Holidays Cancelled Due To Trump PTSD

Standing at the checkout line behind a grandmother and her young grandson, I heard him ask his grandman, "Are you finished with your Christmas shopping?" The grandmother turned to him and said, "We're not doing Christmas this year," then quickly looked at the others in line behind her. I diverted my eyes because there was no reason for her to have my approval or disapproval. I know EXACTLY why she and the boy's mother had made the decision. If you think about it, you know WHY too.

The feelings I experienced hearing a little kid being told there will be no Christmas, darkened my spirit. a Kids being A kid, he held out hope and showed his grandma a little toy he really wanted. She nodded politely and changed the subject. A glimpse of pain registered on her face momentarily. She took a breath, gathered herself, checked out and exited.

For those effected by the SNAP shutdown and just the HIGH cost of groceries, difficult decisions are being made about the holidays. For people who have FOOD SECURITY and support Donald Trump, the shutdown was just another opportunity for cruelness. SNAP receipients were publicly MOCKED and SHAMED. They were called fat, lazy, stealers, a drain on the nation, and any other things they could think of to denegrate a person for needing help to feed themselves and their family. It was a public, brutal, ABUSIVE ASSAULT.

While mocking people needing assistance with food, our president partied, golfed and threw money around to foreign governments as people were not sure about their next meal. America is a wealthy country with citizens paying taxes that are to help the country and its citizens. Overwhelmingly many people are saying poor lives don't matter. Poor people have become reviled and seen as the OTHER.

When trauma, and not knowing if you will be able to eat IS a trauma, there can be long reaching consequenses such as PTSD. You remember feelings, smells, words, actions of a traumatic experience whether you want to or not called FLASHBACKS. Hunger is traumatic by itself without being denegrated for being hungry.

PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, is a mental health condition that can develop after a person experiences or witnesses a traumatic event, such as a car accident, natural disaster, or assault. Symptoms include re-experiencing the trauma through flashbacks or nightmares, avoiding reminders of the event, and feeling on guard or easily startled. Treatment options like psychotherapy and medication are available and can help manage the symptoms, which include negative changes in mood, difficulty sleeping, and trouble concentrating.

Can you imagine, if people who WERE affected by the SNAP stoppage did have enough money for Thanksgiving and Christmas meals, sitting around the table having flashbacks of not being able to buy food. How is their self-esteem after living through food insecurity? Do they think about what if this happens again and they're unable to buy regular groceries AGAIN? HAVE THEIR MENTAL HEALTH BEEN AFFECTED?

People in favor of the cuts were like, "just get a job" when many recipients of SNAP benefits are WORKING Americans, elderly, children and the disabled. Minimum wage is a struggle income and jobs for college educated people barely pay more. Ask recent college graduates and they will tell you they can't EVEN find a job with a degree. Many American homes are filled with parents, adult children and elderly parents. Many grandparents are raising grandchilren on their own. 

The HAPPY season of holidays is suppose to be joyful. But Donald Trump has turned the season into flashbacks of trauma. Republican Christians fight so hard for people to say MERRY CHRISTMAS because of Jesus while showing no reverence to Jesus and how he cared more about the POOR than the WEALTHY. One of the three times Jesus became angry was when the poor was being taken advantage of.

Jesus expressed anger at least three times in the Bible: he was angry when merchants commercialized the temple, "My house will be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers" (Matthew 21:12-16). He was angry that the temple had become a place of commerce rather than worship. When people lacked compassion for a man with a withered hand, and when the Pharisees stubbonly refused to believe his teachings. His anger was described as righteous indignation at the hardness of heart or the desecration of his Father's house, not as a sinful human anger.

PTSD is not just happening to those whose SNAP benefits were cut. Americans wake every morning in FEAR of what cruel abusive thing Trump will do next. The news has become a source of trauma. No matter how hard you try, you can't escape Trump's antics. In some way or form he has hurt an American citizen. Even though airports are back at full operation, people are not going to fly. Trump's indiscrimnate FIRING of COMPETENT government employees and whoever else he wants to fire, has caused people not to trust flying anymore. Those who do fly are filled with anxiety questioning their decision.

The damage Trump's administration is inflicting will be felt for years. Even if people aren't experiencing TRUMP PTSD now, it can show up years later. Trump is an ABUSIVE president and have supporters who enjoy the pain he inflicts. This may be the most traumatizing of all. The realization of how many OTHER cruel people exist in America is SHOCKING to the system! This will be the hardest phychological healing for many. 

PTSD can be helped with therapy and medication, but many do not know they are suffering from it. Having a family member at holiday meals who RAVES about how wonderful Trump is can send someone into a rage. Pushing those feelings down, trying to get along, adds to the anxiety and stress caused by Trump.

Trump is a grifter and a ROBBER. He robs people of their dignity, humanity. This is not TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME. This is something else, TRUMP PTSD. He is robbing people of their joy and SECURITY in so many areas and ways as he enjoys his life without threat or fear. We are experiencing trauma from his actions and behaviors daily. If you do a self-check, you probably are experiencing anxiety. Every day people are wondering, "How was he even elected?" Then we have to face the fact we live among the cruelest of people who continue to support him. Feelongs of helplessness and hopelessness abound. Our children are experiencing the same emotions as the adults. This is their world too. And for parents and grandparents, their hearts break for the little ones.

No, there is no need for explainations why the holidays have been canceled. People are preparing for the worst they know is YET to come. But how do you prepare for blatent abuse of power? You can't and that is TRAUMATIC.

The COUP Has Begun

If you are afraid to speak your mind in PUBLIC but go to town on SOCIAL MEDIA with fake names and weird profile picks to hide your identity (do what youu must) telling off Donald Trump and MAGA, then you know, your freedom is already eroding.

If you are AFRAID to post opposition to this administration on social media for FEAR of being DOXED or cursed out, threatened, or targeted for voicing your views on current affairs, then your freedom IS eroded. 

If you're afraid to join a protest or stand up in any other way to laws and policies that are harmful to you and your family members, then you have already been COUP-ED.

What exactly is a COUP? A coup d'état (/ˌkuːdeɪˈtɑː/; French: [ku deta]; lit. 'stroke of state'), or simply a coup, is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent person or leadership. This is our president, Donald Trump and his loyal supporters.

Social media went crazy when it was floated Trump WILL be seeking a third term in office EVEN though the Constitution does not allow it. Everyone JUMPED up saying he can't do that! Our Constitution doesn't allow it! Then they SIT DOWN and shut up waiting for the next outrage of Trump's. There are hundreds of things Donald Trump has done WITHOUT consequence (other than Dems whining) and continues to do.

He has demonstrated his willingness and ability to amass an angry violent mob to attack our Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021 in an effort to deligitimize Joe Biden's presidential win. That COULD have been a coup because storming the capitol at the REQUEST DIRECTION of a single man HAPPENED. It was TREASON. His consequence for encouraging that mob was another presidential term and a full pardon of the January 6th criminals. It was a great trial run and NOW they are prepared to do it bigger and better. You can hear the BRAGGING and CONFIDENCE in their voices.

Criminals are his friends. Hate groups are his friends. Anyone WILLING to do RUTHLESS things for him are his friends. He has direct contact with the hate group like the The Proud Boys who he has instructed to stand down and stand by. Stand by for what? For him to deploy them against American citizens and he is manning outside manpower to assist him as needed in any way he ASKS.

The Proud Boys are a far-right, all-male extremist organization known for their use of violence, misogynistic, and anti-immigrant rhetoric. The group is officially designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and a terrorist entity in Canada. The group describes its members as "Western chauvinists who refuse to apologize for creating the modern world," a term critics argue is a code word for white supremacist and anti-multicultural beliefs.

He has placed HIS PEOPLE IN POSITIONS OF POWER LOCALLY IN CITIES AND STATES TO DO HIS BIDDING. We are talking every area of life where a law, policy, or decision can be affected from the SUPREME COURT to elementary schools to our CDC. He has COMPLETE control over what we put in our MOUTH, our BODY, and our MIND. He owns news outlets and dictates the airwaves. He threatens journalists, newspaper companies and continually rails against mainstream media. There is no part of our daily where he has not taken control. 

The military has pretty much been told to not ask questions and just do what they are told. I wrote a blog post as a Veteran of the Army with my thoughts on the summoning of our military, DOROTHY GUYTON, author (BA, MA) INTERVIEWER: Men Of Honor In Uniform. Branches of the military are being used to police American streets. An intimidation tactic that has many shaking in their boots and HIDING indoors. He is TERRORIZING America daily with lethality and GLEE making racist and vile videos as he continues to hem in Americans under his CONTROL and THUMB while we COMPLAIN.

If you are afraid of what your PRESIDENT, CROONIES, SUPPORTER, ADMINISTRATION, REPUBLICANS, EVANGELICAL, AND MAGA will do next each day you rise or are doing now, then you know you are already in a coup. You will have to PRETEND not to know but you won't be believed.

YOU ARE NO LONGER FREE. We are no longer free. We know we will be harmed and the country will be harmed by the Right and their policies and laws. We KNOW it and they will not receive punishment for their treatment of those who get in the Republican's way and if they do, there is a pardon waiting to erase their crime along with the HECKLING laughter the Right does. We are the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and yet Trump says he has to WITHHOLD funds from Blue states. No one is safe from his insanity which IS a mental illness and beyond.

If you are waiting for things to get worse, you will not be eating popcorn watching it comfortably from your living room. As you can see with the government shutdown, your food can be TAKEN in a flash without reason or warning. White priveledge make some people feel safe from an authoritarian leader. They do not know, they will never be a part of the ELITE. They will never dance in Trump's new ballroom or use his marbled Lincoln Bathroom. Your wealth will all belong to him. You are deipensable.

Look around you. People fearful. They are hiding and shrinking back into the shadows in hopes Trump's revenge tour and pettiness won't FIND them. There is NO where to HIDE people! You are going to have to FIGHT for your freedom and too many people have their heads stuck in the sand. Polite society just wants to cotinue to say, "Shame, shame shame," and go about their lives. It will be too late when they realize they are no more than a peasant to Trump. America HAD to answer THIS call we are desparately trying to avoid, a third war on American soil. NO ONE WANTS WAR. Read my post about the unwanted outcome of war DOROTHY GUYTON, author (BA, MA) INTERVIEWER: Manhood and War.

As people on government assistance wondered if they were going to be able to eat November, Trump was at a lavish Halloween party living it up. We ALL can starve as far as he is concerned. He has taken health care decisions from women regarding their body and he will do so for ALL Americans. The government has been shut down 31 days as Republicans say they will not meet unless illegal immigrants are cut off of Medicaid. Yeah. Right. He will cut off more than just the Brown people.

People fail to believe how a CORRUPT mind and heart, like the Christian Bible speaks about, is a deadly weapon of evil. If allowed to grow, it will become a MONSTER swallowing everything in its path. Trump, Republicans, and the Evangelical Church is THAT monster. Remember, Napoleon Bonapart crowned his own self EMPOROR.

The Trump machine pretty much TELLS us daily of how they are going to HARM us to cheers of MAGA on the Right. People continue to ask how can people making less that 50,000 dollars a year fight so ferociously for multi-billionaires as he is making them cry at every turn. They can because he has their HATE directed, targeted at MINORITIES instead of his RAPING OF AMERICA.

No doubt about it, if no one has told you this, remember I did. Let your level of FEAR be your guide when answering the question, "Has a coup begun?" Only those TRICKED into believing they are a part of the GOOD OLD BOYS CLUB  with lively locker room talk with their Christian mouths would think there's nothing to see here. 

My Tumor Reminds Me Of Donald Trump

Sitting in the exam room after receiving radioactive dye for my PET scan to look for a tumor or even worse, most would be anxious about pending test results. When met with the unknown we tend to think the worst will happen. Much like an illness which may threaten your health, Donald Trump has many feeling the same type of anxiety.

Many won't admit to the negative thoughts circulating in their head when a doctor uses the words 'tumor' or 'cancer.' I know I had a million thoughts going through my mind in the first minutes of receiving the news. FIGHTING was not my first thought. No. All of my fears, those I kinds I knew I had and those that came out of the blue, circulated in my head.

Then, after a few minutes there was an empty feeling of nothing. I guess this is the shock stage. My mind must have overloaded with the numerous scenarios filled with negativity like, what about my children and how long do I have. There was silence in my head, in the core of my being. Many have gone through these same emotions on the night Donald Trump won his second presidential election.

Those who had worked tirelessly to warn citizens of America that Trump is unfit to be president due to his greed, immorality, childishness, pettiness, and lack of intelligence, were disappointed with the election results knowing what was coming in the future.

The bad, life altering news that Trump won a second presidency had the worst imaginable scenarios for his term, which are even worse in reality. If voters were like me, it took three months for the empty hollow feeling of shock to subside. What was it replaced with?

After leaving the doctor's office with my new, not yet verified diagnosis of a tumor, I wanted information. I wanted to know everything about my possible condition. I turned to facts. I couldn't allow myself to just GUESS what may be occurring in my body. I had to have FACTS. After Trump's win, facts became the enemy of his administration. Truth is being hidden or out and out lied about. I can't imagine if my access to information about tumor were restricted how much mor anxious would I have become. Thank goodness it wasn't.

Having facts matter when there is something that is causing confusion, chaos, fear, or uncertainty in your life. Truth is a wonderful tool to alleviate fear. The Trump administration does not want to get rid of fear and anxiety in Americans. It's their best asset in getting voters to support them. The worse scenarios play out on Fox News nightly warning MAGA and Christians that their lives are in danger. 

After taking more tests, I had to sit and wait for over 30 days for what I hope today is the last BIG test to finding a true diagnosis to my health problems. While I waited there were pills, numerous emergency room trips, more sickness, restrictions on my daily life, change after change of medications and depression from being so sickly. I lost a tremendous amount of muscle mass and look weak. The first 100 days of Trump's presidency was one emergency or crazy thing after the next. The American people became tired of seeing what he was doing and is still doing to our country. Like cancer or a tumor, is the disease of the Trump administration. 

Even if we are not doctors, common sense dictacts for the removal of cancerous cell and tumors as soon as poosivle. Cancer is that aggressive. It doesn't give you time to adjust, once it begins, it begins. The same with Donald Trump. America knew he was cancerous his first term, and what happened? First going to a doctor to DIAGNOSE the problem is the hardest step for many. Family members know the reluctant patient had to be talked into going to the doctor let alone listening to and believing the diagnosis. 

I am calling out DOCTORS for watching this kind of sickness and abuse when they ARE advocates for the sick. If you are not going to do what your lisense says, Doctors should be turned in for neglect. Come on the man is mentally unfit as a country of educated doctors of America don't call for and objective assesment of the president. Get the signitures going Mental Health doctor. The people are afraid each day what he will do. There MUST be some grown people in our country INSTEAD of just complainers. How many peices of sugned paper helps a person in this condition. The mentally ill SUFFER dealing with it. Like I said Ause. No protest neede. We just need people willing to put feet to their mouthed. He is unstable and ABUSING AMERICA. Call a doctor.

Trump is unwilling to get the professional help he needs. Mental illness is a blatant issue but, there are those who not concerned about his healt or him. I've begun to call it #ElderAbuse and #SeniorCitizenAbuse. How can people who care about you watch you humiliate your self on the world stage. Ther is no PRETENDING, now that he can't stay awake ten minites if he isn't engaged in nastiness.

His cabinet let's him nape and wake him up when it's time to entertain the masses with stupidity, plum garbage and lies out of his my. I'm no therapist but I know when I see delusions of granduer in form of my eyes. Trump elevates himself above every human. He only comes down to see what you have, take it from you, and have the best of your stuff he's stolen from people and the REPUBLICANS , Trump is gloating by himself, that's his reward for doing nothing. He get's to PLAY while Americans are hungry and sick. They do the business part and then turn it over to the CLOWN and he never disappoints. I hate that they go on every show at night trying to tell Americans, "This is what Trump meant or actually said. 

I'm not so much sickened by REPUBLICAN'S racism, I'm sicked because some LOW PEOPLE believe they are SUPERIOR in any way. They have to break the law in EVERYTHING they touch because they are just LAZY FRAT  boys hanging out thinking about what other mischeif and harm they can do. I have NEVER seen such a GIGGLY bunch of men than I have in this FAKE administration. That Jordan dude laughed all the way through the PAM BUNDI show.

Everyone knows it is out of WEAKNESS that someone stoops to CRIME to say they are SUPERIOR than them. It's EVIDENT superiority is n o where near this Trump bunch and they don't don't care. These are parents shutting down EDUCATION in America. The only way to be superior is to take away facts and education. Dumb beyond belief.

I guess that is what you call a RANT. TYhank you for your patience. Yeah, so I still don't know what IS causing my sickness but it's not a tumor. Maybe, it's something like a tumor.

 

What is Your Mental Health Quotient?

 

     

    May is Mental Health Awareness Month first established in 1949. This month is dedicated to educate the public about mental illness, raise awareness surrounding research and treatments, reduce the stigma associated with mental illness, and celebrate recovery from mental illness. More than 43.8 million people are affected by mental health disorders each year. Less than half of those will seek a mental health professional's help.  

 In the ongoing controversy over gun control, many site mental illness as the cause for mass shooting while those in the mental health community don't want mental illness associated with gun vilonce. In this area alone, education regarding mental health is important.

    Violence is not a symptom of psychotic illness. The relationship between mental illness and violence is complex. Research suggests there is little relationship between mental illness and violence when substance use is not involved.

    Psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia can sometimes be associated with aggressive or violent behavior. People living with schizophrenia are no more violent or dangerous than the rest of the population, if they are:

• receiving effective treatment
• not misusing alcohol or drugs.

    They are more likely to harm themselves than others.

    There is a slightly increased possibility that someone living with a psychotic illness may be violent if they:

• are not receiving effective treatment
• have a previous history of violence
• misuse alcohol or other drugs
• are experiencing active psychotic symptoms (and are responding to hallucinations or delusions)
• are triggered by fear (for example, if they think they are in danger)
• are experiencing psychotic symptoms for the first time, or the experiences are unfamiliar.

    People living with schizophrenia are more likely to express their aggression, agitation or frustration towards themselves, or to family and friends – rarely to strangers.

    When it comes to knowing whether we are mentally healthy, we seem to choose to ignore this part of or physical wellbeing. More time is given to our intellect and recently or emotional state of being over our Mental Health Quotient.

    IQ is short for Intelligence Quotient. IQ tests are tools to measure intellectual abilities and potential. They're designed to reflect a wide range of cognitive skills such as reasoning, logic, and problem-solving. Intelligence is something you are largely born with. IQ tests are not a test of knowledge, which represents what you learn through education or life experience. A score of 116 or more is considered above average. A score of  130 or higher signals a high IQ. Average IQ is 100. An IQ of 70 or below may indicate limited intellectual fuctioning. Remember, the score represents how you compare to your PEER group in: language, reasoning abilities, processing speed, visual-spatial processing, memory, and math. IQ tests cannot predict how your life will turn out. Character, opportunity, ambition, and sometimes luck, affect how your life will turn out. People love to brag about their intelligence.

     EQ is your Emotional Intelligence or Emotional Quotient. EQ is the ability to understand, use, and manage your own emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges, and defuse conflict. Five components of Emotional intelligence are:

SELF-AWARENESS: the ability to recognize and understand your moods and how they affect others.

SELF-REGULATION: This involves being able to control your impulses and moods and to think before acting.

INTERNAL(intrinsic) MOTIVATION: As the opposite of external motivation, this means being driven to pursue goals for personal reasons, rather than for some kind of reward.

EMPATHY: Essential for building and leading teams. Empathy is the ability to recognize and understand other's motivations and to put yourself in their shoes.

SOCIAL SKILLS: The ability to manage relationships, build networks, and connect with people.

    People with a high EQ have greater mental health, job performance, and leadership skills. The EQ test score average is around 100 with a maximum score of 160, unlike an IQ test score which is limitless. 115 is a great EQ score while a score of 85 or less indicates a need for improvement. To be aware of your EQ score is trendy.

    The MHQ, Mental Health Quotient, provides a fast, easy, and comprehensive way to assess population mental health and well-being; identify at-risk individuals and subgroups; and provide diagnosis-relevant information across 10 disorders and was developed by Sapien Labs. According to the World Health Organization, WHO, mental health is "a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community." Mental Health Quotient scores range from -100-+200. Negative scores reflect clinical or clinically at-risk populations with a score of 100 being centralized.

    Most affective ways to combact the stigma and shame surrounding mental health issues is to:

TALK ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES OPENLY

EDUCATE YOURSELF AND OTHERS ON THE WARNING SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF MENTAL ILLNESSES

PRACTICE KINDNESS AND COMPASSION

TAKE AND SHARE A FREE MENTAL HEALTH SCREENING

PARTICIPATE OR VOLUNTEER IN MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS EVENTS

TAKE A HOLLISTIC APPROACH TO HELP IMPROVE THE MENTAL WELLBEING OF YOUR FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND YOURSELF: Self care or even focusing on physical health through exercise and healthy eating habits.

MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT

    It is important to note:

• 48 million have an anxiety disorder
• 21 million have major depression
• 9 million have post-traumatic stress disorder
• 7 million have bipolar disorder
• 3.5 million have borderline personality disorder
• 3 million have obsessive compulsive disorder
• 1.5 million have schizophrenia
• 
  
  
• You are someone you know may have a low Mental Health Quotient. Improvement in this score is possible if you are aware of the problem. During this month, take a free mental health screening test, readily and easily assessable online Take a Mental Health Test - MHA Screening (mhanational.org) and according to the results follow up with resources within your community. Please SHARE this bblog post with friends and family. 

    

Life Began In A Garden?

 

    There are two held explainations for the creation of the universe. One is the Big Bang Theory where there was a big explosion in the cosmos and atomic particles collided, stuck together, and began to form the smallest makeup of other planets, stars, astrological matter, and living matter which gradually, through time, evolved from plant life, aquatic life, animal life, and finally human life. 

    The second explaination for the formation of the universe lies in religion. In Christianity, it is believed God created everything the eye can view within seven days. Other religions have their own particular creation story with their own various gods, but it does not entail a 'big bang' as the first theory of creation does.

    For this post and as far as the theory I chose to believe, I go with the Christian biblical account in which God created the universe and all that is in it. This writing is not to persuade you in one direction or the next but to talk about the PLACE in which human life was placed to dwell according to Genisis 2: 8-9, "Now the Lord God HAD planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he HAD formed. and the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground - trees that were PLEASING to the eye and GOOD for food..." It is from here the story of MAN BEGINS and continues even now. Earlier in Genesis 1:11, on day three of the Creation story it says, "Let the land produce vegegation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds," In Genesis two it says no SHRUB of the FIELD nor PLANT of the FEILD had yet appeared before he created man to put in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:5-7), but Genesis 1 says there WAS vegetation and trees, and once the first man was created, notice the tress were called pleasing to the eye and good for food.

    I had the wonderful opportunity to be with New Jerusalem Church for Children's Garden Day in which we encouraged the children to sow seeds. Of course this day had duel meaning. It was a day set aside to encourage children to enjoy gardening and nature and to also be mindful of the seeds they sow in their lives and to be a seed planter for the kingdom of God. I guess that was three purposes lol.

    The message I wanted to impart to them and to you the reader is (If you are of the biblical Creation story persausion) is: life BEGAN in a beautiful garden. It was intended for us to be surrounded by beauty and that defined beauty was PLANTS. To some, this may be an arbitrary coincidence that life began in a garden. But is it really?

    There are many benefits plants and gardening affords the human body and mind. Author Gretchen Rubin, penned a book, Life in Five Senses, where she said to have a happy life, live it through the five senses of sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing. She said we should use our five senses, tuning into the physical world and living in the present. A garden allows you to do just that on top of releiving stress and elevating mood. 

HEARING: Listening to music during exercise boosts performance and makes exertion seem less strenuous. Music improves our health, and it also makes us feel good. There’s a reason why we talk about “sex, drugs, and rock & roll.” Hearing a favorite song stimulates the same brain chemicals as drugs, sex, and good food. That’s why it’s one of the quickest ways to get a mood boost and relief from stress. Nature has its own UNIQUE MUSIC. The birds, crickets, frogs, bees, wind, and rain, SING a song waiting for your ears to hear. Water features in a garden mimics the soothing bubbling sound of a brook and relaxes the quiet listener. Studies show people who listened to nature sounds like crickets chirping and waves crashing performed better on demanding cognitive tests than those who listened to urban sounds like traffic and the clatter of a busy café.  

SMELL: By taking a quick sniff of fresh grapefruit or vanilla, your mood can be drastically changed. The smell of flowers or even herbs can be an uplifting experience. Certain floral scents are pretty famous for relieving headaches and insomnia. Jasmine, similar to lavender, is used to calm the nerves of those that are stressed out or overwhelmed. Not only does it reduce those feelings of stress, but it actually is able to stimulate feelings of positivity and energy. Peppermint is a great tool to be used during brainstorming, as it has been shown to invigorate the mind, while creating a feeling of clarity. Lavender is quite known for boosting energy and increasing mental activities. The aroma of rosemary is highly stimulating and can boost your levels of acetylcholine (a chemical that regulates your muscles and memory) and dopamine. Magnolia is especially popular in Chinese medicine as an effective treatment for tensions and stress. Roses are a famous symbol of love but also because they can lower your stress hormone, adrenaline. 

TOUCH: If we want to combat stress and distraction, we can turn to our sense of touch. Little kids, for example, hang on to stuffed animals for comfort and reassurance. It is a pure joy for me to walk on the cool grass barefoot. It just feels luxurious, sensuous, and calming. I also enjoy feeling the velvety smoothness of rose petals. Picking a firm ripened piece or fruit or vegatble I've grown myself fills me with pride and a sense of accomplishment. Just slowing down, reaching out, and touching nature yeilds surprising feelings. Even the simple act of holding a flower makes you feel better.

TASTE: When it comes to taste, many people love taste-related activities such as cooking, exploring farmers’ markets, trying new restaurants, or even watching TV shows about cooking and eating. What better way to explore food than to plant and grow your own? Plant and grow something you may have written off as NASTY. Maybe if you plant and nurture it to maturity, find a new way to cook it, invite friends or family over for a tasting party, you may find you now love it. Either way, let your tastebuds roam free and enjoy socializing and stregnthing relationships bonds at the same time. A plus plus endeavour. Taste also hold memories of  food favorites from childhood, a celebratory meal from a major event in your life, romantic meals once shared, or meals cooked and eaten at grandma's house. 

SIGHT: Have you ever heard the saying, "The eyes are the window to the soul?" This saying means you can see a person's soul by looking into their eyes. I say, "What you look at with your eyes affect your soul." Matthew 6:22, " The light of the body is the eye;" This Bible verse says what you focus your eye on affects you. It encourages you to focus on things that are right to avoid darkness within. What we focus our EYE ON IS IMPORTANT. How wonderful to give the eye a break from the ugliness of life and to look upon the beauty of a flower or plant.

    From a stroll through a city park to a day spent hiking in the wilderness, exposure to nature has been linked to a host of benefits, including improved attention, lower stress, better mood, reduced risk of psychiatric disorders and even upticks in empathy and cooperation. University of Chicago psychologist Marc Berman, PhD, and his student Kathryn Schertz explored in a 2019 review and reported, for instance, that green spaces near schools promote cognitive development in children and green views near children’s homes promote self-control behaviors. Experiments have found that being exposed to natural environments improves working memory, cognitive flexibility and attentional control. No wonder man was created and placed in a garden. Just a few moments of green can perk up a tired brain.

     Contact with nature is associated with increases in happiness, subjective well-being, positive affect, positive social interactions and a sense of meaning and purpose in life, as well as decreases in mental distress. Gardens and gardening impacts children. Children who lived in neighborhoods with more green space had a reduced risk of many psychiatric disorders later in life, including depression, mood disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and substance use disorder. For those with the lowest levels of green space exposure during childhood, the risk of developing mental illness was 55% higher than for those who grew up with abundant green space. 

    As I stated in the beginning of this writing, this writing is not about religious beliefs but about my belief that GARDENING matters to LIFE. Hopefully I have convinced you that you were meant to be surrounded by the beauty of nature; planted and enjoyed by you everyday. The benefits are limitless and sharable. Getting this generation connected again with the understanding "Life BEGINS in a garden," is a mission I fully embrace. Thanks to the little gardeners of New Jerusalem church for being a participant in my blog sharing their images.