed in my family history — and trying my best to avoid them. I just completed a stressful, two-part annual physical that stretched over the past two weeks. For the most part, everything is fine, though there are some refinements I need to work on with my physician. Luckily, he’s a practitioner of preventative medicine, and his longtime guidance has kept any serious medical issues at bay.…
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Inspired gardening
“A garden should make you feel you’ve entered privileged space — a place not just set apart but reverberant — and it seems to me that, to achieve this, the gardener must put some kind of twist on the existing landscape, turn its prose into something nearer poetry.” ~Michael Pollan, Second Nature: A Gardener’s Education Gardening is one of the healthiest ways to express our creativity. It’s a great way to absorb Vitamin D while plotting borders or containers of colorful blooms, plunging our hands in water and soil, and inhaling the deep-green aromas of rosemary, thyme, and basil. I owe my mother a bucket of gratitude for inspiring my passion…
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When in God’s name?
“In addition to needed gun control reforms, America urgently needs a stronger protest movement dedicated to reducing the glorification of violence in our culture — in music, film, television, video games, and on the Internet.” ~Bernice King Tuesday was one of those gorgeous May afternoons, sunny and cloudless. After another trip to the plant store, I prepped my herb garden bed, trimmed a shrub, pulled a few weeds, and admired my handiwork. Then I started an upbeat post for this blog — a post about spending a perfect day in the garden. Hours later, however, I learned about the massacre at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, and realized that it…
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The power of “No”
“If you find that the demands on your time are overwhelming, don’t be afraid to politely say ‘no’ when someone asks you to do or attend something. It’s better to say ‘no’ early on instead of ‘maybe’ or ‘we’ll see.’ You’ll appreciate the freedom of protecting your schedule and prioritizing your commitments.” ~Dr. Andrew Weil No is a powerful word — and sometimes we have to muster the courage to use it. Too often, we’re afraid of losing approval if we deny a request or turn down an offer. People-pleasers, especially, feel twice as guilty when they say no, and typically follow their negative response with an elaborate explanation. But…
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Embracing the void
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Never settle for boring
“If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.” ~Jim Rohn Even when I was a much younger woman with a fragile ego, I wasn’t impressed by the stuff my peers wanted to wear. In those days, designer logos, status scarves, and “it” handbags were just starting to gain popularity. (Remember The Official Preppy Handbook?) To me, they seemed boring and unoriginal, and rarely worth their extravagant price tags. I still wonder why anyone would want to be an unpaid, walking advertisement for someone else’s product. And why would anybody want to dress like someone else, unless a uniform is mandatory for…
