Seriously; after watching that short video, how many times have you ever found yourself in traffic and you’re running late and you can’t seem to get anyone on the road to MOVE out of your way? Or you seem to hit every red light on your journey and think what a waste of time it was to just sit there? How about that time that your debit card got declined in the grocery line?

I’m sure most of you have experienced some type of anxiety that just makes your blood boil. I actually know people that cannot control their fight or flight response to such a point that they could be prime candidates for high blood pressure, heart problems and more!

Let’s explain why this happens and what your anxious reaction to these occurrences in your life actually does to your body.

Our response to these types of situations is called the fight-or-flight response, also known as the acute stress response, and refers to a physiological reaction that occurs in the presence of something that is terrifying, either mentally or physically. The response is triggered by the release of hormones that prepare your body to either stay and deal with a threat or to run away to safety.

The fight-or-flight response was first described in the 1920s by American physiologist Walter Cannon.

Cannon realized that a chain of rapidly occurring reactions inside the body help mobilize the body’s resources to deal with threatening circumstances.

How does it work?

**A threat is perceived
**The autonomic nervous system automatically puts body on alert.
**The adrenal cortex automatically releases stress hormones.
**The heart automatically beats harder and more rapidly.
**Breathing automatically becomes more rapid.
**Thyroid gland automatically stimulates the metabolism.
**Larger muscles automatically receive more oxygenated blood.

The important thing to take away is that the fight or flight response is an automatic response.

Now here’s where this great automatic response needs to be controlled by us!

False alarms!

Even though the fight or flight response is automatic, it isn’t always accurate. In fact most of the time when the fight or flight response is triggered it is a false alarm – there is no threat to survival. The part of the brain the initiates the automatic part of the fight or flight response, the amygdala, can’t distinguish between a real threat and a perceived threat. You’re not going to die if you sit at that red light for 3 minutes! Or yelling at everyone in traffic surely won’t get it to move any faster.

Chill, no, freeze!

Sometimes the perceived threat is so intense it triggers a “freeze” response. This could be interpreted as the brain being overwhelmed by the threat, or it could also be an adaptive / positive response to a threat. It probably evolved in humans and animals as a way of “keeping still” so a predator’s attention would not be triggered by movement.

Either way, for modern humans the freeze response means that the muscles remain tensed and poised for action….action that is never really initiated. That’s why we often get “knots” in our backs, shoulders, neck, and arms. We have not discharged the tension.

In most cases today, once our fight or flight response is activated, we cannot flee. We cannot fight. We cannot physically run from our perceived threats. When we are faced with modern day, saber tooth tigers, we have to sit in our office and “control ourselves.” We have to sit in traffic and “deal with it.” We have to wait until the bank opens to “handle” the bounced check. In short, many of the major stresses today trigger the full activation of our fight or flight response, causing us to become aggressive, hypervigilant and over-reactive. This aggressiveness, over-reactivity and hypervigilance cause us to act or respond in ways that are actually counter-productive to our survival. Consider road rage in Los Angeles and other major cities.

It is counterproductive to punch out the boss (the fight response) when s/he activates our fight or flight response. (Even though it might bring temporary relief to our tension!) It is counterproductive to run away from the boss (the flight response) when s/he activates our fight or flight response. This all leads to a difficult situation in which our automatic, predictable and unconscious fight or flight response causes behavior that can actually be self-defeating and work against our emotional, psychological and spiritual survival.

Suppose on Saturday afternoon you go to the grocery store. You have a cart full of food and when you go to pay with your ATM card, it is declined. You don’t understand, you made a deposit just yesterday and there should be money in your account. Your heart starts beating wildly, you are stunned. Your fight or flight has been activated. You decide to run (by walking out of the store embarrassed), but you haven’t solved the problem. You can fight but with who? The cashier only knows your card has been declined, she has no way of checking the balance or activity on the account. The bank is closed until Monday. Instead you are left with a feeling of apprehension for two days. Your fight or flight response remains, you stay on high alert for two days. When your fight or flight response has been activated, everything in your surroundings becomes a potential threat. You spend the weekend jumpy and agitated. Since the fight or flight response diverts blood and resources away from your digestive tract, you don’t eat much (which is good since you couldn’t buy food). Your adrenaline is pumping, so you don’t sleep much. By Monday morning, you are angry and go to the bank ready to fight.

In the past, when we were confronted with fears like lions and tigers and bears (oh,my), the danger was immediate and usually passed relatively quickly. Our fight and flight was activated, helped us and then was deactivated. In today’s world, it doesn’t always deactivate as you can see from the above example.

Some experts believe people with anxiety have a hypersensitive fight or flight response. That is, it activates without much provocation or with no provocation at all. Even a perceived danger can make you go into full blown fight or flight. Once you do, everything around you becomes a possible danger and you become overly anxious. You see the world as a fearful place. You are stuck in “survival mode.”

The best part about learning all of this is that we now will recognize the symptoms and signs of being in the ‘fight-or-flight’ and begin to take steps to overcome the stress overload.

It served our ancestors well, but it has a cost. Staying physiologically on guard against a threat eventually wears down the body’s natural defenses. In this way, suffering from frequent stress —or frequently interpreting experiences as stressful —can create a serious health risk: an essentially healthy stress response can become distress.

So what we’ve learned here basically is to

STAY CALM AND REMAIN HEALTHY!

Valerie

Why is it that when a woman receives flowers – even daisies, roses or carnations – the first thing she does is “smell” them? Even if they don’t knowingly emit a fragrance?

Or how about when at a perfume counter where we’re presented with several new fragrances to test – we go to “smell” them? Why not just apply it first and then smell it?

Same goes for tasting foods – either we’re not going to taste something new at all or we are very stingy about the portion size; squint and cringe prior to the plunge.

Why such dramatic responses to something that would appear so slight?

After all; “that scent reminded me when I was sick” or “that smells like my grandmother – get that away from me!” or how about “that smell reminds me of the wonderful honeymoon we shared!”. Or “that tastes like my mother’s recipe and takes me back “. All tied up to the wonderment of life with positive or negative reactors.

Now a lot of people that I’ve spoken to – this doesn’t seem to affect them as much as it does me in the least. But then all of a sudden; those same people might react violently to a scent or a taste with a very powerful display of dissatisfaction. Why is that?

It is likely that much of our emotional response to smell is governed by association, something which is borne out by the fact that different people can have completely different perceptions of the same smell. Take perfume for example; one person may find a particular brand ‘powerful’, ‘aromatic’ and ‘heady’, with another describing it as ‘overpowering’, ‘sickly’ and ‘nauseating’. Despite this, however, there are certain smells that all humans find repugnant, largely because they warn us of danger; the smell of smoke, for example, or of rotten food.  

A smell can bring on a flood of memories, influence people’s moods and even affect their work performance. Because the olfactory bulb is part of the brain’s limbic system, an area so closely associated with memory and feeling it’s sometimes called the “emotional brain,” smell can call up memories and powerful responses almost instantaneously.

Here’s the reason why this happens:

Upon detecting a smell the olfactory neurones in the upper part of the nose generate an impulse which is passed to the brain along the olfactory nerve. The part of the brain this arrives at first is called the olfactory bulb, which processes the signal and then passes information about the smell to other areas closely connected to it, collectively known as the limbic system.
The olfactory bulb has intimate access to the amygdala, which processes emotion, and the hippocampus, which is responsible for associative learning.

A more scientific example:

Despite the tight wiring, however, smells would not trigger memories if it weren’t for conditioned responses. When you first smell a new scent, you link it to an event, a person, a thing or even a moment. Your brain forges a link between the smell and a memory — associating the smell of chlorine with summers at the pool or lilies with a funeral. When you encounter the smell again, the link is already there, ready to elicit a memory or a mood. Chlorine might call up a specific pool-related memory or simply make you feel content. Lilies might agitate you without your knowing why. This is part of the reason why not everyone likes the same smells.

Now, take my father for a prime example. An authentic Italian thru and thru – just couldn’t stomach garlic! Really? An Italian that doesn’t like garlic? At one point in his life he had gotten sick from so much garlic and every time he tasted it – it reminded him of that incident. And he also couldn’t stand cloves and their taste. When he was a child and had teeth extracted or any dental work done (that happened to be very painful); a clove fragrant/tasting deadening agent was always used to numb his gums – so no cloves for him!

Smell is very highly emotive.  The perfume industry is built around this connection, with perfumers developing fragrances that seek to convey a vast array of emotions and feelings; from desire to power, vitality to relaxation.

On a more personal level, smell is extremely important when it comes to attraction between two people.  Research has shown that our body odor, produced by the genes which make up our immune system, can help us subconsciously choose our partners.  Kissing is thought by some scientists to have developed from sniffing; that first kiss being essentially a primal behavior during which we smell and taste our partner to decide if they are a match.

With the knowledge that I’ve shared in this post….I will leave you with a couple of very profound writer’s rendition of how smells and tastes can define you….

From a writer’s point of view:


In Marcel Proust’s novel Swann’s Way, the first volume of Remembrance of Things Past, the narrator describes a day when he broke from his afternoon habit to have a cake called a petite madeleine dissolved in tea. “I raised to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had soaked a morsel of the cake,” he writes. “A shudder ran through my whole body, and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary changes that were taking place.” A feeling of “all-powerful joy” filled him; he knew it was connected to the tea and cake, but not how. He dug through his mind. Eventually, a memory emerged from the distant past. “The taste was that of the little crumb of madeleine which on Sunday morning at Combray … my aunt Léonie used to give me, dipping it first in her own cup of real or of lime-flower tea.” Once he recognized the flavor, it all came back: “the flowers in our garden and in M. Swann’s park, and the water-lilies on the Vivonne and the good folk of the village and their little dwellings and the parish church and the whole of Combray and its surroundings, taking their proper shapes and growing solid, sprang into being, town and gardens alike, from my cup of tea.”

Proust was fascinated with time and memory. In this famous passage, he describes how a flavor drags his character back to the past. Recent research has found the science to support Proust’s observations. The memories associated with smell — and the flavor of a food comes mostly from its smell — are more emotional and more likely to come from early life than memories evoked by other senses.

In many ways, a great dish is like a great memoir: in both, the salty, the bitter, the sweet and the tart must be in perfect balance to succeed. The memoir writer relies on nostalgia and sentimentality, but without horror and tragedy to leaven the sweetness, well, it wouldn’t be life, would it?

To some degree another famed author; Alfred Kazin depends on the reader’s memory of raw radishes and the hot heaviness of summer to evoke the sweet deliverance of his family’s well-chilled meal.

“In the sink,” he writes in “A Walker in the City,” “a great sandy pile of radishes, lettuces, tomatoes, cucumbers, and scallions broke up on their stark greens and reds the harshness of the world’s daily monotony. The window shade by the sewing machine was drawn, its tab baking in the sun. Through the screen came the chant of the score being called up from the last handball game below. Our front door was open, to let in air; you could hear the boys on the roof scuffing their shoes against the gravel. Then, my father home to the smell of paint in the hall, we sat down to chopped cucumbers floating in the ice-cold borscht, radishes and tomatoes and lettuce in sour cream, a mound of corn just out of the pot steaming on the table, the butter slowly melting in a cracked blue soup plate — breathing hard against the heat, we sat down together at last.”

Oh….the sweet memories — makes me want to write!!

Valerie

per·cep·tion
pərˈsepSH(ə)n/
noun
noun: perception; plural noun: perceptions
1. the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses.
“the normal limits to human perception”
the state of being or process of becoming aware of something through the senses.
“the perception of pain”

When I was contemplating what my next post would be about; I dug deep into my mind to conjure up a topic. In doing so, I thought back to when I was a child to develop my story.

Remember revisiting your preschool or kindergarten classroom once you were older, and realizing all those tables and sinks that are normal-sized in your memory were actually miniature? And that the giant hill you used to struggle up is more of a mound?

I had just recently revisited the house that I grew up in that I hadn’t seen since I was a child. My memory of the house and the way the house actually appeared to me as an adult was very different. Of course the house was about 40 years older and more run down, but I took all of that into consideration.

The house shrunk!

Every bit of the glamour and the immensity was gone. Stolen from me. What had the many owners of this house since my father built it, done to it? It was as if they dropped it into a washing machine in hot water! The huge kitchen that I thought we had; and even in old photos seemed ‘huge’, wasn’t huge at all. The fantastic multi-level design my father created seemed menial and off center. The circular drive that I loved so much riding my bike and roller-skating around was not so great after all. I was crushed! My childhood bedroom was the size of a walk in closet! What was my dad thinking when he designed this place?

Or could it be the “Alice in Wonderland” syndrome? A disorienting neurological condition that affects human perception….NO! But close…..We perceive the world around us very differently as adults compared to back when we were kids.

All of which brings me to “perception”. How we see things as children, or adults and how circumstances and instances in our lives also affect how we perceive the world around us.

There was a recent scientific study that can actually return you to that earlier state, seeing objects and places as we did when we were little. Sound cool huh?

A group of European researchers found that seeing the world through someone else’s eyes is possible—and it can change how we think. By tricking subjects’ brains into thinking they were inhabiting the body of a child, the scientists could actually alter how people perceived objects in their environment. The subjects wore virtual-reality goggles that let them see through the eyes of a virtual body. The avatar’s movements were matched to their own with motion tracking, and subjects could watch their virtual bodies in a mirror while they moved and stretched.

Although the virtual body matched a subject’s movements, it didn’t match his or her size. The avatars were all miniature people–either a child about four years old, or an adult scaled down to the same height.

With either kind of small body, subjects reported that they felt an illusion that the avatar’s body was their own. Researchers quantified this by having subjects look at different-sized objects in the virtual world and hold out their hands to indicate how wide the objects were.

Size perception is always tied to the size of your own body, Slater says, so all subjects overestimated the size of the objects they saw. The same thing happened in an earlier rubber-hand study that had subjects inhabiting both tiny and giant bodies.

Although the virtual body matched a subject’s movements, it didn’t match his or her size. The avatars were all miniature people–either a child about four years old, or an adult scaled down to the same height.

But with a child’s body, the effect was significantly greater. The subjects virtually inhabiting a four-year-old’s body perceived objects as even larger than people inhabiting a small adult body did.

The scientists had experienced the illusion themselves as well.  Claiming that it was very powerful and strange to see yourself in a mirror as a small child, maybe stranger, even, than those tiny sinks.

One last thought:

Remember how everyone looked so old to us as kids? They still do!!!

Valerie

As far back as I can remember my family ate healthy. We used to make a trip to the health food store at least twice a week – unlike most kids’ trips to the dime store who were left at the lunch counter to have some greasy french fries and a grilled cheese sandwich;usually at a Woolworth’s store.

Instead, my mother left me at the juice counter at the health food store to have a vegetable drink while she shopped. The juice usually consisted of carrots, celery and apples mainly and it was pretty good.

Now I grant you that the greasy stuff was probably tastier and more satisfying; but at the same time I surely can’t complain about being healthy.

I know; it was a sheltered life….but…what can I say?

So, ever since then I’ve been a connoisseur of healthy eating and trying to help people understand what they’re eating and how “you are what you eat” literally!

If you’ve been following my posts for this challenge; you might remember me mentioning a private Facebook group I created as a result of a book that I put together for friends and family. I’ve grabbed a few files I posted there to elaborate on here. Here’s the link to the group. Let me know if you’d be interested in being a part of the group; which could spark some inspiration to reignite the group again. I haven’t kept up with it for quite some time and need a little shove.

Facebook “The Healthy Approach” Group

Now that we’ve stuffed ourselves with all the wonderfulness of our Thanksgiving dinners – it’s time to get back to the basics of eating healthy…

I’ve taken the liberty of throwing together a small list of the most common foods that people mistake for being healthy…

Listed below are 10 common foods that people mistake as healthy, with tips for what to choose instead and what to look for in each particular item.

1. Yogurt/Frozen Yogurt

Mistake: Don’t let the probiotics and good bacteria fool you – most yogurts are packed with added sugar and high-fructose corn syrup. The same goes for frozen yogurt. Though it may seem low in calories and low in fat, the sugar converts to fat once it enters the bloodstream.
Better Option: Opt for Greek yogurt as it’s higher in protein and choose plain over flavored. Add in your own fresh fruit, a few raw nuts and/or ground flaxseeds and sweeten with a touch of raw honey.

2. Agave Nectar

Mistake: Though most health food stores carry it, the trendy sugar substitute, agave nectar, shockingly contains 70 to 80 percent fructose, which is more than what’s found in high-fructose corn syrup. Most agave is laboratory-generated super-condensed fructose syrup, without any nutrients.
Better Option: For sweeteners, choose raw honey, 100% pure grade A maple syrup, dates or stevia.

3. Cereal/Instant Oatmeal

Mistake: Sadly enough, this staple American breakfast food is not real food. Most cereals contain nasty additives, including artificial coloring, sugar and GMO’s. As far as instant oatmeal goes, most kinds contain tons of added sugar and are partially cooked and dried for fast preparation. Because it has been processed, it is broken down and digested quicker, giving it a higher glycemic index.
Better Option: For those who simply can’t live without their cereal fix, look for varieties with as few ingredients as possible and make sure you actually know what each ingredient is. There should be no more than 200 calories per cup, no more than 5 grams of sugar and at least 3 grams of fiber for lighter cereals (1 ounce per serving) and at least 6 grams of fiber for heavier cereals (2 ounces per serving). Also, pay attention to where the sugar is coming from.
For oatmeal, chose old-fashioned rolled oats or steel cut. Though these take longer to cook than instant oatmeal and are not as convenient, you can make a big batch on Sunday to portion out for breakfast during the week.

4. Snack/Protein Bars

Mistake: Like cereal, reading the labels is crucial! Bars are notorious for sneaking as many ingredients into one seemingly small, “healthy” snack as possible. People often choose bars as an easy, on-the-go snack, thinking it is a healthy choice, but most bars are similar to processed candy bars.
Better Option: Look for bars that are under 200 calories, less than 5 grams of sugar (unless the sugar is coming from natural sources – dates, figs, etc.) and that are high in fiber and protein (at least five grams of each). Look for bars made of oats, nuts and dried fruit and that have no more than 5 ingredients.
Of course, healthier than eating bars are fresh fruit, vegetables and nuts, all of which are easy, on-the-go snacks that are whole foods.

5. Skim Milk

Mistake: Skim milk is fortified with synthetic vitamins to replace those lost in fat-removal and milk solids to replace the protein and calcium lost in processing. Just one cup of skim milk contains 90 calories and 12 grams of sugar.
Better Option: Opt for unsweetened almond, coconut or hemp milk. The calories will be cut in half and without any sugar. They also won’t contain the nasty additives found in dairy milk.

6. Whole Wheat and Multigrain Breads

Mistake: If you’re a whole wheat bread eater, you may want to sit down for this one. Though you were doing your best to try and make good choices, sadly enough, whole wheat bread is white bread in disguise. It’s usually a combination of white bread and just enough wheat flour to pass as something multigrain and “healthy.”
Multigrain bread isn’t any better, containing enriched flour; so essentially, you may as well be eating white bread. Enriched flour causes a spike in blood sugar and crash without any nutritional value, thus stimulating hunger. Most bread also contains hydrogenated oil, artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup and preservatives.
Better Option: To get your bread fix, look for sprouted grain bread such as Ezekiel and Manna. Another healthy alternative is Mochi; Grainaissance makes a good one that’s 100% organic whole grain brown rice.

7. Peanut Butter

Mistake: Most peanut butters are heavily processed and contain added sugar, hydrogenated trans fats and are often contaminated with pesticides. Natural peanut butter isn’t any better because it is more susceptible to toxic mold growth. Additionally, all peanut butter contains oxalates, which eventually crystallize in the body and can lead to health problems.
Better Option: Choose natural almond, sunflower, or cashew butter for healthier options. Make sure there aren’t any added sugars or fats. And bonus if they are in raw form.

8. Trail Mix 

Mistake: Pre-packaged trail mixes are often loaded with added oils, sugars and artificial coloring (those colored chocolate pieces that look like candy!). This seemingly healthy snack packs a ton of calories, fat and sugar with nuts that contain added oil and lots of sodium, dried fruit with added sugar and chocolate candies.
Better Option: Make your own trail mix with raw nuts, cacao nibs, coconut flakes and dried, unsweetened fruit. If you want that salty fix, add your own!

9. Frozen Diet Meals

Mistake: Frozen diet meals are processed and packed with preservatives and chemicals and are very high in sodium. Additionally, they’re usually marketed as healthier versions of unhealthy foods: macaroni and cheese, fettuccini alfredo, enchiladas, lasagna, etc. They may cut calories and fat from the traditional versions, but don’t help those trying to live a healthier lifestyle – they actually trick the taste buds into craving these unhealthy foods.
Better Option: Choose whole foods. Diet meals are often selected because they are easy and portion controlled, but you’d be surprised at how simple it is to prepare healthy whole foods on your own. Home cooking, with a bit of planning, can be quick and easy and is a sure way to avoid chemicals and food additives.

10. Fat-Free Foods

Mistake: Fat-free is usually an indicator of the product being chemical and sugar-loaded. When the fat is removed, food manufacturers add sugar to make up for the taste. Sugar turns to fat once inside the bloodstream. Additionally, when fat is removed, it is taking the food further away from its natural state, which is never good. Fat won’t make a person fat, but sugar will.
Better Option: Don’t be afraid of fat; just choose wisely – avocados, olive oil, nuts, seeds, coconut, salmon and olives are all awesome!

Enjoy some healthy eating – at least for a few weeks before Christmas rolls around!!! That’s a whole other story!!

Valerie

“Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?” “The Shadow Knows!”

How many of you heard this as a child in some form or another? My father used to act silly and say it with a weird, crazy laugh after it…like…. “moo whoo hoo haha ha” –

I don’t know if that even makes any sense at all! I guess it was intended to be a scary thing! And then we always would ask “Who is the Shadow Anyways?”

I grew up thinking it was my dad and that he was the smartest man of all! That he could see everything and he knew EVERYTHING! As a matter of fact; when my children were little and my father tried it with them; they thought he was saying “The Shadow’s NOSE” all the while! And being as though my father had a Jimmy Durante shaped nose; (for those of you who don’t know Jimmy Durante – let’s just say he had a “big” nose);

So my kids thought that the Shadow’s NOSE was my father’s! Now how did my father do it? All kids thought somehow my dad was related in some magical way to the “Shadow”! And that he had ‘scary’ tendencies but KNEW ALL!

So – here’s the story

The Shadow is a collection of serialized dramas, originally in 1930s pulp novels, and then in a wide variety of media. Details of the title character have varied across various media, but he is generally depicted as a crime-fighting vigilante with psychic powers posing as a “wealthy, young man about town”. One of the most famous adventure heroes of the twentieth century, The Shadow has been featured on the radio, in a long-running pulp magazine series, in comic books, comic strips, television, serials, video games, and at least five motion pictures. The radio drama is well-remembered for those episodes voiced by Orson Welles.

Ah Ha! I see; said the blind man as he took his hammer and saw! (play on words) (another old saying)

Now I get it – my father obviously read the novels and heard the radio show to know so much about it and to use it the way he did with us.

The Shadow debuted on July 31, 1930, as the mysterious narrator of the Street and Smith radio program Detective Story Hour. After gaining popularity among the show’s listeners, the narrator became the star of The Shadow Magazine on April 1, 1931.

On September 26, 1937, The Shadow radio drama premiered with the story “The Deathhouse Rescue”, in which The Shadow was characterized as having “the power to cloud men’s minds so they cannot see him.” As in the magazine stories, The Shadow was not given the literal ability to become invisible.

All these years later; this explains a lot for me. My dad grew up in New York city and his room was right outside the fire escape of the apartment building. When it was lights out for him; he would sneak out to the fire escape and read from the street light – comic books usually – but somehow I can imagine him reading the Shadow’s magazine series; amongst all his science fiction comics too. Hence; why he became a creative writer; and especially a writer of science fiction novels!

A kid going out on a fire escape in the dead of night? If that wasn’t scary enough!

But I’m still intrigued about “the Shadow”

The introduction from The Shadow radio program “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!”, has earned a place in the American idiom. These words were accompanied by an ominous laugh and a musical theme, . At the end of each episode The Shadow reminded listeners that, “The weed of crime bears bitter fruit. Crime does not pay… The Shadow knows!”

The character and look of The Shadow gradually evolved over his lengthy fictional existence:
As depicted in the pulps, The Shadow wore a wide brimmed black hat and a black, crimson-lined cloak with an upturned collar over a standard black business suit.

In the 1940s comic books, the later comic book series, both the cloak and scarf covered either a black double-breasted trench coat or a regular black suit. As seen in some of the later comics series, The Shadow would also wear his hat and scarf with either a black Inverness coat or Inverness cape.

I get the picture now; he comes off as being scary; spooky and SMART!

In the radio drama, which debuted in 1937, The Shadow was an invisible avenger who had learned, while “traveling through East Asia,” “the mysterious power to cloud men’s minds, so they could not see him.” This feature of the character was born out of necessity: time constraints of 1930s radio made it difficult to explain to listeners where The Shadow was hiding and how he was remaining concealed.

Catch a brief excerpt of the radio show

Thus, the character was given the power to escape human sight. Voice effects were added to suggest The Shadow’s seeming omnipresence. In order to explain this power, The Shadow was described as a master of hypnotism, as explicitly stated in several radio episodes.

The Shadow also faces a wide variety of enemies, ranging from kingpins and mad scientists to international spies and “super-villains,” many of whom were predecessors to the rogues galleries of comic super-heroes.

We love this stuff! Our world demands that there be law and order. Society must have rules to keep the bad guys in check. And at the end of the story the good guys live happily ever after. But who knows what the Shadow knows? Perhaps only he can see —

SIN UNDER THE SKIN

And now is where I dig a little deeper – because – this Shadow sounded like more of a majestic icon – and that it could’ve been derived from a more powerful being??

It’s actually somewhere in the Bible that there is nothing outside a person that by going into
him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.

SIN UNDER THE SKIN

It seems that in the Bible God turns the legalistic world upside down, revealing the danger and evil lurking in the hearts of man. He targets the invisible —

SIN UNDER THE SKIN

According to the Bible there are terrible side-effects that could erupt
without warning at any time? They are deadly, fatal, and come from the –

SIN UNDER THE SKIN

“Who knows what evil lurks within the hearts
of men? Only God knows!

It is somewhat of a different twist — that I knew I had heard from somewhere other than “The Shadow’s Nose”!

Was it really my dad? And the SHADOW really does have a BIG NOSE !!!!!!!!

Valerie

Oh no! It’s gray hair? This can’t be happening!!

When I first saw the signs of graying in my hair – the first thing I said was:

GOTTA WASH THAT GREY RIGHT OUTTA MY HAIR!!!

Who remembers this commercial? Don’t know if I want her hair – lots of it for sure! But the message is there!

Ever have this feeling???

Wait till you see what I came across……….

I believe the following to be true now…after my most recent experience!!!!!

I’m so EXCITED!!!! Just had a revelation last night coloring my roots!!!! I usually only have some gray roots on the crown and near my face area…not the rest of the head (yet)…and..Almost ALL of those roots were dark brown and not gray! I must be doing something right!

Then I came across what I was doing RIGHT….

A HEALTHY DIET MAY KEEP YOUR HAIR COLOR LONGER

Your diet represents one of the most powerful predictors of your health status. Poor nutrition plays a role in the development and progression of a wide range of diseases, including diabetes, obesity and heart disease. A poor diet can lead to premature graying as well. If you have noticed gray strands sneaking into your otherwise healthy head of hair, it may be a clue that you need to re-examine your diet.

BACKGROUND

While the exact cause of gray hair remains illusive, genetic differences account for some instances of graying hair. Most commonly, gray hair is related to aging, but you don’t have to be in your golden years to experience loss of hair color. Melanin — a natural pigment — provides your hair with its illustrious color. A poor diet can interfere with your body’s ability to produce melanin in your hair follicles, leading to gray hair.

COPPER

Scientists are zeroing in on specific nutrient deficiencies related to gray hair. Researchers assessed the relationship between iron, copper and zinc concentrations in premature-graying individuals. Of the three nutrients, individuals with gray hair had significantly lower copper levels than the control group, according to a study published in the April 2012 issue of the journal “Biological Trace Elemental Research.” Your body requires copper to produce pigment for your skin and hair. Copper-rich foods include dark leafy greens, nuts, beans, shellfish and fruits such as avocado, bananas, tomatoes and grapes.

FOLATE AND B-12

The B vitamins work together to help your body perform various physiological functions. Of these functions, B vitamins help produce DNA, the building blocks of your entire body. Significantly, folate and B-12 act synergistically so your body can produce red blood cells and the proteins necessary to repair and build your body. Graying hair is a common side effect of folate and or B-12 deficiency. Folate is abundant in leafy greens, beans and legumes, poultry and citrus fruit. You can obtain B-12 from animal foods such as fish, beef, eggs and shellfish — especially oysters, clams and mussels.

CONSIDERATIONS

If after several months you adhere to an improved diet and fail to experience slowing in gray hair growth, there may be a different culprit. Certain conditions can cause premature gray hair. Hypothyroidism — a condition in which your thyroid fails to produce enough hormone — commonly causes premature gray. Have your physician check your thyroid to rule it out as the cause of your graying hair.

What else did I find about the broadcast of GRAY hair? That I was already partaking in….

Curry leaves, sweet potatoes, spinach, cauliflower, asparagus, broccoli and carrots may have the capability to remove toxin for making our skin, body so fresh and these elements also contain vitamin-B complex and other essential elements too. Here are the best 8 vegetables that might help you to get rid of the problem of graying hair.

CURRY LEAVES

The mixture of curry leaves, coconut oil is the best remedies for hair treatment. If you are suffering from white hair or do not want to suffer in future, then make a mixture of coconut oil and curry leaf juice and apply it on your scalp and will wait for 20 minutes.
If you can continue it for 90 days, then you will definitely get a very natural, healthy and dandruff free hair.

SWEET POTATOES

The sweet potatoes are the best source of antioxidant carotene. It contains specially vitamins and makes your scalp skin oil free. Eat sweet potatoes at least 2-3 times a week and make your hair thick and dandruff free.

SPINACH

Spinach is a nice green leafy vegetables. It contains beta carotene, folic acids and vitamin C that help the hair follicles not to produce extra oils and these also make the proper blood circulation in your scalp.

CAULIFLOWER

Add cauliflower in your diet list to get rid of early hair graying..
It is known to all that our hair turns into gray in color because of the lack of vitamin-B complex and fatty acid and other nutrient elements. Cauliflower contains a huge amount of vitamin-B complex like, vitamin B-6, vitamin-1 (thiamin), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin).
These elements really helpful for proper melanin production. Therefore, you should eat cauliflower daily to make your hair so healthy and be safe for graying hair.

ASPARAGUS

Asparagus contains vitamin-A and B which helps the hair cells, tissues for proper growth. It has also some antioxidant powers which really helpful for hair follicles and scalp skin.

BROCCOLI

Broccoli is considered as a part of cauliflower. So, if you are a lover of cauliflower, then you can eat broccoli too for the prevention of gray hair as it has same helpful compounds like cauliflower.

CARROT

The mixture of carrot juice and sesame oil is very famous for hair treatment in south India. This mixture needs 21 days for preparing. The pest of sesame oil and carrot juice need to leave for 21 days for sun drying.
If you want to get a better result, then apply it 20 minutes before showering and will need to continue for at least 90 days. (I haven’t tried this one yet; but I’m willing to try anything to keep this going!)

CELERIES

As the green vegetables contain a high amount of vitamins, zinc, copper, iron, biotin and other essential elements, then you can eat celeries for gray hair prevention also. Its green leaf is so helpful for proper hair care.

THINK OF ALL THE GOOD FOOD AND HOW YOUR GRAY IS LEAVING YOUR SCALP WITH
TODAY’S THANKSGIVING FEAST!!!

Ok….sorry….that’s stretching it a little too far….but YOU GOT THE MESSAGE!

Enjoy!

Valerie

As I began to write this blog for today – I found myself wanting to mix it up a little bit. Taking several sides to this upcoming Holiday – Thanksgiving.

I found some amazing silly quotes that will create a jovial chuckle and I also felt like showing different sides to Gratitude and being thankful.

Let’s start out with the Quotes to break the ice……

This is the time of year when we are called upon to give thanks. To appreciate life and the people around us. To practice gratitude. Ironically, as you well know, the holidays can be tremendously stressful—a time of year when people focus on worries such as do we have enough money to buy all the gifts? Or how will I survive the 10-hour road trip with the kids and the subsequent 7 days with the in-laws without choking someone? And when we’re bombarded by hectic, taxing, and worrisome life-events, they become obstacles to true happiness.

It’s really hard, after all, to see the positive forces around us when we’re constantly preparing to jump the next hurdle or dodge the next bullet. I will spare you more mixed metaphors, but I will say that practicing gratitude requires effort. It’s easy to get caught up in daily/weekly chaos, especially during the holidays.

But I am here to tell you that if you shift your focus ever so slightly, and make just a few simple adjustments to your thinking, the benefits to you and those around you will be life changing. Here are a few tips on how to recognize the gifts we are given and practice gratitude during this Thanksgiving week and onward.

1. Begin each day by paying attention to the simple things in life. When you wake in the morning, think about the fact that you are given the gift of living another day

2. Put things into perspective. Realize that in the larger scheme of things, our time on this planet is very short.

3. Be explicit in your gratitude. Too often we assume that people know that we appreciate them or the things they do for us

4. Be good to yourself. You work hard every day. You struggle, stumble, and even fall, but you persist and this is not only a gift, it is a blessing. Be thankful for your abilities, your strength, wisdom, compassion, and all that you have to offer to others

5. Give at least one compliment each day

A GREAT STORY & A GREAT IDEA THIS THANKSGIVING

20 Questions to Ask

Thomas Jefferson seated all his guests at one table for dinner, where he asked each guest a single question for all to hear…no side conversations or small-talk allowed. Sounds rigid, but these sorts of dinners are FUN over the holidays. 

After researching this I was thinking of my own Thanksgiving dinners with my family & children growing up and this would’ve been a really great idea. I believe Thomas Jefferson had the right idea in mind after all conversations like the ones that ensue from the questions below help kids experience themselves as a part of something larger than themselves. This, in turn, is likely to make them more resilient, better adjusted, and more successful in school ).

So here’s an extra challenge: See if you can get the adults to weave their answers to the questions below into a narrative demonstrating that your family members have been through both good and bad times together, but through it all, you’ve stuck together. 

I only wish I had big Thanksgiving dinners with lots of family again! Everyone is at different ends of the globe and we’re down to just a few of us…but all the same…we can accomplish the same thing here!

You could even print these questions and put one under each person’s plate. Varying the questions — instead of having everyone answer the same question — tends to keep folks more engaged

1. What do you remember about previous houses you’ve lived in? Which one did you like the best?
 
2. For an adult: What did you have as a child that kids today don’t have? How was your life better? How was it worse? For a kid: What do you have that previous generations didn’t have? How would your life be better without it? How would it be worse?
 
3. Has anything ever happened at a family wedding or event that you’ll never forget?
 
4. Think of some relatives that have passed away in the last few years. What would they be likely to do tomorrow if they were still alive?
 
5. Which family member has been your greatest coach in life? How have they coached you? What has made them good at it?
 
6. For an adult: When you were a teenager, which family member did you go to for advice? Looking back, was it good advice? For a kid: Which family member have you recently received advice from? Was it good advice?
 
7. For adult: What was your favorite movie or book when you were my age? For kid: What was your favorite movie or book last year, and what is your favorite now?
 
8. Tell us a story about a family reunion or family party that you remember attending as a child.
 
9. What was the hardest thing you went through/have gone through as a child? How did you overcome it?
 
10. What are your favorite stories that grandpa/grandma told (or still tells)?
 
11. If you could know anything about our family history or about a relative who has passed away, what would you want to know?
 
12. What is the most embarrassing thing your mother or father ever did to you?
 
13. What are your best memories of holidays or family gatherings?
 
14. What three adjectives would your grandparents use to describe you?
 
15. Did your parents or grandparents ever lose their jobs? What happened? How did they start over?
 
16. What is the best thing that your grandparents ever cooked? What about your parents?
 
17. How did your parent and/or parents change after they retired?
 
18. If you could go back to one day in your childhood, which day would that be? Why?
 
19. How are you most different from your parents and grandparents? How are you the same?
 
20. What did/do your grandparents do with you that you loved? (For adults: What did they do that you didn’t enjoy so much?)

Please have a GREAT Holiday and remember to be GRATEFUL for Life!

Valerie