smoke-free

In with the new…. “cutting” the year ahead

IMG_1835This year started on the right foot …friends, family and rethinking modern time challenges. Traveling across continents helps one understand what younger and older people are influenced by and what brings the integenerations together! On New Year’s Eve I attended a smoke-free event, on New Year’s Day I read two popular magazines — one local and one national — a renowned national newspaper, learned about an odd game of “Cards Against Humanity”, and partook in some sing-a-long activities.

imageStarting with the last most unpolitically correct game I suppose the linguistic humorists make the “cut” here ….. personally not sure I like it but it got people off their mobile smartphones!

Regarding language, reading a great article in the local New England Magazine December 2018 issue (photo above) by clinical social worker Andrew Aaron I read a great term “emotional hibernation”. The focus was about how much people  don’t communicate and “in-pain partners look for a sign to be valued waiting for the cold winter of insensitivity to pass in the warm spring of love to arrive” (p. 55). Openess is indeed an essential aspect of love and what’s needed in the new year! And what about our over-indulgence and need for “likes” in social media creating anxiety and FOMO (fear of missing out)?!

We took about 45 minutes with the older generation singing around “Kostas” the bouzouki player giving me hope in inter-generation of community involvement with the power of music. It got the kids off their tablets and slowly young adults coming in. This should be a requirement of community health literacy.imageSpeaking of community living, many of us around the globe take for granted our hair and clothes not stinking from smoke as others abuse our rights for clean air.  Such a logical and simple thing! To think that many of us in the 1980s and 1990s lived the Big Tobacco fights to witnesss their ever ending expansion into the rest of the unsuspecting world.

What resolutions and good habits do you want to start in the new year ahead!? Food for thought no matter how you cut your New Year’s cake, well wishes & happy 2019 to all.

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Valentine Health Messages

One of my favorite romance movies is Chocolat, not only because of all-star actors like Depp, Binoche and Dench, but the priceless moment is when the town’s Mayor gorges himself full of chocolate which his overly Catholic moral self would not allow, and gets caught…  Dark chocolate in particular has always had medicinal properties, a surprising antioxidant super food according to Paleohacks!   Anyone who savors chocolate everything would appreciate being invited to a chocolate-tea party or in the spirit of the season an “anti-Valentine’s party,” but really why not focus on positivity of social support rather than the lonely hearts club?

Another great romance and true-to-life story of Elizabeth Gilbert in her book and later Hollywood movie Eat, Pray, Love speaks true of overcoming one’s fear of healthy relationships (commitment phobics you need to work on it!), enjoying the moment with terrific food, praying (cultivating spirituality and mindfulness), and of course having an openness to love. Perhaps fun messages on candy (or cinnamon hearts, one of my favorites), cool cards, heart shaped chocolate boxes, an overrated pressure of getting it ‘right’ on Valentine’s day… leaves a lot to be desired. Having a truly healthy mind, healthy body, healthy spirit, are true achievements of an overall healthy life including building and maintaining health literacy.  Gilbert got it, Snoopy got it, do we all get it?

Do you love the names “Valentina” or “Valentino” (female and male versions) perhaps because they are polysyllabic, or that they conjure up visions of kissing the silent movie actor, Rudolph Valentino, near an Italian stream as in the dream of the mid 80’s band The Bangles?  Then there is the truth of the ever-popular 3rd century Saint Valentine, becoming popular among many cultures around the world, supporting the practice of marrying lovers despite the decree of the then Catholic Church, and ultimately for his practices being beheaded in punishment. A gruesome reality of those times.

Happily we went to a cafe-restaurant (Dtale cafe) that maintains a smoke-free environment, which in this part of the world is always a positive and needed to prevent second-hand or passive smoking. In addition to their fabulous dishes, coffee and desserts, they have a great addition of objects with fun messages…. regardless of what you do this V-day, enjoy the food and your company, you deserve it!