Toxic Showers Is your daily sprinkle doing more harm than good? by Michael Braunstein Right after air and far ahead of food, we need water to stay alive. The adage is that a human can live three minutes without air, three days without water and three […]
Heartland Healing
To Sleep, Perchance to Heal
To Sleep, Perchance to Heal ” ‘tis sleep that knits up the raveled sleeve of care.” by Michael Braunstein Cool Autumn nights are made for sleep. A cozy comforter and a warm bed can trigger that hibernation urge. But for millions of Americans, sleep does not […]
Life of Spice
Life of Spice by Michael Braunstein Not much of a Dune fan but I know enough about Frank Herbert’s epic fantasy series to recognize what he called “spice.” It was a fictional transcendent drug that was essentially the decay left from a giant species of space worms. It […]
Thrill of the Grill
Thrill of the Grill: Addicted to meat by Michael Braunstein Ironically, as summer draws to a close Americans are drawn even closer to the thrill of the grill. The smell of glowing charcoal briquets and charing animal flesh is no less ubiquitous than a football fan’s favorite team jersey. […]
Good Vibrations: Medical Science Cures Hysteria
Good Vibrations: Medical Science Cures Hysteria “I’m pickin’ up good vibrations, they’re givin’ me the excitations.” —The Beach Boys Each day in the news we read about medical discoveries promising cures for any number of human afflictions. Yet disappointment comes easy. Wars on cancer, obesity, Alzheimers fall by […]
Dog Days, Sun Dance & Sage
Dog Days, Sun Dance & Sage by Michael Braunstein The grass is brown. The sun has dominated our lives for the past weeks. How could so human an animal not feel connected to Nature and All That Is while immersed in it for the summer? […]
Green is Good
Green is Good by Michael Braunstein When I was about nine or ten, my dad told me something about trees. And that conversation took place a long, long time ago. To give you some perspective, my dad wasn’t born in a hospital. He was born in a farmhouse. […]
Metaphysics Flicks: Pick Six
Metaphysics Flicks: Pick Six By Michael Braunstein Here’s the thing: We are not physical bodies. Bodies are simply communication devices used to express our thoughts — or at least what we think are our thoughts. What we really are is Spirit. Call it what you will, but no […]
Bibliotherapy: Five Books to Change Your Life
Bibliotherapy: Five Books to Change Your Life I guess it peaked in the “Me Decade” of the 1970s, (coined such by the late Tom Wolfe.) Gurus then, of one sort or another, were a dime a dozen. Books to help you help yourself were just about the same going rate. […]
Rx for Disaster
“I jes watched me sum a dem dere polly-tishuns in Warshington flappin’ dere gums un tellin’ me how deys gonna bring down da cost of perscripshun drugs so’s I an’ da missus kin afford ‘em. I luvs watchin’ dem big polly-tishuns move dere lips like dat. Makes me wonder who’s really pullin’ […]