(1)
Daniel has now turned 16 years old. He completed Algebra 1 in summer school and is now a Junior at Banning High with a C average. This is from straight F’s in 8th grade. Hooray Daniel. He really cares about his life. He wrote this for our Open Mike Night at Tia Chucha’s:
“The world is in a real tough space
Mother Nature trying to give a sign she wants
To reclaim what was hers pretty much
We’ve abused and raped in the place we stay
Ignorance and greed and the drives to evil
For something so worthless I don’t know what’s worse
Your ignorance or your ego?”
He lives in South LA. One of his teen-age friends was killed in a drive-by shooting two weeks ago. This is so common it doesn’t make the news much.
He is beginning the Certified Emergency Response Team Training with the city of Los Angeles. I am honored and blessed to meet and work with him each week.
(2)
I watched “What the Health” on Netflix three weeks ago. I was so impressed that I am now in my third week of being a Vegan in my dietary habits. This means no meat, fish, dairy or eggs. I have been a health care practitioner for 30 years and have had so many mixed feelings (mostly just fear) about taking on this lifestyle that I have avoided it completely. Now at 71 years old I am doing fine and feel great learning a new way to eat and live. I have cheated only once. At a fund raising dinner for a hospital last week they served fresh Salmon. I graciously enjoyed the meal. Everything else since then has been Quinoa, Chia, Sweet Potatoes, Almonds, Oats, Squashes, Buckwheat and a whole lot of veggies, fruits and grains. So far so good, I feel great. “What the Health” on Netflix. This is a one time, 90-minute documentary. Enjoy if you are willing to risk learning a few new things. Go ahead, jump in, the water is fine!
(3)
We celebrated a friends birthday at Lotusland in Montecito, just South of Santa Barbara. This is a 37 acre Botanical Garden that is listed as one of the top ten gardens in world by The Telegraph Magazine in Great Britain. The web site is www.lotusland.org . Click on the Gallery and take a look for yourself. The 2 ½ tour is mesmerizing, educational, inspiring, emotionally touching and life changing by altering how I relate to all of Nature’s Wonders. The woman who designed and built this has a delightful history that includes 6 husbands, married mostly for their money, a passion for Opera and simply enjoying the green growing world. Reservations are required, so call ahead. Our guide was Lauri, the most knowledgeable and playful amateur Botanist I have ever interacted with. I highly recommend requesting her if you go. We are definitely going back again.
(4)
Physician Heal Thyself Time:
I have been experiencing severe pain in my right shoulder and arm for a couple of months. I have been adjusted, bodyworked, acupunctured, ibuprophened, reiki-ed and prayed over. The pain persisted. One Doctor gave a tentative diagnosis of a rotor cuff tear in my shoulder from my doing 250 push ups a day. Even if this is true, they do heal by themselves in time if you stop damaging the joint. He says the push ups are a bit much for a 71 year old.
My relief has finally come from Hellerwork Structural Integration and reading Dr. John Sarno’s Book, “The MindBody Prescription”. He was an orthopedic MD surgeon that became suspicious of surgical treatments that were so unpredictable in results. He spent 30 years investigating and treating people with structural pain syndromes by using educational and psychological insights. Without attempting to recreate the book I can say that a treating Doctors “empathetic understanding” has a lot to do with people recovering from their pain. I am learning to utilize the same “emphathetic understanding” to myself as I grapple with the notion that I am generating the pain within myself. After listening to Sarno’s book on Audiobooks and getting some good empathetic Hellerwork sessions my pain is reliving considerably. It really is “physician heal thyself” sometimes.
That’s it for adventures this week. Thank you for staying in touch and keep on participating in our opportunity filled life. I love the gift to be of service in the ways that I can.
I have the best job in the world.
