Monday, aug 30, 2010 The Divine Name with Jonathan Goldman Jo Davidson interviews Jonathan Goldman for Zentertainment Talk Radio http://www.Zentertainment.org Jonathan Goldman is a writer, musician and teacher. He is an authority on sound healing and a pioneer in the field of harmonics. He has studied with masters of sound from both the scientific and spiritual traditions, including the Dalai Lama's Chanting Gyuto and Gyume Monks and has been empowered by the Chant Master of the Drepung Loseling Monastery to teach Tibetan Overtone Chanting. Jonathan holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Film Making from Boston University and a Master's Degree in the Independent Study on Sound Healing from Lesley College. He is a lecturing member of the International Society for Music and Medicine. Jonathan is the director of the Sound Healers Association; the original organization dedicated to the education and awareness of sound and music for healing. He is also president of Spirit Music, which produces music for meditation, relaxation and self-transformation. ______________________________ Interview Jo: Hey All- I want to tell you all about this book. It’s called THE DIVINE NAME, The Sound that can Change the World. http://www.healingsounds.com/catalog/prodView.asp?idproduct=1034 Now Jonathan, there are a lot of sounds we hear that change the world but DON’T make us feel so good! Jonathan: Briefly Jo, I was playing in a rock band and I had an experience where I realized that the music that I was playing at the time, was helping to induce an ambience of negativity and violence. And of course the alcohol that people were taking was doing that as well. I thought, what if music could be used to help people feel better? This was over 30 years ago. From there, I began to focus on studying how music could be used to help people feel good and to heal. Jo: Why is the human voice so effective for creating change, and do you think it’s better than other instruments or just different? Jonathan: I think the human voice is the most powerful of the instruments available for sound healing because it’s natural, no batteries or electricity are required, and we are actually able to make sound from a vibration going from the inside out. Any of the other things are external sounds coming in. These are internal sounds resonating and vibrating with us on an internal level. It becomes so much more powerful. Mind you, I am not talking about using the voice for entertainment. Getting up and doing performance art is wonderful, but a lot of people have issues with that. I am simply talking about using your voice to vibrate and resonate different parts of your body. That is a term called entrainment. It means shifting and changing the frequencies of your body to put them in balance and harmony. Jo: So are there actual vowels that resonate with our physical body and more subtle energy fields? Jon: Yes indeed. I actually studied- I have a masters degree from Lesley University, researching the uses of sound used for healing. I’ve studied all sorts of different modalities for healing. The one that I’ve been most drawn to are the vowel sounds. They are non denominational/ You find them in every different tradition. They are not like a mantra that is allocated to that tradition. They are non denominational, yet they are considered sacred. Also, there is a specific resonance factor that occurs when different vowels vibrate in different parts of your body. Jo: Could you explain to our listeners what chakras are and what specific vowel sounds resonate with each chakra. Jon: Chakras as energy centers. There are 7 of them found along the front and back of the body. These energy centers are associated with our endocrine systems and with the different organ systems. I know the concept of chakras has made it to mainstream when I hear Oprah talking about the heart chakra. Pictures of saints or other spiritual beings with halos, that’s an indication of an active crown chakra at the top of the head which is said to be the chakra for spiritual transcendence. So even though the word chakra comes from the Hindu tradition, the concept of the spinning wheels of light are found in numerous traditions including the Judeo Christian tradition. So they are universal as the vowel sounds are universal. The vowel sound for the center of the heart, the center of compassion, the center of love, is AH. If you think about it, this is a universal sound that people understand whether they are in Japan or Nigeria or Peru or wherever, if someone is in love they say, “AH.” You don’t have to be a master of linguistics to communicate with people from different countries if you work with vowel sounds. The first chakra is UH (as in “Huh”)- root chakra The second chakra located a few inches below the navel is OOO (as in “You”) The third chakra, the power center solar plexus, is OH (as in “Go”) The fourth chakra-heart- is AH The fifth chakra –throat- is EYE (as in “My”) The sixth chakra is AYE (third eye) The seventh Chakra is EEE (crown) The concept of using vowels to resonate chakras probably goes back to ancient Eygpt if not longer. On March 21 1986, I had this experience where I was given a little refined system of working with the vowels. I began to teach this for about 15 years. Most people have had success using it, to such degree Jo that I often go online and see this system. Even though it is the specific relationship between the chakras and the vowels that I discovered, people accept it as being real and true, and there it is. I like that a whole lot. About 15 years ago, I was waking from a dream. Mind you, I had been teaching people this use of the vowel sounds to resonate the chakras 1-7. 1, 2,3,4,5,6,7. I had been doing that many years. All of the sudden, as I am waking from this dream, this inner voice says, we want you to sound the vowels of the chakras going from the crown back down and then up, so going 7,6,5,4,3,2,1 and then 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 Jo: Which was opposite of what you had been doing! Jonathan: Jo, I had been so indoctrinated with going 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 that I literally couldn’t do it. I had to take a piece of paper and write down what the vowel sounds were! Then I sounded them. Two things happened. 1. The energy went from the crown to the base of my spine and then back up, as I expected. 2. But the second thing that blew my mind was that I heard this sacred ancient name in the vowel sounds. The name given to Moses on Mt Sinai. This was a name that had been banned, prohibited, lost and then forgotten. I heard this name being elongated. People often pronounced it Yehovah or Yahweh, and that’s what I heard when I made these vowel sounds. In fact, I have a little one minute recording of what this sounded like- (Listen to the interview at 10:45 minutes to hear the sample) on the show page! For me it was the most powerful, awesome experience I’d ever had. I had been working with mantras from all different traditions, and I shared this with my top students. I very slowly introduced this. Then a few years ago, a friend of mine Gregg Braden, wrote a book called the God Code, which dealt with the Hebrew version of this called a tetragrammaton. I said, “Gregg, you know, I made this discovery many years ago. I think your work is full of such integrity, that if you’d like to play this for the people in your workshops so they could experience it….and he did and the response was overwhelming, and it was another little nudge forward. Finally I was basically given guidance that it was now time to release this to the public which is why I wrote the book “The Divine Name.” It includes an instructional CD, because my purpose is not only for people to hear it, but to learn how to sound it themselves. I really like working with the vowel sounds, and they are also so very powerful. There is a physical resonance and vibration in our body as we make them. If I say, OH and then say EEE, I can feel the resonance differently in different parts of my body. The EEE you can feel much more in your head. Well, among other things, it’s because of these things called harmonics which are the color of sounds. Without getting too complicated, when you put a prism in the sunlight, it takes on the clear light and breaks it into the colors of the electromagnetic spectrum. Red, orange, yellow, blue, green, indigo, violet….It’s the same way when we hear a single tone that sounds like a single note. It’s actually NOT a single note. It’s a positive frequency composed of all these separate frequencies that seem like they are together. But you can actually learn to separate these harmonics if you like. There are specific harmonics that are most stressed and most prominent in the various vowel sounds, and that’s what creates the resonance in different parts of our body. Jo: When you sit and go through these different vowel sounds, do you keep the same note? Does it matter which note you use, or is the vowel more important? Jonathan: There are many different ways of doing it, and in the different books I have written on the subject, I present a number of different systems. For the Divine Name, we do it in a monotone. You find the note that is comfortable for you, and sound all the vowels on that same note. It is really important to first feel the resonance in your body. As you feel that through the vowel sounds and you make this name, the energy occurs. We really get this extraordinary sacred spirit coming into matter going back into Spirit. Jo: Say you had 10 minutes in the morning. You could sit and just go through these vowels? Jonathan: if I had 10 minutes in the morning, I would go through the vowels to put myself and my chakras in balance and alignment, and I do that frequently. When I am working with the Divine Name as prayer, for me that’s a sacred powerful experience. I allocate at least ˝ hour for that experience, simply because it’s so profound and powerful. There’s a difference between resonating your chakras quickly, and actually bringing down and attuning with the sacred energy to commune with the Divine. You need to honor that energy and the purpose and intention of that energy. Jo: God, eternal, within the body. Is that encoded in our DNA somewhere? Jonathan: Gregg Braden basically took the Hebrew letters that make up this Divine Name. Using a complex system of mathematical transduction, he was able to go into the Hebrew gematria, which means there is a numerical system associated with each of the Hebrew letters, so he went from there into the periodic table elements and the atomic weights of stuff and back, doing another conversion…. And another one… When he went back to the Hebrew, the result was the phrase, “God Eternal Within the Body.” The odds of that occurring were a million to one. So that seems to be one secret message that this divine name is encoded with. I’ve had so many people suggest, and it’s my experience as well, that when we sound the divine name, it literally affects us down to a very deep DNA level, retuning and realigning ourselves to higher levels of consciousness, energy and healing. I have to say that the book “The Divine Name” is fairly short, it’s under 200 pages and only 40,000 words which is half of what a normal book would be. And working with my wife, we edited it together, because the book probably could have been 200,000 words. I tried to simplify it and make it as easy as possible, because I’ve found it so important. The major thing is for me, it’s not just a theoretical concept. It’s not just a good idea, or a theory. When you hear the sound, and make the sound, you embody this and it becomes real to you. It literally changes your life. Jo: Why do you think that appreciation is such an important aspect of empowering prayer? Jonathan: THANK YOU. Great question! It has been found that there is an electromagnetic field generated by the brain and also by the heart. What’s amazing is that when the heart is in coherence or resonance, it creates an electromagnetic field that is anywhere from 500 to 5000 times greater than that of the brain. And this happens when we are in a state of compassion, feeling appreciation. Our electromagnetic field can actually interface with the electromagnetic field of the planet. We are working together with this higher consciousness to actually manifest positive energy. The concept of prayer rather than being a petition or asking for something, pray as if one has already received it. There is a reason why the majority of the prayers on this planet are spoken aloud, chanted, intoned. Sound enhances our prayers. It actually helps to focus our consciousness and our ability to create this coherent field. It amplifies it. Right now this book is the culmination of all my other work. It’s not the most complicated. I think the first book I wrote was the most complicated. I wrote this one because I was guided to bring forth this information. When people say why, why you? I say, I don’t have a clue. But I can tell you why now. I recently was on my way with my wife to a place called Yogaville, a wonderful spiritual Ashram in Virginia, to teach this stuff. An inner voice said to me, “If people ask why now, tell them, because things have changed, and the divine name is necessary to help restore balance to the planet. Jo: Can you share your website? Jonathan: The overall website is http://www.Healingsounds.com or if you just want information on the Divine Name just go to http://www.TheDivinename.com At the healing sounds website, you can connect to the Temple of Sacred Sounds, which is the first sacred sound temple in cyberspace dedicated to projecting positive sound to the planet for healing. Jo; Thanks for being here! Jonathan: Jo it has been a real blessing for me. Thank you for allowing me to share. I am grateful. Blessing, love and light to you and all your listeners. Remember, we can change the world with our sound! http://www.Zentertainment.org

Sunday, aug 29, 2010 Glenn Beck My friend Ellen said so perfectly what I am so many others feel! ""Most of the time Beck, Palin, Limbaugh, et infuriate me but today, I am grieved. My heart is heavy and I feel like I want to weep. It is so appalling that the most divisive, hate and fear mongering media figures of our time purport to "reclaim" the civil rights movement and the legacy of King's "I have a dream" speech! King was the definition of a social justice Christian --- the very Christians Beck has been deriding and accusing of heresy (I do not know if he's used that word but that is the essence of what he has claimed). It is simply heartbreaking!!!!! The man is either sorely self-deceived or the worst false prophet of our age. "

Sunday, aug 29, 2010

Saturday, aug 28, 2010 New Research on Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Isn't this an amazing view? I took this picture from one of my favorite views in the whole world. The roof deck of my apartment building. I wanted to share some things on my mind this morning. My compassion, love and best wishes go out to everyone who suffers from chronic fatigue immune issues. This is an article published last week in the NYTIMES on new research- http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/24/health/research/24fatigue.html "A study links chronic fatigue to the same class of virus, a category known as MLV-related viruses. In a paper published Monday by The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists found gene sequences from several MLV-related viruses in blood cells from 32 out of 37 chronic-fatigue patients but only 3 of 44 healthy ones." XMRV is a retrovirus. According to another NYTIMES article, "Retroviruses carry their genetic information in RNA rather than DNA, and they insert themselves into their hosts’ genetic material." Many docs who specialize in CFIDS have been saying for years, that the fatigue chronic fatigue immune dysfunction people feel is like the fatigue of AIDS in the last month of life. If in fact, CFIDS is triggered by a retrovirus, this would make sense. I know how hard it is for many of you with CFIDS (Or late stage lyme) to handle the cruel and ignorant responses you have sometimes been exposed to. They come from western medicine doctors as well as holistic doctors and so called healer types (they can be the worst). Then just everyday people often say things that hurt- when they think they know what they don't. I understand your frustration, and you're not alone. I bet you can relate- I remember one time several years ago, when I was talking to someone who was a friend and also a naturopathic doctor who was fairly new to the field of medicine. That day, I was looking totally normal, as I actually do many days, but I felt awful. Oh I was struggling so much! It took every ounce of strength I had to sit up in a chair and carry on just one simple conversation. This person said to me, "you just need to have kids. Then you won't think so much about yourself." I was so shocked. I tried to explain that I could barely SIT UP, how could I care for a child? He said, "well I guess we just have a different philosophy." You know, I am quite sure that if he tried to walk in my shoes for about 10 years, his "philosophy" would radically change. Another time, soon after I had lyme disease added to the mix, I was trying to get home from a session with a "healer", where a group of us met. I was on the verge of collapsing, I had tears running down my face, fatigue that makes you think you've reached the end. I was dizzy and disoriented and my vision was blurred and I couldn't follow sentences. In that condition, this woman, a total stranger from the group I had been with, said to me, "You have to look at what part of you wanted this, why you created this. You wouldn't have it in your life unless you wanted it." So while I was gasping for air, she was preaching her new age psycho babble at me. I really just wanted someone to hold my hand and help me get home. Compassion, not judgement. One time a nurse was jabbing me with wires, doing some sort of neurological test on me. Because extreme fatigue makes one more sensitive to pain, I had a lower pain threshold and the test was very hard. She said to me, "You've never had a baby have you?" In 2004, I went through one of several periods when I was having trouble walking. My mom took me to a specialist. He said I didn't have ALS or MS, and that he didn't believe in chronic fatigue. My mom said to him, "Well what would you do if this was your daughter?" He said, "I'd just want to shake her out of it." Mom helped me to the car after that. She sat there stunned and angry, while I just cried. Then there was the head of a respected medical center in NYC who ran the traditional and totally worthless blood tests on me. I was going through a low low, where I could barely function. Of course nothing much showed on the blood tests, because they were the wrong ones. (For REAL blood work, do Dr Ritchie Shoemaker's tests- the BEST AROUND). When the traditional blood test results did not show much, she told me she had showed them to the staff and they couldn't find anything wrong, and she wondered if I had ever seen a psychiatrist. Then there are docs like one, who I almost had on this show until I read his latest book which was pure trash. I wouldn't even use it to line my cat's litter box with. She deserves better! He referred to cfids as well as chronic lyme as a purely emotional. He quoted 15 year old outdated research on CFIDS/ M.E that was biased to begin with, and was extremely fond of the word "hysteria." He recommended talk therapy and "exercise." ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I am very happy the NYTIMES published the recent research. I am not sure if it is the key for everyone, but hopefully the research will make people at the very least, understand that this is a very real illness. And I would really like to see how CFIDS patients would respond to the types of anti retroviral drugs out there. Lastly- I want to share a blog started by a woman with severe CFIDS who tested positive for XMRV as did her daughter. She is sharing what happens when she takes anti retroviral drugs such as ones prescribed to patients with HIV- check this out! http://treatingxmrv.blogspot.com/2010/08/haart-x-5-12-months.html I want to know why these drugs are not being more tested on people with CFIDS. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiretroviral_drug *** VIP Dx is pleased to announce the availability, beginning Monday, August 23, 2010, of the WPI licensed serology test to detect antibodies to Human Gamma Retroviruses that include XMRV and other human MLV-related viruses. Both the XMRV PCR/culture test and the XMRV serology test offered byVIP Dx use methods that will detect all known human MLV viruses. Please contact customer service for more information at (775) 351-1890or (775) 682-8510 or e-mail us at info@vipdx.com. http://www.vipdx.com/

Tuesday, aug 24, 2010 Why Intolerance Makes us Less Safe I am shocked at how some of the political leaders in our country are using this proposed Cordoba House/ Park51 community center to create more terror, more fear and more intolerance. Not only that, they are using this issue to win votes and distract people from the big issues that really matter! I have changed my mind at various times for different reasons, on whether I think it should be here in this location. But none of my reasons had to do with religious freedom. I fully believe and support religious freedom. Anyone who doesn't, seriously needs to read a history book. I strongly disagree with many of the things in the Muslim faith. I also really disagree with many things from the Buddhist philosophy. There are things I think are total nonsense! But what makes this country great is that we have religious freedom. This proposed community center will be open to people of all faiths. I might be a good chance to learn from each other. Let's be honest, most of the images we are exposed to in this country around the Muslim faith, are connected to images of violence, terrorism and the oppression of women. I think that these images deeply affect our beliefs, and the only way we can overcome prejudice or bias, is to be open to learning, and see what we discover. I know that I certainly wouldn't want to be judged as a Christian by someone who observed the actions of many of the right wing people I see today who claim to be Christians. We really differ in our beliefs! I just don't fit into the tiny boxes of religion, even though I love God and believe in God and have a pretty strong prayer life. I don't think there has ever been any leader like Jesus, and I find other belief systems that exclude Jesus to feel empty and dark. I also find certain Christian churches to be legalistic and have their own narrow mindedness and ridiculous views at times. And then of course, some are wonderful. Whatever I believe, I am glad I live in a country where I am allowed to believe as I do. It wasn't always like this! For example, I will refer to the Quaker faith because so many of my ancestors practiced it. The Religious Society of Friends (The Quaker movement) began in England in the 17th century. In 1682 William Penn founded the state of Pennsylvania as a safe place for Quakers to practice their faith. (Although "founded" is debatable since the Indians in fact already lived there). Quakers were very persecuted in England and in many parts of America as well. Why were they so persecuted when they were so peaceful? It's not like they were persecuted because they had bombed somebody or committed some terrorist acts. The Quaker religion and belief does not condone or support war or violence. They were persecuted because they believed in an inner light which is God, and that we can each access that light without the need to go through a priest or pastor or ritual. This sounds so obvious to most of us now, but then it was considered a radical idea that was not acceptable to the religious leaders and those in power at that time. You'd think that certain religious groups and the Puritans who came to America, seeking to be free of persecution from the Church of England would also be tolerant of other religions, having themselves known the tyranny of oppression. But what happened? Puritans in the Massachusetts Bay Colony imprisoned Quakers for spreading their beliefs. Not only were they thrown into prison, they were deprived of food. Four Quakers were hung for their beliefs on Boston Common--William Robinson, Marmaduke Stephenson, William Leddra and Mary Dyer. And Governor Peter Stuyvesant (Governor of New York City which was then called New Amsterdam) issued an order that anyone guilty of "harboring Quakers" would be imprisoned. He ordered the public torture of Robert Hodgson, a young 23 year old Quaker preacher. Citizens from Flushing, Queens protested. When the founding fathers met in the 1700s, they referred to William Penn's frame of government for Pennsylvania. William was all for religious freedom, and also had good relations with the local Indians. Had our founding fathers listened to the Puritans, who knows what sort of country we would be living in. William Penn was a pacifist Quaker, and the Quaker belief system truly inspired many of the freedoms we all enjoy today living in the United States. So I will take 2010 Mayor Bloomberg and President Barack Obama's tolerance and belief in religious freedom, any day over outdated religious persecution and the right wing Republican agenda (from some) that seems more intent on spreading fear and terror in order to win votes. Generally, we fear what we do not understand. So here we are. You know, I was flipping through tv channels today for about 15 minutes. I stopped on The Housewives of New Jersey. I have never watched a full episode, or even 15 minutes. I made it this time to about 10 minutes. All I could think was, this is really sad and awful. These families are so totally dysfunctional, but maybe they don't even know it. There is nothings entertaining for me about watching this sort of garbage. Then I had this quick thought. Imagine if someone who knew nothing at all about America, judged our culture and us by all the reality tv shows that are on. Would it be accurate? Not even close. So too, maybe we judge other cultures only by what we see in the media, which usually focuses on the worst. Jo Lastly, I share this letter written by Jim Wallis http://blog.sojo.net/2010/08/23/american-muslims-are-not-responsible-for-911/ American Muslims Are Not Responsible for 9/11 by Jim Wallis 08-23-2010 For the sake of resting my soul, while I was on vacation with my wife and boys, I was sure not to watch any cable news. We chose beaching, biking, reading, baseball, clamming, crabbing, (and watching the Little League World Series Tournament) instead. So, this Sunday morning was a jarring return to the media realities of the religious and political wars. I got home from vacation late on Friday night and was soon asked to join in the fracas around the planned Cordoba House two blocks from Ground Zero. In less than 36 hours after getting back to Washington, I was walking into the Fox News studio on Sunday morning. Welcome home. They asked about a letter that I had just signed supporting religious freedom for Muslims. I said we should ask three simple questions: Should we as Americans be able to worship and pray when and where we choose? Haven’t we fought for that? Are American Muslims … Americans? And, for those of us who are Christians (and I am an Evangelical Christian), are we obeying the commands of Jesus to love our neighbors? Aren’t Muslims our neighbors? So what might Jesus say to this controversy? There was a brief silence from the Fox and Friends anchors. OK, they said, but what about “sensitivity” to the families that lost loved ones in 9/11? Well, I said, 59 Muslims also died on 9/11 because of a vile, cowardly, and criminal attack by al Qaeda. Does it honor them, or their families, by somehow connecting all American Muslims to that horrible attack? Well, thank you for joining us today Reverend, they said. Thank you, I said, but how we handle this is very important–to what it means to be Americans or what it means to be Christians. I was ready to talk about my friends Imam Feisal Rauf and his wife, Daisy Khan, who are among the leaders of the vision to build a new community center committed to peace, interfaith dialogue, reconciliation, and bridge-building. I know them both and can testify to their long record on denouncing terrorism in the name of their religion and their consistent work for peace. Until very recently, Daisy says her main concern about the new interfaith center was whether there would be enough stroller space. Daisy called me Sunday to describe how their lives have been turned upside down. If Ground Zero is the “gaping wound” my Fox and Friends anchors described, what could be more helpful than a religious center dedicated to healing? That morning, as I watched continued coverage, I was disappointed to hear the low level that discourse has dropped to. The politicians who spoke to it sounded more like the people leaving nasty and false comments on YouTube videos than anyone deserving of public office. Well, it is the election season again. This guilt-by-association “sensitivity” argument is very dangerous stuff. Millions of American Muslims are not responsible for the heinous crime of 9/11. And animam’s desire to heal and build bridges should be a welcome thing. Exactly how far away from what places should Muslims be able to pray in America? Is there a measurement requirement that is emerging from all the other places in the country now where mosques are also being opposed? Fundamentalism doesn’t only exist in Islam. The things someone like Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell have said certainly are an embarrassment to other Christians — remember Robertson’s assertion that 9/11 was the judgment of God on America because of liberalism and feminism. So how about preventing fundamentalist churches that like Robertson from worshiping within 3 blocks of Ground Zero because of “sensitivity”? How we handle this one will affect our future as a nation. Do we believe in our principles or not? Do we believe Muslims are also Americans or not? Are we an inclusive and pluralistic nation, or not? - Jim Wallis Jim Wallis is the author of Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street — A Moral Compass for the New Economy, and CEO of Sojourners. He blogs at www.godspolitics.com.

Monday, aug 23, 2010 The Cordoba House/ Park51 This article is printed with permission from my local newspaper "The Broadsheet." Photo by Terese Loeb Kreuzer Link to the article here: http://web.me.com/broadsheet/Broadsheet/Home/Home.html Rival groups demonstrate over Park Place center Both factions say they are defending America and American values and rights Undaunted by rain, several hundred people showed up in Lower Manhattan yesterday morning to express their support for - or opposition to - the community center with an Islamic prayer space that has been proposed for 45-51 Park Place. The two groups were separated by a city block and by a large contingent of police, with the opponents on West Broadway and those who favored the structure on Church Street. Formerly known as Cordoba House, the proposed center has been renamed "Park51," though many of the opponents refer to it as the "ground zero mosque." "I'm here because I don't believe that this mosque should be on sacred ground," said Peter D'Ancona, a retired firefighter. Asked if it bothered him that there were porn shops and strip clubs in the ground zero neighborhood, he replied, "Not as much as it bothers me for this mosque to be erected in this area. Right now, it's raining on us. The angels are crying. We're here to wipe up their tears. On Sept. 11, I lost 343 of my brothers. I'm not saying that all Muslims are terrorists, but I am saying that every terrorist on that day was a Muslim. They don't need to have this mosque here. There are plenty of other places and there are over 260 of them in the city already. They don't need to be here. I know that a mosque is erected as a trophy in certain locations. This is not a place for this mosque to be." Down the block, on Church Street, the people who favored the Park Place facility chanted, "We say no to racist fear, Muslims are welcome here." Ruth Massey, a retired social worker who lives in the Bronx, carried a sign that said, "Intolerance will make us less safe." "I strongly believe that we need to support our fellow neighbors," she said. "Everybody has a right to be here. I think we need to fight against any kind of intolerance." Edward Pass also came from the Bronx to attend the rally. "I'm here to support freedom of religion and to stop the demonization of a religion of a billion people - and I'm Jewish," he said. Ali Akram, a physician from Brooklyn, brought his 11-year-old son, Asim, to the rally. He said that he came "not only to support the mosque, I am also here to support the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights gives us - American Muslims and I'm an American Muslim - the freedom to practice religion wherever we want to. Being pro-American means to support freedom of religion even if it is not your religion. I will oppose anybody who opposes any house of worship. If there's someone opposing a church being built, I will be at that rally. If there's someone opposing a synagogue being built, I will be there in favor of that synagogue just to uphold the Bill of Rights." At the rally opposing the Park Place proposal, the speakers had a different vision of American values. "God bless America" one of them said, as he and other speakers invoked the need to protect the country from sharia (Islamic law), to support American troops and to honor the dead of 9/11 by opposing the "ground zero mosque." The topic of a Park Place center started quietly enough on May 5 when Community Board 1's Financial District Committee unanimously approved a proposal for a community center. By the time the resolution about the center reached the full Community Board 1 meeting on May 25, vehement opposition - mostly from people who did not live in Lower Manhattan and would not be directly affected - necessitated a police presence at the four-hour meeting where the resolution was discussed and ultimately, approved. "I'm truly surprised and alarmed by the continuing controversy over the Park51 facility," said Ro Sheffe, chair of Community Board 1 Financial District Committee, in a recent e-mail. "Two things about this particularly disturb me. One is that the facility is almost always referred to in the media and in conversation as 'The Mosque at Ground Zero' or as an 'Islamic cultural center.' The first implies that it's only a mosque, the second implies that it's a facility dedicated to the study of Islamic religion and culture. Media stories very rarely mention that one story of 15 will house a prayer space, and 14 floors will be devoted to secular community facilities -- library, performance space, child care, art gallery, culinary school, gym, swimming pool, etc. "The prayer space will occupy the ground floor of a 15-story building, which means it comprises about 6 percent of the total space. So, referring to the entire facility as 'The Mosque' is as absurd as calling the Empire State Building 'The Starbucks,' because there happens to be one on the ground floor. In recent interviews, I've begun calling it 'The Swimming Pool at Ground Zero.' The pool will probably comprise about as much square footage as the prayer space, so it's as accurate a description as 'The Mosque at Ground Zero.' Perhaps this will emphasize the fact that we're talking about a community center here, not a shrine to Islam. "The other thing that disturbs me is that a very few loud individuals and groups have created an 'issue' where none exists, and are exploiting it for personal or political gain. There has been a mosque near Ground Zero since 1983, and there's never been any controversy about it for 27 years. Islamic prayer services are held every week in the Pentagon about 80 feet away from the plane impact on 9/11, and there's never been any controversy about that. "This is a community issue. And this community has voiced its support of this congregation again and again -- both in CB1 meetings and in the media. There is no controversy two blocks or 20 blocks from the site. So, why did this suddenly become a subject of national ideological debate immediately after the Park51 community center was proposed to the Financial District Committee on May 5? A few individuals and groups saw an opportunity to exploit hatred and fear for personal or political gain. It's as simple as that. "The problems our country faces right now are so complex that it will take the wisdom of Solomon and the patience of Job to solve them. Politicians who have no idea how to fix the real problems have always found that it's far easier to get elected by distracting voters from the difficult issues, and garnering votes by making a lot of noise about their valiant fight against a giant, evil straw man. Two millennia ago in Rome it was Christians. In 1930s Germany it was Jews. In 1950s America it was communism. This year it's The Mosque. "'Un-American' is a phrase I'm hearing more and more often from political opportunists who oppose this facility. It's now becoming clear that the anti-Islamic hatred and fear they're stirring up is helping Islamic extremists recruit young people. So, who's the more 'un-American' -- those who seek to guarantee constitutional rights to all, or those who are actively aiding and abetting our enemies?" The rallies on Sunday provided two different answers to Mr. Sheffe's question. A block apart from each other, neither group could hear what the other was saying, not did it seem likely that anyone's mind would have been changed if they had been within earshot. - Terese Loeb Kreuzer

Friday, aug 20, 2010 A Quote on Lyme Disease "All involved with late state Lyme disease agree there is a large amount of inaccurate information on this subject. This disagreement exists at every level - journals, scientific meetings, clinical practice, media outlets, etc. To fuel the intensity of these disputes, some approach these issues with a significant bias. The full recognition of this illness has implications, which could affect tourism, real estate values, disability, insurance company/managed care liability, workman’s compensation cases, motor vehicle issues, some criminal cases, and political issues. Bias issues can adversely effect patient care, research funding, and medical regulatory issues. Some of those previously impacted by bias now have difficulty approaching this disease with full-unhampered objectivity. To know Lyme disease is not only to know medicine but also neurology, psychiatry, politics, economics, and law. As with any other invisible disability, many of the chronic patients feel demoralized after being exposed to stigma and abuse from those who cannot understand or those who are biased for a variety of reasons." - Robert Bransfield, M.D. Jo's note- The best book I know of on lyme disease that is extremely well researched is Healing Lyme, by Stephen Buhner

Wednesday, aug 18, 2010 "The only work that will ultimately bring any good to any of us is the work of contributing to the healing of the world.” Marianne Williamson

Monday, aug 16, 2010 A poem about my Day Call it Complicated, or Call it an Adventure by Jo Davidson Some days in New York City, the simple things become so complicated although one could also say they are adventurous and I suppose which word you choose depends upon your point of view After being wide awake from 2:30-7Am last night and then squeezing in a few more hours I wake up feeling like a tennis ball someone has stepped on I dust myself off, get dressed and head out into the swampy August streets, steam coming up from the concrete and car exhaust spitting in the the air from city buses I walk slowly to the 1 train which takes me up to Chelsea in little time another flight of stairs and trying to catch my breath but dreaming of music I sing my song and fantasize about what it feels like to really dance I can almost taste it in spite of teetering on the edge of some adrenal crash cliff, I wonder, this time will there be a parachute? I feel sort of like a car sputtering along the highway and yet even this sputtering is welcome because it is better than some of the dead stops I have known all too often and all too recently Sometimes I think that even in illness I am healthier than others who sleep walk through life blind to the miracle of each moment The doc does more muscle testing I collapse on the table but at least I am not crying like I was last time I am breathing slowly we up my doses of colloidal silver to three times per day still taking maca and B6 we add in a liquid chromium and he does some cranio sacral work I feel the swirls of energy dancing up and down my body when his hands touch my head it's like being held in a warm bath but everything tickles inside there is a pulse an electric current I feel and I only know I want more of this Afterwards I walk out into the sauna of the day and make my way to City Bakery for cilantro chicken, kale, radicchio salad and jasmine rice with ginger and garbanzo beans I could have the fried chicken with mac n cheese just as easily but I don't I wonder if I will ever feel normal again and at the same time feel extremely grateful that I am sitting here I eat and then wander over to Barnes and Noble to look for a book by Dr Larry Dossey that I saw in my doc's office and fell head over heels in love with, but they don't have it, I will check Borders or Amazon.com later Then I head over to Union Square to see if anyone at the outdoor market today has dandelion greens because they are good for the liver and detoxification and Lord knows I need as much of that as I can tolerate which isn't much I have to take it slow I snap a pic on my cell phone of the rows and rows of sunflowers delias soft lilies black berries and apples I buy a handful of fresh mint and rosemary some white peaches and lavender salve and a pound of green beans from a local farm my purse is so heavy nobody has my dandelion greens they are in between season It's a bit of a bummer but not seriously only a minor one after knowing what a real bummer feels like you don't stress over the small things I walk over to the R train and slide my card through the turnstile but I am out of money and there is no agent my purse is heavier by the minute, what the heck is in here anyway? I have to go up and cross the street and then get to the machine and put more money on my card let's try this again Underground everyone is sweating the air sits silent like a swamp in Louisiana not even paper fans stir a breeze urine from some nearby area drifts up and the smell lingers like a bad dream that hangs around long after you've been awake A tall dark skinned man is rambling about God and carrying a worn Bible and he is preaching to the girl next to him who is polite but would rather he just disappear I hear bits of words such as murderers and liars and thieves... He is ranting and raving the way lunatics do when they think they know everything about God and they are so right and everyone else is so wrong he comes close to me and starts screaming out to people "You have the Holy Spirit in you, I can see it. You're a Christian, aren't you?" And I am thinking to myself, yeah I have the Holy Spirit in me and right now that spirit is saying you are seriously deranged you need to get out of here and leave these people alone The train comes and I get on. Five guys start singing soul music and then come by with a hat hoping for handouts. At Canal street, the doors open and suddenly I see the "preacher" on my train. Now how did he get here? I get off the train just to get away from him, and before I can get in the car behind me, the train takes off. So I am left standing underground on the hot platform waiting for the next one. Unbelievable. After awhile, I say to myself, forget it. I am going window shopping in Soho. Next thing I know I am walking past the cheap knock offs on Canal Street laughing that I ended up here all to avoid a crazy preacher. Isn't it funny how one path ends and another one leads you to a place you didn't think you'd end up This bag is too heavy. I keep switching shoulders and thinking how much easier it would be to walk without this bag. Note to self. Lighten your load. I walk up Broadway and stop at a store that has cool grungy rock chic clothes how else can I explain it I don't write fashion reviews for good reason I decide I'll just look there is a casual smoky grey dress and a matching top 50% off and I try them both on and buy both because they look hot and it's a great deal and I can really use them and I can walk today I am just happy so I am celebrating the small things I try on another shirt and wonder where these boobs came from they pop out of this shirt like a stuffed turkey I swear this makes Victoria Secret models look conservative I look like I should be in a casino in Jersey How did these boobs even get here not that I am complaining but they also came with a bigger stomach I wish I could pick one and be rid of the other but really now why do we women do this are we ever ok enough? so I don't do it anymore I stop and I give up the idea of being a model because really I rarely can exercise so there's that You don't get a model body unless you can seriously exercise how did I get onto this subject I pop into a cheap jewelry store looking for gifts for my nieces it's like a fairy tale for 5 years olds all glitter and sparkle like a gentler times square on new years eve I leave empty handed not feeling in the mood for fake jewels I walk up to the R at Prince Street the exact opposite direction of where I should be heading but then what is a should? Maybe it's the opposite direction of my final destination but exactly where I need to go I am tempted by Dean & Deluca oh I haven't had one of their cupcakes in years I want one No don't do it Ok I do it Fork in hand on the R train headed downtown I am eating it like I've never had chocolate before Other passengers are probably thinking look at this pig she can't even wait until she gets home my face has heaven written all over it Actually nobody is looking at me all that much We all think more about ourselves than anyone else ever does A Mexican guy with a mandolin serenades us while we fly past each stop and I enjoy my cupcake to the sound of his playing and try not to panic when the train stops in the dark in a tunnel and we all sit and wait A tall slim man wearing construction boots gives up his seat for an older woman wheeling a suitcase behind her The doors open and I throw out the Dean and Deluca empty bag and head outside as a man walks in front of me, I am guessing by his dress he is from Nigeria perhaps I pass a Vietnamese woman whose husband is seated on a chair near the subway entrance at first I think she is cutting his hair then I realize she is just going through it like she is looking for something A Chinese boy and his parents look at their maps trying to figure out which direction they want to go and three guys in suits and ties sit under an umbrella discussing business deals I take the elevator up to my apartment in the sky and go into the bathroom looking for something when I knock over the eye pencil sharpener I have been using for 6 months Suddenly all the pencil shavings are over the floor and in the carpet and I sort of laugh to myself and think how is it that the simple things become so complicated although one could also say they are adventurous and I suppose which word you choose depends upon your point of view what started out as a simple plan go to the doc come home has turned into so much more And I think of all I have been through and realize that I am awake and I am not blindly sleep walking through my life for I know in all of me that every single moment is a miracle even if it includes the mad rants of a deranged preacher or the mess of fallen pencil shavings on a rug or a storm or a chocolate cupcake just to be here and move is its own dance its own breath It's all a gift Suddenly the sun drifts away, and the sky opens up into a summer storm shaking and rattling around as thunder slices through the hot humid air rumbling and growling Lightning bolts pierce the air like sharp glass flying out in random claps and bolts that light up my room and make my heart beat faster I jump then the thunder lets out one last scream and gives way into sighs as the rain pelts the windows I watch the choppy waves of the Hudson River bobbing up and down in the fog.

Thursday, aug 12, 2010 Juicing This morning I made this juice, and it tasted so great that I thought I would share it with you! Just put all the ingredients in a Vitamix Juicer. ( a blender would probably work too) Jo' s Organic Pick Me Up A few pieces of organic Kale 1 celery stalk 1/2 of a lemon peeled but not squeezed 1/4 of a grapefruit peeled 1 tsp of organic coconut oil 1/8 tsp of powdered ginger 1/2 organic apple cored, leave the skin on Blend, and that's it!

Friday, jul 30, 2010 Merry Go Round “You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around - and why his parents will always wave back.”

Wednesday, jul 28, 2010 Out of Chaos Tonite, out of chaos came clarity. It felt so good, even if incomplete. Sometimes just saying what we really feel and want rather than what we are suppose to feel and want, can be healing. Then you peel back layers in time, and realize there is always something behind the obvious. This picture I took earlier has nothing to do with that. Or maybe it does. Maybe it's about being at sea. It's about having the courage to follow one's heart even if it means being different. Sometimes in the process you don't see land for awhile. And that's ok. You have to be willing to get lost to find anything interesting.

Tuesday, jul 27, 2010 Gregorian Chant The Nuns of the Abbaye de Notre-Dame de l'Annonciation, from a remote region of France near Avignon, won a worldwide search to find the world's finest female singers of Gregorian Chant..... They have signed with Universal Music to produce an album of Gregorian Chant. The search took in over 70 convents, including communities as far afield as North America and Africa. The Nuns are part of an ancient order which dates back to the 6th Century. They continue the tradition of leading a hidden life, literally behind closed doors. To remain 'secluded' to the outside world, any visitors, even family, must communicate with the sisters through a grill. Once vows have been taken to live in the Convent, the sisters remain there until their death. To avoid intrusion into their daily lives, the Nuns will film their own TV commercial and photograph their own album cover. The self-sufficient Nuns, who count amongst them a plumber, an engineer, an electrician, a silk-weaver and a dental assistant, have already forbidden record company bosses from entering their cloister. Dickon Stainer, Managing Director of Decca Records, said, "I passed the contract through the grill, they signed it and passed it back. Although the nuns do not leave the Convent, the whole world will now hear the true beauty of their singing". http://www.chantfromavignon.com/

Monday, jul 26, 2010 View of Jersey City from NYC I took this picture a few days ago....

Monday, jul 26, 2010 Some notes from my "tool box" I wrote a note to a friend and decided to add more thoughts to it and share it here with anyone else who might need it... "I hope you keep hanging in there - hold onto hope- even with all these difficult ups and downs, there is still hope! Others have made it through this and come out the other side. You can too. I don't know when or how, but I know it is very possible. It might be hard to believe or feel, when you are in the long hard years of struggling with huge challenges, when they seem endless. How do you hope even then? And when you feel like you have tried so many things and yet nothing has helped, how do you find the strength to even go on? It's like you're in a huge wind storm, being thrown around here and there. Maybe you stopped fighting, and you're just letting yourself drift away. You can call yourself back. This is how... Sometimes when things feel out of control and chaotic, I pick just one thing I CAN control. I find one thing that I can make a consistent practice (for a short or long period of time) that draws me into being more conscious and aware of what I am feeling and what I need. Sometimes I need a sense of order, or maybe a routine (although I generally fight routine). When you feel like you are going in circles and want off the wheel, how can you truly get back into your center? By being aware. I know that if I start feeling like I am sleep walking through my life or my healing process or even my chaos, I get uncomfortable. I need to be aware of what is happening, what I am feeling, even if I don't have solutions to every problem. I need to know that I am living the fullest life I can, the richest, deepest life I can. That I am consciously choosing rather than automatically choosing. Pick one thing and keep it simple. Think of it as something that plugs you in. Be consistent, even if only for a week. It could be deciding you will spend 10 minutes or more per day this week in meditation or prayer. Then do that every single day for this week. It might be deciding to write your goals and post them on the wall and do one small step each day towards one of your goals this week. You don't have to accomplish everything and reach the end destination. You only need to take steps towards it. Every step counts. Maybe your one thing, is writing in a private journal every day this week. One paragraph. 5 pages. Whatever comes out. It is easy to feel lost. For me, these simple things are just a few ideas of things that bring me back into feeling in touch with me. And from that place, I feel stronger, no matter what is happening in my circumstances.

Sunday, jul 25, 2010

Saturday, jul 24, 2010 Melting We are melting here on the east coast! I don't remember a summer with so many intense heat waves. It is 9Pm and it has "cooled down" to 91 degrees. Then there's the humidity which feels like a hot fan blowing on your face! Waiting for the subways underground is especially charming. But here's the funny thing. Since I have been on some new supplements, I've noticed I do much better in heat than I use to. Mmm. I wonder why. Today I had a writing session with another artist. Then I want to the market on south street- http://www.newamsterdammarket.org/ It is only monthly in the summer, but then goes to weekly I think mid September. There were some great vendors there. http://www.newamsterdammarket.org/vendors.html I also discovered my favorite ice cream ever, from an ice cream truck in Soho. It is usually parked on Greene St just south of Prince St. The mint chip uses organic peppermint! http://www.vanleeuwenicecream.com/ This is a quick picture of me today melting in the hot sun by the seaport. I do love being by the water.

Thursday, jul 22, 2010 a poem A poem about the hard times- The picture is one I took last night. I wrote this poem over it this morning.

Thursday, jul 22, 2010 Joke for the day

Wednesday, jul 21, 2010 Sabrina This is a picture of my cat Sabrina. Doesn't she have the prettiest green eyes?

Tuesday, jul 20, 2010 Poem Sometimes life brings stuff and you can't really put it all into words. Or maybe you just don't feel like explaining it. So instead of going into detail, I scribbled out a quick poem about it- Here goes! Blickity blackety bluck. I feel like a land bound duck. Or maybe a three legged chair Or a knot caught in tangled hair. And this is my poem for the day For there is not much else to say But to make some art out of muck It's like blickety blackety bluck!

Saturday, jul 17, 2010 Asbury Park This is a picture I took of the old Carousel building on the boardwalk in Asbury Park, NJ It is GREAT hanging out at the shore in the summer!

Thursday, jul 15, 2010 Flower Power Spending time with flowers makes me feel rooted, tapped into my spiritual self. They really do speak to me, I feel alive around flowers, especially the ones in this garden. No matter what kind of day I am having, no matter whether I feel exhausted or energetic, up or down or in between, the flowers have a way of being with me right where I am. My neighbors who grow these flowers put so much love and care into them! And I love to spend time with them in all their changing cycles. They know that not every season is meant to be peak season. Why do we assume it should be different for us? Why do we try to go from one peak experience to another? Spending time in nature where you connect again with not only seasons, but more subtle changes, helps you appreciate and accept your own. There is something about these particular flowers- they jump out at me- it's a feeling of playfulness and also strength that I get from them. Happiness and resilience. They are also incredibly sensual. I could write chapters about that.

Monday, jul 12, 2010 Butterfly in the Sun

Saturday, jul 10, 2010 God Bless LeBron James How could I say such a thing? I grew up in Ohio. And if you know Ohio sports fans, you know they are some of the most loyal, passionate and long-suffering sports fans you'll ever find. I'm not sure what happened to me that I never got the "sports gene". When my 3 sisters tell me about their football fantasy leagues, basketball or baseball games, I zone out. I've tried to get excited about sports, but I can't hide my lack of interest. One sister even took time to try and explain to me how the game of football works. I felt like someone was trying to teach me French. Which by the way, I've always wanted to speak. I just don't want to do the work to study it. It doesn't take a sports fan to see that LeBron broke up with Cleveland in an awful way. What was he thinking? So many people in Ohio and from his hometown are shocked, and feeling upset and sad. These are people who have supported him throughout his career and rooted for his successes and achievements. It would have been nice to see him stand by his hometown and bring a long overdue championship to Ohio. But does he owe us a lifetime of playing for Cleveland? As hard as it is for so many people, he does have a right to make a change and pursue other opportunities. Change can hurt at times, that is for sure. But the way you make change matters most. Do you leave in a way that is respectful and mature? Or do you burn bridges and leave in a way where you are thinking only of yourself? Maybe if we look at our own lives, we can find places where we have been on both sides. For LeBron to leave Cleveland, is painful enough for his fans. But to create a nationally televised program based on the long delayed, much discussed and massively over-publicized decision, essentially toying with people's emotions was really a low blow. You don't leave that way. Many believe this was senseless and callous. It was a slap in the face to the very people who helped him get to where he is. On the surface it seemed selfish, egocentric and attention seeking. Some say that the way LeBron left was beneath a man who has displayed intelligence, grace and maturity beyond his years throughout his seven years with the Cavaliers - but this exit showed no respect or class. They just might be right. You don't go on television to break up with someone, not even giving them the courtesy of a private conversation beforehand, and then try to soften the blow by putting children in the background as you try to promote yourself like a man of philanthropy and goodwill. So how can I say God Bless him? I think of situations in my own life. Have you ever had a personal relationship with someone who disappointed you? Have you ever been in a relationship with someone who broke up with you unexpectedly, when you didn't see it coming? Someone who thought the grass was greener elsewhere? Someone you believed in, and yet they betrayed you in an awful way, left you when you needed them and even said hurtful things on the way out? Someone who was selfish, attention seeking, ego driven, someone who totally devastated you by their actions, words or behavior? Have you ever been not only on the receiving end of this behavior, but the one dishing it out? How do we heal these experiences? It's not by sending out ill wishes that the person who we believe wronged us live a life of misery. It's not by wishing harm upon him or her in any way. And if we were the one who hurt another, we don't help ourselves by holding ourselves hostage eternally. When we cannot forgive another we might as well hook ourselves up to a boomerang. You can't send out so much hate without landing smack in it yourself eventually. Usually our hate comes from grief, shock, disappointment and anger. We need time to feel those feelings. They are normal to feel. We feel broken. Someone hurt us deeply. We want to hurt back. They were wrong. We want them to pay. We want them to get down on their knees and beg us for forgiveness. To admit to how foolish and wrong they were and what a horrible choice they made. We want apologies. BIG apologies. We might even deserve them. We hope for those acknowledgments and picture the relationship being restored if only the person gives us what we think we need and deserve. Sometimes we get apologies and explanations, sometimes we don't. Sometimes the relationship can be restored, sometimes it cannot. Sometimes it is healthier to wish the other person well but not have them in our lives. After we've had time to process the sadness we have experienced, we have a choice. We can wish the other harm, which is in essence wishing ourselves harm, or we can rise above the low vibrations and low levels of consciousness that created such pain. We can wish the other well sincerely, and hope they come to their senses, We can pray for them to come back into alignment with love. Just as we ourselves need to again and again come back into it as well. The Bible says, "Bless your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." We all lose our way, and hate never leads us home. So may God Bless LeBron James, and may Cleveland have a strong team next season and totally kick Miami in the ass. Enlightenment as its finest.

Friday, jul 9, 2010 A few pics from the Jersey Shore

Friday, jul 9, 2010

Thursday, jul 8, 2010 Great day I had such a great day today. A huge break through happened last night. A huge healing. It is the most incredible feeling. I didn't even have fatigue today. After so many months of non stop extreme fatigue, it felt like someone took the chains off and set me free. I sang a lot today and played the piano. Tonite I went out to the beach. How sticky, humid and wet everything is. It's very messy. I've been lying down on the earth in the late evenings, letting mother nature reach up into me and lead me into my strength. I had a pretty amazing experience last night, and after it, I felt a whole new opening inside. I honestly felt like I was being plugged in. Reset. I have been reading a brilliant book called "Growing Myself" by Judith Handlesman. The odd thing is that it was there in my book shelf for a very long time. I have no idea how long, and I have no memory of buying it of receiving it. Then all of the sudden one day last week, it announced itself. The book is an amazing spiritual journey through inner (and outer) gardening. There are true stories in it that will amaze you, about how plants respond to your emotions, care, attention and love. This book is honestly one of my all time favorites. I have had many conversations with flowers. I love photographing them, and they love the attention too. I really stop to listen and spend time with them in all their stages. These are some quotes from "Growing Myself" "Thank your plants often and tell them how beautiful they are and how much you love them. Look upon everything you do as another step in creating a sacred space with your garden." "In the early 70s, when I worked for NBC All News Network Radio, I interviewed the head landscape gardener at Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida. I wanted to know if he thought plants could feel or in some way know what was going on. He said, yes, and when I asked him how he knew such a thing, he smiled, knowingly. Of all the hundreds of plants, bushes, shrubs and trees at Disneyworld, he explained, the ones that died and had to be replaced the most often were the flowers (usually impatiens) planted around the benches where the parents sat and scolded their children. He adamantly asserted that these plants shriveled up and died because of the yelling and screaming and general bad feeling that occurred on those benches. My experience with my spider plant set me thinking in a similar direction. I realized I needed to be careful about how I behaved with my plants." "Think always of how you would feel in the same position, and then you will know what course of action to take." "A spiritual approach to gardening brings you closer to who you are, what you are doing, and your relationship with all living things."

Tuesday, jul 6, 2010 Heat waves and Healing Wow what a heat wave we are having. It's 102 in NYC, and 98 at the Jersey Shore. Pretty brutal! Add in the humidity and it's a scorcher. I can't even go out right now. I'm sitting in a room with a window a/c blasting, and I'm still hot. I miss central a/c! It has been a hard week for me. I have so much to be grateful for and continue to write songs, poems, blogs and do this radio show. At the same time, my life is not "normal." I'm going through rounds of detox and die off and all sorts of fun stuff as I continue to treat lyme disease. Is there an end to this? I mean, really, how can this thing be so intense? But it is. Since I had chronic fatigue immune dysfunction before getting lyme, it has been an ongoing challenge for many years. I have a great new doctor, and I also feel like a healer myself in many ways. My personal experience has been my greatest teacher. There is no substitute for personal experience. In fact, although I would not wish these illnesses on ANYONE, if every doctor or healer experienced cfids type fatigue for for 10 years day after day, they would completely change. It would turn their worlds upside down and everything they think they believe. My own journey has led me into new territory, that's for sure. I think of the thousands of articles I have read, hundreds of books, the many doctors and healers I have consulted with personally, and also interviewed for this show. I am standing at a point right now, where I feel very protective. There are so many voices out there and also many mediocre healers. I unfortunately bump into a good number of them. I've noticed that lately, I have no patience for any of them. Maybe it is because I have seen too much,been through so much. You have to be careful when working with people energetically. They have to have energetic integrity, and it helps if their beliefs are aligned with yours. These lyme microbes and bacteria have their own minds, and it can truly affect your mind when you start trying to get rid of them. Many docs have no idea how true this is, and they end up treating something they think is emotional, when it's root is actually physical. Also, the gut is the second brain. So when bacteria levels are high in the digestive area, not only does it affect one's waistline, it affects one's thoughts and emotions. I believe that is why many people with lyme and cfids do not tolerate probiotics, yet they are needed more than ever! I am taking tons of them right now. It's not fun, but it's necessary. This time around, I am not backing off my supplements or my plan. No matter how hard it is to get through. No matter how long it takes. I'm working with someone now who I know I am suppose to be working with, I think he is a genius, and I have done A-Z in the past already, and invented a few new letters along the way. So I am on this ride, and God has somehow given me enough hope to keep going in spite of how difficult my days are. Instead of pushing myself to do normal, I am doing this new normal. Seeing what possibilities I can create within this space as it is. It's important to stick to your gut reaction and follow your heart on your healing journey. Everyone has a different path. Different approaches work for different people. There is no one size fits all. Sometimes different things work at different times. I know that in the past there were times when acupuncture helped me, although in the more recent years it has not. I've done chelation, supplements, herbs, neural therapy, reiki, raw vegan diets, massages, chiropractic, ozone therapies, talk therapies, and much more. I've been an explorer. Be open to new things, but also don't hesitate to shut out the voices that are saying things you know not to be true for you. This is how you can know a truly advanced healer from a wanna be.... The best healers will spend time learning from you, They will treat you as an equal rather than try to make themselves look so whole and you so broken. They will ask you questions. They won't bombard you with unwanted, insensitive or inaccurate advice. They will give you what is helpful, and be like channels of grace, kindness, understanding, and compassion. They will excel at their craft and be able to help you heal in whatever way you are meant to. The best healers will make you feel safe rather than anxious, accepted rather than judged, whole rather than broken, and hopeful rather than discouraged. They will honor the light in you, the brilliance in you, and see you as a partner rather than a student.

Tuesday, jul 6, 2010 I was inside all day due to the heat, but tonite I went out to the ocean and stood there awhile in the water. Oh it felt so good! I felt like a wilted flower coming back to life. Thanks to that and also upping my dose of a Reishi supplement. That helped too. It is still 97 degrees here at the Jersey Shore and it is 9:30PM! What a day.

Monday, jul 5, 2010 longing a friend of mine wrote that health is the truest form of independence I am still fighting for it trying to create my own July 4th any day of the week month or year so I create as much as I can create while feeling squeezed into this tiny box I create in songs poems and photos announcing to my spirit and soul that yes life is beautiful and I bloom where I am planted but I can't pretend my heart doesn't ache because it does and it sings songs of longing from places words can't reach

Friday, jul 2, 2010 Ocean Grove NJ Fishing Pier I've created a new line of greeting cards featuring various NJ SHORE scenic photos as well as flowers. If you'd like more info, please email me! Jodavidson@mac.com Cards are $4 each or 6 for $20. The greeting cards are great gifts, or you can frame them in 5X7 frames. Each card has a matte frame around it! For info contact me. This is a picture I took yesterday of the fishing pier in Ocean Grove.

Wednesday, jun 30, 2010 Laughter makes the hard things softer and the heavy loads lighter I'm totally cracking up reading some of my favorite funny Erma Bombeck quotes... "Think about the tragic nature of the women on the Titanic, who, on that fateful evening, said no to dessert." " A friend will tell you she saw your old boyfriend - and he's a priest." "I come from a family where gravy is considered a beverage. " "If you can't make it better, you can laugh at it. " "In two decades I've lost a total of 789 pounds. I should be hanging from a charm bracelet. " "Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died. " "Guilt is the gift that keeps on giving." "The odds of going to the store for a loaf of bread and coming out with only a loaf of bread are three billion to one." "Skiing: I do not participate in any sport with ambulances at the bottom of the hill." "My second favorite household chore is ironing. My first being hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint."

Wednesday, jun 30, 2010 Snapshots of my thoughts in the night I've been awake since 2:30. It seems to be one of those nights when I am so tired I can't sleep. Lately I have felt like withdrawing into my invisible circle. Some part of me feels too exhausted to blog and write and inspire or share. And yet here I am, writing about how I don't feel like writing. Hilarious. Yesterday I read something from a spiritual author, someone whose work I usually like. But I thought this particular piece was way off base. I felt really irritated when I read it. I thought it was a bunch of nonsense. I think perfection is really overrated. Unless you are talking about strawberry shortcake. Or spring days. Or a great massage in a hut overlooking a Caribbean beach. Or key lime pie. Or Cuban rice and bean. Or the way the wind sings through the trees on a cool summer night. Suddenly I am remembering how my mom use to hang clothes up on a line outside every once in awhile. I loved that clean smell of sheets that had been drying in the warm sun. One of the gifts my mom gave me, was that she created a beautiful safe home. A home where time could move quickly some days, full of chaos and screaming kids and activities that passed by in a blur, and slowly other days. Where we could spend hours sewing, even if I was just watching, or complaining I couldn't cut a pattern out right, where we would pick out fancy china tea cups and have tea, where ironing somehow seemed like a meditation, I still think the idea of ironing with lavender water is romantic, where hours spent baking apple pies and creme puffs with vanilla filling and chocolate chip cookies would have made Betty Crocker proud... I remember the feeling of the green grass under my toes after a long winter. The clean smell in the air that you don't have if it's always summer. It's an aliveness that only comes after many months of being cold... I remember loving dandelions, signs of spring, even though most people seemed to want to get rid of them, What could be ugly about a yellow flower that pops up announcing new beginnings? We would make wishes on them and blow them out when they had turned white I drift back to sensations from other times and places, which still live within me. Thoughts jump from one thing to the next. Thoughts are like that. I start out writing about not writing, and end up romanticizing the past, the way a photograph can make a moment look even better than it ever was. Or maybe make it look like it really was just for a few moments- perfect. 5Am and sleep calls. The sun is coming up and mine is going down. Everything is a snapshot. Click.

Sunday, jun 27, 2010 Pearl This is some seriously intense heat! It feels like the Caribbean without the breeze. (And that's at the beach, I don't even want to know what the city is like- i guess I'll find out in a few hours). I was on the Asbury Park boardwalk this morning. This is a picture of my new friend. Her name is Pearl.

Sunday, jun 27, 2010 This hot dog is a little scary don't you think!!!?

Friday, jun 25, 2010 Water lighting on fire Have you heard about this new documentary called GASLAND? I have seen a few interviews with the filmmaker this week. He lived on the Delaware River, and got a letter in the mail. Oil companies wanted to drill for natural gas on his property, and offered him a lot of money to do it. This led Josh Fox on a journey to find out what this process was about- something called "Fracking" which is how they would get the oil. He uncovered lies and contamination in the process. His film won an award at Sundance. What would you do if you turned on your tap water, and you could actually light it on fire? One woman's cats were dying and her horse was losing its hair. When she complained, she was told she was using too much lysol. How much abuse can mother nature take? We have to put an end to this NOW. We cannot continue to sustain life by destroying the earth and it's oceans, air, water and natural resources. We've all seen the horrible stories of all the animals dying in the Gulf because of the BP spill. The common factor behind these disasters seems to be one thing- GREED. We can all get upset, but what can we do? Here is something you can do- Go to http://www.Gasland.com Click on your state for email addresses for your state's representatives. I just sent letters to each of the ones in NY state. Write your personalized letters and send them off! It only took me about 3 minutes. I copied and sent a quick letter that said something like this: Hello I recently saw some interviews about the horrible contamination of our nation's water supply which is happening as a result of oil drilling and a process called "fracking." Please watch these links below, and make sure we put an end to this asap! Thank you, Jo Davidson Will the boom in natural gas drilling contaminate America's water supply? http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/613/index.html http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/06/22/gasland-director-josh-fox-on-his-controversial-documentary/ http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/

Wednesday, jun 23, 2010 What can you Let Go of Today? Isn't it challenging to keep your email "in boxes" empty or nearly empty? I am getting better at it, as of this week. It's my new goal. I must have erased over a thousand old emails these past few days. Emails saved from the past, things not dealt with, or things that I kept, thinking maybe I would need them some day. I deleted health articles on things I will never try or need, old emails from anyone that made me feel sad when reading them, junk mail, advertisements, and etc Now if I could just figure out what to do with all my diaries. Or find them first! But one step at a time. I am starting with email. Now, when things come in, I read them and then either delete them or file them if I want to save them. I've noticed that cleaning up is not a one day job. It's an every day job. There are still plenty of things in my files online that I am sure I do not need. So I will keep chipping away, emptying myself of the things that no longer support me. Physically, I am in the process of deleting as well. I am in another detox wave. I added a new supplement and changed dosages on some others last night. I woke up with waves crashing in on me. I'm in the spin cycle of the washer. Exhausted, dizzy, going around and around. That's how I feel. When I feel this fatigued, I feel more emotionally raw too. My first instinct is to push it all away. But I've learned that doesn't work. I have to find a way to be ok with sitting here in this mess, and slowly just start going through it. Are there any clothes I can give away? Any more emails I don't need to hold onto? Do I really need every single one of these books? Am I really going to need this information to quote in my great novel that I have yet to write and maybe never will? Are there any old fears, resentments or regrets I can let go of now? If only there was a quick "delete" button. I could press it, be done, and then walk away from this mess. Of course I would be thrilled to be able to just walk away from lyme and M.E/ Cfids and whatever label you want to call this shattering earth shaking storm. Sometimes I simply refer to it as the "mysterious lights syndrome." In the meantime, me and this mess are are going to keep deleting. Maybe I'll even scrub the sink (my husband would be shocked).

Monday, jun 21, 2010 Pianos in the Parks Today is the first day where 60 pianos have been placed on street corners and in parks around NYC as part of a public art project by British artist Luke Jerram. The project is called "PLAY ME, I'M YOURS." The pianos are from the non profit organization called "Sing for Hope." How fitting is that for me, and for this show? Sing for Hope. Oddly enough, a year ago I wrote a song which I have yet to record. It's called "Paint the Sky," and the verse says, "If I was a bird, I'd sing for hope, no matter what I'd seen." That's the thing. Singing for hope, NO MATTER WHAT you've seen. Today I went by and played the piano in Battery Park. The sustain pedal was broken and half the notes didn't play, but I tried to make some music out of it anyway. Just like in life. Crews from MTV showed up and filmed me. Of course this had to happen when I was dressed way way down and playing a broken piano that I could barely play. Of course! I called my mom afterwards and she laughed so hard I thought she was going to pee. We both found it funny. I think God has a strange sense of humor. After Battery Park, I went to City Hall. That piano was much better! The sustain pedal worked and the notes pretty much all played. Somebody from Voice America filmed me there. Hey you know, had I known, I might have worn something different, you know? But in the end, I guess it really doesn't matter how we look- what matters is the music inside of us. A friend really made me laugh when she sent me this note: "Remember how our moms always said 'don't leave home without nice panties in case you're in an accident'?? LOL. I say 'don't leave home without hair & makeup just in case there happen to be two random pianos around town & film crews happen to show up!'. Ha It was really fun! I'll be back, playing around town at random times. If you'd like info on piano locations, check out the website here! http://www.streetpianos.com/nyc2010/

Monday, jun 21, 2010 Favorite place on a hot summer day in NYC Yesterday was SO hot in the city. Humid too! My favorite place on hot days is by this fountain in Battery Park. There is a cool breeze coming off the water, you can sit under shady trees and watch boats go by. And you know, there is nothing better than hearing the sound of children laughing.

Monday, jun 14, 2010 Be the Red Crayon Yesterday, I was reminded of why I created Zentertainment Talk Radio. When I listen to the stories of people who have gone through big challenges, when I hear how they came THROUGH them, I am reminded of possibilities. Some people have "happy endings" to their stories, where the illness is cured, the relationships are restored, etc Others learn to find healing even without being physically healed, and they go through unbelievable suffering and yet somehow still say YES to life. I like to hear from people who have walked through their own desert, their own trials, their life changing valleys. If you are looking for HOPE in your life, and if you want to get inspired by hearing how other people have turned their hard times into "pearls," this show is for you. My guest this week is Sandy Schussel. He was a successful attorney who was burnt out in his job. Like everyone, he had bills and responsibilities, and was at a point in his life where he felt unable to make a career change because of those responsibilities. A major car accident and a life threatening illness were his wake up calls. But even then, it took him 5 more years to make the changes his soul was calling him towards. If you have wanted to change careers or improve your relationship to the one you are already in, he can help. He does private coaching with clients and firms, and he also leads seminars for companies. He helps you step by step! He is also excellent at helping you transform your business and attract new clients. His great book is a quick easy read- It's called "Become a Client Magnet: 27 Strategies to Boost Your Client-Attraction Factor" http://www.amazon.com/Become-Client-Magnet-Strategies-Client-Attraction/dp/1934759317 He quoted me in his book and has a whole chapter on how to be a "Red Crayon." I think being a red crayon, means being brave, bold, daring to be different, and looking closely for the amazing beauty in life that so many people miss when they are rushing by. TRANSCRIPT OF MY CONVERSATION WITH SANDY: Jo: Thanks for being here. How did you hear about my song Red Crayon? Sandy: I t started out that I was looking to see if there was some other reference. The red crayon idea had come from someone- and I just wanted to see if I could find where it came from! I didn't really remember. All of the sudden, I see lyrics to a song about a red crayon. I started to say, wow, someone has actually written a song about this. Of course your red crayon lyrics are very different from the red crayon concept in my book (laughs)- but here's the other thing that happened. I started listening to your music, and I said, wow, she's really good! I've downloaded a bunch of stuff. So I'm proud of the fact that I could use part of the lyric as one of my quotes. Jo: Red Crayon, even though the meaning is different in my song, it still really ties into what you write about. It's being bold, having courage, being different... You wrote that you were an unhappy attorney whose life almost ended at the age of 41. Can you tell us your background, your story, what happened? Sandy: I thought when I graduated from college that I was going to go on and be a theater star. I thought Broadway was waiting for me with open arms. That didn't quite work out. I was acting, singing and taking dance lessons. I wanted to be as complete as I could so I would get a job. When I realized that I would probably be hungry and maybe I wasn't as passionate about the work as some people were- and I do believe passion is so much a part of it- a friend said, well if you don't see yourself doing this, where would you like to be? I said, well the only thing I see myself doing is being one of those lawyers on a tv series. She said, "why don't you be a real lawyer?" I said no, I'd be doing it for my father. She said, "no, you'd be doing it for him, but you'd be doing it for you, too." I went to law school. I looked around and saw alot of unhappy people but also a lot of people who really loved it. I became an attorney. In the beginning I really liked it. I even liked the love hate relationship people have- everyone will say oh lawyers are terrible, but they say, "my lawyer is great!" It was like being on a rollercoaster, and it was a pretty good ride. I was on my own, I was developing clients, and I was really good at getting clients, but the work was starting to wear on me. I didn't like that there were SO many unhappy people. I didn't know what to do about it. It was to the point where it was as if I said to the guy running the rollercoaster, "this has been fun, but I'd like to get off." And he said, :no you can't, you're stuck in this forever!" Jo: You think that when you're in a career that seems so set- it feels like, how can I possibly change- Sandy. Yes and the problem is that you talk yourself into believing that this is all you can do! I would look into the distance and think, maybe what I'd like to do is teach, or be a speaker or something other than this. Then you get so sure you can't do it. My belief is that it's all about being afraid. It's about fear. You become so sure you can't do it. you don't even think of what you'd want to do. You block it out completely. The power of fear is that it can give you amnesia about what it was you really wanted to do! Jo: You stop dreaming about it because you think it's impossible to achieve. Sandy: Right! You put it put of your head. And it gets tougher if you are successful in the sense of monetary success. You are making more money. You are buying more things. Building up a place where you can't escape. It's like you are building your prison. At some point, I looked down the road and all I saw was 20, 30 more years of this adventure-less, passionless, joyless existence doing work I no longer liked. My body just started to- I was diagnosed with colon cancer. I understand that very happy well adjusted people get cancer too. But if there are 3 factors involved, it is environment, heredity and your immune system. My immune system looked down the road and said, no way. 20 or 30 years of this? Let's just end it now. I really believe that in my case that was a major contributing factor of why my body didn't fight off cells that people's bodies fight off everyday. It wasn't just that I had cancer, but it had started to spread. I had been refusing to go for an exam. I knew something was wrong. I had my two little girls in the back of my wife's car which was a Saab. I was driving them to where their old babysitter was, and the reason they weren't near where the old babysitter was, was that I disliked what I was doing so much, that I moved the entire family 50 miles away from the office so I had to commute, thinking maybe I will stop doing it if I get tired of the commute. I don't know what I was really thinking. It was desperation. We were driving. It seemed cold in the car. I reached to find the heater, drifted off the road and started flipping over the meridian line, over and over at 70 mph. We flipped over, 5, 6, 7 times. The end result was that we walked away from the accident. There was definately someone watching over us. When we walked away, I said, you know whatever it is I have been avoiding here, can't be that bad. If something terrible was going to happen, it would have happened. There I am in the car, it's flipping over, and I'm just saying, take me, not my children. But we all landed and all came out ok. Not totally unscathed, but ok. So I decided to get the little problem I was having, checked out, and that's when I got the diagnosis it was colon cancer. I needed to go for surgery. We thought that would be the end of that. But the doctor walked in the room and said they it had started to spread. So I was set up for a whole battery of chemo, radiation and things. During the course of that treatment, I reacted so badly to the treatment that I kept getting hospitalized over and over again. A few months later- I went in and it didn't look like I was coming out. For 3 days they couldn't figure out why I was in so much pain. My system started to shut down. My heart started to slow down and beat erratically. My kidneys started to shut down. They didn't know what to do or how to fix it. Fortunately, they got me back to the hospital where the first surgery was done. I made it through, but came out with some severe limitations. I was 112 pounds. I needed to be literally supported- I couldn't walk half a block without leaning on someone, I was disabled for a little over a year. Jo: That changes your whole life Sandy: Yes. And clients would say to me, we can't wait for you, I'm sorry. And one by one they were leaving. I was in this place where I had the choice of rebuilding a practice I hated, or doing something else. You would think well ok, you're gonna change your life. But I didn't. It took me 5 more years to get over the fears and find something I really loved to do and start doing it. When I wrote my first book "The High Diving Board, " my vow was that I was as going to help people not have to go through those 5 extra years until they made the changes they needed to make. Jo; That's an absolutely amazing story. What did you do practically? You wanted to move into something else you liked. What advice do you have for someone listening today who feels stuck, but has bills and responsibilities? Sandy: The first thing you think is how am I going to do this, I can't do this, and the truth is, YES YOU CAN. The first thing is to understand that there IS something out there you'd rather be doing. You can do something, and you don't have to instantly change your life. First you've gotta figure out what it is you want to do. People come to me and say they don't know. I challenge them. And say, if I took away the fear of not having money, what would you want to do? Most people know. They might not be able to admit it. But there is a part of you that knows. You don't believe it's possible. You don't believe you can change at this point in your life. Maybe you don't believe you'll be able to live on the kind of money-the first thing to do is acknowledge it. You don't have to quit your current job- you can take little steps that make the change. Steps to test if this is something you REALLY want. That's the part most people don't do, they won't even dream about it. I was working with a client who said he wanted to be a sports broadcaster. I said, ok you don't have to change your career overnight. But there's a school for broadcasting, why don't you get the information. I'm not asking you to apply. Just take the first step and get the information. He ultimately decided he wasn't going to take that leap, but at least we played with it. That is the first thing someone can do. Jo: Gather information. Get your feet wet. Sandy: There are some things people love to do that make great hobbies but when you get right down to it, they are not such great careers or businesses. It doesn't hurt to find that out, or test it out, or just make it PART of your life. Recently I was consulted by an attorney who if he could give it up, he'd write for sports magazines. I challenged him to write an article on a recent sports event and just put it out on the internet. He got so much pleasure out of that, that he forgot he doesn't like his law career so much. Jo; Sometimes just making your hobbies more a part of your life, help you with that other job. Sandy: Yes, so maybe you decide you're not gonna leave the job. Or maybe you decide to leave, well what's the next step you can take and then the next? Where you were struggling and miserable and burnt out, now you have something you are passionate about. Maybe it's going to lead to a new career or not, but at least you are pursuing a passion. Jo: Were there any things you loved about being a lawyer that helped you discover where you wanted to go next? Sandy: Yes. I realized that I liked teaching, training, helping, and I loved the act of whooing a client. I was good at that. The part I didn't like was the work. I didn't want to be fighting with people all the time, or preparing paperwork to prevent a fight or create the fight. That is not the work I wanted to do. All I saw was, I hate this work and every time I would get a check I would think, Oh no I have to do the work. It was not where I wanted to be, but I liked the part of pursuing the business. I also realized I could teach people that. One of my clients said, why don't you give seminars on how to get and keep clients? And I sat down one night and thought, he's right. A business was born. In the beginning, I would do it when I could, and do other things to earn money, including practicing law. Then one day there was enough where I said, I don't have to practice law anymore. I would help other lawyers and financial advisors get business, but I didn't have to do the other work. Jo: You took steps. You built into it. It wasn't one big dramatic break. Sandy: No it wasn't, And what was important was making the decision. I use to believe people don't do something either because they are afraid or they don't know how. I am convinced now that there is a step before that. They haven't MADE THE DECISION TO DO IT. Because if you make that decision- you'll find ways around the other problems Jo: Music for me didn't feel like a decision, but more like what I was born to do. It never felt like something I chose. Sandy: I envy people who know that from the beginning. I didn't know that until I was in my 40s. My belief from seeing the world, is that most people don't know what they want or if they do, they bury it soe much they can't find it. Jo: And also sometimes things happen in life that lead you off into other directions as well. I wondered if you could give a couple tips on branding, and on dos and don'ts for someone out there listening who has a business. Sandy: First let's define branding. Everybody uses that word, we throw it around alot now. Some people say it means, when someone has a particular need, you're the best choice. My belief is that when you're branded, you're the ONLY choice for that particular group with that particular need. When you start with that, there are some things you have to know. 1.You have to know who it is you want to work with, 2. What it is they need that you can supply them and 3.Why they are going to choose you and not anybody else You build everything that you do around that as your core. Now I'm not talking about the "elevator speech"- I call it an audio billboard. If someone asks you want you do, you have to get it up there like you're driving down the highway at 70 miles per hour, and are you gonna slow down or drive past it. It's gotta be something that makes them hit the brakes. Too many people haven't started defining what they want to do. You have to be the red crayon. There are several dos to get you there. 1. Be crystal clear on who it is you are trying to attract. My new book, "How to Become a Client Magnet, " talks about how you have to be clear about who you want to work for. That should be easy when you pick a job. You know there is a target market. Who is that? Who is the ideal client or customer? Who do you want to be the ultimate purchaser? Develop an expertise in one area instead of trying to be everything to everybody. That doesn't work. 2. The next thing is, what are their core needs? What do they need the most that you can give them? You need to be able to say it at a sixth grade level. Jo: Can you say the name of the book again? Sandy: Become a Client Magnet, 27 Strategies to Boost your Client Attraction Factor! http://www.amazon.com/Become-Client-Magnet-Strategies-Client-Attraction/dp/1934759317 Jo: I read a story you shared, "Be impressed grasshopper, not impressive!" Do you remember this story? Sandy: Yes, the concept that any people out there use are not new concepts, but people listen to them when they are presented in a different way. The idea of being impressed and not impressive goes back to the 1930s and Dale Carnegie. But the way I express it is this: If you are about to have a meeting with a client and you want to make sure everything is in order, and you want to be so impressive to them when they come in, that is not what they care about. They want you to be impressed with THEM. So the emphasis is on the wrong place. If you would start a conversation with them and be genuinely interested in their lives and their business and whatever it is that you are exploring with them, really finding out about them, they'll know how smart you are by the questions you ask. Not by you telling them about your degrees and certifications. That lesson comes out in the book in a little story where a young professional learns this at the feet at the master. That story was my way of saying, look, this is a concept that Dale Carnegie was teaching 70 years ago, but it is still important today. Jo: You can all check out the book to find out more! What is your website? Sandy: http://www.Brassringcoaching.com You can find information on me. Definately sign up for my e letter! What I do for people- mostly for professionals- I will work with individuals or the entire firm. If you are frustrated, stuck or burnt out and you want to have more clients, more fun and free time, that is really the results people will tell you they get from working with me. Jo: Thanks so much. Love the book! Sandy: Thanks, this was a lot of fun!

Sunday, jun 13, 2010 Bird Wings, by Rumi BirdWings by Rumi Your grief for what you’ve lost lifts a mirror up to where you’re bravely working. Expecting the worst, you look, and instead, here’s the joyful face you’ve been wanting to see. Your hand opens and closes and opens and closes. if it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralyzed. Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding, The two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as birdwings.

Friday, jun 11, 2010 Prayer of St Francis/ Photo ©Jo Davidson June 2010 Prayer of Saint Francis Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; Where there is sadness, joy. Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek To be consoled as to console, To be understood as to understand, To be loved as to love: For it is in giving that we receive, It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Friday, jun 11, 2010 Ny New Short Film called TRUST This is a link to my new short film called "TRUST" on YOU TUBE It's for anyone who is going through major life storms, and trying to find meaning or peace in suffering. Featuring my poem, music and photos. Me on piano, my friend David Patterson on guitar (he used some cool sounds that almost sound like oboes in the background) Check this out- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdgOVlkl0OY

Wednesday, jun 9, 2010 Mercy and Chaos So often, especially among certain "new age" circles and "holistic healing" circles, I see this tendency people have to try and avoid suffering. Or when it comes, (because it always does), they blame it, shame it, repress it, deny it, defy it, analyze it, bury it, rage against it. Everyone tries to avoid suffering and chaos. Isn't that really what advertising is all about? What addictions are all about? Whether it's sugar, shopping, sex, alcohol, work or something else, the drug of choice is a way to avoid what is boiling right there beneath the calm surface. On her facebook page, my friend Ellen posted this amazing essay on the topic of chaos and mercy. I think the original post is here: http://www.stbarts.org/page.asp?ID=248 These words touched me, and because they did, I want to share this with you. VICAR BUDDY STALLINGS' WEEKLY MESSAGE Recently someone said to me that mercy is the willingness of one person to enter the chaos of another. I don't remember the context, but surely there must have been one. Even for a priest, to be offered that definition out of the blue would be a bit odd. "Mercy is the willingness of one person to enter the chaos of another, and oh, would you pass the wine, please." Would I ever - after taking a big slug for myself as I head to the other side of the party! And, yet, it is a rich definition. Chaos, our culture tells us, is something to be avoided. We don't want to "get up into people's stuff, their business." Entering another's chaos makes us chaotic, we are told, makes us even a little crazy. Perhaps so, but probably not because chaos is so contagious. More likely the truth is that most of us live just above the level of obvious chaos, covered by a veneer of calm that in large part manages to keep us appearing sane and together. We stand back from too obvious disintegration for fear that our own may be exposed. Hanging back is a defensible position and one frankly that sometimes we must take, but what of mercy? Mercy may indeed be the virtue, the generosity, the faithfulness that allows us to say to one whirling out of control, "I am going to stand right here, trying to remain sane myself, to be with you. If I see a glimpse of clarity and you want me to share it, I will. Otherwise, I shall simply stand along side for I know that in my times of chaos having someone near helps." In that willingness we become not pseudo social workers or therapists or priests but more fully human, more authentic co-journeyers. In my experience, answers, even really smart ones, settle chaos less often than some deep breathing and a little handholding. Jesus did not seem to shy away from chaos. He could have walked around the circle of self-righteous prigs surrounding the woman accused of adultery; he could have picked his way through those selling sacrificial animals in the temple courtyard; he could have taken a glass of water from the woman at the well without "getting into her business," the business of five husbands and the trouble that comes from that. But he didn't. He mercifully entered the chaos, entering it, I suspect, with less pontification than the gospel narratives suggest. My guess is that he was simply, quietly, mercifully present. It is still a good model.

Tuesday, jun 8, 2010 prayer Prayer for the Day- God, we lift up to you all who are disabled -- in hearing, in sight, in limb, or in mind. Save them from bitterness and frustration, and give them joy in the midst of their limitations. May they find peace and fulfillment in knowing you and discovering your will for their lives. We pray for special grace for those who care for them. Give them your love and kindness and understanding of the real needs of those they look after. For Jesus' sake, amen. - Mary Batchelor, from 1000 World Prayers

Monday, jun 7, 2010 comedy Rush Limbaugh thinks gays destroy the sanctity of marriage but he just got married for the 4th time. and Elton John sang at the wedding.

Sunday, jun 6, 2010 The Gift Tonite, with a pulse that felt more like a whisper, I heard my piano calling. I went to it and started to play, half the tempo of a heart beat if not slower, like a song in a slow moving dream. Some notes sang alone, ringing out for measures on end. Others came together in waves. It went on 15 minutes or more. I started playing louder. I heard the wind pick up outside. I played to it and it to me. I played softer as it was calming down and I felt myself dancing with nature through the music. Then all of the sudden, birds started to gather around. They were all singing outside my window. It was like an orchestra. Me and the birds dancing back and forth. When the last note rang out, the birds stopped singing. My neighbor stopped by, her eyes all lit up. She had been listening. She said "thank you for that gift" and handed me a bouquet of flowers. I put them in water, and then walked a few blocks down to the beach in the dark, the same walk I barely made earlier today. I stuck my feet in the ice cold Atlantic ocean. Then I held the earth while the night wind whipped around in the air, and I let it rain sand in my hair, and over my whole body.

Tuesday, jun 1, 2010 A Pink Fairy Tale

Saturday, may 29, 2010 check out these pictures of my friend's gorgeous house

Thursday, may 27, 2010 Fireworks Last night I started hearing popping sounds in the sky, looked out my window, and there were fireworks going off between the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island! Cool-

Wednesday, may 26, 2010 The Dangers of the Self Help Movement I was thinking today more about what I mean on this radio podcast show when I talk about turning challenges into opportunities. I think for me, it means making the best of hard situations, turning lemons into lemonade if you will. It means letting myself feel a wide range of normal emotions, but getting up after I fall and dusting myself off. About a zillion times. At the same time, and this is very important, it doesn't mean plugging up pain, fear or sadness and hiding it away somewhere while I slap on a happy face. So many people in the self help movement do just that. If we try to skip our way over painful emotions or glide past them and tuck them into a drawer that somehow gives us the illusion we have it all together, then what happens? When we least expect it, they come exploding out, hurting ourselves and those around us. I wonder when we twisted God into this vision of being a genie in the sky that grants us every material thing we think we need and must have in order to be happy. When did we start thinking that the natural flow of emotions somehow has to be controlled so much that we fear feeling sad or expressing anger or grief or loss? Especially when it runs deep? Sometime these so called negative emotions have another useful purpose- they protect you! Anger can be very appropriate for a boundary violation. Fear might be a guide for you at times, telling you, don't go this way. This is not safe for you. Grief and sadness are normal in the face of loss. I would be superhuman if I could go through all my days and feel extremely happy every second. I have too much on my plate to also add, trying to be perfect. If I let myself feel what I feel, and be ok with that, I am ok in the long run (even if it doesn't feel ok now) It's when I start thinking I have to be upbeat in every moment, that I get all crazy. Plugging up any emotions requires me to stop being real and stop feeling what I really feel. And there is nothing healing about always re framing everything every single second into a sappy commercial You want to yell? YELL! On the other hand, many great books, authors and ways of thinking offer hope and help. The world is full of beautiful books, ideas, and inspiration. And in the bigger picture, my challenges have led me to new opportunities. But don't make that a bumper sticker, or I will rip it up. Turning challenges into opportunities, DOES NOT mean never feeling the so called hard emotions. If we don't allow people to feel what they truly feel, they can never heal. I know for a fact, that most of the people who claim to be happy all the time aren't they are lying so don't buy it life is a mixture of so many emotions and when we plug some of them up we plug them all up There can be no joy without sadness and there can be no courage without fear so let yourself feel what you feel today and know it's all ok and don't let the grief scare you Sometimes it scares me alot but I remind myself it's ok to feel this and it's the most sane thing I could feel as I go through the tears and the smiles the fears and across the dusty desert miles so love yourself and I will love me, too.

Tuesday, may 18, 2010 Saving our World We REALLY need to aggressively pursue alternative fuel sources in this country. The devastation to our environment, the ocean, wildlife and communities because of this recent oil spill is just unacceptable. It's a wake up call that oil is not the answer, and drill baby drill has to be one of the most spiritually empty and misguided slogans of our time. In the first quarter of this year, BP made 6 Billion in profits. As this article says, our coastal communities are the mainstay of the US economy. http://www.surfrider.org/nottheanswer/factsheet.pdf Offshore drilling hardly makes any sense at all when you consider the huge costs we carry in terms of destruction to the earth God gave us, the animals, our economies and the massive levels of pollution this creates. This is spiritually toxic, and only our love and caring can turn this around fast. Some ideas that come to mind- -Eat organic food from local farms as much as possible to lower truck transportation costs. Write grocery stores and ask them to carry local organic. Ask them to stop getting food from places like China. Support organic farms in the USA -Switch to electric cars. Stop buying the huge gas guzzling cars. - We need to change the transportation system in this country. Have more subways, trains, cable cars, and hybrid electric vehicles. When possible, ride your bike or walk. -Invest in green technologies rather than oil companies. -Stop supporting any politicians who promote Drill baby drill which is harming us all, physically, and spiritually. Wake up to this and turn toward the light, away from this darkness. - Hold oil companies accountable for these spills - write President Obama and tell him so say NO to offshore drilling http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact -Start a widespread plan to get solar panels on homes.This would lower energy costs, create tons of jobs, and help the environment dramatically. -Carpool when you can - Harness wind power. Wind is free and clean.

Saturday, may 15, 2010 WOMAN/ Mother Earth

Saturday, may 15, 2010 Releasing

Thursday, may 13, 2010 Give 29 Gifts in 29 days and see how your life changes! Please sign up for the FREE Zentertainment Talk Radio newsletter on the show page here at: zentertainment.org "29 Gifts, How a Month of Giving can Change your Life" by Cami Walker About Cami: At age 33 Cami Walker was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and the life she knew changed forever. When she was going through some of her most difficult symptoms, she received an uncommon prescription from a friend, an African medicine woman named Mbali Creazzo: Give away 29 gifts in 29 days. Cami was amazed by what unfolded during her month-long journey. 29 Gifts is a global giving movement with nearly ten thousand members in 42 countries. The mission at 29 Gifts is to revive the giving spirit in the world. GIVE A LITTLE EACH DAY. MAKE A BIG IMPACT. Give one thing away each day for 29 days. Your 29 Gifts can be anything given to anyone... money, food, old sweaters, smiles, your time, kind words or thoughts. You can start your own personal 29-Day Giving Challenge at any time—there’s no official begin or end date! If you’d like to share your experiences with others, go to http://www.29gifts.org/ To purchase an AUTOGRAPHED COPY of 29 Gifts, visit: http://www.mcssl.com/SecureCart/ViewCart.aspx?mid=221D5925-8C69-4E2C-BE7A-8F603B867D99&sctoken=9525e451d1a14f909bc90c111548cdc5&bhcp=1 *********************************************************************************************** Listen in to my conversation with Cami on the show page at: http://www.Zentertainment.org Since it is in podcast form, you can hear this interview any time of day or night right from your computer! Here is a transcript of the interview- (but also check out the show, it's fun to hear her speak)! Music for this episode, by Aleta St James http://www.aletastjames.com/ ********************************************** Jo: Hi Cami! Welcome to the show Cami: Thanks, it's so great to be here! Jo: You wrote about marriage- those lines “in sickness and in health…” we always assume that the sickness part won’t really show up, or else it will be somewhere way down the road…. Cami: After getting back from our honeymoon, I had an onset of symptoms that were pretty dramatic. I woke up one day, and my hands didn’t work right. They were sort of stuck in this claw like position. They wouldn’t straighten, they wouldn’t bend, they hurt. I was of course worried about that. I made at appointment to go see the doctor who ordered some MRIs. It took a few days for the results to come back, and in the meantime, I had gone to Los Angeles for business, and my hands still weren’t working right. I woke up the next morning in L.A and I realized that I couldn’t see out of my right eye. It was a complete blur. There was no detail at all. I couldn’t see certain colors right, so obviously things looked really weird with one eye that way and the other eye normal. That was frightening. I called my doctor. She told me I had to get back to San Francisco immediately. She said my MRI results were in, and she had made an appt for me the next day to see some specialists. She said, “you need to get back immediately.” So we rushed back and went to this appointment, and the diagnosis was actually confirmed that day that I had MS. My experience with MS was watching my aunt be diagnosed, and she went from being a nurse- a busy, active woman, and within 10 years, she was almost completely paralyzed. MS is a neurological disease that affects the brain, the spinal cord, and the optical nerves. Jo: For you, just having that situation to relate to, having that be so close and personal to you, showed you one of the worst case scenarios, so that was probably running through your head… Cami: Of course. I actually didn’t even know that people live with MS for sometimes their whole lives, and yes they might have periods where things are difficult, but they also have periods where things calm down and they can be somewhat functional. The majority of people with MS are more in that camp. It is actually rare for the disease to progress the way that it did with my aunt. But it does happen. And it’s frightening. I could wake up tomorrow and not be able to walk or see. Jo: One of my favorite things in your book was this line that I’ve heard before- but this idea that healing doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It happens through our interactions with other people. That’s a challenge! Sometimes when you’re going though things, when you’re at your worst, those are the times you don’t want people to see you and yet you need people the most. Cami: And that’s the time when you need to be pro active about reaching out and asking for help. And that’s the last thing you really want to do Jo: It’s not a comfortable place to be in. We feel more comfortable when we’re in control, and when we’re the ones helping others! Cami: I think this is an interesting topic. Looking at the power dynamics of giving. The giver feels empowered, and in some cases the receiver is somehow put in a lesser position of power, because they are perceived as needing help in some way. This is something I had to learn. I was given this prescription from one of my spiritual mentors. I was really in bad shape. She said, “try this. Try giving a gift away a day for 29 days.” I didn’t understand what she was trying to teach me. It took going through the cycle the first 29 days before I came to see that I was very closed down and unable or unwilling to receive help from other people or even compliments. Someone would give me a compliment, and I’d say, oh no no…. I couldn’t just say thank you. So obviously I had some self esteem issues. Jo: Well sometimes too, when you’re in a situation where you need help, it does do a number on your self esteem. Then you might get feelings of being in debt to the people who give to you on some level…. Cami: That’s an interesting piece too, this idea that somehow you have to reciprocate, right? Someone gives me a gift and immediately I am expected to give something back to them in some way. Someone invites me to dinner, and I am expected to invite them to dinner within a certain period of time or it is considered rude perhaps. Jo: Giving is really its own reward. It really is. Cami: It is. And it’s very energizing. And so is receiving, if you can get out of that judgement place and just be in a space of understanding that giving and receiving is a naturally reciprocal process. Sometimes we might receive back from the universe- and it’s something we don’t think we need or want. Jo: And sometimes you receive, not from the person you have given to, but from another person or situation. You wrote about some of the things that we see as chores- when we change our perspective and look at it as a gift we are giving rather than a chore it helps…. Cami: Yeah. That meal I’m going to prepare tonite for my parents for example. If that’s perceived as me offering a gift to them, it’s coming from a free open hearted place, a place that feels good. But if it’s like, ugh I have to make dinner, mom asked me to go to the grocery story and cook dinner tonite, that’s not very energizing. It feels like a thing I’m expected to do, I have to do it, it’s my job, my role. Instead, I can look at it like, I get to give my parents a meal tonite. For me, cooking is creative and fun, and something I love, and I enjoy spending time with my family, so that’s also a gift. Jo: What about some of the people out there who are giving too much in their lives? Who feel like they are over extending themselves? Cami: That’s a good question to explore. Jo: I know a lot of moms feel like that! Cami: I think that’s true! Something that my teacher Mbali suggested to me was to watch if I had a tendency to over give. I remember at the time, not understanding what she meant. She said, “If you go out of your way to help someone in some way and at the end of it all, you feel depleted, look at your motive. Are you giving out of a sense of lack, or scarcity, where if you do this for someone you’ll be perceived as a good person? That idea that you could give from scarcity was something I hadn’t really thought of before. Jo: You also could give because you want somebody’s approval. That will drain you as well. You don’t need anybody’s approval. Cami: Definitely. Jo: Maybe that is a key here in giving. What is your motive? Are you giving because you want that person to give something back to you? Sometimes we do give because we are wanting something from that person. Then when they don’t give back, we feel bad. Cami: Our expectations are not met, and then we’re disappointed. So that is something I had to work on. Letting go of judgement or expectations of how my gift would be received or used or reciprocated. All of that. I did this for 29 days. I was inspired by the changes that began to happen in my life. I was able to walk again with a couple of weeks. By day 14 I think it was. Prior to that, I wasn’t out of bed much. I was struggling with a lot of fatigue and weakness in my muscles. Very dramatic changes happened for me through this process. I was curious what would happen for other people, so I put together a website where people could fill out a profile, they could have a journal and keep track of their gifts. http://www.29gifts.org I think a lot of people come to our site just to read a story or two, because it helps them feel good. It helps put them in a good space for their day. Jo: After the 29 days, did you keep doing it? Cami: What happened for me was that I started to encourage other people to do this and document their experience. So I felt that I had a certain responsibility to investigate it for myself. I gave every day for a year. I learned a lot through that process. The book goes through the first 29 days in great detail. Then there’s an epilogue with a one year check up. I really made it part of my spiritual practice. I went about my day looking for opportunities to help people. If it was a situation where I thought I could lend a hand, then I would do it. It became second nature almost. I had a period of time where I struggled, where I felt like I didn’t have anything to give, and I didn’t have any energy to give to others because I really needed my energy for my own healing. I think it’s important to respect those kinds of signals when our bodies are sending us signals that we need to focus our energy inward for awhile. That’s important. But not at the expense of losing site of the fact that we are connected to others. You don’t want to be isolating. We need other people. We are social beings. There is a point where you are going to need help from other people. Someone to bring you food. Or just keep you company. Keeping the willingness and the ability to connect with others is crucial. Jo: Sometimes when you are in a tough situation and wonder what you can give, it might be a prayer, or picturing good things for someone. That is a way of giving too. Cami: That’s the important thing to realize. It doesn’t have to be a material gift. And it can be something simple. Those days when you’re feeling overwhelmed, dealing with an illness or whatever, keep it simple. Today I’m going to make a conscious effort to smile at someone I don’t know…. Jo: How are you feeling these days? Cami: You know, things got dramatically better over the year that I was giving and documenting this process. We began work on the book within the first 6 months of the site being up. I was contacted by one editor, I didn’t expect to start working on a book so quickly. But from the time of making that decision, everything organically magically fell into place. When that is happening I always feel like I’m on the right path. Like I’m feeling balanced and centered, and yet there might be difficult things going on. Because for me there are always difficult things going on. There’s a level of discomfort that I feel in my body most days, you know? On the days I get a break from that, I am so grateful for those days. Jo: Isn’t it like winning the lottery?! Cami: When I don’t have any pain, and nothing in my body hurts or feels uncomfortable- frankly, for me, how often I get to feel that way is somewhat related to how well I am taking care of myself. As well as, how are the quality of the relationships in my life? Do the relationships feed me? Is there a sense of give and take with the people in my life? Jo: The stress in our lives is important. Cami: When my teacher Mbali said to give away 29 gifts in 29 days, she didn’t say to give away 29 gifts in 29 days and you will be cured. That wasn’t the promise. There really was no promise. It was more like, try this and see how you feel. See what happens. See if you feel better. Jo: It’s a fantastic book and a great idea. I am going to start doing it again. I started to do it, but then stopped. Cami: I think the key is to keep things simple in general. You don’t have to make these big grand gestures where you are going way out of your way to do things. It’s more like, I am going to go through my day and look for these opportunities that feel natural. That feels easier to me if I am looking at it that way. Jo: On page 218-219 of your book you wrote about some things that were important for you. Can you briefly touch on those? Cami: I think non attachment is the theme that is coming into my life lately. 29 gifts is celebrating our 2 year anniversary. So I have been in a very reflective place. I just went through the process of going through everything I own. Putting some stuff in storage, getting rid of a lot of things. I could only bring with me what could fit in my father’s pickup. One trip from California to Nebraska. So I got to practice non attachment with material things. But there is also a non attachment with our patterns and ways of thinking and behaviour patterns. Jo: Are you living in Nebraska now? Cami: I am. My husband and I are separating and I imagine will be getting divorced. I think it’s what we both want. You know, it’s another example of non attachment. Jo: Divorce is such a huge thing to go through. Then moving back home with your parents. That is all huge! Cami: You know, Mark and I separating… I really have done my best to stay in a place of love and appreciation with him. I haven’t been perfect with that. I’ve had my own struggles with the separation. It has been very hard, and heart breaking, for both of us. But luckily we have been civil for the most part. It’s not like we had anything to fight over. We have no children. We have a dog who was so attached to me it was obvious he’d be going with me. Other than that, we had some furniture and clothes, but we didn’t own property. Jo: Do you still have a friendship, or will you still be in contact? Cami: We aren’t in contact right now, because that is best for both of us. When I look back at my past with relationships, most people I was with for a significant period of time are still in my life in some way. But I think it’s healthy to take a break if your relationship is going to shift into a friend place. You need some space and time for that to happen. Jo: That sounds so hard. I can’t imagine. Cami: I think it’s important that people understand it has been over 2 years since the book came out. They read the book and it feels very current, but as far as my life, it has been two years. Jo: That’s the funny thing about projects. Some people discover my CDs, and I can’t even believe the first one- when I was touring was 2001, it has already been 9 years! Cami: Yeah. And it’s hard to understand when you’re reading a book- a memoir-most of it is true but you do have to reconstruct certain things and do your best to be accurate. Jo: And our memories are never 100% Cami: No, and we remember things from our own perspective. If someone else were to tell the same story it would be different. Jo: It’s like the story of the elephant. One person sees the trunk. One sees the tail, and they both think that is what an elephant looks like. You would never think it’s the same animal, but it is! Cami: (laughs) I’ve enjoyed our conversation! Jo: Thanks for taking all this time today- I know that’s a big thing, and I really appreciate it! Cami: This is the part I enjoy. Talking with people. That is one thing the book has done for me. It has opened my world up in a way I never imagined. Jo: Thanks Cami! http://www.29gifts.org Jo Davidson Zentertainment Talk Radio http://www.Zentertainment.org

Saturday, may 8, 2010 Bless Yourself Well it has been a pretty exhausting drama filled day. But rather than recount those details, I'd like to remember a sign I saw somewhere along the way.

Tuesday, may 4, 2010 Raw Food for Real People with Rod Rotondi RodRotondi.com http://www.leaforganics.com/onlineStore/index.html Founder and executive chef of Leaf Organic restaurants Author of the great little book “Raw Food for Real People” And educational videos *********************************************************** Today we are talking about the raw movement. Everyone pretty much agrees that raw food is great for you. Whether you choose to make most or all of your diet raw, or you want to add more raw recipes into your diet- this is a fabulous book! It features beautiful recipes and pictures! ****************************************************************************** Jo: Thanks for being here on Zentertainment Talk Radio Rod: You’re Welcome. It’s a total pleasure to be here. Jo: You’re the executive chef and founder of Leaf Organics. Could you tell us what makes these restaurants different? Rod: I started these restaurants in 2004 here in Culver City (Los Angeles). These restaurants are all certified organic vegan raw food restaurants. I’ve actually closed them and am re-opening in about a month. Everybody knows them around L.A and knows that we’re reopening. They’re unique in that they’re certified organic. That’s unusual. There are very few restaurants in the world that are certified organic. That’s very hard to do. And then everything is vegan and raw. Obviously not the run of the mill restaurants. If you just know the facts about the difference between conventional and organic, in truth it’s not conventional at all. In fact “conventional” means there are all kinds of chemicals, herbicides, fungicides and pesticides on your food! That’s not conventional, that’s tainted. Toxic. Jo: If you went into a grocery store and signs said, these aisles have organic food and these aisles have tainted food- people might make the connection better. Rod: In truth, the organic is really the conventional. Organic is food the way nature intended. We should change the name conventional to tainted! Chemically compromised. Jo: You take it a step further, because your food is raw and also vegan. You grew up in an Italian American family, so how did you go from eating all this incredible Italian food to eating a vegan raw diet? Rod: I grew up with all the Italian and American food. I lived in France as a teenager and ate all the French food. And I’ve always been an adventurous eater, so I’ve eaten everything- brain, intestine, camel, you name it. But I became vegetarian when I was about 26, 27. It was more for ethical reasons. I just really liked the idea of eating a nutritious, delicious meal and knowing that I wasn’t involved in killing any other sentient beings. The raw thing happened to me later. About 15 years ago, I was in New York City for about 6 months. I was doing consciousness workshops, and the people who were leading those workshops were into raw foods. We called it living foods. They were into it not so much for health reasons, but because they felt it raised their vibration, made them more conscious, more clear, less subject to food jags, and I thought it was interesting and would give it a try. So I did give it a try. I found myself coming home to the most beautiful fresh produce, making amazing meals. I did have a pretty extensive culinary background, so when I started with raw foods, I could make some really nice things. One day, I remember sitting there in my apartment in New York eating this gorgeous plate of food, it was colorful and delicious and felt really good in my body, and I had one of those sort of “aha” moments. I thought, this is like the food of the gods, this is what we were meant to eat. From that point on, I haven’t looked at food the same way. When I look at a dish of food, I see it for what it is. Jo: So many things these days contain chemical additives. If you look at Vitamin waters for example,, most seem to have the label “natural flavors” which is a big buzz word, but it doesn’t tell you what it means. Rod: It sure doesn’t. “Natural” doesn’t mean very much at all. Cyanide is natural! Jo: Let’s talk a little bit about this raw food movement. I have mixed feelings about it. We have listeners who love raw vegan to people who love raw dairy, organic meats, people across the board doing extremely different things. I think that is what makes it hard- how do you figure out what is the best thing for you? Rod: It’s really about what works for YOU. Fundamentally, it’s about what works. It’s not about adopting an ideology, new religion, a new belief system, that’s so last century. (Laughs). You can give yourself a title and call yourself a raw foodist, vegetarian, whatever…..it’s not important. What is important is that you listen to your body. Your body will tell you what works for it. Our bodies are bio feedback mechanisms. Somehow we survived on this planet for millions of years not because we had PhDs in nutrition but because we would be very attentive when we ate. We would smell it a little bit, we’d eat a little bit, slowly we’d figure out of that decision worked for us. Now people eat automatically. They are often doing something else while they are eating. They aren’t listening to their body at all. We’re suppose to be the smart animal, but we’re the ones totally confused about what to eat! All the other animals know exactly what to eat. A squirrel not only eats the seeds and nuts, but finds them, buries them in the ground for awhile so that they ferment and are high in probiotics, and then eats them. Who is smarter, squirrel or us? You have to wonder. So many people put all kinds of unnatural foods in their body. For me, it’s about finding what works for you. It’s not about being a raw foodist, it’s not about being anything. It’s about finding what works for your body. In my experience, and so many people I’ve met, we’ve found that the more organic vegan raw food we eat, the better we feel and the better we look. Now, that’s not for everybody. Not everybody wants to eat 100% raw. I don’t eat 100% raw food. Although the last week or so, I have. But I don’t always. I eat what I want to eat, but I want to eat good tasty food that makes me feel great. Jo: We have so many choices, and things are so automatic. You can be somewhere and just grab food, you can be talking on your cell phone, watching tv, driving in your car. So we’ve lost the time to sit down, prepare and enjoy meals. Rod: Many of us have lost that habit, but it’s certainly available. Jo: Yeah, I said that wrong. We didn’t lose the time, we lost the habit. Rod: It’s wonderful when people actually sit down and eat together and commune together over their food. It’s a beautiful thing. The “breaking of bread” is one of the greatest bonding experiences humans share. Jo: Let’s talk about some of the benefits of raw food. Since I studied at the Hippocrates Institute, I am aware of a lot of this- many listeners are, but some are not. Could you share more about how raw food supports the body. Rod: When you cook food over 118 degrees, you kill the digestive enzymes in the foods. Every food comes with the exact complimentary enzymes needed to break down that food. It’s really quite amazing. When you heat it above about 118 degrees and kill the enzymes, your body actually has to work harder to digest the food. Much harder. It stresses the pancreas and runs down your finite supply of enzymes. The enzymes are involved in every single metabolic process in the body, so they are more important than people realize. Protein rides on enzymes, so protein is useless without enzymes. Everyone is focused on protein, whereas enzymes are critically important. PH is also very important. The standard American diet is largely acidifying to the human body. It is much easier to get sick when you have an acidic body. If you have an alkaline body, it is hard for disease, viruses, and so forth to gain a foothold. The acidic alkaline scale is 1-14, 14 being the most alkaline. Our bodies want to be just a little on the alkaline side, around 7.35. In my book “Raw Food for Real People” I have Dr. Robert Young, who wrote the book “The Ph miracle.” Great book. He wrote a great piece we have in my book about the importance of alkalinity. It’s a very important thing that most people are totally unaware of. Another big thing is proper elimination. No matter what you’re eating, you want to make sure you’re cleaning out your body regularly. We need fiber in our food. When you eat raw food, it’s full of fiber. The fiber has not been processed out. The standard American diet- meat, dairy and eggs all have ZERO fiber. So if meat, dairy and eggs are a big part of your diet, there’s a good chance you are not eliminating properly, which means you are basically stewing in your own toxins. The big advantage of raw food is that you get regular elimination. You keep your body clean. I don’t think you want to be as alkaline as you can, I think you want to be around 7.35. Jo: How do you make sure you don’t get too alkaline? Is that common with people who do raw food diets? Rod: I don’t think it’s common. But you can check your alkalinity levels by getting Ph strips at pharmacies. You can test with your saliva or urine and it will tell you what your Ph is. If you eat a balanced vegan raw food diet, the body naturally gravitates towards the right alkalinity if you give it the right fuel. Jo: What I love about “Raw Food for Real People” is that you feature easy recipes, beautiful photography….where can people get a copy? Rod: http://www.RodRotondi.com or http://www.amazon.com I also have a DVD on my website that I am really proud of. I think it’s the first really professionally done raw food instructional DVD. We took a group of people out to this beautiful desert retreat near Joshua Tree. For 3 days, we made food with them, taught them. So you get a 3 day transition to a totally raw healthy lifestyle. I teach them everything. This DVD set is 3 DVDS., so you get tons of recipes. Plus I teach people about setting up the kitchen, transition to raw foods, I give them everything. I think I’ve fed more raw food to people than anyone else! I have 3 restaurants here in Los Angeles, and I’ve had my food in every health food store in California, so I know how to do this, but I also know how to do it at home. It’s called Raw Food for Real People because the whole thing is- most people don’t have a lot of extra time or money to focus on their food. I realize the importance of convenience, of keeping things simple. Plus, food is usually better when it is kept simple. Especially with raw food, the idea is to get back to nature, and to keep it simple. I spell out every little step, how to set up your time, your schedule, how to sprout, how to do dehydration, how to make soups, veggie burgers, cheescakes, all these things practical- it’s fun and it’s in a story… Jo: Here is a question I have from a listener. What is the best way to wash produce when it is raw to make sure bacteria is off it from the people who have handled it? Rod: I don’t think it’s good to use all the chemical washes. First of all, if you buy organic, you won’t have all the chemicals on them. And I would say rinsing them in water is about all you want to do. A lot of people get afraid of all the bacteria in the world. The truth is, without bacteria and yeast and enzymes, we would be dead right now. Microorganisms are critically important. They make up a good part of our digestive and immune system. We don’t have to be so afraid of bacteria. The approach of trying to kill everything around us could potentially be dangerous. Actually it weakens our systems. This goes back to a major debate in the early 19th century in France which was basically won by Louis Pasteur who wanted to kill all the microbes, which is why we have pasteurization today and virtually everything is pasteurized. But a large part of our bodies are microorganisms and nowadays we call them probiotics. They are recognized as very important for our health. So clean things, but don’t try to make everything antiseptic. That’s counterproductive. Jo: What about some of the natural wipes, or some people put grapefruit seed extract in water before putting the raw veggies in there… Rod: Personally, I don’t do that. I am not so worried about it at all. I am also not saying there is anything wrong with it. Jo: It seems like it is easier to eat a raw diet in places that are warmer- like California. Back here in the NYC and in the Northeast, if we were to eat a local diet, we couldn’t possibly eat raw many months of the year. So I wonder why people say it’s natural, when it would be impossible in this part of the country? Rod: Right. That’s true. Then there’s the question of why would anyone choose to live in a very cold environment (laughs), is that natural? Jo: believe me, you don’t want all of us coming to California. It’s already crowded enough! Rod: Again though, what you are doing is holding up this ideal of eating local. As well as this idea of eating raw. Let’s just let those drop by the wayside. Say I am living in New York City. Well what food is going to make me feel the best? It’s not about being a raw foodist, it’s about being happy and healthy. So what foods are available to me here, and what’s going to make me feel the best? Anyone there can find out for themselves. And actually whether foods are warming or cooling to the system is not about the temperature of the food. It has to do with the minerals in the food. Warming heating foods include ginger, garlic, hot peppers. Pumpkin is the most warming food of all. Cooling foods- many fruits are cooling. And seaweed is very cooling. Eat a lot of seaweed. Jo: One thing I see a lot with people who go vegan- they think that because they are vegan they are healthy. But in fact they are eating tons of carbs, processed grains, sugar, soybeans, what is going on here? Rod: Again, they are following an ideology and expecting that to make them feel well, but they aren’t actually tuning into their food and its affect in their body. You can eat 100% Doritos and be vegetarian. It doesn’t make you healthy. Too many people are focused on what they’re NOT eating instead of what they ARE eating. A vegetarian doesn’t eat meat basically. So great, if that works for you, but what ARE you eating? Is it just Doritos? You can eat just fruit and be a fruitarian. Is that going to make you healthy? I don’t think so. I think it’s important to eat a balanced diet and find out what works for you. The truth is that everybody out there is a raw foodist already. Raw food is not some new thing. Everybody eats salads. Even if you have a Big Mac, you have a little bit of lettuce, a little tomato. Raw foods are everywhere. Raw foods are real unadulterated food from nature. All I am suggesting is that for most people, eating more raw unadulterated, fresh food from nature is a good idea. This is not brain surgery here. We’re animals. All of us are animals. We’re the human species, and every other animal on the planet eats their food raw, unadulterated, unprocessed. It’s probably a good idea! This is nature. Are we going to say, nature was wrong? Nature made mistakes? I think that is arrogant. Unfortunately people are paying the price. Jo: I have a question about agave syrup. I was reading a huge article on Dr mercola’s site claiming agave syrup is bad for you- Rod: Yeah he really did a hit on agave- I have read different things. Dr Mercola just assassinated agave like you wouldn’t believe. I don’t think all agave is processed in the ways he described. I have seen videos of agave being processed in a natural way where its integrity is maintained and not mixed with all the other things he talks about. I think there’s probably good agave out there and then the compromised agave. Jo: I was looking at your online menu. What is mock refried bean? Rod: (laughs) Yeah, mock refried bean…..I love Mexican food, and I love beans, but I find that they don’t work great for my body. So I wanted to find something that tastes similar but worked for me. It’s just several different legumes- mung beans, lentil, chickpeas, some cumin, onion, garlic, sea salt, I basically blend them together and it’s a lot like refried beans! Jo: It’s cool! You can take these raw vegetable and create a sauce or something and give it the flavor of some of the cooked foods you are use to. Rod: Yes. Absolutely. And that’s a fun thing to do. On the other hand, it’s also just nice to let the food speak for itself. Jo: A listener wrote in and “I have been a vegetarian 18 years and vegan many lengthy times within that. My problem now is I am very food allergic and also allergic to soy and nuts which were mainstays of my diet for protein. I am also B12 deficient? Are there any other protein sources, and is there a good vegan source of B12? Rod: There is not a good vegan source of B12. If you are vegan, you need to supplement B12. That’s for sure right now. There is no evidence so far that the human body is able to assimilate B12 from plant sources. There are some lousy supplements out there. Make sure to get a good one. As far as protein- people ask me that question all the time. Where does a cow get its protein? Look at a cow. They’re huge, muscular, super strong! They eat green leafy vegetables. Most people don’t realize that there is a lot of protein in green leafy vegetables. There’s a lot of protein in legumes. There is more protein in chickpeas than red meat pound for pound! I don’t eat soy at all. I find it doesn’t work very well for my body. That’s really the answer. I’m not going to give you an ideology on this. I find it doesn’t feel good in me, and I also know most soy out there is genetically modified. I don’t think it is very natural. It is mostly a highly processed food. Protein is obviously critically important for our health, but we don’t need much and we don’t need to go to meat, dairy and eggs to get protein. Jo: If B12 is not assimilated from plant sources, it seems like that indicates we do need some organic meat here and there Rod: That would be a natural way to think, but the truth is that there use to be B12 everywhere in our environment, but our environment has been degraded. It use to be in the air, the water, the dirt. And we use to live alot closer to the dirt, and probably eat a lot of dirt in our food. It use to be prevalent, but it’s not anymore. The China Study is the largest most comprehensive study of human nutrition ever conducted. The Book “The China Study” shows that the more plants you eat, the longer and the healthier you’ll live. There are so many studies coming out now showing that a vegan diet is a healthier diet. I think it’s pretty clear at this point that you do not need meat, dairy and eggs. In fact, you probably would do better without them. Jo: A friend sent me something interesting. She said she is doing so well on this, has lost weight, feels fantastic. It’s a food plan from the Weston Price Foundation- http://www.westonaprice.org/ And also Sally Fallon http://www.newtrendspublishing.com/SallyFallon/index.html My friend says she is having lots of veggies and fruits, raw butter, raw milk, some organic grass fed beef, organic eggs, sprouted breads and hummus, etc I thought it was very interesting, and it also peaked my interest because it is not “politically correct” to think in that direction. I wonder if combining raw foods with something like this might actually be good (raw butter, raw dairy). A lot of animals eat meat. Most animals eat meat. Rod: Most animals eat meat? That’s not true at all. Carnivores are a small minority. Most animals are vegetarians. Which doesn’t make us vegetarian, but most are. Jo: I’m at the shore, and I’ll see seagulls eating other dead animals. I saw a bird eating a squirrel. A cat likes to eat a chipmunk. It seems like there are a lot of animals that do eat some meat. Rob: Let me respond to that. I’m not saying that people should avoid eating meat 100%. But what has happened is that in this country, people eat meat every meal! And they think that they are somehow deprived- we use to eat meat once a week, once a month, it use to be a special occasion when we would eat meat. I’m only talking about 100 years ago. Meat was maybe once a week. (If you had money). Otherwise, it was once a month. It’s just that people have gone overboard with it. If they ate it in moderation just from a health point of view, I think it would be fine. But when you eat it 3 times a day, yeah, I think it’s a real major health challenge. http://www.RodRotondi.com Raw Food for Real People ********************************************************************************** Jo’s notes: I am actually a huge fan of raw food. I believe our bodies need the enzymes from raw food! I eat some raw food every day, and always organic. It’s amazing to taste the difference between fresh local organic greens compared to the stuff in supermarkets which has been sprayed and shipped. I recently had some organic greens from a farm in the Hudson Valley that has a stand here in NYC at the Union Square Market. I topped it with sprouts, avocado, tomato, some fresh organic veggies and hummus. The salad was incredible. I also love my Vita Mix blender. It is so easy to put organic raw veggies in it and make a cold soup or juice. I am not a huge fan of soy since there is some evidence that it contributes to thyroid disorders. I have it sometimes but rarely. I definitely avoid GMO foods and all chemicals and artificial ingredients as well as non organic meats. I studied the raw lifestyle for 3 weeks at the Hippocrates Institute back in 2006. I stayed vegan (a majority of it being raw) for about 4 months. My digestion was great, my weight was great, my skin was clear. My eyes were clear and my smile was huge. On the down side, I felt obsession with food and hungry all the time. I got more and more depressed on the diet and eventually had trouble walking. I had extreme fatigue and never had an increase in my energy from that way of eating. I felt ungrounded at times. Like I was floating. I was off balance. I should note here that I have also had lyme disease for about 10 years, so my experience was different than the norm. I did see and hear of many people improving health in severe situations by doing raw vegan or raw with some cooked vegetables. I would definately recommend it to anyone in a health crisis to try it. I believe that eating more organic raw vegan food can definitely support health! And sprouting is a huge part of this. Rod has more info in his book and DVD set which is very useful! Now I am eating so many raw foods but also some organic meat. I have learned more about anti inflammatory foods from this website: http://www.deflame.com This had led me to what I am trying now- cutting out all grains and grain fed meats (even if they are organic)! I am curious to learn amore about raw dairy. I am not a huge fan of dairy. I don’t particularly care for it. But It does seem to be working for a friend of mine. Many animals do eat animals. But the interesting thing is that whatever they eat, they eat it raw! I often hear vegans putting down anyone who eats organic meat, but meanwhile they are filling up on things like sugar, processed grains and soy, and It doesn’t make sense to me. As Rod said, don’t just focus on what you are NOT eating, focus on what you ARE eating. To me, the biggest problem in our food in American is not whether we eat any organic meat or broths here and there, but that we eat too much meat. And that factory farmed meat is sold at all. It’s terrible what is going on in factory farms! PLEASE see the movie FOOD INC asap! This is one of the most important films I have ever seen, and it will change your life for the better! You can watch the trailer here: http://www.foodincmovie.com/ You can watch the whole film here: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Food_Inc./70108783 So many of the foods on grocery store shelves have been sprayed with drugs, genetically modified and contain artificial ingredients that never were meant to be in our bodies at all. Many people do not read labels, yet it is so important! I am considering going back to sprouting and doing veggie juices several times per day and even more raw food than I already do. The nice thing about my Vita Mix Blender is that it leaves the fiber in tact from the vegetables. I am also interested in doing a vegan diet again for a time. I am not attaching myself to any labels, because then I will become stuck to them. But I do know I want to lose weight, alkalinize my body, and continue to work on healing from lyme disease! I think I might have been on the right track when I was doing vegan, but perhaps I was just being too extreme. There is so much to explore here. Whether you choose to go all raw or want to add more raw health affirming foods into your eating plan and lifestyle, Rod’s book is excellent. It has great recipes and beautiful photos! I am also excited about his DVD- what a great way to learn more! Food really is medicine. And the way we eat does impact our health in huge ways. Enzymes are key, and they are only found in raw living foods! According to the Hippocrates Institute manual I have, “Many studies show that elevated enzyme counts assist in combating cancer. Our ancestors consumed an enzyme rich diet and without question, that diet is the nutritional basis of human creation. Each of us is given only a limited supply of enzyme energy at birth and it must work to keep every system of the body in working order throughout a lifetime. The only other source that we have comes from the food we eat – but cooking it more than 115 degrees kills enzymes! Many scientists throughout the world believe that enzyme deficiency is the real cause of many allergies and disease. “ This is such wonderful news because it gives us information about how we can change how we eat in order to change our health. Just re reading some of the things I studied in the past, is inspiring me to go back to those lessons and make some changes. For information on buying “Raw Food for Real People and also Rod’s very cool DVD set, check this out! http://www.leaforganics.com/onlineStore/index.html p.s I really like this B Vitamin, maybe not for everyone, but works for me- http://www.phpure.com/nutrition_products/q_vitb_nano_plex.htm

Monday, may 3, 2010 Transcript of my show featuring Stephen Buhner Stephen, author of the book “Healing Lyme” as well as many other books on sacred plants, herbal medicine and more! GET THIS BOOK! http://www.amazon.com/Healing-Lyme-Prevention-Borreliosis-Coinfections/dp/0970869630 Healing Lyme This is the best book I have read on healing lyme in my years of research. This book is INCREDIBLY well researched and offers some amazing herbal protocols. You can also work with Stephen’s partner, Julie if you need individual guidance. This book is a must read for every doctor and patient. It gives you the facts and research on lyme that are important to know- and it cuts through all the politics and ignorance surrounding this disease. I think Stephen is truly a plant genius and an artist. I highly recommend this book for everyone! Jo ***************************************************************************************** Interview: Jo: Stephen- thanks for being on the show! You’re a master herbalist, an earth poet, and I wondered if you could tell us more about your background, especially with herbs. Stephen: I never really did fit into the boxes of life very well. And my great grandfather was a physician, but he began practicing in 1911. Back then they didn’t really have antibiotics. He used mostly herbs in his practice. I use to spend a lot of time with him and he had that sensibility in his work. When I left home, the 60s were booming and I pursued the sort of connection I had to the land, to forests and nature and plants. I ended up 25 years ago, starting to work directly with medicinal herbs. I spent about 7 years really focused on it every day. Jo: Did you take courses, how did you learn? Stephen: Actually I never could fit into the school system the way it was set up. When I got my bachelor degree, I ended up in a University without walls program, and I made a list of all the people in the United States I wanted to study with and arranged to study with people like Elizabeth Kubler Ross, Buckminster Fuller, and I did the same thing with herbs. When I got into them, I found all of the best herbalists in the country that were working and I went and studied directly with all of them. We lived in a place in the high Colorado Rockies with tremendous plant diversity, and I worked directly with those plants. In my experience, to really become an herbalist you have to work with the living plants themselves. That’s where the medicinal information resides. They know what they do better than human beings do. Jo: How did you come to this field of studying lyme disease? Stephen: I started writing full time in 1995, and then I was on the road at a lot of herbal conferences. I would go speak and teach. Really, one of the main questions I was asked everywhere I went no matter what I was talking on, was do you know anything for lyme disease? I said, No, I had never really thought about it. Then we lived for 4 years in Vermont. I became really aware of the lyme disease dynamic that was happening there. So finally at the urging of a friend of mine who was a physician, I finally just stopped and spent a year really studying the disease and looking at it in a way that turned out nobody else had done. That is how it happened. It was mostly because several hundred people had asked me about lyme Jo: I want to mention your book HEALING LYME, because in all my years of researching lyme, I think it is the most well researched book I have come across. Where can people get it? Stephen: http://www.amazon.com/Healing-Lyme-Prevention-Borreliosis-Coinfections/dp/0970869630 or on my website http://www. gaianstudies.org Jo: This is a must read for the doctors who don’t know much about it. And it offers help for patients. Stephen, how long does it take to get infected if you see a lyme tick on you? Stephen: It doesn’t take very long. But the faster you get rid of the tick, the less chance of being infected. The time span if something like 24-36 hours. If you get it off before then, normally infection rates are low. However, infection rates are completely dependent upon the health of your immune system. Researchers have done a lot of work on this. One of the amazing things for me in doing the book was, when I started looking at the research, there was no definitive text on what the disease does, or why it causes all these symptoms in the body. I looked at all of the research studies that had been done. Over 1000 of them… The more potent your immune system is, the less chance you have of being infected. The one thing I was most amazed at was the size of the lyme ticks. Jo: It’s like a pin head! Stephen: yes! And I am use to dog ticks which are a much different kind of a deal. The nymph stage of these ticks- I am really shocked anyone can find them. Jo: I’ve been working with Young Living essential oils. Do you know of anything that is a natural repellent for lyme ticks, instead of spraying toxic chemicals? Stephen: The essential oils are really good for it. Lemongrass, rosemary, rose geranium, and cedar. Blend them together. Use 1 teaspoon of each of those and 8 ounces of grain alcohol. Just shake it up and put it in a spray bottle. This works very good for mosquitoes and ticks. Jo: Some of the symptoms of lyme- many doctors completely miss it. Stephen: Most of the symptoms I get contacted about tend to be what would be called neuro cognitive lyme. Lyme can manifest in a number of different organ systems in the body. Predominantly it tends to hit the joints and the central nervous system. In the United States, the central nervous system is a big part of it. People are often misdiagnosed as having multiple sclerosis, or parkinson’s disease, or alzheimers even or various things like that, when really what it is, is lyme disease. It can be so bad that at onset, someone can be standing In front of their house and they can’t even tell that’s where they live. It can be very damaging to the ability to function. There’s often a lot of brain fog and confusion. Alot of fear that comes up as a result of that. Difficulty concentrating. Eye and ear involvement. Floaters that are intense. Balance problems. The kind of confusion- if you’ve ever seen somebody with alzheimers- that’s KIND OF a good way to describe neuro cognitive lyme. Then arthritic symptoms. The knees can swell up to the size of a grapefruit. Jo: A lot of times the fatigue is devastating. Stephen: Yes, there is very very severe fatigue for a lot of people. Jo: What a lot of people don’t realize is that you can have these symptoms that mimic other diseases, and it gets tricky if someone has psychiatric sort of symptoms from the infection. So doctors might want to get them on all these drugs when they actually have lyme disease. Stephen: Since the book has come out, I have probably had contact with 700-800 people who have emailed about stuff. At least half of them were misdiagnosed for many years. All of them had tried antibiotics without effect. Antibiotics only work for about 60% of people so those people have no reason to contact me. It’s the others who contact me, who have been sick many years. Jo: Yes, people can even end up in wheelchairs. It gets very bad. I’ve even found that for some people a combination of antibiotics and herbs works, but everyone is different. You really have to experiment and be your own healer and doctor in ways, and find doctors who don’t think you’re crazy. That’s tough. Stephen: It is. Because most physicians don’t understand what the lyme bacteria do in the human body. They are woefully uneducated about it, and most physicians don’t have any time to spend. And lyme people demand a lot of time. When I was working with people, it would be 1-2 hours for a session. Most physicians have 15-20 minutes max. That makes it difficult. And the symptom picture is so unique for every lyme patient, and you really have to pay attention. The lyme protocol really needs to be designed for that person. The physicians mostly only know how to prescribe a series of antibiotics. Nevertheless, there’s also a lot of confusion about that. In the beginning, they were saying a 10 day course was sufficient when it really wasn’t. Then 30 days. That’s a lot better. Studies have shown a 30 day course has better effects. But doxycycline which is the most effective antibiotic for lyme, is often the last antibiotic used because it is the strongest and the most expensive. But even in that, they will get a cure rate of 95%, but there is a relapse rate of 35% in that group of people within a few months. So really, they’re getting a 60% cure rate, and that’s the max cure rate they can get with antibiotics. The physicians don’t understand the complexity or how to develop a sophisticated protocol. Really, herbs and supplements and lifestyle shifts PLUS antibiotics, really produce the best outcome. Jo: That is what I am finding for myself. Cipro, oddly is helping me. Not brand name, but generic (500 mg once per day). Doxy did not help me. Stephen: That is interesting. One person will do this thing and it doesn’t work, another person will do it and it does work. That’s why when you start looking in the literature you find such a huge broad range of healing protocols that people develop. Jo: When you are creating health and wellness, you have to find your own path. There is not one set way. Some of these illnesses- you’ll hear the word incurable- and all that means is that certain organizations or doctors don’t know how to treat it-and it might not be a quick fix, you might have to experiment a bit- Stephen: The thing about chronic disease is that it stimulates awareness better than anything else. I’ve had my own- very severe chronic fatigue syndrome and a bad bout with Hepatitis C- and what they do is they demand that you raise your awareness about yourself and how you live. You have to pay attention in a different way than you did when you burned the candle at both ends. Jo: When you’re in the worst times, it is so hard, but one of the good things is that it does create new awareness. You have a heightened sensitivity that is different from your every day person walking around who gets away with quite a bit! Stephen: Yeah, it’s true. Jo: It seems like a lot of creative people get these things. Stephen: Artists definitely don’t fit into the boxes of life that well. One of the real teachings of the times we live in now is that we need to start being outside the box, and thinking. outside the box, because the problems facing us cannot be solved using the old ways of thinking. Jo: Are there any reliable tests for lyme disease, and does blood always show it? Stephen: NO it doesn’t. If you’ve got a physician that really understands the test, who knows how to read them- they can get pretty good at it- but you have to know that the test is only part of the large dynamic you are looking at. The Elisa test that the CDC recommends is an absolutely useless test. It doesn’t work, it’s no good and it should be junked. The western blot is much better. The reverse western blot is really good, but you have to be really knowledgeable about how to read it. Somebody would be bitten on their leg, they have the tick still attached, they have the bulls eye rash right? So they remove the tick, and the doctors KNOW they have lyme, so they actually take a biopsy of that area where they know the lyme spirochetes are because of the bulls eye rash, and it STILL tests negative! They can’t find the spirochetes in there, because there are not so many spirochetes that invade the body- not so many that they will easily show up. So even direct biopsy won’t show it sometimes which is why I tend to look at symptom picture. The test is just part of that. Jo: Doesn’t it go into tissue too, and hide from blood… Stephen: The lyme spirochetes are masters of disguise. They can sequester themselves in tissues where the immune system can’t see them. Where they’re not even in the blood. They really like more viscous tissue. Blood is not a good medium for them. They like collagen tissues and more gummy things like that which they can move through. They can change their form, they can encyst. And when they are in their encysted form they are not detectable at all. They are at least 100 million years older than the human species and they are really well adjusted to what they do. Jo: So they can really adapt to the cellular environment in the body. Can they change DNA? Stephen: Yes. They are masters of adaptation. They have an outer protein code. That is like one of those rubber gloves a physician might put on. They can change the structure of that outer protein code. They can live in over 150 different animals. So what they do is when they leave the tick gut, they analyze the blood meal that the tick is taking in, and they change the outer protein code to allow them to live inside that new organism whatever it is. And they also change their code in such a way that the immune system of that organism can’t detect them in the system. So they are extremely adaptable. They literally weave in new loops of DNA into their DNA structure to change their whole organism. We are basically outgunned. They are phenomenally intelligent. Jo: Have you heard of people having success in combination with herbs antibiotics and oxygen therapies? Stephen: I have heard from people who have done huge numbers of things. Mostly where my focus is, is on the herbal regimen. A lot of people then use antibiotics with the herbs and it seems to work pretty well for them. Of course I’ve heard about rife machines, oxygen therapies, Vitamin C protocols- there are literally hundreds of things people have written me about. And all of those things have worked for some people. Jo: It goes back to- you have to find your own course. Stephen: Yes. With the herbal protocol I have in the book, about 75% of the people get complete cure from using it. Another 10-15% get complete remission of symptoms, but they have to maintain some sort of mild level of the protocol for awhile. Taking a few pills a day of the herbal protocol. Another 5% get no effect at all. And another 5% get some remission. So that’s kind of where it is. But everyone of those people- they’re all doing other things too. Whether it’s rife machines, oxygen therapies, antibiotics or whatever. Because the lyme population is extremely sophisticated about treatment. They have to be. Jo: Most people with lyme also have mold sensitivities Do they go hand in hand? Stephen: What I have seen is that a huge number of people with lyme develop sensitivities to other things in their life. Some have huge sensitivities to light or to sound. Some develop multiple chemical sensitivities after they’re infected. You add that to the lyme itself, and then they’re having tremendous difficulties. Some people get lyme and all they get is a special kind of heart disease. Because the spirochetes invade the heart. Some people just get GI tract problems. The symptom pictures can be so unusual, but then you get the sensitivity on top of that and there’s really no telling how all that’s going to show up. When you are talking about multiple chemical sensitivity, one of the things you see is mold sensitivity and that is very difficult for people. Then they have to fix their house which is an almost endless project. Jo: Yeah- I had to leave my apartment! You go back to the basics- strengthen the immune system because you need to have a strong immune system so anything you can do to strengthen the immune system is a great thing. Stephen: Probably the best thing for people who live in a lyme endemic area- there is an herb called astragalus- and that- just taking 1000 mg per day-that raises, the parts of the immune system that needs to be raised in order to prevent lyme infections. Now if you have had lyme for awhile, astragalus isn’t so good. The two best herbs to raise immune function if you have chronic lyme- Eleutherococcus- The tincture made by Herb Pharm is the best one. It needs to be the strong form of it. That will help with the brain fog and the fatigue and raising immune function. Also cat’s claw is real specific for arthritic function but it will also raise specific parts of the immune system that are effective in dealing with lyme. So those 3 herbs are probably the best ones to know about. (Cat's claw from Raintree Nutrution) Jo: And again, you’re saying if someone has had lyme for a long time, the astragalus is not the best one. Stephen: It’s not the best one to use for chronic lyme. The problem is that the immune system starts to get a little bit haywire after lyme has been in it for awhile. Astragalus can in some instances exacerbate that. Some people with lyme- it almost presents as an autoimmune dynamic. So I don’t tend to go with astragalus then. Jo: What do you think of resveratrol? Stephen: It is a component of primarily red grapes- they found it by looking at red wines- but the plant that has more of it than any other plant on earth is Japanese Knotweed. And a lot of the companies that make resveratrol products use Japanese Knotweed root to make them. That plant – the root- is probably the BEST THING TO USE FOR LYME that there is. It shuts down the inflammatory pathways that the lyme spirochetes create in the body. They generate these inflammations to break down collagen tissue. That’s what they then feed off of to get their nutrients. So if you can stop the inflammation, most of the symptom picture will disappear. That’s the perfect herb for that. The reason I suggest resveratrol- there are at least 4 substances in the knotweed root that are important to take- not just the resveratrol- but the reason I suggest it in the book is that at that time the only commercially available way to get resveratrol was to buy a standardized Japanese root that was standardized for a certain amount of resveratrol. Source natural makes a really good . But that is the primary thing I have seen that reverses most of the symptoms of lyme disease. Jo: What would it say on the actual label? Stephen: The title will be Source Naturals Resveratrol. It’s made from Japanese Knotweed. It’s made from polygonum cuspidatum root which will be on the label, and then you will know you are on the right track. (the label will say 1 gram) It will say standardized for 8 or 10% resveratrols. Jo: GREAT, thanks! Now in the past I tried an herb called Artemisinin and got so incredibly sick on it. When you are working with people who are using the protocol in your book, how do you know when someone is “herxing” and it’s a good thing, versus just having a really bad reaction to an herb or medicine? Stephen: I usually suggest that people start with really low doses of the herbs and work up. The whole herxing thing is kind of a thing in the lyme community where some people say that when the organism begin to die off, you’ll actually sicker as they die off- that is really what herxing or the herxheimer reaction is referring to. A lot of people just don’t have those kind of reactions. I have never been really clear in my mind about that, because more than half of the people I have had contact with don’t have much herxing at all. So I am not sure what that dynamic is. Some lyme people want to have it- Jo: I’ve never found it to be a good thing for me! Stephen: Most people that I’ve worked with, when they start taking the protocol, they don’t usually have severe herxing because I start them at such low doses and have them work up slowly over time. Basically, they are getting better as they are taking it and moving up to the full dose. Artemisinin is a synthetic drug. It’s an isolated constituent FROM a plant artemesia annua that was used to treat malaria. The pharmaceutical companies wanted to get a patent, because if they just use the herb, they don’t make any money. It is being used because malaria had developed resistence to pharmaceuticals. So babesia is very similar to malaria in some ways, so using a malaria drug like that can help treat it. My experience is that only about 40% of the people who use artemisinin experience relief from babesia. So I recommend people take it for 30 days and then if it does not work, the other herb I suggest is an herb called cryptolepis which is a broad spectrum antibiotic herb. It’s very strong, very safe, I’ve heard of very very few side effects from it. THAT is actually my preferred herb to use now for babesia rather than artemisinin. Jo: Who makes it? Stephen: You can get it from a company called http://www.Woodlandessence.com They are the only people now in the USA who are making it. It is pretty effective Jo: I am in love with the world of herbs. I love to experiment with how my body feels with them, It is quite a journey to go through! Stephen: It is! Jo: I think we have answered many listener questions. There are a few more. Someone wrote in that she was diagnosed with lyme 12 years ago. Oral antibiotics did not help, and after 13 days of IV antibiotics she developed a blood clot in her arm and had to have the pic line taken out. She was seriously ill and hospitalized for a week. After that she developed fibromyalgia in her entire body and severe multiple chemical sensitivities. Now her symptoms are somewhat manageable but in the past few years she has had a lot of problems with her knees and elbows. She wonders if problems with fibormyalgia and widespread orthopedic problems would be related to lyme disease. Stephen: Yes they can be, and a lot of people with lyme actually present with those exact symptoms. Without meeting with her- it’s hard to know- but one thing she might try is an herb called teasel root. The tincture of that. Maybe 30 drops 3X per day and see how it works. People with post lyme will often have those kinds of problems and they’ll also still have cognitive brain fatigue and slowness in that from the long term suffering from the disease. Jo: Someone else wrote- “my doctors feel that having lyme triggered dysautonomnia” (According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysautonomia Dysautonomia (autonomic dysfunction) is a broad term that describes any disease or malfunction of the autonomic nervous system. This includes postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), vasovagal syncope, mitral valve prolapse dysautonomia, pure autonomic failure, Neurocardiogenic syncope (NCS), Neurally Mediated Hypotension (NMH) autonomic instability and a number of lesser-known disorders such as cerebral salt-wasting syndrome. Dysautonomia is associated with Lyme disease, primary biliary cirrhosis, multiple system atrophy (Shy-Drager syndrome),[1] Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and Marfan syndrome for reasons that are not fully understood. Symptoms of dysautonomia are numerous and vary widely from person to person. Since dysautonomia is a full-body condition, a large number of symptoms may be present that can greatly alter a person's quality of life. Each patient with dysautonomia is different—some are affected only mildly while others are left completely bedridden and disabled. The primary symptoms that present in patients with dysautonomia are: ▪ Excessive fatigue ▪ Excessive thirst (polydipsia) ▪ Lightheadedness, dizziness or vertigo ▪ Feelings of anxiety or panic (not mentally induced) ▪ Rapid heart rate or slow heart rate ▪ Orthostatic hypotension, sometimes resulting in Syncope[2] (fainting) Other symptoms frequently associated with dysautonomia include: headaches, pallor, malaise, facial flushing, salt cravings, constipation, diarrhea, nausea, acid reflux, visual disturbances, orthostatic hypotension, numbness, nerve pain, trouble breathing, chest pains, in some cases loss of consciousness and seizures Causes of dysautonomias are not fully understood, but they are thought to include: ▪ Viral illness ▪ Brain injury[3] ▪ Genetic factors ▪ Bad body posture (causes compression of important arteries and/or nerves) ▪ Exposure to chemicals ▪ Pregnancy ▪ Hereditary connective tissue diseases, especially Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome ▪ Autoimmune disorders, especially Lyme disease[4] and Type I diabetes ▪ degenerative neurological diseases such as Parkinson's disease Physical trauma or injury which damages the autonomic nervous system, as with Cerebral salt-wasting syndrome.[3]. Stephen: Basically, it’s a description doctors use when they don’t know what’s going on. Jo: Exactly!! Stephen: The best thing for her- the thing I do in the HEALING LYME book that is not really in any other book on lyme is that in the first chapter I give a comprehensive look at what the disease is, what it does in the body, why it does what it does, what all the peer reviewed studies have shown, so you’ve got a very concise look at what it can cause, what the symptoms are, what the after effects can be. And then once you know what it is doing and why it is doing it you can start to get an idea and intervene in a more knowledgeable way. With people who have serious immune problems and things like that, there are things you can do to bring your immune system back up so that you have a greater level of vitality in your life. That when you wake up in the morning and feel healthy and like you could run 10 miles- that kind of feeling-which is a really nice feeling to have! The other thing I recommend people do is get on the website planetthrive.com The woman who runs it has lyme and MCS and has been working on this a long time. I have answered a few hundred questions from people on that site. Jo: Is lyme a bacteria or a parasite? Stephen: (laughs) That is the interesting thing. Lyme was originally considered a parasite and then re classified as a bacteria. What it really looks like is a tiny kind of worm. I tend to think of it as a parasite rather than a bacteria. It’s definitely different than other bacteria. It’s a very interesting organism. Thinking of it as a parasite helps me understand its behaviour better than thinking of it as a bacteria. Jo: Someone asked a question for you- she has MCS (Multiple chemical sensitivities) and lyme. She said that some herbs are high in phytoestrogens which people with compromised detox cannot tolerate. Any advice? Stephen: I think the Japanese knotweed has some phytoestrogenic actions as I recall- the thing is-when I was talking about that in the book- that is an isolated constituent of the plant that researchers isolated out and found it had that impact. When you’re looking at a whole herb, they might have as many as 1000 different constituents. So they tend to balance that out. There are some herbs that when you take them, they do have potent estrogenic activity, like black cohosh for instance. But this particular herb, Japanese Knotweed, it’s really only that isolated constituent that has that estrogenic activity, and I haven’t heard from anybody that has had negative impacts from taking it on their estrogenic levels. Jo: It’s when you are separating things that they seem to be more of a problem. When you are dealing with the whole plant, it balances the energies out. Stephen: Researchers have found that in plants, some constituents of plants seem to have no known function other than to ameliorate the effects of another constituent in the plant. So you are dealing with a highly synergistic organism in their chemical structure- and that’s why herbalism is really more of an art than a science. They can try to make it into a reductive science. But you can’t, it’s never going to get there. Whenever you remove a constituent from a plant and enhance it by concentrating it, that’s when you start to get toxic side effects. Generally,plants are extremely safe and it is very difficult unless you are taking a poisonous plant, it is difficult to harm yourself with the herbs. Jo: THANK YOU for sharing all of this and for being on the show. Do you do consultations with people? Stephen: My partner Julie McIntyre does a lot of consultations with people, and if she needs feedback she ask, and I act as an advice person in the background. But I don’t do direct consultations anymore, Julie does all that. She can be reached through our website http://www.gaianstudies.org Email: Julie McIntyre- julie@gaianstudies.org Jo: Stephen THANKS so much. Stephen: You are welcome!

Sunday, may 2, 2010 What hot balmy weather we are having in NYC! I went up to the roof deck- love these views-

Monday, apr 26, 2010 Open Flower in the Rain

Wednesday, apr 14, 2010 New Apartment Ok bear with me while I go crazy gushing for a minute. I am so totally in love with my new apartment. I moved in a week ago. This is actually the building next door to the one I lived in before this one. This move was HARD to go through, but now that things are starting to be more settled, I am feeling so happy. This feels like a real home. The owner was selling the previous apartment, so it was time to go. That was just one of many reason. It's not an easy thing to move. But I found this place pretty quickly. I knew I wanted to be in this neighborhood. All the places I go to are downtown, so this is the perfect spot for me. Since I've lived in NYC, I've always been a downtown girl. Soho, Chelsea, Tribeca, and lower. It's funny in the city, you live in one place awhile and then you can't imagine living elsewhere. People who live uptown probably cannot imagine living down here. I guess it's all what you get use to. I remember when I lived in Soho, sometimes in the hot summers I would come down here and sit on the water, and just go crazy. I couldn't believe people actually lived down here and could have all this. Not only do I love living on the water, but I have always been inspired by old lanterns, boats, and park benches, as well as old historical, gorgeous buildings. And here I am. You figure out what makes you feel alive, and then you work towards it. I feel very blessed right now, and I feel like I a flower starting to bloom. From my window I look out at the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Jersey city, the Hudson River and endless sky and a park below. I love writing songs and looking at all this. My voice has been sounding great on recordings in this space because of the high ceilings. The acoustics are good here for getting the sound I want. That is an extra bonus. I am writing a lot right now and am starting to record some things. What is it about water that is so calming? (As long as you're not sailing thousands of miles- speaking of which- the other day I watched two huge yachts take off on a race from Battery Park to Barcelona, Spain. Can you imagine such a journey? I feel grateful, and I feel like I am home. I stop and smell the flowers every single day. Literally.

Wednesday, apr 14, 2010

Monday, apr 12, 2010

Monday, apr 5, 2010 Jo's Flower Garden My video "Jo's Flower Garden is featured in this month's issue (April) of Songwriter Monthly http://www.scribd.com/doc/29169883/SM-Apr-10-123-Issue and also in Pro Health ME/CFS Health Watch http://www.prohealth.com/em/EM031710N/index.cfm Cool!

Friday, mar 26, 2010 Spring in the City I took a walk today on this gorgeous chilly spring day. Check out my pics!

Friday, mar 26, 2010 Spring in the City

Friday, mar 26, 2010 Spring in the City

Thursday, mar 11, 2010 My new Short Video Film Hey All I am very excited about my new short video/film featuring my photography and music. Please share this with your friends, and anyone you think would enjoy it. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsTMM0I7Me0&feature=email Thanks for watching! Jo

Thursday, mar 4, 2010 What is the Meaning of Life? It's EVERYTHING

Tuesday, mar 2, 2010 Interview with John Welshons Hey All This book is amazing. I high recommend it. You can listen to this interview with John Welshons on the show page here at Zentertainment. It's great to hear his voice and listen to his words. But if you want to quickly read through the interview as well- here it is! One Soul, One Love, One Heart By John Welshons http://www.onesoulonelove.com Jo: It is becoming more and more apparent to me that all our relationships are our greatest teachers. Especially the ones that drive us crazy! John: Everything that we experience in life is an experience inside us. In other words, we think, well that person is irritating me or that person is driving me crazy, or that person shouldn't have said this, they shouldn't act that way. Whatever it is. The problem is really rooted in our perception of them. Meaning, it's our mind determining that they shouldn't say that or be that way. Now I want to say at the outset, that nothing I am going to suggest and nothing I have written in "One Soul, One Love, One Heart" is intended to suggest that we tolerate abusive or violent behavior or unconsciousness. It isn't meant to suggest that. Because there is nothing to be gained by being abused or allowing people who are cruel or violent to hurt people. But what I am saying is that we start to change our perception so that we understand that every time we look outside of ourselves and identify something in the external world- even something inside us- in our body, our moods, whatever it is that we don't like- that is an indication of a place where we need to do spiritual work. That is what we mean when we say we start to see the guru everywhere. The guru's job is to awaken us out of our sleep so that we can begin to experience directly the infinite love that is within us. Jo: How do you deal with that when it's say co-workers- maybe they are verbally abusive but you have to be around them in order to have the job you have? John: Right. Yeah, that's a big one! Well I think that in each case, we have to deal with each relationship in our life at several different levels. There is the level where we could pursue that person as the guru. When I started to do that with my father who was verbally abusive and had an alcoholic personality, and behaviors- when he was drinking he was really unpleasant. I started to see, instead of saying he shouldn't be that way, when I started to see him as the guru, then I could say, boy he's really good at this! He is really getting to me! He is really upsetting me! And I need to work on that in myself, because I can't change him. He can't even change himself. Certainly when I was a teenager and he was being abusive, all I wanted to do was get out of the house. Get away from him. And I think in that case, that was the proper instinct. So all of this stuff has to be taken in the context of what's possible in this moment at this point in my life, and what's most appropriate. Now getting back to your original question about dealing with difficult people in the workplace. See this as a person who might be coming to teach you something about yourself. That's the first level. Now the next thing is- I think everybody has an absolute right to say, "I really don't like it when you talk to me that way. I don't think it's kind. I don't talk to you that way, and I'm not going to tolerate it." And that's as far as it has to go. Now if it's your boss talking to you that way, in that case you have to weigh out what's the highest good in this situation? If the highest good is for me to keep bringing a paycheck home, then I've got to turn this into something that's growthful for me so that every time someone says something- what we have to realize is that when people are abusing us or attacking us, if it bothers us, it is because they are touching some insecurity in us. Couldn't you look at this person and say, "Isn't it sad, what on earth has happened to this person that causes them to treat someone as lovely as me in this horrible way?" You know I had an interesting situation recently. I got an email from somebody on facebook who accused me of just being a self promoter basically, and you know, it was a very cranky email. Jo: It was one of THOSE! John: And it did touch something in me and I got a little reactive at first, and then I thought, but what pain is in this person's life that is causing them to be this way?I wrote back a nice loving note explaining why I was doing what I was doing. This person wrote back and said, "Thank you for your very nice note in response to my very cranky letter." And I think we transcended it. You know, it is very interesting, and I have seen all my life how sending love back in response to unpleasantness and unkindness may not get an immediate response. In fact it might be something that's so unfamiliar to the person you are dealing with, they don't know what to do with it! I mean, I live in New Jersey where if you smile at a stranger, half the time they look at you like you just spat on them. People are that guarded and that frightened of strangers and the world outside. Everybody is always on guard for someone who is going to take advantage of them. So even a smile to a stranger becomes threatening. And I just keep smiling! Jo: So you're that weird guy at the corner! haha Now, sometimes with anger, you look underneath and there is a lot of grief and sadness. I liked that you wrote about that. It also reminded me that when someone attacks me, it is coming out of some pain they are in, and maybe they aren't even aware of it. John: Right. Exactly. That was something that Elizabeth Kugler Ross taught me many years ago. And Ram Dass kind of reaffirmed it. The first day I was studying with Elizabeth Kugler Ross, who wrote the wonderful book "I'm Deaf and Dying" back in the 60s and was the person who really sort of paved the way for the hospice movement in America- she was extraordinary. She said, "I want you to know that all anger is an expression of grief.. ALL anger." We said, "you mean the anger people feel when they get a difficult diagnosis.? She said, "No, no, ALL anger is an expression of grief." She really wanted to drive that point home. People in the class said, well what do you mean? She said, "It isn't a primary emotion." Somebody else said we have a fight or flight response that is biological. The adrenaline surges into our system. She said "that is in response to perceiving a threat to your safety." And the delicious 5 second of adrenaline, only lasts 5 seconds. The rest of it is choice. If you look at anger, underneath the surface, there is always either fear or sadness or a combination of the two. And so the interesting thing, when we work to heal anger in our own lives and relationships, whenever anger arises in the mind, it's to say but what is beneath this? What am I really afraid of? What am I hurt about in this situation? Then do the same with someone who is angry with you. Or angry in general. What has hurt this person? What has frightened them? Because that is really the key. And what anger is- it's our mind's attempt to grab power when we feel powerless. The power we grab is a destructive power, usually. Because it boils down to a primal you've hurt me so I'm gonna hurt you. That's when we get back to that thing that is that person can get to you, they're touching some insecurity in you or in me. Am I afraid at some level that what they are saying ia really true? And if it isn't, why should I be bothered? It's like a great story about the BUddha. A man came and berated the Buddha one day. And the Buddha looked at him and said, Now sir when someone comes and gives you a gift, and you don't want to accept the gift, who gets to keep the gift? He said, well I do. The Buddha said, well then I give you your gift of anger back, because I don't want it. Jo: How can you love that person - maybe it's not a person you want in your life- so how can you do both simultaneously? John: Well, it's very tricky, and it may take years of inner work. If I spend my entire life being angry and resentful about the people who disappointed me or hurt me, or lied to me or stole from me, than I'm the one who suffers, even if I don't ever see them again. I think we have every right in those kinds of situations to say, you know, I just don't want to ever deal with that person again. But to be angry and resentful about it? That's a whole different thing, because that's something that poisons my life and my heart. Sometimes when I am leading a meditation specifically about forgiveness, I'll point out that what we're doing is not approving of unconscious unkind behavior. What we're doing is we're attempting to move the boulder of resentment that's blocking the entrance to our heart, so that we can experience the love within our own heart. Because that's the place of happiness. Living in love doesn't mean saying yes all the time or allowing someone to hurt you. It means living in love. Sometimes the most loving thing for your to do for yourself and the other person is to say, "you really have crossed a line here, a nd I don't think I can ever deal again with you in my life." Then you send them on their way, but spiritually what's really useful is to work to somehow come to peace with that. To let go of the attachment to the resentment and anger and chemical rush of adrenaline you get every time you get charged up and angry about them. That really isn't the path to happiness, the path to happiness comes from forgiveness. But again, forgiveness isn't approving of of unconscious unkind behavior, it's just letting go of resentment. Jo: Thar's the place where a lot of us get stuck. John: Yeah, sure! Iur challenge is that we are dealing with so many different levels of experience and awareness in our own being. The challenge is that our heart is pure love, the spiritual heart. Then we have an emotional heart which is conditional love. That is where love meets thoughts and expectation and judgement. So that we are saying to other people, is I'm going to give you love, but you better give me the kind of love back that I want, or I'm going to stop giving you love. That's really the emotional heart and the heart we say can be broken. But we have a third heart. We have our physical heart, our emotional heart, and then our spiritual heart. The spiritual heart is unbreakable, eternal, and it is pure love and light. That is the place of happiness inside of us, but our mind keeps saying, don't go there, it's not safe, So it's a challenge. JO: Yes, we think it's not safe to have this person in my life. It is safer to hold onto my resentment. John: In certain cases it isn't safe to have certain people in your life. Jo: Very true. John: People have a tendency to project onto others all sorts of illusions and delusions and desires. That is why I spend a lot of time alone, quite, and in meditation. Otherwise you get so lost in other people's minds. That's not where happiness lies. Jo: People go to hideaway somewhere to get spiritual enlightenment. They stay hidden behind walls. Then when they come out into the world they are confronted with real relationship that are really messy- how much has all that enlightenment done for them? John: That's the question! My book begins with a story about a Yogi in India who spent 35 years in the Himalayas and was in a very high state of consciousness. People came and sat at his feet and bowed down to him. After 35 years he went down into the town, and someone bumped into him. He wheeled around and started screaming obscenities! The man had just bumped into him by mistake, you know. So that's a classic story in India, but it asks the same question you are asking. My own path has been to periodically withdraw into a monastic environment and then come out again, because I realize that neither one is going to work on its own. When I get too lost in the world, to withdraw and go back and be alone and quiet and find my center again is helpful. Monastic living is not easy for most people. It is very challenging in its own way. I've often found myself going into that kind of a retreat situation thinking, what am I doing? I don't want to do this, I should just go to a nice resort somewhere! But after a day or two or three days, I am starting to feel like this is so delicious. Often by the end I am thinking, do I have to go out back in the world again? It's finding balance, using each one. Going into the monastery situation to be quiet and find my center. I come out and see, now what is it in the external world that causes me to lose my center? That's where we get back to relationships. Jo: Let's talk about a real big one- politics in this country. John: Boy that is something! Now do you want to be right or do you want to be happy? Jo: I want to be both! haha John: haha You have to look through history at how often the good guys turn into the bad guys. The next thing- how do you eradicate heartlessness, unconsciousness, and downright stupidity from the world without being attached in a polarity? One way to see how you DON'T do it, is to watch what goes on between Fox and MSNBC. Fox being the conservative network, MSNBC being the liberal network. They are really creating each other. In their hatred of each other, they've got a game going that is very good for ratings. But it's not very good for healing the world. One of the great books that I've always loved is called the Bagadavita. It is a spiritual epic, you can read it in two hours, but it probably takes a lifetime to digest it. It is really a story of Krishna who is an incarnation of the Divine, talking to his disciple Arjuna. It's about, how do you confront cruelty, unkindness and dishonest, without confronting it in a way that makes it worse? How do you do it with love? It's really the quest that Gandi undertook in India. Which was to say, how do we make the world a better place, when most of the time when every human being sets out to make the world a better place they make it worse? You must BE the change you wish to see in the world. So it starts not with getting out there on a soap box and preaching, so much as going within yourself first and saying, how do I eradicate hatred and violence in my own being? Because until I am a statement of that, I really don't have very much to contribute to the world. It's a daily practice. And it was a daily practice for Gandi. And people were really frustrated by him sometimes, because if he wasn't quite sure what the appropriate action was in any given circumstance, he might say, well we're not ready to do anything yet. And people would say but Gandi we have to respond, it is urgent. And he would say, it's more important that we do it right than that we do it quickly. Jo: I don't know a whole lot about Buddhism. I interview some people who know much more about it than I do. But I loved when you wrote that it is less of a religion and more of a psychology. Then I thought, NOW I get it. Whenever I thought of it as a religion- mmm, I wasn't really into it as a religion. When I started to think of it as a psychology , reading things you wrote, then it clicked. John: It's really a system of understanding the human mind, which hasn't changed essentially in the 2500 years since Buddha lived and taught. The root to happiness is inside us. The way to get there doesn't really change. Jo: You wrote about interconnectedness. That is key. Maybe some of you listening have had an experience where someone you haven't talked to in years is on your mind so much. You think they're in trouble, or you just feel like you're suppose to find them. John: The idea that we are separate is the greatest illusion of all. How would we have those kinds of feelings and awarenesses? Someone pops into your mind you haven't thought of in years, The phone rings, and it's them calling. How would we have that if we weren't all connected? If we're all connected., we're all influenced by the sort of mass mind on earth. Another way to say it, is that there is no way to turn away from the suffering on earth because you're gonna feel it. We've got 20% of the population of the United States taking antidepressants. It isn't just their depression, it's the whole value system of the culture. You get sucked into it because that's consensus reality in our culture. In fact, it really causes us to live outside of our true nature which is love. As long as we do that we're gonna be depressed, and anxious and frightened and all of that. Jo: Why do you think so many of the teachers and authors today are focused so much on happiness that as soon as you feel sadness- the message is get rid of it really quick. Get onto the happy part? John: That's part of our cultural value system. Just because someone sells millions of books doesn't necessarily mean they are giving out a high teaching. But the really high teachers have always pointed out at some level that this human life is a balance of happiness and sadness. If you push either one away, you're gonna lose out in terms of your experience of being fully alive. The truth of the matter is the happiest people I know are the ones who can cry with the greatest passion and intensity when the moment calls for tears. It's feeling this life fully. That's a lot to deal with. Jo: If you block one out, you block the other out as well. John: That's our problem in western culture, in the United States especially. Jo: Nobody wants to feel sad, especially for an extended period of time. Some people need help with this, so if you are listening and take antidepressants, this is not some judgement of you. Please don't take it as that at all. John: Sure, sure. Sometimes the most compassionate thing to do for yourself if to take antidepressants. But the problem is that after awhile- most people who come to me who are on them are telling me I don't like the way they make me feel, I feel numb. So then we have to learn to find another way through the sadness. And it isn't to block it out. As much as you try to block out that sadness , however you do it, you turn off an equivalent amount of happiness. Jo: How do you experience God in things like illness, poverty, earthquakes, hurricanes.... John: It's very interesting. When I was in India back in the 70s, one of the first teachings I got which really upset the apple cart of my cultural religious training, was that God at the highest level, is neither good nor evil, it just is. We want God to be all good and all loving and God is, but in the world of form, we have both. Because in the world of form, in the physical universe, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. So that gets back to the realm of politics that we were talking about earlier. If you're too attached to being good, you are actually creating the other side of the equation. If your behavior is good without you being attached to it, that's a different thing. It is a hard one to distinguish. Physics, quantum mechanics says the same thing, that everything in the physical universe comes from the same light and there's only one of it. It's all light. Everything in form is light vibrating at different rates of speed, different frequencies. But it's all the same light and there's only one if it. That's science. Jo: Interesting! I wanted to ask you about something - shifting for a moment- there are all sorts of feelings that come up with rejection, approval and praise. Now someone listening- maybe you tie your feelings of happiness to someone else's behavior. John what advice do you have? John: Sometimes you look back years later, and realize that some situation in which you thought you got rejected, actually paved the way for you to go to something much better. Whether a better relationship, job, whatever it is. In the moment, how do you deal with the pain and the impulse to retaliate? I think that it goes back again to saying, what is this touching in me? What insecurity is this that I offer my skill, my love to another human being and they turn away from it? Is that my problem? Well not necessarily. Or maybe it is. Maybe there is something in me, something I am sending out vibrationally that is repelling other people rather than drawing them in. That gets back to the underlying theme throughout our discussion. That ultimately it is unconditional love that attracts people. Judgment and narrowness and anger push people away. Jo: Wonderful book, I LOVE this book. John can you share your website with everyone? John: It's www.onesoulonelove.com Jo: Easy! Like that! Thank you so much for taking time today to share thoughts about this wonderful book. John: Jo, thanks for inviting me, it's always great to be with you!

Saturday, feb 27, 2010 Healing Lyme Disease I am reading the most brilliant, well researched book on lyme disease that I have come across in my many years of research. There is so much misinformation out there. Lyme is a hidden cause of many illnesses today, and if you are looking for information or want to get information for your doctor, this book is a MUST READ. http://www.amazon.com/Healing-Lyme-Prevention-Borreliosis-Coinfections/dp/0970869630

Saturday, feb 27, 2010 Union Square © Jo Davidson

Tuesday, feb 23, 2010 The Creative Life..... just finished writing a new song on guitar i love it- funny how in spite of everything dark i go through that would try to drag me under, the creativity keeps flowing all I can say to it is thank you-for letting me be a channel for this love- Good Night New York-

Sunday, feb 21, 2010 A Burst of Color on this winter day!

Sunday, feb 21, 2010

Sunday, feb 21, 2010

Friday, feb 19, 2010 Tiger Woods Why is anyone dissecting Tiger Wood's apology or judging him? What's that saying- when you point a finger at someone else- there are 3 fingers pointed back at you. People are addicted to everything from shopping to sugar to sex, to fast food, drinking, porn, to gossip, to being right, to smoking and on and on. You name it. Nobody is above or below anybody else. We each have our own journeys and things to deal with. Isn't that enough?

Saturday, feb 6, 2010 Women's Magazines and Cigarette Ads Lung Cancer is the leading cancer killer of women, surpassing breast cancer. Why are magazines like Marie Claire, Bazaar, and many others putting ads for cigarettes in their magazines? It is unbelievable. Are they for us women or against us? Are they so greedy that they will support products that kill women every year? Not to mention second hand smoke, which kills children, husbands, family members. We know that second hand smoke is extremely dangerous. They put advertisments for these health destroying products right next to articles on how to be healthy. They promote cancer cure marathons and pink ribbons while also promoting things that cause cancer! What hypocrisy. Any women's magazine that gets money for promoting tobacco products is equally as guilty as the tobacco companies in causing harm and death. Young girls often look to these magazines to see what is trendy and cool. But these magazines are full of lies. There is NOTHING cool about smoking. It makes you sick. It makes those around you sick. It makes you smell like an ashtray. It turns your teeth yellow. And it can kill you. What is so cool about that? Nothing at all. These magazines value their advertisers more than the lives of their readers. Write to any women's magazine that advertises cigarettes and tell them this must stop. Don't buy their magazines. Let them know this is not ok.

Saturday, jan 30, 2010 "We deserve a country where our elected officials are not bought and paid for by Big Business. But last week's Supreme Court decision in the case Citizens United vs. FEC overturned over a century of precedent and opened the floodgates for unlimited amounts of corporate money to flow into our political system. Shockingly, the court's decision may even allow foreign corporations and large multinationals to manipulate our elections. If we do nothing, this ruling has the potential to undermine the very foundation of our democracy. Sign our petition to President Obama and the Congressional leadership telling them they must enact strong laws to save our democracy from the pernicious influence of corporate money." http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/grayson_democracy/?rc=tw

Friday, jan 29, 2010 Road Trip One of the reasons I like doing this radio show is that not only does it help listeners, but it helps bring me back into a space of possibilities when life feels like a metal wall pressing in on me from all sides. I lose my grip, my strength, my stamina, and then find it again, over and over. Doing this radio show helps me tap into a space where there is an out there, and it is bigger than me and me alone. I am reminded that we are not in control of everything. We can do our visualizations, our affirmations, focus on what we would like to have happen, but then we must somehow have patience and be in a space of love no matter what is happening. Not even death can separate us from that love. It is hard to be at peace when things are not going our way. There is a challenge in every situation, whether it feels incredibly good or bad, and that is that there is no true peace in circumstances alone. So we must find within ourselves something that is the same regardless of circumstance. Today my challenge is to let go of my demands upon life that it should or shouldn't give me this or that.

Tuesday, jan 19, 2010 Are Americans obsessed with happiness? I remember once hearing a leader in the self help world talk, and he was saying he is happy every day and has a multi million dollar home, a gorgeous wife, best selling books and luxury cars. Life was perfect for him at every moment, the way he made it sound. God Bless Him, but I remember thinking to myself, either the guy is in denial or he's just not that deep! Life is not about feeling happy every single moment of every day. We all have times of grief and sadness. We all have challenges, conflicts with others and ourselves. And yet all of these things can be part of a happy life. To me, happiness is a feeling, and yet it is also much more than a feeling. It transcends the temporary nature of fleeting feelings. I am sure that like me, you have been closely following what is happening in Haiti. I have always had a special place in my heart for the people of this country. When I was 15 I had the chance to travel there and sing in some churches. This is a picture I took of one of the homes in Port Au Prince. To most of us, living in a home like this would not give us a feeling of happiness. The floor is dirty and uncomfortable. Rain obviously leaks in. There are bugs, and it is sticky and humid. Yet there are people there right now, who would feel happy to have this home. Is happiness all a perspective? How is it that so many of us here have so much, and yet feel unhappy? Many people in Haiti have no access to clean running water or healthy food. And here in America we endlessly obsess about how to avoid eating too much. Are most of us overjoyed on a daily basis that we have so much food to eat and so many choices? Or do we take it for granted and instead focus on all the things we want that we don't have? I remember a woman carrying a huge basket on her head- a weight so heavy I could not have lifted it much less carried it on my head for miles. I remember a tiny box of cereal costing more than the average weekly wage in Haiti. I remember raw open sewage in Port Au Prince, starving animals wandering around on the dirt ground right next to grains that women sifted through while naked children begged for money. I remember eating some corn flakes but not finishing them when I thought they were too soggy, only to see a guy eating them out of the trash a few hours later. Life is HARD in Haiti. Have you ever been through an accident or illness that was so painful, that once you got through it, just being free of it filled you with a sense of incredible happiness and gratitude? Isn't it amazing how happy we are when we get something back that we lost? Before we lost it, we didn't even think about it. I have a friend who right now cannot even walk down a flight of stairs due to her long battle with M.E. For her, happiness would be feeling good again. Walking. Being able to go outside, have conversations with people. Just those simple things. It is very hard to feel happy when you feel that sick! Yet how many people who enjoy good health each day, don't think about what they have? As the saying goes, "If you haven't got all the things you want, be grateful for the things you don't have that you don't want." That quote has helped me a few times when I've felt down. My guest this week is Dan Baker Ph.D. His book is BRILLIANT. He shares true stories about how people have healed through grief and sadness, and how people have healed everything from anorexia to depression. And it's not in the ways we are use to hearing! He shares common happiness traps and what he has learned from counseling some of the wealthiest Americans. He turns traditional psychology upside down on its head and kicks it out the door. There are no cliches here. I can't recommend this enough. Fantastic book- "What Happy People Know" To hear more, listen in on my conversation with Dan Baker: http://www.zentertainment.org/podcasts.html Or purchase the book at : http://www.amazon.com/What-Happy-People-Know-Happiness/dp/1579546021 Peace, Jo "There are risks and costs to a program of action, but they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction" John Fitzgerald Kennedy "Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all." Dale Carnegie "Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing. " Mother Teresa

Friday, jan 15, 2010 South Street Seaport & The Brooklyn Bridge © Jo Davidson

Friday, jan 15, 2010 Brooklyn Bridge © Jo Davidson

Friday, jan 15, 2010 Brooklyn Bridge/ South Street Seaport/ © Jo Davidson This is another shot I took yesterday-

Saturday, jan 9, 2010 Surrender Surrender For me, to surrender does not mean to give up, it means to bend gently in the storm. It is to keep focusing on what I am grateful for and what I want to co-create with God, while also accepting what is, right now. It is holding a bigger vision of knowing that what the ego might want is different from what the soul might desire. There are some fights that can snap me like a broken tree branch. Surrendering is bending. It is being open to a bigger vision, a bigger purpose than the few small pieces of the puzzle that I see in front of me. Surrendering means making my plans, working hard towards my goals, and then letting go. It is not a form of defeat or an action of giving up. When I surrender to my self pity and my frustration over how some challenge has changed my life, then I start to sink. It's normal to stop there and visit those feelings, they are so real, but if I stay for breakfast, lunch and dinner day after day, I won't make it. To surrender and have it be a positive thing, is to become grateful for what I have. More than that, it is to take life's hardships and through them become softer instead of harder. To know that in time this soft nature will wear down even the hardest rock, just as it happens in the sea. And every time I focus on what is right, what is beautiful, and what is working, I am creating a better future by learning to create a better now. This does not mean I am without tears, frustrations, and struggles. It's that I feel these things over and over perhaps, but keep coming back to something beyond my understanding. To the awareness that I am part of something greater that is happening. I truly only tap into this through meditation. The tricky thing, is that sometimes we do need to fight for what we want. Hard. Surrendering does NOT mean giving in to any voice that tries to tell us we're out of the game. It just might mean creating a new game. Outgrowing the old ballpark, the old rules. It is is a dance between acceptance of what is and the determination to create something new. We each must find out way through our own song. These are some thoughts i had a few minutes ago as I was feeling and thinking about some of my own life challenges. © Jo Davidson http://www.Zentertainment.org

Thursday, jan 7, 2010 This email is posted compliments of www.andreacandee.com.. Did You Know…that comfrey root helps osteoarthritis of the knee, sprained ankles, lower back pain, and more? I’ve used comfrey ointment for many years for healing wounds, abrasions, dry skin. It's been used for centuries in Chinese medicine to treat wounds and reduce arthritis pain. A Native American herb, comfrey is well known for its abilities to heal bones and connective tissue as well. The problem is that while perfectly safe in combination with other herbs, comfrey is not meant to be used in large amounts internally, due to potential for liver damage. Now I’m going to do something you don’t usually find me doing...supporting a pharmaceutical company’s product. Merck makes a non-pharmaceutical ointment called Kytta-Salbe (German for comfrey salve), a comfrey root ointment for EXTERNAL/TOPICAL application. Wonder why it isn’t marketed in the US? Because doctors in Germany recommend the product and here in the US...well, you know they don’t because it probably isn’t even marketed to them. In a recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, German researchers tested the effectiveness of Kytta-Salbe in treating lower back pain. 120 patients with acute upper or lower back pain were divided into two groups, one of which was treated with a daily placebo ointment while the other group was treated with four grams of Kytta-Salbe daily. Treatment period lasted only five days Results showed that pain intensity decreased about 95% on average in the Kytta-Salbe group Pain intensity decreased less than 38% in the placebo group For some subjects the treatment worked very quickly, reducing pain within one hour! Another German study tested Kytta-Salbe in a trial with 220 subjects all suffering from chronic osteoarthritis of the knee. As in the back pain trial, the ointment reduced pain and restored mobility significantly better than placebo. Kytta-Salbe may not be readily found in pharmacies and health food stores in the U.S., but it can be ordered from Amazon.com! In fact, two customer reviews on Amazon note that the ointment relieved pain associated with a sprained ankle and tennis elbow. There are other comfrey ointments out there. I have always used Dr Christopher’s Comfrey Ointment. For deeper tissue healing, I’ve recommended Dr Christopher’s Bone, Flesh and Cartilage (BF&C) ointment, containing comfrey and other healing herbs. In combination with Dr Christopher’s Deep Heating Ointment (containing cayenne), the BF&C Ointment penetrates even deeper into the tissue. I have had clients who swear by it to get through their golf or tennis games. But if you want to use the same comfrey root product that the German studies used, try the Kytta-Salbe. If you'd like to see a funny You Tube video for Kytta-Salbe, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGJvg23HeRI. You'll see it in German in which an American Indian on a mountaintop makes a pitch for Kytta-Salbe, and what do you know...the American Indian speaks fluent German! Please think about who you know that would benefit from this valuable information and share it with them. It's a blessing to be able to help one another. Until next time…stay healthy, think peace, be love and see love in everyone! Andrea Candee Andrea Candee is a master herbalist and holistic health counselor with a consultation practice in Westchester County, New York, and is well known for her unique and successful approach to reversing chronic Lyme Disease. She does Meridian Health Assessments, computerized electro-dermal screenings, for taking a pro-active approach to preventative health. Visit www.andreacandee.com to learn about the workshops she is scheduled to give and can bring to your area, and about her award-winning book, Gentle Healing for Baby and Child…A Parent’s Guide (Simon & Schuster)…although written for parents, grandparents and caregivers, everything in the book can be used by adults as well! Andrea has also written “How Do I Get My Family Through the Winter~Should I Take the Flu Vaccine~Herbs, Recipes and Guidance for Winter Wellness”, “The Cell Phone Dilemma...options for protection in an unseen world”, and “Sparkling Home~Healthy Planet~Clean Green.”

Thursday, dec 17, 2009 Winter Tree

Tuesday, dec 8, 2009 Merry Christmas & Happy New York I hope you are enjoying this holiday season. I love this time of year. I wanted to let you know that my holiday CD is available now! It is called "Merry Christmas & Happy New York." It is a collection of very meditative holiday classics which I recorded on my 1929 Steinway Grand. It is perfect for intimate dinner parties, relaxation, meditation/prayer and massage. I have even been told it helps babies sleep. It is a great gift for everyone! I just got a new shipment in, so order your copy now to get it in time for the holidays! http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/davidson3 Here are some of the things people have said about Merry Christmas & Happy New York..... So absolutely beautiful, mesmerizing, enchanting and spirited that I bought a few for familiy and friends. You will never tire of this one. Andy "IN A CROWDED MARKET OF CHRISTMAS ALBUMS,THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST ENTICING COLLECTIONS I'VE HEARD IN YEARS...LOVELY AND WARMLY NOSTALGIC" -Dan "A CHRISTMAS CARD ADDRESSED BOTH TO AND FROM THE CITY WE WILL NEVER LOOK AT IN THE SAME WAY AGAIN." -Christmasreviews.com This collection is so perfectly balanced between peaceful and festive, I listen to it non-stop at Christmas time, and all year long as well. It is peaceful, soothing, mesmerizing, haunting, spirited and most of all "genius." -Christina Soothing and mezmerizing! Christmas shouldn't be without this CD!! -Kevin This CD is so beautiful. I ordered 5, but I'm thinking that is not enough! -DeAnna This CD is my new favorite, not only to listen to during the holidays but anytime that I want to hear beautiful piano music. This is a keeper! Teresa How many hackneyed renditions of the Christmas standards can you own?? If you feel you've tried the best, try again and buy this (I got three but will be re-ordering more)--it's the songs you know so well, but presented in an intimate, haunting and can't-get-enough manner. A true gift of the season! Liv http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/davidson3 (You can also link to it from my store page here at Zentertainment) ******************************************************************************************* Whether you live in NYC or are visiting for the holidays, you'll find a million fun things to do during this holiday season. This barely skims the surface, but these are a few things on my radar! The Radio City Christmas Spectacular with the Rockettes http://www.radiocity.com/ The Nutcracker Ballet http://www.lincolncenter.org/ The New York Pops http://www.newyorkpops.org/html/concerts.html Holiday Window Displays at Barneys New York 660 Madison Avenue (at 61st Street) Bergdorf Goodman Basics 754 Fifth Avenue (at 58th Street) Bloomingdales Basics 1000 Third Avenue at 59th Street Saks Fifth Avenue Basics 611 Fifth Avenue (at 49th Street) Lord & Taylor Basics 39th Street at 5th Avenue Macy's Basics Herald Square, Broadway between 34th and 35th Streets Check out these fun outdoor markets for special gifts: Holiday Shopping in Union Square Location: Union Square @ West 14TH Street The Holiday Shops at Bryant Park http://www.TheHolidayShopsatBryantPark.com/index.php Columbus Circle Holiday Market Columbus Circle, Central Park (59th Street and 8th Avenue) 8th Annual Holiday Train Show at Grand Central Station Annex and Holiday Kaleidoscope Light Show at Grand Central Terminal www.mta.info/museum The show runs every half hour on the hour from 11am - 9pm http://grandcentralterminal.com/ Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree and Top of The Rock 30 Rockefeller Plaza Great views from the 70th Floor Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree http://www.rockefellercenter.com/home.html Holiday Train Show at the New York Botanical Garden www.nybg.org Ice Skating in Battery Park City http://www.batteryparkcityice.com Ice Skating at Rockefeller Center Ice Skating at the pond in Bryant Park Ice Skating at Wollman Rink in Central Park There will be two performances of Handel's "Messiah" on Dec. 13 and Dec. 14 at Trinity Church in NYC http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/music/choir/schedule A Christmas Carol Manuscript on View at The Morgan http://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/dickens.asp Lincoln Center Holiday Events http://www.lincolncenter.org/ The Cathedral Church of St John the Divine, A Cathedral Christmas Concert http://www.stjohndivine.org/ New York Revels- Winter Solstice Celebration http://www.nyrevels.org/ Dance Events at the Joyce Theater http://www.joyce.org/performancestickets/calendar_joyce.php The Big Apple Chorus at the South Street Seaport http://www.southstreetseaport.com/html/index.asp Annual exhibit of Robert Frost Christmas cards at Poets House www.poetshouse.org Bargemusic Concerts at Fulton Ferry Landing www.bargemusic.org One of my favorite things to do is to just take a walk along the Battery Park City Esplanade as well as take pictures from the Robert Wagner Park in Battery Park http://www.thebattery.org/ Check out the Giant Snowflake at the intersection of 57th and Fifth Ave Annual Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Creche Metropolitan Museum of Art http://www.metmuseum.org/ NYSE Christmas Tree Music and tree lighting in front of NY Stock Exchange at 3PM Dec 10 New York Stock Exchange 11 Wall Street, Manhattan at the corner of New Street The tree is on Broad Street between Wall Street and Exchange Place Happy Holidays! http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/davidson3 http://www.Zentertainment.org

Thursday, nov 19, 2009 Cherokee Wisdom Two Wolves - Cherokee Wisdom . One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith." The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?" The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Thursday, nov 12, 2009 SILK brand Soy Milk no longer organic Hey All I just wanted to let you know that SILK Soy Milk is no longer organic, even though the company who owns SILK, "Dean's" has tried to pass it as organic. They quietly re labeled the cartons to read "Natural" when in fact they are using conventional soybeans (Which are usually sprayed with chemicals). The disturbing part of this is that they tried to do it quietly, without letting people know about it, while still charging the same price and using the same bar code. Food Company Pulls Bait and Switch On Organic Milk http://www.naturalnews.com/027450_food_foods_Dean.html

Wednesday, nov 11, 2009 I definately need strength and patience in this moment! If you would know strength and patience, welcome the company of trees. ~Hal Borland

Monday, nov 2, 2009 Swine Flu propaganda This old 60 Minutes documentary only aired once on the Swine Flu Propaganda. PLEASE watch this. Is history repeating itself? http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9mh9f_swine-flu-1976-propaganda_webcam

Saturday, oct 31, 2009 Happy Halloween Happy Halloween! Since I am not eating sugar right now, I guess I will have to stick to the healthier treats. I actually tried baked apples recently. Just peel the bottom of an apple enough so it sits in a pan, core the apple, and filled it with raisins, nuts, cinnamon, and bake it for about 40 minutes. YUM! I took a walk and watched the Doggy parade earlier. It was so funny. All these little dogs were dressed up and paraded along the esplanade. One was a hot dog! He had buns on the side of him and a yellow cushion on top that was suppose to be the mustard. Poor little guy! hahaha This one was dressed as a bat.

Saturday, oct 31, 2009 Fear The problem with fear is that when I choose to fall into its trap, I lose sight of the truth. I am starting to see that rather than focusing on the events I think need to change, it is my relationship to fear that needs to change. Because there is always another fear behind the one I think I've gotten rid of. -Jo

Friday, oct 30, 2009 Anxious Thoughts Well I seem to be going through another layer of very intense lyme detox. Lyme hides out. It can be such an insidious illness. So it is from this physical place that I am working on how I feel and see. This is boot camp! How easy it is to feel good when I FEEL GOOD. Then life is a piece of cake in comparison to this. This feels like eating dirt and trying to say, oh my, how delicious! Maybe you are reading this and have a health challenge you are going through. Sometimes the big challenge on top of coping with symptoms, becomes how to handle fear. Fears such as, will this ever end, will I ever feel well again, how can I cure this or is there a cure, will I ever be able to live a normal active life again and feel good physically, how can I create meaning in my life when I am this ill, is what is happening a healing crisis or has something harmed me, and on and on it goes. I find it very tough to feel great emotionally when I feel bad physically. I think that is a normal reaction. Ask anyone who has the flu if they feel fantastic, and you are not likely to hear the answer YES. So what do you do when something like this lasts for years? Most people cannot relate to such a thing, and yet many of those same people have no problem dishing out advice. I love philosophy, but even the best sounding theories don't always apply in every situation. I would rather experience my philosophy than recite it. Every once in awhile, I find ideas that resonate with me not just in words, but in how I can live those words. Guy's book "The Essential Laws of Fearless Living" has some seriously great "must underline dog ear this page" moments! "Rather than look to anxious thoughts to help us through some fearful situation, we can see that anxiety SERVES fear, so how can it free us from it? The light of this new awareness empowers us to let go of both of these imposters." -Guy Finley Check this out- http://www.zentertainment.org/podcasts/zentertainment61.mp3

Friday, oct 16, 2009 Go towards what makes you feel alive, and dare to live outside the box of limitations. Do not let shame or fear lead you or direct your path. Do what you fear, be brave, and explore your truth. Wear it, be it. Accept who you are. LOVE who you are. -Jo

Thursday, oct 15, 2009 Young Living Thieves Oil Products Several people have asked me about what I am using right now to support health. I have been getting some GREAT results from various Young Living essential oils, and I would like to share some products I personally love. They have made a huge difference for me. These therapeutic grade oils support immune function, and they are anti viral, anti fungal and anti bacterial. Very powerful! I love the Thieves Oil, the soaps, handwipes, cleaners, and essential oils. Feel free to email me with any questions you have. You can order any of these through me, see my sign in information below. I am taking the following: http://www.youngliving.com/essential-oils/Oregano (1 drop each evening in a capsule) http://www.youngliving.com/thieves-essential-oil/Thieves-Oil (3 drops per day in a capsule) http://www.youngliving.com/essential-oils/Frankincense (2 drops per day in a capsule) http://www.youngliving.com/accessories/Vegetable-Capsules http://www.youngliving.com/natural-hand-care/Thieves-Hand-Soap (daily) http://www.youngliving.com/natural-hand-care/Thieves-Hand-Purifier (daily) http://www.youngliving.com/natural-cleaner/Thieves-Cleaner (I use this on shower curtains, floors and windows) http://www.youngliving.com/natural-cleaner/Thieves-Spray (great to spray on door knobs, and etc) http://www.youngliving.com/natural-household-cleaners/Thieves-Wipes (I use these when I am out and about to prevent the spread of germs) Also, each morning I rub two oils all over my feet. First I rub Immupower: http://www.youngliving.com/essential-oil-blends/Immupower Then a minute later I rub all over my feet with Valor http://www.youngliving.com/essential-oil-blends/Valor 2 times per day I take an ounce of Ningia Red http://www.youngliving.com/goji-juice/Ningxia-Red If you would like to order any of these great products, go to: https://www.youngliving.com/signup/custType.faces Click on Customer and then enter my # which is 1096238 Questions? email me at Jodavidson@mac.com These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Consult your health care professional about any serious disease or injury. Do not attempt to self-diagnose or prescribe any natural substances such as essential oils for serious health conditions that require professional attention.

Wednesday, oct 14, 2009 My Box of Crayons My computer tech was over yesterday setting some stuff up for me. Somehow he also accessed very old email files from as far back as 1999. I started browsing through some of them. Some made me cry. Others made me laugh. Relationships have come and gone, so many circumstances have changed and shifted. Some emails made me feel such nostalgia I could barely handle it. I found tons and tons of emails over the years from my friend Greg who recently died. I miss him so much, and it really hurts inside. I really want to talk to him right now. I also found many emails about the life I was living at that time, and it made me reflect on how things have changed. It is hard to believe I was touring and recording and playing so many shows! I remember when I first started getting extreme back pain and pain in my left arm so bad I could not lift anything. I remember being very disoriented and how the fatigue issues got very serious. I tried so hard to work it out emotionally. I was looking into John Sarno's books and others. Little did I know that I had just gotten lyme disease. How that changed my life. I can hardly believe all the stuff I have been through because of it. Sometimes it is a good thing to look back for a minute and peek into the past. And sometimes, if you keep your head turned in that direction for too long, you'll crash your car. So I looked back for a little while. Now it is time to be here, now, and also look forward. One thing I do know, is that if there has been any benefit from all the trials I have been through, it is that they have made me stronger, have made me grow and stretch and bend in ways I never thought would be possible. I might have started out with 64 colors in my crayon box. Now I have about a thousand.

Tuesday, oct 13, 2009 My new favorite bookstore Today I discovered an absolutely gorgeous little indie book store. They specialize in travel guidebooks and international literature. Everything is categorized by its geographical location rather than author. They have some great fiction novels with stories based in NYC as well as Paris,( two of my favorite places), and much more. The space is stunning with beautiful light, architecture and hardwood floors. The owner was friendly, and he offers personalized service to match customers with books. Idlewood is one of my new favorite spots. It has character and charm and is a true gem in the city! Idlewild Books www.idlewildbooks.com 12 W 19th St New York, NY 10011 (212) 414-8888

Saturday, oct 3, 2009 Autumn at the NJ Shore I took this picture last weekend before I came back to the city!

Tuesday, sep 29, 2009 The passing of my friend Greg Ladanyi Hey All It is with so much sadness that I tell you a very dear friend of mine, Greg Ladanyi, passed away early this morning. He was touring with an artist he was producing overseas, and had a freak accident where he fell, went into a coma from the head injuries, and died. This is a shocking, unexpected senseless death. I am shaken to the core right now. I have been doubled over with grief and tears. His passing is so unexpected and sudden, and it is hitting me hard. Many of you remember my first record "Kiss Me There." I consider that record to be Greg's as much as my own. Even though I wrote and performed all the songs, he engineered and co-produced the whole thing with me. It was a real act of love, and it was truly a homegrown project. He came over to my home studio every single day for many months. Then after signing my record deal, he worked with me to bring in string arranger David Campbell and we added some more things to the CD to make it even better. We had lots of laughs and spent so many months together. It was a special time. Greg has been a huge important part of my creative life and world, and he has always been a friend to me. He always believed in me and supported me. He was generous with his time and talents. I knew I could call him anytime and he would be there, and I knew that if I needed anything he would try to help me. I feel a huge loss, a huge emptiness inside. I feel that even listening to the music from my first CD is hard, because he is as much a part of it as I am. I was so hoping to see him in the next few months. Two days ago was one of the best health days I have had in quite a long time, and I was hoping to tell him. I knew he would be happy to hear I was singing again. What a senseless accident this was, and how sudden. I really feel in quite a shock from it. I miss him so much. If you would like to read more about him click here: http://www.prosoundnews.com/article/24448 Greg was an amazing talented producer an engineer. Ih his career he worked with Fleetwood Mac, Don Henley, Jackson Browne, Toto and so many others. This is a very hard time. I miss him sooooooooo much..... Jo

Wednesday, sep 16, 2009 Re-focusing "You do yourself and others a disservice when you believe that you live in a broken world and that others are broken. You cannot focus on the weaknesses of yourself or somebody else and expect or encourage any kind of strength or power. Focus on what is working, what is right. Focus on strengths. Focus on what makes you feel good when you focus on it. When you do that, your entire life and those of the people around you will turn in the direction of those thoughts, shifting from negative to positive like a tide." -Robert Mack, author of "Happiness from the Inside Out." (You can hear my show with Robert on episode #58)!

Thursday, sep 3, 2009 Believe Note to Self from Self: It is easy to believe in possibilities when you see them all around you. It is courageous to believe in them when you do not. It takes courage to day after day face the unknown, in the midst of a great storm to know that hopelessness is merely an illusion. What seems like a dead end now could be the door you needed to go through in order to discover a new world. Believe. -Jo

Saturday, aug 29, 2009 Me and my Piano Check out my new "Video" on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGnpsjXNDMs&feature=email

Tuesday, aug 25, 2009 Upcoming guests! This morning I tried some new samples from a natural skin care line called MyChelle. My skin is glowing right now! I can't believe how good it feels. I used the fruit enzyme cleanser and scrub, and the Perfect C Serum. These products are are paraben-free, non-toxic, 100% natural, eco-friendly, and cruelty-free. I'll take that any day! http://www.mychelle.com/about-us.aspx

Friday, aug 21, 2009 The Story of Food Have you ever walked through your grocery store and wondered where the food comes from? If you are like me, you probably grew up assuming that the food in your grocery store was safe. Even if not great for you, maybe you always thought hey, it can't be THAT bad if it is legally sold to the public. All the packaging labels at the grocery store feature warm fuzzy images of red barns, rows of corn, chickens freely running around, cows in the pasture, and clean laundry drying on the clothes line. Too bad the truth is far from this picture. Last weekend Tommy and I walked over to this cool new indie mom and pop theater in Asbury Park called "The Showroom." What a great little place to see a movie! http://www.theshowroomap.com/ We saw a movie I have been wanting to see for a while called "FOOD, INC." This movie changed our lives. It was one of the most inspiring, informative eye opening films I have ever seen. "In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults." Isn't it interesting that more people are getting sick from E Coli than from swine flu, and yet what are we hearing about in our media? Swine flu. Why is this so? That is food for thought. FOOD INC traces where our food comes and explains how we are purposely being kept in the dark by the food industry. Hidden cameras and investigative journalism along with a great deal of talent and courage were behind the making of this amazing film! The hope of the film is to educate us so we are no longer in the dark. And while seeing the truth of what is happening can feel very discouraging, we are not powerless. We are actually EXTREMELY powerful. Corporations cannot sell products if we do not buy them. We place our vote three times a day. What I realized watching this movie was that every time I buy a food product, or eat it at a restaurant, I am planting a seed. What seed am I planting? Am I supporting health or disease, freedom or slavery, consciousness or greed? One of the scenes we saw in FOOD, INC. showed chickens falling over unable to walk. Why? They were being pumped with antibiotics and things to make them bigger so their breasts (white meat) would be bigger, therefore making companies more money. They were kept in dark large chicken "houses" where many died. Also highlighted was the ongoing cross contamination of the deadly bacteria E. coli 0157:H7 within most of the cramped and unsanitary beef cattle feedlots. They images were disgusting and far from the ones we see on food labels. The cows by the thousands were shown standing in their own manure, and being fed an unnatural diet of corn rather than grass. Ammonia was washing the meat to make it "safe." One scene from hidden cameras showed a sick and very alive cow being dragged by a trailer across ground. We need to wake up! Equally disturbing was the lack of respect given the to the meat industry workforce (many of whom are illegal aliens). We also saw hope. I love hope! It was very inspiring to see organic farmers making a huge difference. They continue to work the land, raise animals in humane ways, crops without chemicals, and commit themselves to organic standards. They need our support! I would love to see our government rewarding them. I would like to see the day when fresh produce is cheaper than soda. This is where true health care reform takes place. It is with what is on our plates. One farmer said that people complained to him about the cost of $3 for a carton of organic eggs, yet they were holding a 75 cent can of soda in their hands. It all comes down to choices. When more and more of us support organic farmers and say no to brutal factory farm practices and products, then organic products will become more affordable for everyone and will become the norm again. How great would that be? Depraved behavior can only flourish when we choose to look away. When we bring our light to the darkness, we can heal and transform it. I found a website where you can type in your area, and find out where you can purchase sustainable organic food: http://www.eatwellguide.org/i.php?pd=Home Please take a minute to find out more about this life changing film and view the great trailer at http://www.foodincmovie.com/ This movie is life changing!

Wednesday, aug 19, 2009 Brain Health and You I stumbled on an amazing show on PBS tonite on the subject of hormones and brain health, with Dr Daniel Amen Did anyone else see it? 50 Brain dos and brain don'ts http://www.amenclinics.com/my-brain-health/brain-health-club/50-brain-dos-and-brain-donts/ Supplements to improve memory http://www.amenclinics.com/my-brain-health/test-your-brain/memory-screen-test/supplements-that-may-be-helpful-to-enhance-memory/ Interesting brain scans on PMS http://www.amenclinics.com/brain-science/spect-image-gallery/spect-atlas/images-of-pms/ "SPECT scan looks at blood flow and activity patterns and is different than CAT scans and MRIs. CAT scans and MRIs show what the brain actually physically looks like, SPECT looks at how the brain functions. " There were some key things I wrote down from the show - I scribbled a few notes down- 1. A healthier brain = a sexier you Healthy Diet wild salmon, avocado, blueberries etc Bad habits for the brain- too much alcohol, poor sleep, (For some people even a few glasses of wine a day is not good) 2. It's all about blood flow Your blood gets 25% of the blood flow in your body Whatever is good for your heart is good for your brain is good for your genitals Anything that decreases blood flow damages your brain and your ability to make love To be a great lover you have to protect your blood flow- eliminate smoking, too much caffeine 3. Know your partner's brain Some of us love novelty and some have too much activity in the front of the brain and hate a good argument and hate novelty in the bedroom If your partner has an anxious brain, she needs reassurance, a warm bath and a foot rub in order to relax Different brains need different strategies Sometimes in her cycle a woman wants you to be assertive and just take her, other times she will hit you upside the head if you try this 4. Boost the chemicals of love Many chemicals go into the feeling of love and attachment Oxytocin is the bonding, trust and cuddle hormone It is enhanced by watching romantic movies, long loving eye contact, A man's level goes up 500% after making love Withholding sex or being too busy to make love pushes couples apart Work to stay close, it is good for you as couples He mentioned a hormone, I cannot remember what it was- He said it works deep in the brain that something fun is about to happen Dark Chocolate and almonds and cheese also contain this (Cheese contains more than chocolate) no wonder French restaurants serve cheese as dessert I like dark chocolate Focus on what you love most about your partner Where you focus your attention will determine how you feel If you focus on the things that bother you about him or her, you will feel less loving Make a list of 7 things you are grateful for about your partner and meditate on one of them per day 5. Embed yourself in your partner's brain in a loving way Cards, flowers, foot rubs, exciting experiences, etc We love people because of the memories we have about them and we hate people for the same reason Find ways to take your partner's breath away Plant thoughtfulness in your partner's brain Do small things on a regular basis and always be on the lookout for ways to take your partner's breath away If you do something special for someone your wife loves you will be a hero to her for a long time to come 6. Get rid of the little ants! One of the worst things you can do is to believe every stupid thought that comes into your head. Your thoughts lie and lie a lot. It is these negative automatic thoughts that ruin your day and your relationship. They can totally mess up your love life. Negative thoughts make you more vulnerable to negative thoughts and depression. Learn how to be extremely honest with yourself and stop the lies in your head that are stealing your happiness. When you feel angry, irritated or disappointed with someone you care about, write out the automatic thoughts going through your brain. Ask yourself if the thoughts are really true. It is the little lies that we tell ourselves that spoil intimacy and create distance. Cleaning up your thinking helps your brain and those you love 7. He said the single most important thing he has learned about relationships from looking at over 50,000 brain scans- There are many reasons people behave badly. Simple answers are not sufficient. Brain injury affects behaviour. When you look at behaviour through the lens of brain heath, we see a knew way of understanding health and forgiveness. The price we pay and our loved ones pay for undetected brain problems is very high. When a relationship is in trouble, think about the brain. With help, many families can stay together in a loving way. Taking care of your brain health and the brain health of those you love is important! When you balance your brain you improve everything in your life ---------

Tuesday, aug 18, 2009 Sunrise “The grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never dried all at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.” -John Muir

Monday, aug 17, 2009 Is Tamiflu Safe? http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23730613-details/TV+man's+daughter+'almost+died'+after+taking+Tamiflu/article.do http://blogs.healthfreedomalliance.org/blog/2009/08/13/tamiflu-turned-my-children-into-hallucinating-sobbing-wrecks/ http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1730112/half_of_kids_on_tamiflu_had_side_effects/index.html http://colloidalsilversecrets.blogspot.com/2009/04/tamiflu-vaccines-hybrid-virus-and.html

Sunday, aug 16, 2009 A single Footstep If you are making a change in your life and feel impatient for results, be inspired by these words! "A single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives." -Henry David Throreau

Thursday, aug 13, 2009 A true test of faith Today I was watching a re run on Oprah, although I never saw the show the first time around. It is a story I remember hearing about, all though at the time for some reason I did not follow the details. It is about a deadly car crash in Indiana. It focuses on two families. One lost their daughter in the crash and buried her in Michigan. She was in college. The other family's daughter was brain damaged and swollen up so much she was not recognizable. They stayed with her for 4 weeks in the hospital 24 hours a day, hoping and praying and caring for her, only to realize, as her swelling went down, that the identities had been mistaken. Their "daughter" was actually Whitney, the other couple's daughter. There real daughter Laura had been buried weeks ago by the wrong family. As I sat here watching their extraordinary strength and faith- both families together- I couldn't help but cry thinking of the trauma they all went through. I was so touched when they quoted some verses in the Bible that talked about forgiveness, love and mercy. They did not sue even though lawyers called them. The father of the girl who was the one who died, said that their family has learned that it is better to live in forgiveness and love, it is healthier, than living in bitterness and anger. It is rare to hear of such tragedies and then witness such faith in people's lives being put into action. In the midst of so much grief they still chose love. It is amazing in life, how sometimes our stories reach people that we will never meet. How these ripples spread out to people and places beyond what we see or know. I so often get very turned off by much of what passes for Christianity. What I saw in these people dealing with such a horribly hard situation, showed me the good side of faith. What it can be at its best.

Wednesday, aug 12, 2009 On the road of possibilities Interesting product- http://www.miraclemineral.org/

Tuesday, aug 11, 2009 debates Someone asked me why I thought Hilary would have made a better choice than Palin for President. The truth is beyond words. But since we are dealing with words, here are a few: Hilary Clinton: Serving currently in President's cabinet as Secretary of State NY Senator from 2001-2009 (Population 19,306,183) Wife of President Bill Clinton serving as First Lady from 1993-2001 2008 Leading Candidate for Presidential Election Graduated from Wellesley College with a degree in Political Science After that, Graduated from Yale Law School Was a full partner at the Rose Law Firm Taught Law at the University of Arkansas Co founded the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families among many other things Listed twice as one of the most 100 Influential lawyers in America Led a task force to reform education in Arkansas and etc etc etc etc etc Smart, intelligent, compassionate, ambitious, well read, articulate, highly educated Sarah Palin Won the Miss Wasilla Pageant and finished third in the 1984 Miss Alaska beauty pageant Attended 5 colleges in a 6 year span Briefly was a sportscaster Helped in her husband's fishing business Was elected to the Wasilla city council in 1992 and again in 1995 Was elected Mayor in 1996-2002 (Population under 6000) Governor of Alaska from 2006-2009, resigned two and half years into her four year term Republican candidate for Vice President in 2009

Sunday, aug 2, 2009 Does this sum up NYC real estate or what?! From "Today’s Cartoon by Randy Glasbergen", displayed with special permission. For many more cartoons, please visit Randy's site @ www.glasbergen.com You can visit Randy's Cartoon Gift Shop @ http://www.cafepress.com/glasbergen where you'll find his cartoons on posters, mugs, t-shirts and other fun gift items!

Saturday, aug 1, 2009 Social Networking Sites I think social networking sites are getting out of control. The more people we connect to the less we are connecting. I mean, REALLY connecting. Then everybody is looking around. Who has the most "friends" and who is the most popular, who gets the most hits, who this who that blah blah blah. It is very funny! And pretty ridiculous. Today, someone I know said, "Social networking sites are just one step away from reality tv." I laughed. It's sort of true! I have thousands of people on my myspace page. Many of those people are people I do not know. Nor we do actually connect and talk. I have met a few really cool people online who I have actually talked to on the phone. What a concept! Scary! But I love that I have made a few real connections. I like staying in touch with friends and meeting new ones. I like sharing my show and my music and any interesting things that happen to grab my attention. So I would not say that social networking sites are useless. But I do notice that they can be an adrenaline rush. Then the burnout inevitably happens. I have a facebook page now, and have been more personal on my facebook page than myspace. Although I love myspace for sharing music and discovering new music. I recently opened a twitter account. It's fun. I like posting quick links to things that inspire me and hope they inspire anyone who also checks in. But I think people need to step back and look at their lives and ask, what is important here? How am I using these sites and is it working for me or against me? One day I saw one post where somebody actually listed the number of emails he had answered that day. (It was over 700 which actually is impossible). What struck me was that he was somehow able to count them all and then felt the need to tell everyone therefore trying to show how important he was or is. Ick! Surely we are more grown up than this? There are some GREAT words of wisdom from Seth Godin on social networking. You can see the video on you tube. See the link below! "It's worthless to have lots and lots of friends on facebook, because they're not really your friends. They're just people who didn't want to offend you by pressing the ignore button. And if you've got 5000 people following you on twitter because you tell a dirty joke every couple of hours, that's not particularly useful for your business either. The internet is this giant cocktail party with all these people swarming around connecting as much as they can because they're keeping score. Who likes me today, who's talking about me today. But one day when you need to ask them to authorize a $100,000 contract, it doesn't matter. What matters is, where are the REAL relationships? Networking is always important when it's real, and it's always useless distraction when it's fake. What the internet has allowed is an ENORMOUS amount of fake networking to take place. It's so easy to be seduced by it. Like a dashboard, a scoreboard, look how popular I am. It's NONSENSE. What translates is, are there people out there who I would go out of my way for and who would go out of their way for me? That's what you need to keep track of. And the way you get there, is by going out of your way for them. By earning the privilege of one day having that connection be worthwhile." -Seth Godin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0h0LlCu8Ks&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ebrandinfection%2Ecom%2F2009%2F08%2F01%2Fseth%2Dgodin%2Don%2Dsocial%2Dnetworking%2F&feature=player_embedded

Wednesday, jul 29, 2009 Beating the Heat under the Fishing pier

Tuesday, jul 28, 2009 Boat in the NY Harbor © Jo Davidson

Wednesday, jul 22, 2009 Tools in the Toolbox What we think affects our bodies, and how we feel affects how we think. It goes both ways. Most holistic and metaphysical books overemphasize the thoughts first theory. I happen to know it works the other way too. (Just look at how sleep deprivation affects one's thinking). So how do you think good thoughts when you feel REALLY bad? Maybe there is some challenge in your life that you are feeling down about. How do you get through it? Having been through this myself, my advice to you and to me is to start small. Don't put pressure on yourself. There are times when nothing feels good. But here is something you can do no matter what situation you are in, no matter what challenge is in your life. Set a timer for 20 seconds. Close your eyes. Just for those 20 seconds, think about something good. Maybe it is a memory from the past, or your pet or a dream for the future. Maybe it is someone you love, something fun you can imagine doing. Or maybe it is simply a color or a picture. Focus only on that good thing for 20 seconds. If you can do this once a day, great. Then maybe you can do it twice a day. Then maybe 3 times a day. Again, don't pressure yourself. Just do it a few times a day if possible. It's a nice time out in the day, a nice break from worries or stress. This exercise can build you up and support you. It's one tool in the tool box.

Tuesday, jul 21, 2009 The Long Road It has been said by many experts, that diagnostic tests are only 50-60% reliable for lyme. When the disease has advanced, it can spread to organs, the central nervous system, and wear down the immune system making one more vulnerable to co infections, heavy metal toxicity, mold illness and more . If you have had these symptoms- consider further testing with a specialist. Do NOT rely on lyme tests alone. Some of the symptoms of lyme include: A rash (not in all cases), getting lost and being disoriented, memory loss, shortness of breath, joint pain and swelling, shooting or stabbing pains, extremely intense fatigue (crushing and profoundly debilitating) migraines and headaches, tingling and numbness, weakness in the hands, arms and legs, being unable to walk,crying spells, panic attacks, confusion, brain fog and being out of body, floating feeling, paralysis, jaw pain, dental problems, pressure in head, blurred vision, hypersensitivity to sounds, chills, fevers, tremors, burning icy pains shooting through body, dizziness, unusual depression, feeling like you're going crazy, blanking out and memory loss, slurred speech, forgetting how to do simple tasks, continual infections and co-infections, extreme chemical sensitivities, ringing in ears and more. I have had all these symptoms, sometimes at the same time. Hard to believe but true. It's no walk in the park. M.E (Myalgic encephalitis) which some call chronic fatigue immune dysfunction or CFIDS, is an inflammatory neurological disease. It is multisystemic and affects the central nervous system, immune system, endocrinological system, cardiovascular system and more. Cellular metabolism is disrupted. It can cause a very severe levels of disability. Mold illness and heavy metal toxicity share many of the same symptoms as M.E and can be involved in it as well. These conditions are complex. I have been diagnosed with M.E for many years and with lyme since 2004 although I had it before that and got it AGAIN a year ago. The relentless attack on my immune system has really worn me down. It feels like a very long hard right right now. This has been a part of my life to one degree or another, progressively worsening, for 15 years. The past month has been one of those months where it has been full blown 24/7. I've taken a break from posting shows and hope to be back soon. I am not giving up. I explore treatments and cures and will continue to share what I learn about healing whether it is physical, spiritual, emotional. I feel like I am putting together a very complicated puzzle. Meanwhile, the suffering I have been going through is difficult beyond words. I am hanging in here. I miss my music more than I can begin to express. I have had an entire collection of classical songs I composed, ready to record for quite awhile now. I have many of my newer pop/rock band songs ready to record as well. And yet I am feeling stuck here, feeling like a wingless bird longing for the sky. The sky that seems more like a memory. It is this journey that has led me to the topics of health and healing that I present on this show. Because of what I have been through, I've learned about so many aspects of healing that I never would have thought about otherwise. I refuse to believe this is all incurable, even though as I write this, It's dark in here and I feel buried. I feel like my mind is in the mud. I don't see a way out. I don't see Alaska from here either. But hey, that doesn't mean Alaska doesn't exist.

Friday, jul 17, 2009 Kids and Cell Phones There are a lot of kids these days walking around with cell phones. The other day I saw one girl on the beach with her cell phone in the top of her bathing suit so it would not get wet. The phone was on. You see young boys (under 12) with their phones on, and they keep them in their pockets. Teenagers too. Everyone uses cell phones these days. But what are the risks? And is this the riskiest experiment ever conducted? How is this technology affecting kids who are still developing? This is the first generation to be exposed to so many electromagnetic fields from such a young age. I was reading Lilipoh magazine tonite. "France outlawed cell phone ads to children this past January, Russia's Ministry of of Health issued a warning that no child under 18 should use a cell phone. Israel's Health Ministry and Canada's Department of Health issued warnings as well. Germany, the UK, Belgium, India and Finland have all publicly discouraged children's use of cell phones." As I read the article more, I discovered that Om P Ghandi, PhD, a professor and Chair of Electrical Engineering at the Univ. of Utah, says that " when an adult makes a cell phone call, there is 30% radiation into the brain. When child uses a cell phone, 50 % radiation penetrates the brain. If the child is under 5, it goes up to 75%. " "Lennart Hardell MD from Sweden, studied teenagers on cell phones and found they are at a fivefold increased risk of brain cancer by the time they reach their mid twenties. Cordless phone risk gives them a fourfold risk." Robert Becker, MD says that "The greatest polluting element in the earth's environment is the proliferation of electromagnetic fields (EMF's). With all the warnings and studies that shows the dangers of cell phone use, what is our country's response? Sprint has signed a 2 billion dollar contract with Disney to market cell phones to kids under 12. For the full article, pick up a copy of Lilipoh Magazine, the summer 2009 issue. www.Lilipoh.com

Wednesday, jul 15, 2009 The Reflection Spiritual Story by Unknown There was a king who presented his daughter with a beautiful diamond necklace. The necklace was stolen and his people in the kingdom searched everywhere but could not find it. The king then asked them all to search for it and put a reward for $50,000 for anyone who found it. One day, a clerk was walking home along a river next to an industrial area. This river was completely polluted and filthy and smelly. As he was walking, the clerk saw a shimmering in the river and when he looked, he saw the diamond necklace. He decided to try and catch it so that he could get the $50,000 reward. He put his hand in the filthy, dirty river and grabbed at the necklace, but some how missed it and didn't catch it. He took his hand out and looked again and the necklace was still there. He tried again. This time he walked in the river and dirtied his pants in the filthy river and put his whole arm in to catch the necklace. But strangely, he still missed the necklace! He came out and started walking away, feeling depressed. Then again, he saw the necklace, right there. This time he was determined to get it, no matter what. He decided to plunge into the river. Although it was disgusting, he plunged in and searched everywhere for the necklace. Yet one more time, he failed. This time he was really bewildered and came out feeling very depressed that he could not get the necklace that would get him $50,000. Just then, a saint who was walking by, saw him, and asked him what was the matter. The clerk didn't want to share the secret with the saint, thinking he might take the necklace for himself, so he refused to tell him anything. The saint could see this man was troubled. Being compassionate, he again asked the clerk to tell him the problem and promised that he would not tell anyone about it. The clerk mustered some courage and decided to put some faith in the saint. He told him about the necklace and how he tried and tried to catch it, but kept failing. The saint then told him that perhaps he should try looking upward, toward the branches of the tree, instead of in the filthy river. The clerk looked up and true enough, the necklace was dangling on the branch of a tree. He had been trying to capture a mere reflection of the real necklace all this time.

Tuesday, jun 23, 2009 City Landscape

Thursday, jun 11, 2009 Inspiration for the day This is a picture I took a few days ago.... The lotus grows up from the mud into something beautiful. So it represents life's struggle. These flowers sometimes are popular for people who have gone through a hard time and are coming out of it. They've been at the bottom, in the mud, and now they have risen above the hardship and overcome a challenge. Some say that the Water Lily is a symbol of rebirth and also a symbol of all that is true, good and beautiful.

Thursday, jun 11, 2009 The Ride Home

Thursday, may 28, 2009 Protection from ticks that carry lyme Andrea Candee is an herbalist who specializes in treating lyme disease. She sent over some great tips to share with you all! Her website is www.Andreacandee.com Protection against tick bites: The safe, natural way to prevent tick bites is with the essential oil of eucalyptus, found at the health food store. The strong but pleasant smell seems to effectively repel the ticks. There are three ways to use this aromatic oil. In a spray bottle, add 16oz water to 1oz eucalyptus oil. Spray on the skin before an outdoor activity, like gardening. The bottled mixture remains potent for many months. For longer protection, as in a hike in the woods, mix 10 drops eucalyptus into ˝ ounce almond or sunflower seed oil and apply to skin and clothing. A larger amount can be pre-mixed for a camping trip or for sending off with a child to summer camp. Protect your dog and cats from ticks and you will also be protecting yourself! Some people never touch a blade of grass yet get Lyme disease and wonder why. Your pet may be transporting the ticks into the house. Dip a thin rope into the eucalyptus oil and wrap in a bandana. Tie the bandana around your pet’s neck, refreshing the rope twice a week. Your pet will look fashionable and be protected at the same time! It is best not to tie the eucalyptus rope directly onto your pet’s skin as it may cause irritation. The spray bottle of eucalyptus and water may also be used to spray your pet’s coat before an outdoor romp in the grass or in the woods.

Wednesday, may 20, 2009 Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” -Marianne Williamson

Saturday, may 9, 2009 Battery Park City It is so nice to be back home after being up in the crowds today at Union Square. I LOVE the market there, but on Saturdays the crowds can be a little much. I think Battery Park is the best kept secret. Where else can you be right by both east side and west side subway lines, by so many parks and also the water? I've lived in Soho and Chelsea but this is my favorite place to live. It's amazing. When the rest of the city swelters in the summer, these is a nice breeze here too! photo copyright Jo Davidson

Monday, may 4, 2009 The Swine Flu Media Frenzy The Swine Flu Pandemic--is being broadcast around the clock. I am trying to figure out what is going here. Pull up a seat and get out the popcorn folks because this media frenzy is the movie of the year. This non stop coverage is completely out of proportion to the actual threat. I mean, think about it. This is not adding up at all. First we were told that deaths in Mexico were at 168. Now we are told that actually only 25 people have died. That is a tragedy. But that is far from being an international crisis. Is 25 a pandemic number? As of this morning, the number of cases worldwide is at 985, with 26 deaths. That is hardly pandemic. And why are we hearing about it as if if millions of people are dying? Why is the coverage so out of proportion to the actual threat? And why are people trying to scare us by saying we have no immunity to this? Obviously, the huge majority of people ARE recovering from this flu. Does anyone else think it is mass deception to go from telling us 168 people in Mexico died and now, oops, sorry, it was really 25 people. Now how did THAT get screwed up? What happened to all the thousands of deaths they were warning us about? Why the scary music, the panic and fear, the non stop around the clock coverage of something that has killed 26 people? Who s behind this fear and who benefits from it? I understand that the government wants to be cautious and that they are letting people know about this flu, they want to protect themselves in case there is a crisis in the future. But at the same time, do any of us really believe that this is the first virus that our government and medical community doesn't understand? Cancer killed over 565,000 people in the US in 2008 Aids killed 12,543 people in the US in 2005 In the US there are more than 40,000 who die each year from car accidents. Around 5.4 million deaths per year are caused by smoking. Somebody might want to mention that to Bazarre magazine, because recently I saw a big ad in their magazine promoting cigarettes. An "organic" brand of cigarettes, but nonetheless, cigarettes. About 30,000 people die per year from guns. Guns! 30,000 people! Why would our media and government be so tense about a new strain of flu that so far has killed 26 people, when there are already 35,000 deaths or more per year from the flu we already know about? And that is with the flu shots in place. Many people get flu shots. Most of the top alternative doctors Ive worked with do not recommend them. I'll tell you why I do not get them, even though yes, I had the seasonal flu a few months ago. I don't get the shots, because I already have an immune condition, and some of the ingredients in the shots include things like Ethylene Glycol- which is basically anti freeze, and Thimerosal- which is derived from mercury. Then there is the Phenol which is a carcinogenic agent, aluminum, and formaldehyde. Do I want these things in my body? I don't think so. In 1976 there was a huge media scare that they called the Swine Flu. They started to vaccinate people. Around 500 people developed a serious immune condition from the vaccines called Guillain Barr Syndrome. 25 died. I got an email from one guy today who had that vaccination back in 1976. He spent 3 months in the hospital because of it. I understand people's fears. I really do. We want to be safe. We want to be able to control what we want to control. We have a hard time with the unknown. The media gets it ratings by playing on people's fears. The bigger the fear, the bigger the rating. It is in their best interest to make sure this is a crisis and to make us we are very afraid of it. I can't say whether it will or won't be a crisis in the future, I don't know. But at this moment it certainly is not. The coverage is so far out of proportion to the threat. People fear the unknown, so that is the card the networks play. It's the terror and fear card. And it works. It also plays to the lowest common denominator. We don't build our immune systems by living in fear. We don't build a future by making choices out of fear. I like what the poet Rumi wrote, "Don't move the way fear makes you move." We all know the basics. There are no guarantees. But some of the basic are... Wash your hands often. Stay home when you have the flu or a cold. Eat good organic foods. Drink a lot of water. Meditate. Exercise. Oddly enough most people don't do those things. We know about them but don't do them. You know why the unknown doesnt scare me as much? It's because I live in the unknown every single day. For years I have had an auto immune condition triggered by lyme disease and M.E/ CFids Do I have a cure yet? No. Has it been devastating on many levels? Yes. Is lyme disease pandemic? In my opinion, YES. Go to www.Underourskin.com and you'll see a documentary that shows just how pandemic it is and what is happening. So now suddenly, I watch the news and hear about this virus that has killed 26 people and I am suppose to be scared? I am suppose to fear something that is unknown? Let me tell you, some new virus that the medical community doesn't know how to treat or cure, something they don't understand, is nothing new to me. President Barack Obama asked Congress for $1.5 billion in emergency funds to fight the new flu illness. Why do I get the feeling all that money will be going to pharmaceutical companies? Aren't they afterall, the ones who benefit most from this? Why isn't 1.5 billion being sent out to prevent and cure others illnesses that kill far more people than this flu strain have? Can you imagine if we spent that much money cleaning up chemicals? Getting them out of the food supply? Cleaning up the food we eat, our air, our water supply? We can do a lot of the right things, and having said that, it's also true that when it's time to go, it's time to go, and we don't know how long we have. None of us do. There are some things within our control and some things beyond our control. But living in fear, strips us of the life we have in this moment. We have to do the best with what we have, and live each day the best we can. If we REALLY care about health as a country, let's start at the foundation and get the chemicals out of our food, air and water. If it's not food, don't eat it! Read labels on everything you buy! As Hippocrates said, Let food be your medicine. It amazes me that so many people are so worried about swine flu and yet are feeding their kids pounds of sugar and junk food, fast food and eating processed chemical filled foods. These things do not belong in our bodies. Only food belongs in our bodies. Let me take one common food. Ice Cream. I'll give you a cool tip. Everyone likes ice cream! But have you ever read what is in certain brands of ice cream? I put frozen fruit through a champion juicer and drizzle some organic chocolate syrup on it. It tastes SO good. It tastes just like homemade ice cream! It's the best. Let's make organic vegetables the biggest parts of our diets. Let's stop buying meat from factory farms where the animals are fed antibiotics, or where animals who are sick and abused get slaughtered, and their meat is sold to us. Let's get endocrine disruptors out of cosmetics. Did you know that there are over 75,000 synthetic chemicals being used in everyday products? Even in baby products! Check out safecosmetics.com to find out what you can do to change this. Let's hear about the incredible herbal anti viral and anti bacterial herbs and products we can use to build our immune systems up. Wouldn't it be great if we heard about these things on the news? Why don't we? I am not against antibiotics and pharmaceutical drugs. I am against the overuse and abuse of them. When they are talked about as if they are always the only option, that does a disservice to all of us. Cleaning up our air, food supply and water as well as supporting our bodies with herbs and good food, are measures which could do far more to change the world than spending billions of dollars on pharmaceutical drugs which as it turns out, have massive side effects, and are showing up now in our water supply. Are pharmaceutical drugs the only way to stay healthy? Are they the only way to prevent disease? From 1998 to 2005 the FDA compiled reports that found that there were 90,000 incidents of dangerous side effects and deaths from prescription and over-the-counter medications. Now if anything is pandemic I would say THAT is pandemic. I want to share some of the products I use. Please consult your own doctor before doing or trying these things, or work with a naturopathic doctor who is familiar with natural methods of healing and boosting immune function. I am not a doctor and cannot legally give you medical advice for your specific situation, but I will tell you what is in my cabinet, and you can research, consult your doctor, and make your own decisions. A powerful anti viral anti bacteria support called Miracle Mineral. It only costs $20 and I definately have this in my medicine cabinet. http://www.themiraclemineralsupplement.com/ Here is what their website says: Over 60% of the AIDS victims that were treated in Uganda were well in 3 days, with 98% well within one month. More than 90% of the malaria victims were well in 4 to 8 hours. Dozens of other diseases were successfully treated and can be controlled with this new mineral supplement. It also works with colds, flu, pneumonia, sore throats, mouth sores, and even abscessed teeth I also have and use herbs such as Banderol and Takuna and others from https://www.nutramedix.com Colloidal Silver or Nano Silver Vitamin C in the buffered form by Allergy Research or from Liv on Labs, Grapefruit Seed Extract, I like liquid drops in water. Cat's Claw, which in many studies has been shown to boost the immune system, and some people use it to fight lyme and other things Vitamin D- many people are deficient and don't know it. I recently found out that I am, and now I take Vitamin D Garlic Organic Green Tea Vitamin E Fresh organic Apple Juice Fresh organic veggie juices Astragalus Root Drinking at least 8 glasses and possibly more, of water per day I use some remedies from healerswhoshare.com Lomatium dissectum root —One doctor I know says that Lomatium root has been used as an effective anti-viral and anti-bacterial remedy. This herb was used by the North American Indians as their most powerful herbal antibiotic. www.Lomatium.com I heard one health official on CNN say that nobody has immunity to this virus. That is simply a statement designed to scare you and me. If nobody has immunity, why is it that the huge majority of people who have gotten it, have recovered? Even the original boy from Mexico who got it IS recovering. And here is an over the top tidbit for you. Even though there has been no detection of this new virus in Egypt, last week the nation's leaders ordered all the pigs killed. The only ones to profit from this non stop coverage of the "swine flu pandemic" will be the pharmaceutical companies. Now we are hearing about how the government wants to order Tamiflu and how pharmaceutical companies are rushing to create vaccines for this so called pandemic. In 2007, Japan actually banned Tamiflu for children. There have been over 1800 adverse reports related to this drug. Also, Tamiflu does not cure the seasonal flu, it can only reduce the duration of flu symptoms by 1- 1/2 days. It is not a cure. In 2005, our government ordered 20 million doses of this stuff, which cost around $2 billion dollars. Imagine if $2 billion dollars had gone into preventative medicine! Since much of this stuff wasn't needed, (no surprise there), does it seem a coincidence that now they are trying to unload these massive quantities of drugs so they can still make a profit? Many people also say that Tamiflu is not a safe drug. Some of the serious side effects reported (I feel like a commercial without the happy music) have included self injury and confusion, nausea and vomiting, pain, dizziness, headaches, hallucinations, chest pain, speech problems, neuropsychiatric side effects, and even death. The FDA had reports of 12 pediatric deaths in Japan. I wonder why people in our government and media are not talking about the powerful anti bacterial and anti viral herbs that are on the market as well as lifestyle diet related ways to boost immune system and prevent disease. Are they even allowed to say anything about these things? Are they allowed to? How much influence do pharmaceutical companies actually have in this country? Something to think about. ------ p.s A new update, I have learned that Young Living Thieves oil is anti bacterial, anti fungal and anti viral. I have found it to be quite powerful. I am taking a few drops in a capsule, internally, daily!

Monday, apr 27, 2009 Clutter Busting "WHY questions are impossible to answer. You can't know everything that led you up to this moment. And even if you do come up with answers, they won't help you take care of this situation right now. The main thing is you're in pain. Let's take care of it. Let's see what we can let go of now so you can feel better." -Brooks Palmer **************************************************************** This week's episode is all about cleaning out internal and external clutter. I want to put out a challenge to you! I am going to get rid of 5 things this coming week that I no longer love, use or need. Would you like to take the clutter challenge? Email me at Jodavidson@mac.com We will either: 1. Recycle 2. Give Away to a friend 3. Sell 4. Donate to an organization Just 5 things to start, and even more if you feel inspired. Let's do this! Peace, Jo jodavidson@mac.com http://www.Zentertainment.org Episode #53 http://www.Zentertainment.org About Brooks Palmer- In his eight years of Clutter Busting in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City, Brooks has learned first-hand about the intense emotional connection most people have with material possessions, and has consistently found that internal clutter must be addressed before external clutter can be discarded. Since 2000, Brooks has been helping people through this process. http://www.clutterbusting.com For Clutter Busting Tips, go to: http://www.clutterbusting.com/Site/Clutter_Busting_Tips.html To Hear this great episode featuring Brooks Palmer, author of Clutter Busting, go to http://www.Zentertainment.org *Inspiration for your Life * The person who moves a mountain begins by carrying small stones. - Chinese Proverb

Tuesday, apr 14, 2009 Inspiration "When we give in the world what we want the most, we heal the broken part inside of us" -Eve Ensler This video was so wonderful and it almost made me cry. Eve Ensler, Finding Happiness in Body and Soul http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/eve_ensler_on_happiness_in_body_and_soul.html

Wednesday, apr 1, 2009 Rainy Spring Day It's a rainy cold spring day today. I am dreaming of Turks & Caicos. I went there a few years ago with one of my sisters. The water was absolutely amazing!

Wednesday, mar 11, 2009 Time Out These are some funny notes that were sent to schools when kids were sick. They are true, I am told. "Dear School: Please excuse John from being absent on Jan. 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, and also 33." "Please excuse Dianne from being absent yesterday. She was in bed with gramps." "Please excuse Johnnie for being. It was his father's fault." "Chris will not be in school because he has an acre in his side." "John has been absent because he had two teeth taken off his face." "Excuse Gloria. She has been under the doctor." "Lillie was absent from school yesterday because she had a going over." "My son is under the doctor's care and should not take fizical ed. Please execute him." "Carlos was absent yesterday because he was playing football. He was hit in the growing part." "My daughter was absent yesterday because she was tired. She spent this weekend with the Marines." "Please excuse Joyce from P.E. for a few days. Yesterday she fell off a tree and misplaced her hip." "Please excuse Ray Friday from school. He has very loose vowels." "Maryann was absent Dec. 11-16, because she had a fever, sore throat, headache, and upset stomach. Her sister was also sick, fever and sore throat, her brother had a low-grade fever. There must be the flu going around, her father even got hot last night." "George was absent yesterday because he had a stomach." "Ralph was absent yesterday because he had a sore trout." "Please excuse Sara for being absent. She was sick and I had her shot." "Please excuse Lupe. She is having problems with her ovals." "Please excuse Pedro from being absent yesterday. He had Diah (*crossed out*), diahoah (*crossed out*), dyah (*crossed out*), the shits."

Thursday, jan 22, 2009 A violinist A Violinist in the Metro A man stood in a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, because it was rush hour, 1097 people passed him, most of them on their way to work. Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed that a musician was playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work. The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on. In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32 and 17 cents. (Yes, some people gave pennies.) When he finished playing and sil ence took over, no one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. No one knew, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played some of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars. Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston where the seats average $100. This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: In a common- place environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context? One conclusion from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

Friday, jan 9, 2009 MAKEUP MAKEUP AND MORE MAKEUP! Today a friend of mine sent me a link to a bunch of cool makeup products on sale. The colors looked really fun, and the prices were cheap. I want to buy some of this! This line of makeup is called E.L.F. Makeup. I thought I would check out the E.L.F. makeup ingredients, because they looked pretty cool! Cheap too! Guess what? I found toxic ingredients everywhere in this stuff. Mmm. It made me think twice. Ok, it's not that I am perfect. I still get my hair highlighted once in awhile, and sometimes I use "regular" mascara and eye shadow. But I also have alot of healthier things I use. Do I really need to be adding to the toxic load right now? There were one or two things by E.L.F. that did not seem horrible in the ingredients department, but most products were full of things I could do without. What's a girl to do?! You know, sometimes you wonder, c'mon, is it really THAT bad? According to sites like http://www.safecosmetics.org/ and http://www.pureprevention.org/act.php it IS that bad. Many household items contain cancer containing chemicals. At pureprevention.org they are starting a campaign to help the fight against breast cancer. This means cleaning out the toxic chemicals from our household cleaning products and makeup. Did you know that most of the products added to makeup could not be legally added to food? And yet through our skin, we absorb them like food. What we put onto our skin is absorbed into our bodies. Think of things like the nicotine patch. Hormone patches. Birth Control Patches. Here are just some of the ingredients in the E.L.F Makeup Line: Hypershine Gloss: (Remember this goes on your lips, so you are eating it. Imagine ordering this for lunch.)? Paraffinium Liquidum (Mineral Oil), Polyisobutene, Silica, Fragrance(Aroma), Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Titanium Dioxide(CI 77891), BHT, Iron Oxides (CI 77491 , CI 77492 , CI 77499), Manganese Violet (CI 77742), Mica (CI 77019), Red No.6 Lake (CI 15850), Red No.7 Lake (CI 15850), Red No.28 Lake (CI 45410), Blue No.1 Lake (CI 42090), Yellow No.5 Lake (CI 19140), Yellow No.6 Lake (CI 15985) Luscious Liquid Lipstick Paraffinum Liquidum, Polybutene, Silica, Synthetic Beeswax Fragrance, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Iron Oxides(CI 77499), Red No. 7 Calcium Lake(CI 15850:1), Red No. 6 Barium Lake(CI 15850:2), Blue No.1 Aluminum Lake(CI 42090:2), Red No.40 Aluminum Lake(CI 16035), Red No.27 Aluminum Lake(CI 45410:2). They said in the literature that the Shimmering Facial Whip is packed with Vitamins B, C and E. We all love Vitamins B, C and E! Sounds good to me! Here are the actual ingredients: Aqua (Water), Cetyl Alcohol, Propylene Glycol, Glyceryl Stearate, Stearate Acid, Paraffinium Liquidum (Mineral Oil), Glycerin, Carbomer, Tocopheryl Acetate, Triethanolamine, Disodium EDTA, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Fragrance(Aroma), Diazolidinyl Urea, Iron Oxides (CI 77491 , CI 77492 , CI 77499), Manganese Violet (CI 77742), Mica (CI 77019), Red No.33 Lake (CI 17200), Blue No.1 (CI 42090), Yellow No.5 Lake (CI 19140), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77491), Red No.40 Lake (CI 16035) I believe that the rise in cancers and auto immune conditions is connected to the fact that there are over 75,000 synthetic chemicals being used in everyday products. So what are some better choices that actually work and smell good too? This is a list of some of the products I like: I love The Desert Essence Red Grape Shampoo and Conditioner. http://www.desertessence.com/hair-care/shampoo/italian-red-grape-shampoo-antioxidant-uv-filters I love the Jakare Natural Cleansers and mud masks http://www.jakare.com/ Weleda products http://usa.weleda.com/index.aspx For healthy nails I like Jason Tea Tree Nail Saver http://www.jason-natural.com/products/tea_tree.php Dr Hauschka products http://www.drhauschka.com/ Sometimes I also use Aveda makeup http://www.aveda.com I like some of the products here: http://www.alaffia.com And here: http://www.natures-gate.com/ For a list of many common products and their safety numbers, check out: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/wordsearch.php?query=elf Go for the lowest number! The 7-10 category is a very high hazard. For the best products, look for a zero! Click the link below and many zero products will come up. Click Here

Tuesday, dec 16, 2008 Untangling Knots Today my headphones were all tangled up. I had them hooked into the side of my computer and was trying to listen to something. I kept pulling on the line, making it tighter, rather than stopping to slowly untangle the knots. I mean, untangling knots is one of those irritating things in life that makes me feel like I am wasting time. And it takes so darn long. Ok maybe it's not that long. But it is so repetitive, so mundane, and my patience wears thin within seconds! I literally feel like I am jumping out of my skin when I have to stop and untangle a knot. It makes me feel like screaming AHHHHHHH! Finally the cord was so tangled it would not reach my ear at all. I was forced to stop and deal with it. I untangled the stupid knots. Then I was almost done, but thought, "Oh this is good enough. It will reach now." Then I started laughing. Isn't life like this? We never want to take the time to untangle the knots. We just keep twisting and pulling tighter until one day we realize the knot is so huge that what we have in our hands no longer works. And then when we untie it, make it straight again, sometimes we do just enough for it to work, rather than finishing the whole thing. Why is just enough, ok? Because we are impatient, because we don't feel like it, because we want what we want when we want it, because we think it doesn't matter. Because AHHHHHH there is that scream again. That child yelling, "I don't want to clean my room!" Today I am going to untangle knots. Everywhere I see them. And even though my body cringes at the thought of it, the thought of doing this boring seemingly worthless task, I will know somewhere inside that it is a symbol, and I am taking a step in the direction of untying myself. I will not wait. I will not procrastinate. The time is now.

Monday, dec 8, 2008 The Build it quick mentality The other day I was going through old boxes full of things I had not seen in years. In the mid 90s I was very young, and took a trip to England with two women in their fifties who I barely knew. Their names were Sally and Terri. We spent a week in the Cotswolds, a week in London, and then Sally had to leave. During our third week, Terri and I spent 7 nights going up and down the Thames River while living on a houseboat. I just found some diaries from that trip. I have always loved beautiful old architecture. One day I was talking to an attendant at Westminster Abbey. He said to me, "In the old days, man & God worked together to build buildings, because it wasn't a "do it quick" mentality. Buildings could take hundreds of years. Then, they had character. Now man makes buildings without God. Just sets 'em up quick. And the reflection of man without God is seen in the blank black windows staring back." What wise words that man spoke. Perhaps this is true of other things we build and create too. How easy it is to go for the "build it quick" mentality. My husband Tommy always tells me that when he cooks, the secret is to go slowly, don't rush it. I tend to rush it. His meals are heavenly.

Saturday, dec 6, 2008 The Art of Floating

Thursday, dec 4, 2008 The Iguana Whisperer This is a picture of one of my new boyfriends. I was in St Thomas last week. I started talking to the Iguanas. As if my life is not already strange enough. My nieces got there a day ahead of me. They said that one iguana had chased them and they were scared of it. I had to admit, they were pretty creepy looking. I said, "Let's talk to it. They can hear us." I was fully aware that I sounded totally crazy to the average person. Or at the least, amusing. So there I was telling one iguana "I think you're really cool," (stroking the male ego never hurts) and then I asked "Can we share your cove for a week?" They did not bother us after that. One day I was lying on my chair on the sand, daydreaming in an area apart from where the iguanas usually would hang out. There were 3 of them. I fell half asleep and was daydreaming that 3 Iguanas actually came up all around me and we were hanging out together. And how weird it was. Suddenly I felt these claws on my ankle. One of them had actually come over and was up on top of me! I jumped a little and he jumped down. Mmm. I did not tell my little nieces about it because it would have freaked them out totally. I mean, it freaked me out too! I had a few scratches on my ankle, nothing big, more like something you get when you play with a cat. At that point I realized it was time to change course. Ok buddy, I want to be friends, but let's keep just a little more distance between us, huh? The rest of the week was fine. We lived together and kept space between us. Then it was time to leave. Of course I was sad, because the islands are very good for me and I feel better there. I didn't want to go. I packed everything and had one last pair of shorts draped over a chair way up on the patio by the sliding glass door to the back of the house. I went out to get the shorts, and wouldn't you know, the Iguana had come up onto the patio, climbed on top of the patio chair, and was sitting right on top of my shorts refusing to let me leave. I laughed. One of the other adults grabbed a camera. I mean, this is just not NORMAL. My new nickname is "The Iguana Whisperer."

Friday, nov 14, 2008 Growing into myself One of the great things about a regular radio show is that who you were a year or two years ago is gone. Poof. You've evolved and changed, and you aren't stuck revisiting old (even if edited) versions of you. Not so with a podcast, a book, a song, a blog or even a video on You Tube. It's all out there. Pride is the fuel that often keeps everyone only wanting to show people their airbrushed selves, their finished products. To put out something that is a work in progress or to publicly document a time, or a moment, takes courage. I mean, what if, God forbid, you look stupid? Isn't that the one big fear everybody has? How many projects, dreams or talents have never been developed because of that fear? There are times for me when I listen back to a past podcast, an old song, whatever it is, and it's not fun hearing my own voice. It is sort of like......well, visiting old diaries. You know, those things that pile up in storage units, on shelves and in drawers? Those things that document what you were struggling with at the time? Or what you thought mattered? Those things that just show you a tiny little piece of who you were? Diaries, journals, essays, those things you open up and read all the while trying not to faint at what you discover, as you find yourself asking WHO WAS THAT GIRL? AND WHAT WAS SHE THINKING? How wonderful it must be for people who are not writers. They get to live in this incredible illusion that things have not changed all that much, that they are basically the same as they were two years ago, 5 years ago or even 20 years ago. Oh but hear a song you wrote six years ago, a blog you wrote a year ago, a podcast aired two years ago, and you cannot deny the waves of change. It's so obvious, and even sometimes embarrassing. Since there is no chance of me being perfect, I don't really have to worry about it. I just need to let go of my desire or expectation of it and be OK with doing my best in each moment. It started out innocently enough. I talked to a friend on the phone and she mentioned she wanted to catch up on a few of my shows. I went to the site here and then glanced back through some of my photos in the gallery section. I am happy with my photography work, and it continues to be a lifeline for me. Then I went to the show page and looked through the many fantastic guests I have had the pleasure of talking to and interviewing. I listened to about 30 seconds of one of my first episodes. I was totally shocked at how different I sound now. I turned it off because I suddenly had this running commentary in my head. Hearing things like, "Why did I say that. Why did I talk that way. Why did my voice sound like that. Why did I ask or not ask that question. Yuck. Yay. Great job. Bad job. etc etc etc" On and on the voices went. I think voices like that are the ego trying to protect us from humiliation. They really are just doing their job. But if we are not careful, those voices can hold us back, keep us from taking risks or going forward or attempting anything at all. I think that hearing those voices is a sign that we are doing something right. It means we are brave enough to take risks, and to work on growing into who we can be. You never experience that feeling of failure unless you are attempting to do something brave. So at least know that if like me, you have heard those voices, it is a good sign and means you are courageous. This picture of me was taken on one of the bravest nights of my life. Only a few people know the back story on that, but maybe some day I will share it. Whatever I do in my life, if I let you hear me sounding vulnerable, if I let you see the side of me that is not dressed up, the side with messy hair and crumpled clothes, if I let you hear my process, my development, or even my failures, if I dare to be transparent, will you still love me? And if my journey is documented and I look back on where I have been, can I still love myself? Really, doesn't everything boil down to that?

Thursday, nov 13, 2008 “I know I'm searching for something Something so undefined That it can only be seen By the eyes of the blind In the middle of the night.” - Billy Joel

Thursday, nov 6, 2008 Body Language and Politics What do you think of body language? Does it tell us anything? Do we make too much out of it or not enough? There are some interesting pictures of John and Cindy McCain and Barack and Michelle Obama. I do believe that body language tells us alot about each other and ourselves and our own relationships (even when we don't want it to). But ..........it can also depend on what we are thinking at the time. If you are upset or distracted and your body language is not especially loving with your partner, it might have nothing to do with whether you love them or not, it might simply mean you are upset or distracted about something else! On the other hand, body language is very revealing when there are patterns that keep getting repeated. That's the key. Patterns. You can see some pictures at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/16/post-debate-pda-the-final_n_135423.html You can read more about this in an article called Relationship Politics by Kathyln and Gay Hendricks http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathlyn-and-gay-hendricks/relationship-politics-bod_b_137042.html Fascinating. What do you think? I watched a few more videos this morning showing the very moment when Obama was named as being our next President. I got chills. I don't know if we even grasp yet how historic this is. This is a chance for us to heal the wounds of the past and unite our nation. I feel so grateful that enough people pulled together to make this happen. It is a very hard time for anyone to be elected into office. I am under no illusions about how challenging it will be for him on all levels. Nor do I expect him to go sweeping in and change everything overnight. It takes years to change things sometimes. We all know that just from our own lives. But hey like one of the doctors I know said to me once- it's like an ax you swing at a tree. The tree might not come down right away, but it will in time if you keep going at it. Maybe that's how it is in life. So don't give up! If you want to do something to help heal the world and heal yourself, keep believing it is possible even against all odds! There are so many problems to be solved, things to fix, all across the board. I am not sure how much can be changed in 4 years, and yet I believe that alot can be changed for the better. I don't think McCain lost because of Bush. I think McCain lost because of McCain. He lost because he conducted such a dishonorable campaign filled with the most unbelievable lies and hatred which spread across the country inflaming the racism and hatred in the most fear filled minds. Just by getting elected, Obama has done more positive things to enhance our international reputation than Bush did in the entire time he was in office. The most amazing and inspiring speech I heard from McCain was his concession speech. I was actually touched by it. Why didn't he conduct his campaign with that same degree of honor and respect? Why didn't he choose a vice president to run with him who is extremely intelligent and qualified? What was he thinking and how could we have trusted him in light of his choices? I was listening to and watching various online videos this morning. I don't have a tv, so I get all my news online. Larry King had some different people on his show the other night with Obama reactions. You can see the show at: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/11/06/lkl.obama.long.cnn Lastly, although she was not on Larry King, she is a star in my book. One of my dear grandmothers (both are still living), said to me yesterday, "Jody be proud of your old grandma. She is 87 years old and has voted Republican her whole life, but she voted for Obama."

Tuesday, nov 4, 2008 ! YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!!

Monday, nov 3, 2008 SLICE! Last week I had an appointment on the upper east side. Then I had to get to UPS. A guy told me that there was an office around 85th and Second Ave. Somehow I missed it. So I ended up heading to another one about 10 blocks south. It was cold, rainy and windy. Not the best day to be wandering around in. But I was feeling pretty good that day and was grateful! On the way to the UPS office (after I missed the first one), I stumbled into the best little pizza place. It is called SLICE. They use natural, organic ingredients and you can get pizzas with lots of veggies or the traditional cheese and tomato pizza. They also have organic green salads. The pizza was AMAZING. Seriously. If you are in the city, make sure to visit them at www.sliceperfect.com 1413 2nd Ave New York, NY 10021 Phone: 212 249 4353 If I had not gotten lost, I would have never discovered my new favorite restaurant. The moral of the story is that sometimes we think we're lost, but we're right where we are suppose to be.

Tuesday, oct 28, 2008 Robert F Kennedy Jr Speaks out on clean water, air and the environment To hear the inspiring Robert F Kennedy Jr, go to episode #38 of Zentertainment Talk Radio on the "Hear the Show" page! You'll love this episode! Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is credited with leading the fight to protect New York City's water supply, but his reputation as a resolute defender of the environment stems from a litany of successful legal actions. The list includes winning numerous settlements for Riverkeeper, prosecuting governments and companies for polluting the Hudson River and Long Island Sound, arguing cases to expand citizen access to the shoreline, and suing treatment plants to force compliance with the Clean Water Act. Mr. Kennedy acts as Chief Prosecuting Attorney for Riverkeeper. He also serves as Senior Attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council and as President of the Waterkeeper Alliance. At Pace University School of Law, he is a Clinical Professor and Supervising Attorney at the Environmental Litigation Clinic in White Plains, New York. Earlier in his career Mr. Kennedy served as Assistant District Attorney in New York City. http://www.robertfkennedyjr.com/ I was listening back to his show episode on this site. In these economic times, I think this quote of his applies even more. "In 100% of situations, good environmental policy is IDENTICAL to good economic policy." To find out where your candidates stand on environmental issues, go to CandidAnswers.org

Sunday, oct 26, 2008 It was one of those perfect English autumnal days which occur more frequently in memory than in life. ~P.D. James

Tuesday, oct 21, 2008 Buying Organic You love to support local organic farms or at least farms in the United States. Like me, you probably have shopped many times at Whole Foods. They have some great products there. You know that pesticides are dangerous. (And yes you get annoyed that Whole Foods carries a large selection of non organic produce that has been grown with dangerous chemicals). But here is something you might not know. You have perhaps seen or bought the Whole Foods 365 brand of organic frozen vegetables from Whole Foods. You find them in bags in the freezer section. You would assume that the "Whole Foods organic CALIFORNIA blend of CAULIFLOWER, CARROTS, AND BROCCOLI is from California, right? After all, on the front it says it is a California blend. But take a closer look. In fine print on the back, the label reads- A PRODUCT OF..... CHINA. Yes you heard it right, China. The Whole foods organic California blend is grown and shipped from CHINA. This is deceptive advertising. They should put GROWN AND SHIPPED FROM CHINA on the front! Not only are the standards different in China, but supporting all the fuel it takes to get these products here takes away from the benefit. It's time to buy local produce and support American farmers! We do not want our organic produce coming from China! And we all deserve honest packaging so we know what we are buying. Make sure to read the fine print.... On this issue, I give a big THUMBS DOWN to Whole Foods. p.s The frozen fruits from their brand come from Chile Look for brands from American farmers!

Sunday, oct 19, 2008 Autumn in Ohio I spent a few weeks in Ohio. Just got back to the NJ shore a few days ago and am heading to NYC tomorrow most likely. I love this time of year when the leaves change- jo

Tuesday, oct 14, 2008 An Experiment This is so interesting. Watch this video, now focus really hard only on the white shirts and see how many people in white shirts throw balls. Count the number of times they throw. There is a gender difference in attention to detail- but I won't say which gender, and it might not be what you think. Remember focus just on the people wearing white shirts and how many times they throw a ball. http://www.endfatigue.com/media_downloads/videos/perception.wm

Sunday, oct 12, 2008 October 12, 2008 OP-ED COLUMNIST The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama By FRANK RICH IF you think way back to the start of this marathon campaign, back when it seemed preposterous that any black man could be a serious presidential contender, then you remember the biggest fear about Barack Obama: a crazy person might take a shot at him. Some voters told reporters that they didn't want Obama to run, let alone win, should his very presence unleash the demons who have stalked America from Lincoln to King. After consultation with Congress, Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, gave Obama a Secret Service detail earlier than any presidential candidate in our history — in May 2007, some eight months before the first Democratic primaries. "I've got the best protection in the world, so stop worrying," Obama reassured his supporters. Eventually the country got conditioned to his appearing in large arenas without incident (though I confess that the first loud burst of fireworks at the end of his convention stadium speech gave me a start). In America, nothing does succeed like success. The fear receded. Until now. At McCain-Palin rallies, the raucous and insistent cries of "Treason!" and "Terrorist!" and "Kill him!" and "Off with his head!" as well as the uninhibited slinging of racial epithets, are actually something new in a campaign that has seen almost every conceivable twist. They are alarms. Doing nothing is not an option. All's fair in politics. John McCain and Sarah Palin have every right to bring up William Ayers, even if his connection to Obama is minor, even if Ayers's Weather Underground history dates back to Obama's childhood, even if establishment Republicans and Democrats alike have collaborated with the present-day Ayers in educational reform. But it's not just the old Joe McCarthyesque guilt-by-association game, however spurious, that's going on here. Don't for an instant believe the many mindlessly "even-handed" journalists who keep saying that the McCain campaign's use of Ayers is the moral or political equivalent of the Obama campaign's hammering on Charles Keating. What makes them different, and what has pumped up the Weimar-like rage at McCain-Palin rallies, is the violent escalation in rhetoric, especially (though not exclusively) by Palin. Obama "launched his political career in the living room of a domestic terrorist." He is "palling around with terrorists" (note the plural noun). Obama is "not a man who sees America the way you and I see America." Wielding a wildly out-of-context Obama quote, Palin slurs him as an enemy of American troops. By the time McCain asks the crowd "Who is the real Barack Obama?" it's no surprise that someone cries out "Terrorist!" The rhetorical conflation of Obama with terrorism is complete. It is stoked further by the repeated invocation of Obama's middle name by surrogates introducing McCain and Palin at these rallies. This sleight of hand at once synchronizes with the poisonous Obama-is-a-Muslim e-mail blasts and shifts the brand of terrorism from Ayers's Vietnam-era variety to the radical Islamic threats of today. That's a far cry from simply accusing Obama of being a guilty-by-association radical leftist. Obama is being branded as a potential killer and an accessory to past attempts at murder. "Barack Obama's friend tried to kill my family" was how a McCain press release last week packaged the remembrance of a Weather Underground incident from 1970 — when Obama was 8. We all know what punishment fits the crime of murder, or even potential murder, if the security of post-9/11 America is at stake. We all know how self-appointed "patriotic" martyrs always justify taking the law into their own hands. Obama can hardly be held accountable for Ayers's behavior 40 years ago, but at least McCain and Palin can try to take some responsibility for the behavior of their own supporters in 2008. What's troubling here is not only the candidates' loose inflammatory talk but also their refusal to step in promptly and strongly when someone responds to it with bloodthirsty threats in a crowded arena. Joe Biden had it exactly right when he expressed concern last week that "a leading American politician who might be vice president of the United States would not just stop midsentence and turn and condemn that." To stay silent is to pour gas on the fires. It wasn't always thus with McCain. In February he loudly disassociated himself from a speaker who brayed "Barack Hussein Obama" when introducing him at a rally in Ohio. Now McCain either backpedals with tardy, pro forma expressions of respect for his opponent or lets second-tier campaign underlings release boilerplate disavowals after ugly incidents like the chilling Jim Crow-era flashback last week when a Florida sheriff ranted about "Barack Hussein Obama" at a Palin rally while in full uniform. From the start, there have always been two separate but equal questions about race in this election. Is there still enough racism in America to prevent a black man from being elected president no matter what? And, will Republicans play the race card? The jury is out on the first question until Nov. 4. But we now have the unambiguous answer to the second: Yes. McCain, who is no racist, turned to this desperate strategy only as Obama started to pull ahead. The tone was set at the Republican convention, with Rudy Giuliani's mocking dismissal of Obama as an "only in America" affirmative-action baby. We also learned then that the McCain campaign had recruited as a Palin handler none other than Tucker Eskew, the South Carolina consultant who had worked for George W. Bush in the notorious 2000 G.O.P. primary battle where the McCains and their adopted Bangladeshi daughter were slimed by vicious racist rumors. No less disconcerting was a still-unexplained passage of Palin's convention speech: Her use of an unattributed quote praising small-town America (as opposed to, say, Chicago and its community organizers) from Westbrook Pegler, the mid-century Hearst columnist famous for his anti-Semitism, racism and violent rhetorical excess. After an assassin tried to kill F.D.R. at a Florida rally and murdered Chicago's mayor instead in 1933, Pegler wrote that it was "regrettable that Giuseppe Zangara shot the wrong man." In the '60s, Pegler had a wish for Bobby Kennedy: "Some white patriot of the Southern tier will spatter his spoonful of brains in public premises before the snow falls." This is the writer who found his way into a speech by a potential vice president at a national political convention. It's astonishing there's been no demand for a public accounting from the McCain campaign. Imagine if Obama had quoted a Black Panther or Louis Farrakhan — or William Ayers — in Denver. The operatives who would have Palin quote Pegler have been at it ever since. A key indicator came two weeks after the convention, when the McCain campaign ran its first ad tying Obama to the mortgage giant Fannie Mae. Rather than make its case by using a legitimate link between Fannie and Obama (or other Democratic leaders), the McCain forces chose a former Fannie executive who had no real tie to Obama or his campaign but did have a black face that could dominate the ad's visuals. There are no black faces high in the McCain hierarchy to object to these tactics. There hasn't been a single black Republican governor, senator or House member in six years. This is a campaign where Palin can repeatedly declare that Alaska is "a microcosm of America" without anyone even wondering how that might be so for a state whose tiny black and Hispanic populations are each roughly one-third the national average. There are indeed so few people of color at McCain events that a black senior writer from The Tallahassee Democrat was mistakenly ejected by the Secret Service from a campaign rally in Panama City in August, even though he was standing with other reporters and showed his credentials. His only apparent infraction was to look glaringly out of place. Could the old racial politics still be determinative? I've long been skeptical of the incessant press prognostications (and liberal panic) that this election will be decided by racist white men in the Rust Belt. Now even the dimmest bloviators have figured out that Americans are riveted by the color green, not black — as in money, not energy. Voters are looking for a leader who might help rescue them, not a reckless gambler whose lurching responses to the economic meltdown (a campaign "suspension," a mortgage-buyout stunt that changes daily) are as unhinged as his wanderings around the debate stage. To see how fast the tide is moving, just look at North Carolina. On July 4 this year — the day that the godfather of modern G.O.P. racial politics, Jesse Helms, died — The Charlotte Observer reported that strategists of both parties agreed Obama's chances to win the state fell "between slim and none." Today, as Charlotte reels from the implosion of Wachovia, the McCain-Obama race is a dead heat in North Carolina and Helms's Republican successor in the Senate, Elizabeth Dole, is looking like a goner. But we're not at Election Day yet, and if voters are to have their final say, both America and Obama have to get there safely. The McCain campaign has crossed the line between tough negative campaigning and inciting vigilantism, and each day the mob howls louder. The onus is on the man who says he puts his country first to call off the dogs, pit bulls and otherwise.

Wednesday, oct 1, 2008 Clean Energy Hey all! If you care about the environment and clean energy, about getting off of our addiction to oil, check this out- This is from an article by Joseph Romm which you can find at: http://www.salon.com/env/feature/2008/09/20/john_mccain_environment/index.html "McCain has a two-decade history in Washington of consistently opposing all efforts to shift our economy to clean energy. The facts are clear. All you have to do is look at his voting record. It reveals that McCain has long been one of the strongest opponents of clean energy in Congress, with a record matching that of James Inhofe, the most hardcore global-warming denier in the Senate, who comes from the heart of the oil patch in Oklahoma. Recently the Associated Press noted that "McCain has not shown up for eight Senate votes last year and this year to extend [renewable energy] tax credits, which expire at the end of this year. The last such vote was July 30." Yet at an Aspen Institute meeting in August, when McCain was asked about those missed votes, he simply lied to the audience. "I have a long record of that support of alternate energy," McCain said. "I come from a state where we have sunshine 360 days a year ... I've always been for all of those and I have not missed any crucial vote." In fact, on Dec. 13, 2007, the Senate was considering a bill to spend $13 billion on renewable power over five years. The cloture vote to allow the amendment to be brought to the Senate floor required 60 votes; it received 59 for, 40 against, and one senator absent. Yes, you guessed it: No McCain. A spokesman later said he would have voted to block the bill. Again, in February, the Senate tried to include in a stimulus package an extension of the renewable tax credit, plus nearly $3 billion more for alternate energy. The cloture vote again failed 59-40-1. And again, McCain's absence didn't kill an unpopular alternative energy bill -- it stopped a popular bill from even coming to a vote. Yet McCain continues to insist: "I have not missed any crucial vote." He would seem to be either a practiced liar who can fake sincerity, a pathological liar who believes his lies, or a man with simply no memory of key events several months earlier. As for McCain's "long record of that support of alternate energy," consider the votes on renewable energy funding and a federal "renewable portfolio standard" (RPS) that he did show up for this decade: Tax credits for clean energy R&D (2001) Require a 20 percent RPS where utilities buy 20 percent clean energy ('02) Reduce 20 percent RPS requirement ('02) Waive 20 percent RPS if utilities balk ('02) Increase clean energy R&D funding ('05) Clean energy incentives ('05) An RPS to require utilities [to] buy some clean energy ('05) Tax oil companies windfall profits to fund clean energy ('05) In every case, McCain voted against renewables, as did Sen. "Global warming is 'the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people'" Inhofe. On the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the biggest congressional effort to push alternative energy in more than a decade, McCain voted against it along with just 11 other senators. Even Inhofe voted for it. Why does McCain consistently vote against renewable energy, even though he comes from a state that has enough solar energy to power the entire country, a state rich in renewable-power entrepreneurs? Other than the fact that conservatives have a long track record of opposing renewable energy, McCain is technologically out of touch. When few in the media were paying attention to his campaign last December, McCain said that "the truly clean technologies don't work." He claimed that "most every expert that I know says that if you maximize [renewables] in every possible way," the contribution they would make is "very small." This quote reveals what a narrow circle of experts McCain relies on. Just what we need, another president in a bubble. And one that is unable to hear the truth, even when it is presented to him by another hardcore conservative. After T. Boone Pickens explained to McCain in person this summer that we could get 20 percent of our electricity from wind in one decade, McCain said he disagreed with Pickens, and that renewable energy can't meet much of the demand required over the next 20 years. Even the Bush administration's own Energy Department said we could get most of our electricity growth over the next two decades from wind power alone. OK, McCain thinks renewables "don't work." What about fuel-efficient vehicles? McCain responded to a Science Debate 2008 question on global warming: "I have long supported CAFE standards -- the mileage requirements that automobile manufacturers' cars must meet." That statement is somewhere between a lie and self-deception. The standards were in place before he got to the Senate, so his "support" was meaningless. In his entire 24 years in Congress, McCain had precisely one opportunity to vote for a serious bipartisan compromise on a major increase in CAFE standards. That was the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which required a 40 percent increase in fuel economy standards by 2020. This was the first time fuel economy standards were substantially changed since the 1970s. McCain didn't bother to show up. Back in 2003, a measure was introduced to improve the government system for testing fuel economy, which was notoriously unreliable and well known to overstate the actual fuel economy of cars. McCain and Inhofe voted against it. What about energy efficiency and conservation? In 2002, the Senate voted to drop a measure encouraging the efficient generation of electricity. McCain and Inhofe were among those who voted to drop it. Another 2002 vote on weakening appliance-efficiency requirements passed by a mere 52-47. McCain and Inhofe both voted to weaken the requirements. This summer, McCain had the audacity to mock Barack Obama for talking about energy efficiency measures, like inflating one's tires, even though those measures would save more than 10 times as much oil as ending the moratorium on coastal drilling would. What about McCain's support for the environment in general? Back in 1996, McCain wrote a New York Times Op-Ed titled "Nature Is Not a Liberal Plot" that laid out his vision of a green(washed) Republican Party. It touted his work with Morris Udall, the former Democratic congressman from Arizona, to safeguard Arizona wild lands, including the Grand Canyon. But the Op-Ed also explained the importance of maintaining and improving the Clean Air Act, Superfund, the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act. McCain wrote, "Our nation's continued prosperity hinges on our ability to solve environmental problems and sustain the natural resources on which we all depend." And yet in 1994, McCain had voted to let coal states bypass the Clean Water Act. In 1996, he voted against increased EPA funding to clean up Superfund toxic-waste sites, where he was joined by Inhofe but opposed by most of his fellow Republicans. Again, in 1996, he voted with Inhofe to gut nuclear waste disposal laws. In 2003, he voted with Inhofe against requiring polluters to pay for cleanup of Superfund waste sites. When you add in McCain's legislative efforts to cut funding for the most energy-efficient form of national travel -- passenger rail -- you find that McCain has voted against clean energy and the environment -- or said he would have done so -- more than 50 times since the early 1990s. And McCain has voted with the Oklahoma oilman and global-warming denier a remarkable 42 out of 44 times. But what about McCain's support for action on global warming? True, he and Sen. Joe Lieberman introduced a global warming bill several years ago that would have put in place a mandatory cap on emissions and then set up a trading system to establish a price for carbon. But even those bills contained not a single substantive policy to promote energy efficiency and conservation. And since beginning his recent run for office, McCain has moved farther away from a serious position on the issue. He now says his carbon emissions cap is not "mandatory." He never even mentioned global warming or climate change once in his big convention speech, laying out his top priorities for the nation, and he chose a running mate who questions whether global warming is the result of human action. How committed to the environment does that sound?

Tuesday, sep 23, 2008 Food for Thought I heard about some energy drink called FSR that supposedly boosts energy levels. Considering that there are many reason for fatigue and you have to get to the true root of those reasons, there is no energy drink that is a one size fits all answer. But I decided to look it up, especially since Lance Armstrong's picture is on the advertising. Surely if he is promoting it, it would be healthy, right? Take a look. The Low Cal Wild Berry FRS drink includes some vitamins. But it also includes things like: Sucralose, "Natural" Lemon Flavor, Red #40, "Natural" berry flavor, "Natural" blueberry flavor, caffeine. The Powdered Orange Drink: Polydextrose, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Caffeine, Sucralose, Yellow #6 Soft Chews: The first three ingredients are: Sugar, Corn Syrup, & Natural & Artificial Flavors! They also include mono and diglycerides, caffeine, and sucralose, (Which is another name for the artificial sweetener called Splenda), and yellow #6. Why is he partnering up with this company? I wish I could ask him why he is letting them use his name and face while claiming that these drinks are health drinks. Just because you add a few vitamins to a bunch of chemicals, doesn't mean you now have a healthy choice on your hands. Let's at least be straight with people. C'mon Lance....!

Saturday, sep 20, 2008 Amish Barn I just found this picture that I took a year ago. It was taken in Holmes County, Ohio, otherwise known as "Amish Country." This picture gives you a glimpse into a whole other way of living....

Friday, sep 19, 2008 "The Sea, Once it casts its spell holds one in its net of wonder forever." Author: Jacques Cousteau "The waves of the sea Help me get back to me." Author: Jill Davis The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea. ~Isak Dinesen He that will learn to pray, let him go to sea. ~George Herbert

Wednesday, sep 17, 2008 White Privilege This brilliant article moved me so deeply. Please share this with your friends! ******************************* This is Your Nation on White Privilege by Tim Wise September 13, 2008 For those who still can't grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help. . White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because "every family has challenges," even as black and Latino families with similar "challenges" are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay. . White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin' redneck," like Bristol Palin"s boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their fuckin' ass," and talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug. . White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action. . White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don't all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you're "untested." . White privilege is being able to say that you support the words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me," and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the "under God" part wasn"t added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals. . White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you. White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was "Alaska first," and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she"s being disrespectful. . White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you're being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you're somehow being mean, or even sexist. . White privilege is being able to convince white women who don't even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a "second look." . White privilege is being able to fire people who didn't support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt. . White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to Hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God"s punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you're just a good church-going Christian, but if you're black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you're an extremist who probably hates America. . White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a "trick question," while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O"Reilly means you're dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced. . White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it a "light" burden. . And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren"t sure about that whole "change" thing. Ya know, it's just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain. . White privilege is, in short, the problem! Do you agree? https://donate.barackobama.com/page/content/splashsignupcky/

Tuesday, sep 16, 2008 Finding my Way It was a hard day. Feeling the side effects of a treatment I did to help my body fight lyme disease. I sat on the beach. Awhile later I saw that there was a crab on the sand. I walked over to some fisherman who were close by. They asked me if I wanted it. I said, "no. I want to let him be." He seemed to be stuck in the sand. He crawled towards the water, then stopped. A seagull came by and took a jab at him, and then flew away when the crab fought back. Yeah! Fight back! A wave came up and the crab made progress, getting some help and a push into the water! But then that same wave threw the crab back up onto the sand. Now he was far away from the water and worse off than when he started. Not only that, the force of the wave made him land upside down. I watched his legs in the air, waving as he tried to turn himself over without success. I stood by him to protect him from other seagulls who had their eyes on him. The fisherman packed up and left for the day. Then two girls came by. We chatted a minute about the crab's predicament. One of the girls grabbed a glass bottle that had washed up on the shore. She used it to push him towards the water. He couldn't go as fast as she could push. Just then, two seagulls appeared very close by. One was missing a leg, and the other one was limping. One of the girls said, "What is this, the gimp section? Yeah. Me battling an ongoing illness, 2 wounded seagulls and a stranded crab all within the space of about 40 feet. The girls kept trying to help the crab into the water by pushing it with the bottle, but every time the crab seemed to make progress, again and again a wave would dump him back onto land upside down far from the water he was trying to get back to. "I can relate." I thought to myself. Another girl stopped by to watch the action. I said to her, "I guess we can control our effort, but not always the outcome." She said, "how true." The girls were getting restless. Their gentle pushing wasn't saving this crab. Then as people often do, they began to cast blame. One girl yelled out, "Hey buddy, God helps those who help themselves!" As if the crab wasn't doing everything he could do to get back in that water. Well, the girls eventually gave up and walked away. I sat down in the sand. Please God save him! Beneath that prayer was, please God save me! Just then the one legged seagull came over. Oh no... Maybe the seagull needed this crab as food for his own survival. Who was I to interfere with nature? But I still wanted this crab to live. The seagull got very close, inches away, and then miraculously flew away. I was relieved, but still felt uncertain and sad. A few minutes passed, and a woman came over. She had been watching the scene unfold from a distance. She had seen the other girls try to save the crab with the glass bottle. But this woman didn't waste time gently pushing the crab in the right direction. And she didn't yell at it for not working hard enough. What did she do? She took off her shoe, carefully scooped the crab in it, and carried it out into the deep water. She set it free. - jo

Thursday, sep 11, 2008 Remembering 9-11 I live just a few short blocks from Ground Zero. My husband took this picture today, near where we live. On this day, I feel so much sadness and am flooded with memories. I wanted to take some time to write about them. 7 Years ago today. I was living in another neighborhood called Soho which is north of Battery Park but still downtown. I had the most amazing view of the world trade center from my window. I use to love looking at it at night. It was September 8 2001, and my husband was out of town. Our cat who we loved was very sick. She was panting and breathless, peeing on herself, had a fever. I knew I had to have her put to sleep. We had tried to save her before, but this time she was too ill. I cried for hours, talking to her and petting her. Then the vet came to our house and he put her to sleep right there in my studio room, beneath a window with a beautiful view of the world trade center. My husband was as upset as I was. But he was not there when she died. He was traveling for business, and was on a flight from San Francisco to Phoenix. We loved her. I had no idea that the loss of a pet could be so traumatic. I was such a mess from it. Looking back, she was very sick, and I think she knew she didn't want to be around for what was to come. 3 days later I was asleep in bed when suddenly I heard a loud BOOM. Then a woman screamed. It woke me up, and my heart was racing, pounding, which was unusual. You know how sometimes your body knows something before you know it? My first thought was that a car on West Broadway had hit a person. I knew something was wrong. I grabbed some clothes and got dressed, and went out onto the street. When I looked up, a section of one of the towers was on fire. I ran back into the building and got my neighbor. She came over and we watched from my window. How did this happen? How many people were in there on those floors at this hour? We also kept questioning why it was taking so long for anything to be done about the fire. We even took a video of it for a few minutes. We did not know what was happening. Were helicopters even equipped to deal with putting out a fire like this? We thought it had been some freak accident. What we did not know until later was that Flight 11, an American airlines Boeing 67 plane traveling from Boston to LA. had been hijacked and crashed into the north tower. It seemed like an hour went by, which is strange, because it was only 18 minutes later, 9:03AM when suddenly a huge jet crashed into tower 2. WHAT?????????? There was such a loud BANG. Flames went into the air. Within 15 minutes, all NYC airports were shut down, and the bridges and tunnels were all closed. United Airlines Flight 175 had crashed into tower 2. A plane that was also headed to LA from Boston. But at that time, we knew nothing of those details. It was just chaos. I went back and forth between being outside on the street and being in the apartment. I still did not have a tv on and had no idea the whole nation and world was watching this. Which shows my state of mind at that time. I wish I could remember the sequence of events in the right order. I don't. Of course I had no idea another plane was also headed for the Pentagon. Did I get ahold of my husband in LA who was asleep and 3 hours behind EST? I don't think so. I don't remember. I did get through to my mom a few quick times I think. She was trying to calm me down. I got ahold of a friend of mine who is a reporter and was telling him what was happening, but I was so panicked that I don't think we talked long. I remember standing looking at the burning towers, with huge clouds of yellow and grey stuff blanketing the sky. It was terrible. Then all of the sudden one part of the tower started to cave in and before we knew it, they had both collapsed and just imploded. There were so many people screaming on the street. I remember.... Blur. Then, quiet. Pin drop quiet. Stunned silence. It was eerie. I start crying as I sit here typing this. I remember being on the roof with my neighbor Chris. I still had not turned on the tv. We were stunned. The smoke was everywhere. The towers were gone. The city felt like one big gaping wound. I had a few friends who were able to get to me. When they came, we turned on the tv for the first time. There was so much adrenaline in the air. I can't even explain it. It was the same sort of adrenaline that had been in the air when I went through the 1994 earthquake in California. I thought I was going to die then. But that's another story. It seemed strange watching the news on tv. I was there. It didn't look the same on the screen. We didn't have much food in the house, and anyone who is familiar with Soho knows that not much opens until noon. But there was a deli around the corner. My friends and I went over to try and get some basics. The lines were really long. There were a few people covered in grey soot who had been closer to the towers. The air was so highly charged. What I remember in the days to come is scattered and blurry. I remember walking around like a zombie. I remember how scary it felt to be alone. Nobody was able to get below Houston Street without an ID proving they lived there. The street was barricaded off and cops stayed there checking IDs. I remember that it felt and looked like a war zone. I remember all the tank trucks lined up on Houston street to head down to the world trade center. I remember the ambulances that had no bodies to bring back. The stores all being closed. It was a ghost town and I remember how unnerving the quiet was in a city that never sleeps. I remember feeling like I was living in a funeral 24 hours a day. I remember all the signs and photos posted everywhere, covering street posts and walls and gated fences and buildings, people looking for loved ones. I remember the smell in the air which lasted for so many months, the smell of toxic metals and debris and only God knows what, making you have to cover your face just to walk down the street. I remember the EPA saying the air was safe. I remember crying alot. I remember people walking barefoot trying to get home and get to the Brooklyn Bridge immediately after the attacks. I remember the first anniversary of the attacks when I hosted a concert through www.Septemberconcert.org. I gathered a group of other artists and we did a 6 hour show, each taking turns playing. We were so exhausted and spent, and none of us knew how we would get through it. In some ways, that day was even harder, as it reopened a wound that had not healed. But we found that by coming together we could share our stories and our pain and share our hope. I remember the ceremonies honoring those who lost their lives and the tears we all cried. I remember how fatigued I felt from the immune illness I had as well as the added emotional grief I was feeling. I remember someone who lived in another state not understanding why I was so traumatized on that first anniversary. Why I could not stop crying. I did not fully understand it either. I felt all the energy surrounding me in the city, the energy of loss and grief. He said, "Why are you so upset? Did you know someone who died?" I remember soon after the attacks when all the subways downtown were shut down and how hard that was. How isolating. I remember walking all the way to 14th St to get a subway and heading up to Central Park and feeling like I had entered another country as I sat there watching people walk dogs, rollerblade and sit outside. I remember how loud it was uptown where the cabs were running, the subways were running. And how eerie and traumatic everything felt downtown. I remember my husband yelling at me from Los Angeles to get the hell out of there and go to his sister's in CT. I remember saying I can't leave, I can't leave.....and feeling unable to move. Then I did end up getting myself to Grand Central and taking a train. I felt like other people couldn't understand it. They were in shock and yet were far enough away that they also had some normalcy in their lives. Seeing the whole thing go down on tv versus being there in person was the difference between mars and earth. And then as hard as it was for me going through all of it and living in the middle of it geographically, I did not lose anyone I loved in those towers. How HARD WOULD THAT BE? I remember someone emailing me from Kansas, concerned about my soul and that I was saved, saying how events like this put things into perspective. You want to know perspective? Perspective is that our President George Bush sat in an elementary school and read books to kids while our country was being attacked. Perspective is that the same people who voted for him because they liked him rather than because he was qualifed, are now going to vote for McCain/ Palin because they like Palin's personality rather than that she is qualified. And don't get me started on McCain. Seriously. Let's look at these timelines. It was at 8:19: that Betty Ong, a flight attendant on Flight 11 alerted American Airlines via an airphone, "“The cockpit is not answering, somebody’s stabbed in business class—and I think there’s Mace—that we can’t breathe—I don’t know, I think we’re getting hijacked.” She then tells of the stabbings of two flight attendants. 8:34: A third transmission from Flight 11: "Nobody move please. We are going back to the airport. Don't try to make any stupid moves." Boston Center contacts Otis Air National Guard Base at Cape Cod through the FAA's Cape Cod facility, on the hijacking of Flight 11. 8:37: Flight 175 confirmed sighting of hijacked Flight 11 to flight controllers. (You would think by now the President of the United States would be on alert)... Then at 8:44: Flight attendant Amy Sweeney, aboard Flight 11, reports by telephone to American Airlines Flight Services Office in Boston, "Something is wrong. We are in a rapid descent... we are all over the place." A minute later, she is asked to describe what she sees out the window. She responds, "I see the water. I see the buildings. I see buildings..." After a short pause, she reports, "We are flying low. We are flying very, very low. We are flying way too low." Seconds later she says slowly, "Oh my God...OH MY GOD!" The call ends with a burst of very loud, sustained static. 8:52: A flight attendant aboard Flight 175 calls a United Airlines office in San Francisco, reporting that the flight had been hijacked, both pilots had been killed, a flight attendant had been stabbed, and the hijackers were probably flying the plane. One plane has crashed into the world trade center, and another has been hijacked. You would think that President Bush might have considered that maybe this wasn't a good time to be reading books? Well the rest is history. We all know what happened. The months went by, we all breathed some pretty toxic stuff for a long time. The grief was palpable and there was no relief from it day or night. My husband came home, we missed our cat, we cried for the thousands of people who had lost their lives or lost loved ones in this horrible tragedy. We tried to go on with life. The dust cleared from my building's entry way and settled somewhere in its 100 year old walls, only to be dug up again in improper construction tear downs. I got REALLY sick. The EPA said the air was safe, we couldn't breathe without choking on it, our President got us into a war with a nation that had nothing to do with 9-11, and 4 months later my aunt died from ALS. So here we are. And here I am. If there is ever a time in our country when we need true change, it is now. I want a leader who inspires me. I want a leader who is about changing some of the policies we have had these 8 years, rather than agreeing with what he have had. I want someone who does not run on creating fear and terror to justify poor choices. I think of that quote by the poet RUMI, "don't move the way fear makes you move..." Many people voted for Bush because of the brilliant strategies of Karl Rove, spin expert to the dumbed down masses. Rove praises Palin's experience in being the mayor of small town Wasilla, yet he is also on record as having previously trashed Virginia Governor and former Richmond Mayor, Tim Kaine saying, "He was mayor of the 105th largest city in America. And again, with all due respect to Richmond, Virginia, it’s smaller than Chula Vista, California; Aurora, Colorado; Mesa or Gilbert, Arizona; north Las Vegas or Henderson, Nevada. It’s not a big town. " Let's see here- Richmond, Virginia population 1.1 million Wasilla, Alaska, approximately 7025.. But do we really want to support a right wing extremist as vice president who has no foreign policy experience or insights, a woman who believes global warming is not caused by human behavior, whose church believes that the state of Alaska will be a shelter in the end times for Christians? Does this sound like someone with the experience, intelligence and education to be the vice president and help direct our country? Hardly. Lastly, as I reflect upon the past 8 years, I know many people who voted for Bush but now say he was a disappointment. According to the Congressional Quarterly's assessment of McCain's voting record, in 2007 McCain voted in line with the President Bush's position 95 percent of the time – the highest percentage rate for McCain since Bush took office. Listen. Think.

Tuesday, sep 9, 2008 Politics 8 Years ago, I watched the election process and felt these burning sensations in my gut that Americans were choosing the wrong president. I cried when Bush was voted in. Everything in my whole being shouted, THIS IS THE WRONG DIRECTION. I wasn't the only one who felt that way. But we were right. Now I am feeling those same feelings all over again as I watch McCain/ Palin. Barack Obama inspires me. He hits the issues hard. I am not naive enough to think that any one president can make every change happen that they would like to, nor am I foolish enough to think any President will make all the right decisions. But I believe he is on the right track. When he talks about change, when he addresses issues, I feel inspired. I was as shocked as everyone else when McCain chose Sarah Palin to be his vice president. After watching the Republican convention which was very light on the issues and heavy on personality, I felt even stronger about my decision to vote for Barack Obama. From what I have seen and heard, McCain's policies are more of Bush/Cheney land. Sarah Palin's views are far too extreme, and her experience is far too limited for her to be "a heartbeat away from being the President." She is charming, interesting, she seems tough and manipulative. I love her sass. That appeals to me. She has a rebellious streak. She is trying to carve out this image of herself as frontier woman meets hockey mom. While she may be many of those things, and while I like some things about her, she is most definately not qualified to be in the White House. Her religious connection are pretty extreme. This is some information on the church she attended until 2002. http://www. talk2action. org/story/2008/9/5/03830/11602/Front_Page/Palin_s_Churches_and_the_Third_Wave She asked people at Wasilla Assembly of God to pray about building a gas pipeline through Alaska."I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that," she said. "Currently, two large natural gas pipelines are under consideration for development in the Arctic region: a Mackenzie Delta pipeline in Canada and an Alaska pipeline, both of which are large, expensive construction projects. It is expected that 6 years will be required to permit, license, design, construct, and open the Mackenzie pipeline and 9 years will be required to do the same for the Alaska pipeline. A number of factors could delay completion of the projects beyond 2030, however, including: higher than- expected construction costs that would make the pipelines unprofitable throughout the projection period; higher-than-expected State and Provincial taxes and royalties on natural gas production; environmental concerns requiring expensive remediation; delays in regulatory approval and permitting; and difficulties in addressing the concerns of native peoples whose lands are crossed by the pipelines. Accordingly, the limited natural gas supply case assumes that neither pipeline will be opened before 2030." To read more of that article on the pipeline go to: http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/otheranalysis/aeo_2008analysispapers/legslng.html Barack Obama proposed taxing the record multi billion dollar profits of oil companies and using some of that money to pay for a $1000 middle class tax cut that would go to 95% of families. Is drilling a REAL solution? No. Barack Obama wants to invest money into energy efficient cars. This is one small simple thing, but as we all know, the small simple things make big differences. He says that if everybody would inflate their tires to the proper levels, we would save more oil than John McCain would get from drilling. Then the Republicans make fun of a step that every expert says would absolutely reduce our oil consumption by 3-4%. It's like these guys take pride in being ignorant! They think it's funny that they are making fun of something that is actually true. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akjXqfvLu28 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8fkbEuCQss Sarah Palin does not believe that in cases of rape or incest, a woman has the right to choose. That is horrific. And while she has that belief based on the belief that murder is wrong, she has no problem with killing innocent animals in cruel ways or going to war in which thousands of innocent people are murdered. In fact, ask her about Iraq and she sounds like she has no idea of what to do about the situation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGPFPBmzRrQ http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2008/08/sarah_palin_on_iraq.html It is shocking that some people will vote for her on the abortion issue alone, when that issue has already been decided. Women do have the choice. When McCain ran for office in 2000 and his character was brutally attacked by the Republican party, he said: "Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and a few leaders of the pro-life movement call me an unacceptable presidential candidate. Why? Because I don’t pander to them... We embrace the fine members of the religious conservative community. But that does not mean that we will pander to their self-appointed leaders. [These leaders] are corrupting influences on religion and politics. They shame our faith, our party and our country. Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left, or Robertson or Falwell on the right." Source: Speech in Virginia Beach, VA Feb 28, 2000 So isn't it interesting that now he is doing the very thing he spoke against. Where is the real John McCain? As for taxes, According to the non partisan Tax Policy Center’s computations, “under Mr. Obama’s plan, the middle of the middle class, or those earning $37,595 to $66,354, would see taxes cut by $1,042 a year. Under Mr. McCain’s plan, taxes for people in that category would also fall, but by $319; the largest chunk of the benefits would go to those making $2.8 million a year or more.” [New York Times, 6/13/08]

Tuesday, aug 19, 2008 Juice Pens Thirsty Paper! Today I talked to best selling author and artist SARK. We talked about her amazing new book called JUICY PENS, THIRSTY PAPER. I will be airing our conversation next week! Her website is www.Planetsark.com My cat Sabrina went nuts the whole time Sark and I talked on the phone. She must have been feeling the good energy. She kept rubbing up against me and climbing all over the wires and gear I was using to record. She never does that! Then she started meowing. GEESH! Of course now that the interview is over, Sabrina is sleeping on the bed. I think that telling our stories is one of the brave things we do in this life. What will people think of me if I tell my story? Will they criticize me or judge me? Do I dare to believe I have something worth telling! Will I remember the details clearly and be able to put my story into words that make sense? Will I regret sharing my stories? What if I keep changing my mind about what sort of story I want to write? What if it is not very good? Do you recognize any of these questions? I once met a guy who wanted to write songs. He was a musician and a very talented one. But he was afraid to write an entire song (both lyrics and music). He said he didn't want it to suck! Too much was on the line for him. I think that pride truly comes before a downfall. That is why brave people put aside pride. (Or dare to try in spite of pride). We KNOW we are going to fall if we keep trying to do new things! The more we practice, the better we get. I have had my share of humiliations. bad performances, poor choices and etc etc. That's for sure! So I speak from experience. I keep trying new things anyway. We all need encouragement during our creative process. The person I go to is my husband Tommy. I know he has my best interest in mind. There has never been any jealousy or competition between us, and we love each other and trust each other. Everyone needs at least one person to share their art-in-progress with! One time Sark went to her guestbook online, hoping to find some encouragement. Instead, she saw a note from someone named Jenny. It said, "SARK. I think you are a fake. I've sold all your books back to the half price book store." How do you feel when someone writes something or says something like that? Well, obviously this comment had nothing to do with Sark and everything to do with the girl who wrote it. But why is that so hard for us to see that when we are on the receiving end of mean comments like this? How do your stories and poems and songs help you heal? Or help you have fun!? Alot of the things I write are not ever meant to be published. They are just for me. That gives me the room to explore how I am really feeling and what I think. Since my feelings and thoughts change all the time, I don't like other people to read them and think of them as being set in stone! We are all in a process. Sometimes I listen back to these shows, read past journal entries, or listen to past songs I have written, and I think UGH! Why did I do/say/think/write THAT?? Have you ever felt that way? I am glad YouTube wasn't around when I was starting out. If everybody is filmed when they are practicing, nobody has time to develop! And don't get me started on American Idol. How many young artists on there have been shot down before they had time to grow and bloom? It is wrong! Here is a simple exercise for you from Sark's new book. She wrote some phrases to spark your imagination. Take some of these phrases and write a poem or short story around them. Don't overanalyze it or get too critical of yourself. This is not about presenting something "polished." This is just about writing. Phrases to choose from: Misplaced Enthusiasm Blank Paper Fast Turtle Night of Ecstasy Lost Conditional Love Intense Request Grief Lesson Open Door There are others too! Buy her new book and go to page 84 to read them! Now write a poem or short story around one or more of these phrases BEFORE reading on... --------- Ok, are you back? Did you write something? It feels good to write doesn't it? What were some of your poems and stories using the phrases SARK suggested? Here are a few of the things I wrote: Intense Request He had a day planned with his family for his brother's birthday in New Jersey. He had an afternoon planned with friends at the ball game in Philadelphia. He had a meeting planned for the morning in NYC. He had many plans. So did she. But the illness has obliterated life as they knew it. She could not walk or lift her head off of the bed without his help. He cancelled his plans and he stayed with her. ©2008 Jo Davidson ------------- Fast Turtle He kept trying to take shortcuts or at the very least speed it up a little. But every time he took a shortcut he ran into a detour. He learned that sometimes one small step every single day is faster than a sprint. Then he stopped comparing himself to others. He said, "You really can't tell for sure who is where until the finish line anyway." ©Jo Davidson ------------------ Blank Paper I always stare at it. It could be a song, a poem, a prayer or an entire novel. It could end up in a box, in a fire, flushed down the toilet, or erased. It could be cherished in a hope chest for years to come. I stare and wonder what I will do with it. Sometimes just considering the possibilities gives me a thrill. And then I begin. Other times, I fear doing anything at all lest I ruin its beauty. ©2008 Jo Davidson ---------------------------- Lost She keeps running into things blanking out and falling when she walks. She has one foot in this world and one foot in the world beyond. She searches and prays for her lighthouse. Then one day she catches a glimpse of its shadow. She stretches out her arms and walks toward that dim light. Her vision keeps blurring and she wonders if she is walking towards it at all or if it is just another dream. ©Jo Davidson 2008 ------------------- An Open Door A warm summer breeze drifts through the windows like a hum The ceiling fans twirl and she hears the sounds of her fingers tapping the computer keys She see a world out there beyond the sheer curtains. She searches for an open door. ©2008 jo Davidson ------------ See how phrases can spark the imagination? To find out more about JUICE PENS THIRSTY PAPER, go to www.Planetsark.com Quote for the Day: "When I feel hopelessness, I will know it as illusion." -SARK

Tuesday, aug 19, 2008 Butterflies What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly. ~Richard Bach Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty. ~Maya Angelou The fluttering of a butterfly's wings can effect climate changes on the other side of the planet. ~Paul Erlich Once I read a story about a butterfly in the subway, and today, I saw one. It got on at 42nd, and off at 59th, where, I assume it was going to Bloomingdales to buy a hat that will turn out to be a mistake - as almost all hats are. ~Nikolaus Laszlo, Nora Ephron, and Delia Ephron, You've Got Mail I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man. ~Chuang Tzu

Wednesday, aug 13, 2008 Anyway ANYWAY People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Love them anyway! If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway! If you are successful, you will win false friends and enemies. Succeed anyway! The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway! Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway! What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway! People really need help but may attack you if you help them. Help them anyway! Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you’ve got anyway! Written by: Mother Teresa

Friday, aug 8, 2008 Puzzle Time Some people love putting puzzles together. I have never been one of those people. Let's just be clear about that right now! But life brought me one anyway in the form of a complex illness. So I have had to put on my puzzle hat every day and go at it. My parents love puzzles. One year at Christmas they sat there with a HUGE complicated puzzle that had tiny pieces that all looked the same. It drove even them crazy. But for some reason they wanted to solve it anyway. One of my friends has parents who love puzzles so much, they have a designated table for them. These are some things I have learned about puzzles from watching my parents: 1. Just when you think you are making progress, the dog will come along and knock the whole thing on the floor. 2. When you feel like quitting, quit for the day, but don't quit forever. 3. Some puzzles take a day, some a week, some a month, and some even take years. 4. Sometimes a piece looks like the right one even when it's not. 5. If it is so hard that you can only work on one piece a day, work on the one piece. 6. Sometimes you find the right puzzle piece when you are no longer looking so hard. 7. Sometimes you have to look really hard. 8. A few people working on one puzzle make it easier. It's also more fun. 9. When you get tired of searching, take a break. 10. Don't give up no matter how impossible it seems. 11. Keep your eye on the big picture so you know what you want it to look like when it's done. 12. Sometimes shapes will guide you. Another day colors might guide you. Experiment and be flexible in your approach. 13. Cursing at inanimate objects usually doesn't help. (I learned this one from somebody else. My parents never curse). 14. If you stay up all hours of the night working on your puzzle, you will be tired the next day. 15. There will be days when you slowly go through every single puzzle piece in the box and the right fit just doesn't exist. It will make no sense. 16. If you find the right piece but put it in upside down, you'll think it's wrong. So always try each piece in a few different directions. 17. Figuring it out could become an obsession. 18. Try to set up a special area of the house for the puzzle, so the pieces are not everywhere. Stay focused. 19. There will always be another puzzle. When you have a choice, pick up an easier one! When you don't, do the best you can! 20. Once you get the puzzle together and it looks beautiful and is finished- it eventually all goes back in the box again! ©Jo Davidson www.Zentertainment.org

Thursday, aug 7, 2008 Amazing how Things Change I found this list somewhere. I can't remember where I stumbled upon it. But how things have changed in a short 100 years! Is this stuff all really true? In 1908- The average life expectancy in the U.S. Was 47 years old. Only 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. Had a bathtub. Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone. A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars. There were only 8,000 cars in the U.S. , and only 144 miles of paved roads. The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph. Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California With a mere 1.4 million people, California was only the 21st most populous state in the Union . The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower. The average wage in the U.S. Was 22 Cents per hour. The average U.S. Worker made between $200 and $400 per year . A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, A dentist made $2,500 per year, A veterinarian $1,500 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year. More than 95 percent of all births in the U.S. Took place at HOME. Ninety percent of all U.S. Doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION! Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which Were condemned in the press AND the government as "substandard." Sugar cost four cents a pound. Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen. Coffee was fifteen cents a pound. Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo. Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason. Five leading causes of death in the U.S. were: 1. Pneumonia and influenza 2. Tuberculosis 3. Diarrhea 4. Heart disease 5. Stroke The American flag had 45 stars. Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska hadn't been admitted to the Union yet. The population of Las Vegas , Nevada , was only 30!!!! Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea Hadn't been invented yet. There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day. Two out of every 10 U.S. Adults couldn't read or write. Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school. Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists Said, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, Regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health." There were about 230 reported Murders in the ENTIRE U.S.A. !

Monday, aug 4, 2008 Old Souls

Wednesday, jul 30, 2008 today...

Tuesday, jul 29, 2008

Monday, jul 28, 2008 Funny- Girls night out Two women friends had gone out for a Girls Night Out, and had been decidedly over-enthusiastic on the cocktails. Incredibly drunk and walking home they suddenly realized they both needed to pee. They were very near a graveyard and one of them suggested they do their business behind a headstone or something. The first woman had nothing to wipe with so she took off her panties, used them and threw them away. Her friend however was wearing an expensive underwear set and didn't want to ruin hers, but was lucky enough to salvage a large ribbon from a wreath that was on a grave and proceeded to wipe herself with it. After finishing, they made their way home. The next day the first woman's husband phones the other husband and said, "These damn girls nights out have got to stop. My wife came home last night without her panties." "That's nothing," said the other. "Mine came back with a sympathy card stuck between the cheeks of her butt that said, 'From all of us at the Fire Station, We'll never forget you!' ---------------------------------- Mental Release A man who had been in a mental home for some years finally seemed to have improved to the point where it was thought he might be released. The head of the institution, in a fit of commendable caution, decided, however, to interview him first. "Tell me," said he, "if we release you, as we are considering doing, what do you intend to do with your life?' The inmate said, "It would be wonderful to get back to real life and if I do, I will certainly refrain from making my former mistake. I was a nuclear physicist, you know, and it was the stress of my work in weapons research that helped put me here. If I am released, I shall confine myself to work in pure theory, where I trust the situation will be less difficult and stressful." "Marvelous," said the head of the institution. "Or else," ruminated the inmate. "I might teach. There is something to be said for spending one's life in bringing up a new generation of scientists." "Absolutely," said the head. "Then again, I might write. There is considerable need for books on science for the general public. Or I might even write a novel based on my experiences in this fine institution." "An interesting possibility," said the head. "And finally, if none of these things appeals to me, I can always continue to be a teakettle." -------------------------------------- Dear Mum and Dad, It has now been three months since I left for college. I have been remiss in writing this and I am very sorry for my thoughtlessness in not having written before. I will bring you up to date now, but, before you read on, please sit down. YOU ARE NOT TO READ ANY FURTHER UNLESS YOU ARE SITTING DOWN, OKAY? Well then, I am getting along pretty well now. The skull fracture, and the concussion I got when I jumped out of the window of my dormitory when it caught fire shortly after my arrival, are pretty well healed now. Fortunately, the fire in the dormitory and my jump, were witnessed by an attendant at the gas station near the dorm. He was the one who called the fire department and the ambulance. He also visited me at the hospital, and since I had nowhere to live because of the burned out dormitory, he was kind enough to invite me to share his apartment with him and his three buddies. It's really a basement room, but it's kinda cute. He is a very fine boy and we have fallen deeply in love and are planning to be married. We haven't set the exact date yet, but it will be before my pregnancy begins to show. Yes, Mum and Dad I am pregnant. I know how much you are looking forward to being grandparents! I know you will welcome the baby and give it the love, devotion and tender care you gave me when I was a child. The reason for the delay in our marriage is that my boyfriend has some minor infection which prevents us from passing our pre-marital blood tests, and I carelessly caught it from him. This will soon clear up with the penicillin injections I am having daily. I know you will welcome him into our family with open arms. He is kind and, although not well educated, he is ambitious. Although he is of a different race and religion from us,I know your often expressed tolerance will not permit you to be bothered by the fact that his skin color is different from ours. I am sure you will love him as I do. His family background is good, too, for I am told that his father is an important weapons dealer in the village in Africa from which he came. Now that I have brought you up to date, I want to tell you that there was no dormitory fire, I did not have a concussion or skull fracture. I was not in the hospital,I am not pregnant and I am not engaged. I do not have syphilis and there is no man in my life. However, I got a 'D' in History and an 'F' in Science, and I want you to see those marks in the proper perspective. Your Loving Daughter

Sunday, jul 27, 2008 Angel Oak This is Angel Oak. She is over 1400 years old. Imagine that. She lives in John's Island, South Carolina. She is one of the oldest living things east of the Mississippi River, and her canopy provides 17,000 square feet of shade. She has survived earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and human interference. She has witnessed slavery, abuse, hatred, love, war, peace and the ever changing progress (or lack of) in human development. She has heard people's secrets, fears, worries and absorbed their happiness and faith. She has lived through changing belief systems, changing cultures and shifts. She makes me wonder about this business of being human. What would it have been like to have lived 100 years ago, 200, 500, or even 1400? What were the views, beliefs, and lifestyles of the people in this area at that time? Were the native Americans dancing and hunting, weaving and working under her shade? She has seen so much. She has seen people set in their ways and beliefs, unaware of the vast nature of the universe. She has laughed, sighed and shaken her tree branches in the wind. She thinks to herself, why do these people make war rather than peace? Religions come and go, but one thing stands- Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Many of the world's problems stem from not doing this one thing. Doing this one thing would end all war. It would end all intolerance. It would change the entire world. She wonders when we will all get it. She embraces the healers who have long connected to the earth with its roots and plants for healing. She opens her arms and says- listen...I know the way---- and then she leads the way to life. Oxygen. I met her in June. I stood under her branches and wanted to take a century long nap.

Saturday, jul 26, 2008 Red This flower was in a preacher's garden-and of all the flowers I have ever photographed, I think it is the most sexual flower photo. I think God has a sense of humor.

Tuesday, jul 8, 2008 Why I Won't Use "Energy Saving" Light Bulbs Why I Won’t Use "Energy Saving" Light Bulbs Everyone from Al Gore to "green living" sites are promoting these compact fluorescent bulbs to save energy and money in the long run. Maybe you have some in your home already. I will not use them and here is why: -Did you know that these bulbs contain toxic mercury? Mercury is in so many products today, but it is very dangerous, and is a huge part of many devastating illnesses that people are facing. Personally, I do not want mercury to be in my home, especially in something that can easily break! -If your cat knocks over the lamp, or your child or baby knocks over the lamp, or there is an earthquake and a bulb breaks, do you realize that there are strict guidelines on what to do to protect yourself? If one of these light bulbs breaks, evacuate the room immediately. Open a window. Do not step on any of the glass or the mercury itself. Stay OUT of the room for at least 15 minutes. Shut off ALL central a/c and heating systems. NEVER vacuum up the broken glass or what is around it. If you do, you will spread toxic mercury around your home! NEVER use a broom to clean up the spill. Never pour mercury down the drain. If your clothing comes into contact with the mercury, do NOT wash it in a washing machine. You must discard the clothing. This is the same for bedding, curtains, etc. You must throw it out if it comes into direct contact with the mercury. After 15 minutes, or when you re enter the room, put on rubber gloves and use a stiff piece of cardboard or paper to sweep everything up. Use sticky duct tape to get up small fragments. Put it into a glass jar such as a canning jar. Wipe down the area with damp towels while still wearing gloves. Put everything that has come in touch with the mercury, into this jar and seal the lid. Do NOT inhale any of the dust Do NOT put this glass jar in a household bin to throw out, Instead, take it to a counsel dump/recycling center in your area and put it where they put the batteries. Wash your hands and face If this spill happens in carpet or on a rug, you might consider throwing it out, or at least that section. If AFTER doing all of this, you need to vacuum the area at some point, make sure the a/c and heating systems are turned off in your home. Keep a window opened while you vacuum. When you finish, you must dispose of the vacuum bag in a sealed plastic bag. Wow. All because of a broken light bulb. How many people know that these bulbs are so dangerous? How many people will dispose of the mercury correctly? According to the EPA, "Nationwide, over 670 million mercury-containing bulbs are discarded each year. Most of these bulbs are still discarded with municipal solid waste that is ultimately landfilled or incinerated. These disposal methods can lead to a release of elemental mercury into the environment through breakage and leakage and ultimately contaminate the food chain." The EPA says this, and yet they somehow rationalize that using these bulbs is better because they use less energy. There are NO warnings on many of the the labels of these products, and the ones with warnings are in small print. You are not likely to read instructions on how to dispose of the toxic mercury if one breaks. To add insult to injury, our government is in the process of trying to make it a REQUIREMENT that we all use these mercury filled bulbs, and ONLY these bulbs. We will be required to put a toxic, easily breakable substance into our homes. And where will have to buy these wonderful products? You guessed it. They will all be made in ONLY one place...where else....China! Thank you America! That's my ten cents, And for once, I agree with a Republican- http://youtube.com/watch?v=e-LOtKIIKcg Peace, Jo

Saturday, jun 28, 2008 Beautiful Waterfalls in NYC New York City Waterfalls Olafur Eliasson is a Danish-Icelandic artist. In his first public art project, he has created four waterfalls that range from 90-120 feet in height. Altogether, 108 people including scientists, environmentalists, engineers and more, were part of making this possible. You can see the waterfalls in various parts of the city from June 26-Oct 13 2008 Check out the waterfall at Pier 35, north of the Manhattan Bridge, the waterfall in Brooklyn at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, a waterfall between pier 4 and 5 near the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, and a fourth on the north shore of Governor's Island. I took a picture of the waterfall on Governor's Island. It was just published in the ArtBeat Section of the NY TIMES. I told them this was the view from my apartment (From my windows, I see Governor's Island, which you see from Battery Park and the Financial District) Had I known they were going to print my description, I might have written something more professional than "The view from my apartment.!" But hey, this is cool- check this out. I'm the second photo down.... http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/27/new-york-city-waterfalls-reader-photos/

Wednesday, jun 25, 2008 The Secret "The Secret" (A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing) copyright Jo Davidson "Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and Jesus were not only prosperity teachers, but also millionaires themselves, with more affluent lifestyles than many present-day millionaires could conceive of." -The Secret You are all power. You are all wisdom. You are all intelligence. You are perfection. You are magnificence. You are the creator, and you are creating the creation of You on this planet." -The Secret I have alot of concerns and questions about this movie and book that has been circulating and given a HUGE boost by Oprah. It is full of many wonderful ideas and truths which work. But when you read things like the quotes above, you know that this is not a spiritually sound book or movie. The good things that The Secret offers can be found in other texts. For those people who have never heard of these positive thinking techniques that are offered in the book, some of them are exciting to discover. The problem is that like a wolf in sheep's clothing, the good stuff is mixed in with a whole lot of deception. As long as human beings have lived, we have been trying to explain suffering. We strive to give meaning to it, interpret it, get rid of it by all means, and then when it doesn't seem to go away, we cast blame. Who do we blame? Ourselves. Others. Circumstances beyond our control. Some say that everything is in our control. In a nutshell, this is the message of the movie THE SECRET. If you were raped, molested, have been through a war, have lost a job, are a child starving in poverty, or been given a diagnosis of an illness, you have created it. Always. This is the flawed foundation upon which this movie's thoughts are built. This longing to rid ourselves of suffering has been going on forever. We all want to feel good. Why do so many magazines sell over and over again when they are basically recycling the same articles? It is because the headlines start with "The Secret"….to weight loss, to great sex, to sleeping better, to being happy, to a more fulfilling career, to making more time for ourselves, and the list goes on. We rarely learn anything we don't already know, yet we keep buying magazines. The real problem is that we don't do what we already know how to do. Do you want to lose weight? As a wise 92 year old friend of mine recently announced, "Eat less and exercise everyday!" But I bet that won't sell magazines or books! A few years ago, I picked up a copy of a book by Esther and Jerry Hicks called "Ask and It Is Given." I became fascinated by their ideas of using emotions to heal. At first, I loved the book. In "Ask and It is Given," they claim that negative emotions always attract negative experiences, and higher ones which are positive, always attract positive experiences. There is some truth to this. If a woman is always complaining about how she wants to be with a man but they are all horrible, she probably doesn't have a very good chance of finding one. (She also won't be attracting friends like me who happen to love men, and would gladly hook her up on dates). If somebody believes that something is impossible for them, then it most likely will be. If someone believes something is possible, then they have a shot at it! And when we feel happy, we feel more confident, more alive, and more able to draw happy experiences into our lives. We also attract others into our lives who bring us joy as we do them. On the other side of the coin, sometimes we mistake charisma for character. This is a huge problem in our society today. Not only that, it is easy to mistake true suffering as a failure. For example, this "I can do anything, achieve anything, move any mountain sort of girl" somehow ended up facing two very challenging and devastating illnesses for 13 years. Cfids and Lyme. Both. Social life? Gone. Career? Put on hold. Daily activities? Almost zero. Hope? Hanging by a thread. My life became about surviving each day while I desperately searched for a cure. Right in the middle of the years when I had hoped to be building a career and starting a family, I was going through something I had never imagined, never thought into existence, never daydreamed about or wanted. Along the way I faced huge amounts of judgements, ignorance and endured harsh comments from people I knew to total strangers. But the longer this went on and the more I tried to cure my condition without success, the more I began to wonder; just what if this thing called illness- this thing that is supposedly some great failure of thinking, is actually a path that only the bravest, strongest souls take on? What if it is the people judging who are the ones who are weak? I remember one day a few years ago when I was in an especially grueling few months of insomnia. I also had very severe symptoms of extreme debilitating fatigue levels, brain fog, body pain, numbness and tingling, vertigo, strange headaches, blurry vision, shortness of breath, memory loss, and I was totally unable to even shower and blow dry my hair without landing in bed. I was doing my best. But the truth is, I felt like I was dying, and I think I was. I had several experiences of feeling like I was passing....and those were especially scary and sad times for me. I wanted with everything in me to live! To truly live! I just knew it wasn't my time to go. I kept telling myself, this too shall pass, and I kept focusing on my breathing. It was during this time that I had gathered every ounce of will power within me to stay afloat, when one day a "psychic" told me that I needed "the secret" more than anyone she knew. I felt like I had been slapped and kicked in the gut. Instead of applauding my courage, my strength, and encouraging me, this person chose to judge an experience that she herself had never experienced or survived. In the world of the so called law of attraction, illness is thought to be a massive failure. But it is not a failure. There is a gift in illness. It is that it develops in the one suffering, a new capacity for compassion. Long term, kick in the ass, devastating illness cures arrogance, spiritual or otherwise. It keeps us humble. I am actually very grateful for some of the lessons illness has given me, even as I have long been ready to be healed. I would never say to others many of the things that have been said to me. It makes me very happy that my heart and soul have been softened and molded in such a way that now I can help others more. I wish I would have come to this understanding through another path! I have a million questions for myself. Truthfully, there could be partial truths buried in all my questions, and yet not one contains the whole truth or explains this thing. I could spend years analyzing myself and still come up short. I learn what I can and then leave some things in the realm of mystery. I have judged myself enough and then some. But maybe cures are not always about the will, the ego, the right thoughts or feelings. Maybe we have to let go of our upside down world and its stories of what it means to be a hero. In our culture we honor the hero as being the one who overcomes, cures, forges onwards, gets up when the going gets tough, keeps working, lets nothing get in her way or stop her. But I wonder if maybe the hero is also the one who lives with a difficult reality with grace and still manages to love, have faith, hope and belief in her heart in something bigger, even with incredible limitations. This path might be the hardest one of all to walk. Can we leave room for both experiences to be considered successes? Can I? "Ask & It is Given" which is the basis of "The Secret," makes judgements. Good. Bad. Right. Wrong. Positive. Negative. Up. Down. Enlightened. Unaware. Dark. Light. It actually makes people think they should block out certain emotions because they are not the "right" ones. But in doing so, many people can get depressed. As I read this book, I began to strive to feel only my "higher" emotions. I began to think that anger, grief, fear, or despair were negative emotions that had little value in the life of someone who was happy, healthy and "evolved." I spent many nights before bed transcribing paragraphs from the book so that they would sink in. I felt uplifted and inspired. Most of all, I had that wonderful sense that I could be in control. Who wouldn't want that? And I certainly did not want to be doing or thinking anything that would prevent my healing. As I began to believe what I was reading, I also began to wrap myself up in a tidy if somewhat judgmental blanket of "I create everything that is in my reality." I was determined to take the driver's seat, and change my reality. This felt pretty darn good! I can make anything happen! Yes! There was however, a blaring red flag. Not only did Esther Hicks claim to be channeling "Abraham," but as I absorbed this book's message, I sensed myself disowning the "darker" aspects of myself and my contradictions, or feelings that might embarrass me. I also couldn't help but note that I began to judge others who were suffering even as I myself still was in the throws of an illness! I began to feel that somehow I was becoming more enlightened than others. I was going to come through and conquer all, through the power of my thinking! Oh the pride of it all! I saw myself becoming so spiritually evolved. Just as feeling inferior and feeling superior both stem from a fragile ego determined to claim its importance, so spiritual pride is just as false an illusion as having no belief at all. So what does it actually mean to become enlightened? What does spirituality look like without pride? Is it even spirituality once pride is a part of it? I began to realize that this whole notion of telling ourselves that some emotions are bad while others are good is false. Even Jesus felt anger and grief! ALL of our emotions are a part of our healing. They all have a place and a purpose for us. Imagine all of the wonderful art and music that would not exist if artists only created when they felt happy! There might be very little art in the world today! Without fear there would be no such thing as courage. Many times anger has helped me create boundaries. Expressing grief helps me to heal and even tears actually release toxins. There are no negative emotions. There are only stuck emotions. Anger, fear and sadness are not a problem unless those are the predominant emotions that fuel our lives. And truthfully, like the beauty of spring after a long winter, it is fear that makes courage all the stronger and sadness that makes joy so delicious! I decided to take the few good things I learned from this book by Esther and Jerry Hicks and throw out all the rest. I certainly don't believe that they were or are channeling Abraham. You have to be kidding me. A few months after working with the book "Ask & It Is Given," I picked up a copy of a movie called "The Secret." This was a few years ago, long before the media circus began to swirl around it. This movie was circulating underground among the new age thought and metaphysical circles. After shelling out over $30 for a DVD, I was expecting a fast paced movie dripping with "Da Vinci Code like scenes" such as the ones the movie's trailer suggested. I had no idea that the movie would basically be a collection of interviews touting the exact same principles I had read in "Ask & It is Given." In one of the first scenes, there was a huge "genie in the sky" saying "YOUR WISH IS MY COMMAND." This ego based spiritually is at the root of this movie and book. I always thought my prayers should be more along the lines of Thy will be done, rather than My will be done. But "The Secret" is all about my will. That is one of its huge flaws. Bob Proctor said, "We can dictate exactly what we want to come into our life. And with absolute certainty, it will come into our life." Wow. There are things I can control and things I can't. I don't make the sun set and rise, the stars shine, the ocean tides go in and out. I am not the one that makes the flowers grow and bloom, the lightening strike, the rain fall. I decided to take a closer look at "we can dictate exactly what we want to come into our life. And with absolute certainty, it will come into our life." Personally, I am grateful that not every single thing I have dictated has come into my life. Think of what chaos it would be if everything we each "dictated" happened! How would that work exactly if two opposing baseball teams each dictated that they were going to win the game? What would it be like if 1000 songwriters each dictated that they wanted to win the grand prize in a songwriting contest? What if two people entered a parking lot and each one dictated that they wanted the one parking spot available? Who gets it? The one with a stronger vibration for channeling God's, I mean, the genie's magic wand? In the secret, I heard Joe Vitale selling the theory that "everything that's in your life, including the things you're complaining about, you've attracted." We can change ALOT by what we focus or don't focus on. I know that is true, for sure! But it is not quite a simple as Joe's statement. Whatever works for us, we must be very discerning when it comes to where we get our inspiration and guidance from. Personally, I do not want to get my spirituality and my purpose from a man who has gone from being homeless to bragging about owning 300 luxury cars. I once spent a week in the slums of Haiti, and what passes off as enlightenment in America is often nothing more than gross materialism. If we believe that we can command a genie in the sky to do our wishes, then how can we explain the Holocaust? I am sure many people prayed and believed the war would end sooner rather than later. So many wonderful faith filled people suffered unspeakable things. I think of the poor children who were victims of the medical experiments. It's beyond my comprehension. Surely the creators of the secret don't believe that everyone who suffered including the children, somehow suffered because they didn't have enough faith or think the right thoughts? This line of thinking is what makes the movie's message cruel and inhumane. No spiritually grounded person could support this movie in its entire message. Can we say that a person who was killed in Rwanda and raped in Darfur attracted it? That each little girl or boy who has been molested has attracted it? Every child who has cancer has attracted it? There are some truths that one doesn't hear in this movie or read in this book. Things such as... We can attract material things into our lives without being particularly spiritual. Miracles and healings happen to people who deserve them as well as those who don't. This is called grace. Like attracts like. Opposites also attract, and they actually need each other for the other to exist. Dark. Light. Day. Night. Open. Closed. Fear. Courage. Up. Down. Maybe we need to let go of the idea of "the opposite." Maybe that opposite is in us, too. I use vision Maps regularly. They mention them in THE SECRET as well as other books. This is one of the best things I learned from these teachings on the law of attraction. I collect random words and images that I am drawn to, and glue them onto poster boards and place them where I see them everyday. It has made me very aware of the power of advertising! Just seeing these images on a poster board keeps them in the front of my mind and somehow creates in me a strong desire, a current, a flow towards manifesting these things so that they show up in my life. Vision maps are very powerful tools! I use to put the images in notebooks, but I have found they are even more powerful when placed on a large poster board. Many things have come true in my life from what I have put onto these maps. Beach scenes not only preceded my week long vacation to a Caribbean island, but a move to a waterfront property CT for a year. Now I have left CT and I have two more beach vacations this summer, a new beach house apartment in NJ and a NYC apartment with water views! So it has been water water everywhere, and I love it. However, what I did NOT ask for was to get lyme disease (again) in the oh so beautiful CT location that I spent last year in. Sometime we control what happens to us, and sometimes we can only do our best to figure out how to respond to what happens to us. I would like to propose a whole new way of doing vision maps. Instead of making vision maps full of mansions and jewelry and fancy cars and boats, how about making vision maps that show us how we might connect to others and be of service? This is what ultimately gives our lives meaning. When we invest in treasure that the world cannot destroy, then we are truly rich. As a child in church, I remember hearing that one of the best ways to pray was to start by thanking God for our blessings before making our requests. That gratitude brings a balance to our hearts and minds and bodies. Gratitude is something we can do even through trials and life challenges. Through anger and grief, confusion and tears, through joy and clarity, laughter and smiles, gratitude is what opens up a space for blessings and joy to flow in. Notice I used the word THROUGH. I believe that gratitude is like a raft, a life boat in a stormy sea. It might not make the storm go away, but it might keep you alive until the waters get calm again. Of course we always want to be on the mountain top of life, but as Arthur Caliandro once told me, "It is in the valleys where we grow." (Arthur Caliandro is the former senior pastor of Marble Collegiate Church in NYC, successor to Norman Vincent Peale). There are times when our intentions and our vision maps might manifest but not be for the greater good. On the far end of the scale, I am sure Hitler intended to massacre millions of Jews. I am sure that Osama Bin Laden intended to fly planes into the twin towers. I witnessed that act of intention with my own eyes from my window in NYC. Just because someone sets an intention and makes it come true does not mean that they are "enlightened." So we should be careful of following teachers just because they have been able to manifest their wishes onto the world. This does not prove that they are leaders worth following. Not every single thing from my maps have come true. This teaches me that I do not know everything. (As if I needed a reminder). This also shows me that if I become too attached to the things I want, I am not living fully now with what I already have. I have become aware that there is no end to my wish list. The funny thing about desire is that it usually creates more desire. Have you ever noticed that a newspaper is much more interesting when someone else is reading it next to you? Sometimes I get the things I wished for and find out they aren't all I thought they would be! Can we feel complete in this moment right here and now? Complete with all the messiness and imperfections of life? It is much easier to chase after something else that we think will give us the high we need to feel good. The entire advertising business is based upon the concept that we will be happier and more complete if only we buy whatever product is being advertised. A wise friend of mine who is a world reknowned doctor referred to the teachings from the secret as "psychological malpractice." The makers of "the secret" actually claim that the secret has been discovered, coveted, suppressed, hidden, lost and recovered. According to them, the secret has been hunted down, stolen and bought for vast sums of money. They say that for the first time in history these ideas are are presented in one place. (I guess the Bible didn't quite make the grade.) Don't believe them. These are all lies that they are telling. We are told that this so called secret to success was practiced by some of the greatest people who ever lived such as Plato, Einstein, Beethoven, Lincoln, Newton and others. But these men, just like me, just like you, had a mixed bag of human emotions to deal with. The very mixed bag that "The Secret" condemns. "I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth. Whether I shall ever be better I can not tell; I awfully forebode I shall not. To remain as I am is impossible; I must die or be better, it appears to me.: -Abraham Lincoln, Jan 23 1841 in a letter to John T Stuart, his first law partner In 1802 Beethoven suffered severely from depression brought on by the realization that he was losing his hearing. "As for me," Beethoven wrote, "I am in despair so often and would like to end my life." From one website, I learned that Newton often wrote for 18-19 hours a day, even ignoring meals and sleep. From another I learned that: "At the age of 50, he had a nervous breakdown brought on by depression and paranoia." And what about Einstein? Albert Einstein married a brilliant mathematician named Mileva Maric. In a time when women were not given choices and opportunities in education, she participated in her husbands' scientific work and is now deemed co-creator of his theory of relativity. Einstein worked obsessively, and sometime later began an affair with his cousin Elsa. He eventually divorced his first wife Mileva, leaving her with their two sons. She had a nervous breakdown. One winter Einstein got very sick and thought he had cancer, then a gall bladder problem. He was on his back for months. He moved into an apartment across from Elsa and her daughters. Then he temporarily decided he wanted to marry one of Elsa's daughters, named Ilse. (Can anyone say Woody Allen?) Ilse was not attracted to him and saw him as a father. In the end, he married his cousin Elsa in 1919 and he had many affairs during their marriage. She died in 1936. When Mileva died, at the age of 73, she was penniless, and her grave was unmarked. "I can love humanity, but when it comes to close relationships, I'm a horse for single harness. I failed twice, rather disgracefully." As for marriage: "An unsuccessful attempt to make something lasting out of an incident. All marriages are dangerous." -Albert Einstein--- I find it unbelievable that the movie touts these people as having lived the secret and at the same time condemns the type of thinking and behaviour that they all struggled with from time to time. WHY is nobody calling Rhonda Burns on this? She wrote the book, how could she get this so wrong? Yes these people were brilliant. They did great things. But they lived very real and very messy lives, like we all do if we are honest. Why are leaders like Oprah, ignoring the inconsistencies and the lies in this book and movie? I wonder if Jesus would have thought that spiritual people should never feel despair when while in a garden, he plunged into agonizing sorrow and prayed "This sorrow is crushing my life out." I wonder if Buddha would have thought that through his low energy field vibrations he had attracted the food poisoning that killed him. If very single prophet and saint to ever live (operating on the highest levels of consciousness) has died of something eventually, then why would we assume we are immortal? Why do we think that we can ever attain perfection in our lives if only we think the right thoughts or feel the right things? And what exactly IS perfection? If this is the only goal we have, then we, all of us, fall short. How about appreciating life's perfect moments in all their beauty, rather than thinking that every moment must be one in which we are filled with ecstasy and bliss? Is this moment, now, ever enough? Perhaps the secret to surviving any life challenge is in focusing on what we are grateful for even amidst the thorns. It is also letting ourselves cry when they cut us. If I block out my tears, I also block out my joy. The real source of our strength, happiness and our true purpose cannot be found in ourselves alone or even in manifesting every desire we have. And it is certainly not found in shutting down half of our emotions in order to only feel some of them. Our true happiness is found in our connection to the Divine whether we are in the shadows and valleys or standing on top of the mountain. Sometimes we just have to hang on for the ride and remember that this too shall pass. Whatever it is, it always does eventually. I was deeply disappointed when Oprah did her first show promoting this movie which brought it into the mainstream. One of the speakers said that when asked how we are, we should always answer "FANTASTIC!" But what if we don't feel fantastic? Is it ever permissible to just reply, "Ok?" After-all, if we are always pretending to be on 10, we don't have anywhere to go when we really DO feel fantastic. I can hardly imagine Jesus dying on the cross with nails in his hands and feet saying "I feel fantastic!" If I call up a friend who has the flu, I doubt they are going to say they feel fantastic! I have learned alot from the Secret and also from Ask & It is Given. I learned about putting more of my thoughts on what I want to create than on what I want to make go away. This has helped me at times alot. But I also learned that when we think we control every single thing, we become addicted to being in control. When we let go and honor the mysteries of life, we have space for compassion and kindness and for embracing our imperfections as part of our beautiful selves. We also find it easier to accept other people's weaknesses once we are aware of our own. Speaking of thoughts, I am not even sure that the way to God is through my thoughts and my thinking. It might be more through my feeling, my spirit, through some mysterious door that doesn't make sense to my intellect. The world is full of people spouting off their programs and formulas. Frankly, I have had it with these people. They might look spiritual and sound spiritual. They might look like they have it together, but if they are promoting this movie or book as the big answer to how to live a happy life, beware! We are all thirsty, and many people will buy into whatever they think will fill their emptiness. This is the drink of the moment. But there is another root where the true water comes from The Secret is full of imperfections just like all of us. We all seem to get some things right, and some things wrong. So we keep learning. True spirituality goes beyond the grasping of the ego, and I heard a lot of ego in this movie and book. There is a place and a space inside all of us where we can be free right here and now, even in this strange paradox of embracing suffering and happiness at times, simultaneously. There is no perfection, just perfect moments and the journey. The goal is not that we never become discouraged. The goal is that we take those times of feeling discouraged and utterly broken by life, and in them, allow our courage and strengths to shine through. What we focus on does indeed expand. On the flip side, sometimes things show up when we were not thinking about them at all. And there have also been many fleeting thoughts and daydreams I have had in my life that have NEVER become reality! Thank God there is a bigger plan beyond me and my thoughts, beyond my ego thinking mind.We are not failures or somehow less enlightened when we suffer as we face challenges that test us beyond what we ever imagined we could bear.We are strong when we respond with courage rather than blame, and openness to learning rather than arrogance in having all the answers. Those who go through major challenges and illnesses are sometimes meant to go through these things in order to emerge as great healers. To say that these initiation periods are failures, is to dishonor the soul journey of individuals who are bravely forgiving paths through a wilderness that most others might never survive. The kingdom of God might be within me, but it is also bigger than me and outside of me, in the same way that the songs I write are a part of my life force and energy and yet are not all of me. I am not God. I was created by God. This is my belief. We are here to love ourselves and love others. It is in appreciating all of our emotions, (contradictions and all), staying connected to gratitude, and embracing rather than trying to solve this great thing called mystery that we develop maturity. Perhaps suffering is not always meant to be understood. Perhaps it is the journey itself of seeking to understand, that is this beautiful thing called life.

Monday, jun 23, 2008 The Moon & Me Tonite I had a talk with the moon. I told her that I hate how I look when I am covered in clouds. She told me that she has different sides of her too, “and anyway, people usually see what they want to see.” She slid into the night clouds and shadows like she was slipping into a silky nightgown. I watched her disappear. When she came back, she was in a playful mood. She told me I was beautiful. She said, “You are seductive, and intriguing.” Then she added, “You stimulate, you sharpen, you seduce, you kill, you penetrate, you touch, you provide enig