HUGS ARE HAPPINESS

It’s make a resolution time. That moment at the beginning of the year when we say we’re going to commit to doing something, but we don’t always do it for the entire year. I’m not going to make one this year, but I’m gonna step up my game in doing what’s already being done…hugging.

Check out this information at http://20somethingallergies.com. It’s entitled: Boost Your Immune System in 15 Seconds: How To Thump Your Thymus, and it goes like this.

“Behind your sternum, or breastbone, sits the thymus gland.It is part of the lymphatic immune system and is responsible for maturing infection-fighting white blood cells (T cells) made in our bone marrow.‘Thumping your thymus’ is a method of gently tapping on the thymus gland to create vibrations that stimulate an increase in the maturation and release of white blood cells.It has also been shown to slow down gland atrophy. The thymus gland begins to break down and shrink after puberty, and it’s been theorized that this happens in humans because we have lost the instinct to stimulate it regularly.”

After reading this I surmised that as children some of us were hugged by our parents, grandparents and others on a regular basis. Then we got too big for our britches, and the hugging stopped. For me that means if you stop hugging, you gotta start thumping in order to boost your immune system.

Did a little more research and found an article by Josh Richardson entitled 9 Reasons You Need To Be Giving and Receiving Hugs Everyday. It can be found at http://preventdisease.com/news/14/012314_9-Reasons-Need-Giving-Receiving-Hugs-Everyday.shtml, and here’s what it says:

“Hugging helps the immune system, cures depression, reduces stress and induces sleep. It's invigorating, rejuvenating and has no unpleasant side effects. It is all natural, organic, naturally sweet, no pesticides, no preservatives, no artificial ingredients and 100 percent wholesome.” The article went on to say that hugging, aside from stimulating the thymus, cultivates patience, prevents disease, boosts self esteem, and communicates love and caring without having to say a word.

I don’t know about y’all but hugging is not going to be my New Years Resolution, but a way of life. Our world definitely needs more LOVE and HAPPINESS, so if I can give and receive it with a simple hug, and get healthier in the process…it’s on y’all. 

I’ll holla…

To comment or respond to this blog please click on the word comments at the bottom of this page, or email me at grace.calvin187@gmail.com

Separation Can Be Unfair

I heard it after Katrina had hit New Orleans and the survivors sought refuge in the Superdome. It was when the woman pointed to the large screen television overhead and said to her three children, “There’s your daddy, he’s in Utah.” When I asked how he wound up there, she told me that the authorities had ordered the women and children on buses separate from the men. She then added that she was unaware of when they would see him again, but at least theyknew where he was.

We were in a Dogon village in Mali, where the reigning chief practiced Animism, his son practiced Islam, and other family members were Christian.  Yet despite their religious differences, they and all members of the village lived harmoniously together. Upon our return to the states however, we learned  that the Muslim rebels, outside of the village, were getting closer and closer, and that the people were fearful that they might lose their very lives.

During the physical enslavement of African people here in America, slaves were forced to watch their loved ones being taken away, with no knowledge of if and/or when they might see them again., Still today we experience this sense of detachment from one another, due to separation issues.  Our religious differences coerce us into believing that we’re going to heaven, and others are not, so we tend to distance ourselves from them. On a larger scale, racial and economic disparities compel us into thinking that if we hang around those who are privileged, we will acquire some of what they have, and not have to affiliate ourselves with those who have not.

Needless to say, we always have choices, and it’s up to us as to whether we make them in accordance with what will benefit all, or limit ourselves to doing that which is advantageous to only ourselves.

It’s Christmas time y’all, and by the Grace of God, each of our families has been granted an opportunity to come together and share our lives with one another. This is our chance to become one with all those who are participating in this holiday  extravaganza, on a global scale, and give our shared universe a LOVE energy, that surpasses anything that’s ever been experienced.

What I’m bringing to my family’s gathering is an attempt to be honest with myself and to share my true feelings with everyone else. I’m going to make every effort to practice open-mindedness, patience and tolerance which will allow me to accept whatever another might want to share without my judgement and condemnation., Then I’m going to do my best to make this occassion the most joyous interaction that we as a family have ever experienced.

My hope is that the folk in New Orleans, Mali, and all over the world will take on a similar mindset, and give us all an opportunity to not only experience what it takes to keep us as together as One, but also a chance to make this Oneness an integral part of our everyday lives.              

I’ll holla…

To comment or respond to this blog please click on the word comments at the bottom of this page, or email me at grace.calvin187@gmail.com

Gratitude Is An Attitude

We’ve spent this entire year beseiged by threats of terrorism, global warming, black and brown young folk killed by police, water shortages, our New Years Resolutions not adhered to, our children, bosses, and spouses giving us a hard time. Getting chubby, feeling ugly, needing clothes that fit, and a hairstyle that works. Getting rid of so called friends, and losing loved ones. Making money and spending it before we get it, knowing that the car need fixin and the baby need a new pair of shoes. And then we supposed to be grateful on tomorrow.

Well, how bout making gratitude our attitude. How do we do that in spite of all that’s going on around us. I say we start looking at anything that makes us uncomfortable, and figuring out how to be grateful for the experience. 

I’m gon start with the fact that Nicole and I have unexpected tenants in our house, and altough we LOVE them dearly, the rythm that had finally been established, after living in this new home for about sixteen months, has been altered and we gon have to develop a new one. We can do so by being grateful that we have an opportunity to contribute to the well being of our progeny, while at the same time strengthening our virtues of toleranse and patience.

Then I need to look at my disdain for the direction our country’s government is headed in, i.e. no sustainable change for our future; being ever aware that with our new president is just a vivid depiction of what has been lying underneath the facade of democracy, peace and justice all along. However, I can be grateful for the fact that my mental, physical, and emotional health is better than it’s been in many many years, and comfortable knowing that I’m going to do everything in my power to be the best that I can be in every arena of life.

When it comes to family, I’m certainly taken aback by our lack of communication with each other, except through social media, and I constantly struggle with what if anything I can do to make things better. But I can remind myself that opportunities like learning more about my loved ones through their scattered appearances on my show and rendevous with one another on varied occassions, will always occur. Maybe not as often as I would like them to, but occur they will. 

As for my role in all of this, and my desire for all of us, all I can say is let’s be thankful every day, in every way cause one day of gratitude is not gonna make any real change. It’s about understanding that all we have is a daily repreive contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition, and the way to maintain that condition is by being thankful for whatever happens because it’s always an opportunity to make one a better person. So I’m gon be grateful starting right now, in order to prepare myself for not only tomorrow, the official Thanksgiving Day, but for all the days that follow.

I’ll holla…

To comment or respond to this blog please click on the word comments at the bottom of this page, or email me at grace.calvin187@gmail.com