Human studies have shown that taking L-Theanine results in the emission of brain waves associated with relaxation.  L-theanine’s effect on the brain can be seen on an EEG. Brain waves are actually smoothed out—but not flattened out—by supplemental L-theanine. The body is relaxed, the mind is calmed, but no drowsiness occurs.  This is exactly the type of relaxation prescribed by sleep therapists.  If theanine is present in the body at the time stroke occurs, the damaged area will be significantly reduced. Theanine is a powerful antidote to the effects of alcohol. Continue reading →

Writer Bernadette Carter-King

Bernadette Carter-King writes:  “Did it ever occur to anyone that Whitney Houston’s sacred contract was to come here, live a fairy tale, fall from grace and ultimately suffer a tragic ending?  How many did she inspire both when she was on top and at rock bottom?  Is it at all possible that her path was indeed a noble one? Perhaps she lived such a public and tumultuous life so she could learn extremely hard lessons and ascend faster?  Is it possible that she’s a master who agreed to create the energy she did (both positive and negative) so that, literally, millions of others could learn? How many of the rest of us would put ourselves out there like that?

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A surprise angel today

I was in WalMart this morning when I encountered an angel in the checkout line ahead of me.  She appeared my age and was in one of those electric shopping carts.  I could tell by her size and body  movements that she had a condition that limited her mobility.  She was using WIC for her food items and also buying bleach, roach killer and insect bombs.  She appeared tired and older than her age.  As her grocery total grew, she had the cashier suddenly stop.  She had several essential food items not yet paid for.  I quickly saw the dilemma, her WIC paid for food but she right now needed some pest control, paid for out of her own money.  Which it was evident she did not have much of.  I told her it would be my honor to pay the $4.90 for her additional items.  She was surprised and grateful and said a little prayer for me. She reached into her wallet to pay the cashier and she’s $5.75 short.  That’s my house number, so I knew it was a signal.  “If I may,” I said as I handed the cashier $6.  “Yay, I get an extra blessing today.”

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[Amy and Sheldon are speaking to Amy’s mother (in somewhat robotic voices) over a video computer connection on a laptop]
Mrs. Fowler: It’s nice to meet you too, Sheldon. I honestly didn’t believe Amy when she told me she had a boyfriend.
Sheldon Cooper: I assure you I am quite real. And I’m having regular intercourse with your daughter.
Mrs. Fowler: [in a surprised tone] What?
Sheldon Cooper: Oh, yes. We’re like wild animals in heat. It’s a wonder that neither of us has been hurt.
Mrs. Fowler: [scared] Amy, what is he saying? Continue reading →

“Is it your face that adorns this garden? Is it your fragrance that intoxicates this garden? Is it your Spirit that has made this brook a river of wine? Hundreds have looked for You, and died searching in this garden, where You hide behind the scenes. But this pain is not for those who come as lovers. You are easy to find here. You are in the breeze and in this river of wine.”
Rumi

“Speak a new language so that the world will be a new world.” Rumi

A former best buddy who stopped talking to me several years ago, completely cut me off and refuses to tell me why, sent me an email just now asking me to pass on to my email list a petition to get someone on the ballot for a county position. I know she did not mean to send it to me. At the end of her email, she paraphrases the Helen Walton quote with “It is not what you gather, it is what you scatter that matters.”   So her first email to me in years is political spam?   Indeed.

I got an email the other day from a new friend who wrote: “I am amazed at your story, and all the loss of family you’ve experienced. Your pictures convey a real sense of joy.” Reflecting on that, had I not lost so many family members so soon, I would not have been compelled to go inside and find the good stuff, do the soul work to find the lasting stuff, the important stuff.  Being connected to my soul is what brings me joy.

Hmmm I closed my eyes for a nap at 5:30pm and at 7:30 I wake up outside when the sprinkler I am moving sprays me in the face.  Time to put that bell back on the front screen door.
Glad I sleep fully dressed.
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I left home when I was 18, like lots of kids do.  I didn’t wait until after I graduated.  I didn’t even wait until the end of the day.  Rather I skipped school that morning and Kris Krehmeyer skipped also.  As soon as my mom left for work, Kris and I piled my clothes into his little chartreuse Karmann Ghia and we dropped them off at Terry N’s house and went back to school.  Terry’s mom had agreed to let me live with them while I finished up high school, and she’d gotten us jobs with her at Sears, in the catalog phone sales center. Continue reading →

On Facebook, I just saw a pic of a Bible with the caption “Sin is an imaginary disease to sell you a imaginary cure.”  Facebook friend Vanessa Wells wrote “Love the quote. Even A Course In Miracles says this is true. But why does one school of thought always endeavor to invalidate another school of thought, i.e., Humanism vs. Faith and Mysticism? Why do we insist on living in an “either-or” type of reality. What’s the drive behind our need to be “Right”, and therefore, logically, that means that you are “Wrong”. It’s has to be that sacred belief in scarcity, that there’s not enough world for everybody to be right. Crazy.”