Medication Declutter: Healing Power of Less

Have you ever looked at your medicine cabinet and felt overwhelmed? I have. I used to stand there, staring at pill bottles of all sizes and colors, each a silent testament to a specific ailment. During one of these contemplative moments, I stumbled upon the term 'deprescribing.' What a peculiar word, I thought. Delving deeper, I found that it meant slowly and carefully cutting down on unnecessary medications with the guidance of a healthcare professional.

Do I Need All These Medications? Have you ever considered that some of your medications might be past their relevance?

The Liberating Benefits of Deprescribing

Have you ever felt the sheer joy of decluttering a space? Can the same not apply to our bodies?

Imagine, for a moment, a life free from the shackles of unnecessary medications. A life where you don't risk adverse effects from pills you don't need. A life where the very act of reducing medication could actually enhance the quality of your life.

But, Is It Safe?

Yes, the idea of letting go can be daunting. But it's not about abruptly ending medication. Deciding to stop a medication is a journey. With the help of the prescribing doctor, like tapering off a long journey, it allows our bodies to adjust, gently avoiding potential withdrawal effects.

Have you had a medication checkup lately? Take a moment to reflect on whether you might not still need these medications.

We are all on unique journeys, seeking balance and health in an ever-changing world.

I suggest you have a talk with your doctor about medication deprescribing. Deprescribing medication can reduce adverse effects and simplify your life by eliminating unnecessary medication.

Read Like A Raptor

Diving into the Literary Marshlands with a Hunger for Knowledge

Have you ever watched a hawk circle above a vast landscape? It's such a majestic sight. Just last week, I sat perched (excuse the pun) on my porch after a walk with Zivon, only to be distracted by the focused hunt of a nearby hawk. With its keen eyes and laser focus, that bird knew precisely what it wanted. And I thought, "Am I not like that when reading?"

In > Emerson: Mind on Fire,> Robert Richardson remarks on how Ralph Waldo Emerson possessed a reading style reminiscent of "a hawk sliding on the wind over a marsh, alert for what he could use." To Emerson, reading was not just a passive act but a way to “nourish and stimulate his thought.”

The Dance Between Rest and Flight

But here's the thing: not all birds hunt the same. There's a delicate balance, a dance if you will, between taking action and pausing. William James, in his tome The Principles of Psychology, Vol. 1, puts it poetically:

“Our stream of consciousness, much like a bird’s life, seems to be made of an alternation of flights and perching.”

Isn't that just life? Moments where we soar and moments where we find solace in stillness. And reading mirrors that ebb and flow.

Reading Like a Raptor

Gary Snyder, a poet I've recently found kinship with in thought, once admitted, “Like most writers, I don’t educate myself sequentially.” Instead, he likens his learning process to "a hawk or eagle always circling and finding things that might have been overlooked.”

Art Of Excavating Other People’s Lives

What's our take on this? When we, as reader or writers, engage in this quest for knowledge, do we not mirror the hunting habits of raptors?

As we dive into literary realms, we must act like the owl: “Keep only what is useful. Regurgitate the rest.” In essence, absorb the wisdom and let go of the filler.

And when we explore and deeply engage with written words, there's a poetic art to it. I often muse:

Dip into them, extract bits and pieces, move on. Circle back, extract more, reinterpret. It's all fairly messy.

But isn't that the essence of engagement? In our quest, we:

• Find the overlooked
• Hold onto the valuable
• Spit out the unnecessary
• Reveal hidden truths
• Savor the delectable parts
• And, of course, never feel obligated to be overly polite!

Devour the Depths of Wisdom

Remember, as you dive into your next book or article, your reading journey is yours and yours alone. Our perspectives are our ways of digesting content. They're as unique as our fingerprints. Yet, it's a shared human experience to seek knowledge, be curious, and want to understand. So, how will you read? Like a polite sparrow? Or a bird of prey, ready to devour the depths of wisdom?

Take a moment, dear reader, to reflect on your reading experiences. How do they mirror your journey through life? How do you choose to engage, to hunt, to digest? Whatever your method, there's no wrong way—only your way.

Embracing Silence and Mindfulness in a Digital Age

We genuinely hear ourselves in the quiet moments.

As the digital age propels forward at the speed of light, with constant notifications and updates, it feels like we've forgotten the profound power of silence. Amidst the continuous stream of information and digital conversations, we often feel drained, overwhelmed, and disconnected from our inner selves. Yet, as we grapple with this digital cacophony, embracing silence and mindfulness emerges as the counterintuitive solution to our modern woes. Here’s why silence is golden, now more than ever.

The Price of Constant Connection

Our devices have undoubtedly, brought a world of convenience and connection to our fingertips. Yet, this privilege comes at a cost – the relentless barrage of information and the perceived obligation to be always available. Over time, the lack of mental downtime can lead to cognitive fatigue, anxiety, and even burnout.

The Path to Mindfulness

Mindfulness teaches us to be fully present in each moment. By merging mindfulness with periods of intentional silence, we can cultivate a heightened awareness of our thoughts, emotions, and surroundings, allowing us to lead more connected and joyous lives.

Practical Steps to Embrace Silence in a Digital World

1. Digital Detox: Turn off all digital devices. Begin with just 10 minutes daily and gradually extend this time.
2. Mindful Meditation: Spend a few minutes sitting silently, focusing on your breath, and observing your thoughts without judgment.
3. Nature Walks: The natural world offers a serene backdrop for introspection.
4. Silent Mornings: Begin your day with a quiet ritual, be it reading, journaling, or simply sipping a hot beverage, without the intrusion of technology.
5. Mindful Eating: Enjoy your meals without the distraction of screens, savoring each bite and genuinely experiencing the flavors and textures.

Silence as an Act of Self-care

In our hyper-connected world, choosing silence is a revolutionary act. It’s a conscious choice to prioritize our well-being, reflect, and connect deeply with ourselves and the world. As novelist Aldous Huxley once stated, “After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.” Let's reclaim the symphony of silence and find our inner rhythm in a noisy digital world.

Remember, the next time your device buzzes with a notification, it's okay to hit 'mute' and soak in silence. After all, we genuinely hear ourselves in the quiet moments.

Build and Maintain Friendships

Subatomic: A keystone persona that extends happiness in life.

Being a good friend is partly about being a good conversationalist. This is easy because the bar is so low. After all, this is such a common failing that we need to concentrate on improving.

Keep this in the front of your mind.

What is the work of building and maintaining friendships? Friends make us happier, healthier, wealthier, and, most importantly, smarter. "We become who we are in great part because of the friends we have." — Alexander Nehamas

Dunbar's Number is a concept that suggests that human beings can only maintain stable social relationships with a maximum of 150 individuals. This does not mean that you can only have 150 people in your life at any given moment, but rather that this is the number of people that you can maintain a meaningful relationship with over time. This number can be thought of as the size of your "tribe" or the number of people on your Christmas card list.

How to expand and solidify friends –

• send "belated" birthday cards as a belated thanks
• Share refrigerator magnets
• Giving thoughtful gifts
• Write feature articles and editorials about friends
• Be present
• Give friends the opportunity to give and receive favors
• Shared meals
• Get-togethers
• The Simple Act of Writing a Thank You Letter
• Shared hobbies and adventures

We're all looking for fun and creative ways to strengthen our friendships. Can you tell me about the types of activities you enjoy doing with your friends?

Reciprocity - Getting What You Give Returns

Subatomic: When a force is applied in one direction it meets an equal force coming at it in the opposite direction. This could be applied to the the things we do.

Forces always occur in pairs of the same type of force, and it is not possible for one object to exert a force without experiencing a reciprocal force.

Everything we do is meet by something apposing it in the opposite direction. If I do a worthy deed, an equally worthy deed is likely to meet me in the opposite direction.

Reciprocity can be summed up like this: when you act on things, they act on you.

Sometimes bad thing happen to good people who do good things for others. When relating Newton's Third Law to the messy human realm things are not perfect but they are nearly so and will help produce better outcomes in life.

Forces always occur in pairs.

Two type of reciprocity

1. “I help you and you help me.”
2. “I help you and then you help someone else.”

Reciprocity is about playing the long game of win-win.

Creative Spoon Essay Development

Good morning, I'm working on a longer creative nonfiction food-writing essay. It's in the early stage of conception. It is going to be about wooden spoons generally but I have yet to find my lede, the hook that will move the idea to a story. I'm going to practice in public some of my ideas and see what happens.

––––

Your cooking tools become storehouses of memories connecting us with the people in our lives.

Your cooking tools surround you when you are in the kitchen. They support you in making meals that you share. Indirectly they make real your love. They materialize current and past sensory relations. The tools you use to cook with embody the relationship memories between family and friends–between lovers.

Of all your cooking tools, wooden cooking tools invoke a kind of fetishism. Not the impoverished fetishism of commercial enterprises. These objects foil the culture of replaceability that capitalism is built on. Objects that take on the histories and identities express their possibilities of connection becoming more precious through use.

Patina and wear play important roles. Objects that don't develop a patina are at a disadvantage. They can't collect and reflect the history of their use.

The Blind Spot Bias

She is struggling to remember where she went wrong. She thought things were progressing smoothly with Mark. How did things get so screwed up?

"I love the simple life where choices are effortless," she announced to Mark.

Mark said, "No simple life is without complicated choses. Where to live, where to go to school, what to read, what to plant in the garden, even, who to buy the seeds from for the garden. The choosing never stops."

"I think living the simple life means keeping an open mind when making choices. And there is no one who's more open minded than me," she said.

Mark said, "Biases are funny things. Some use circular logic. Thinking you have an open mind and no biases is itself a bias. If you thinking you are more open minded than others you are likely not."

"But really, I'm less biased than any of my friends," she insisted.

Mark said, "You've fallen for the Blind Spot Bias where the mind is fooling itself, then proudly congratulating itself on its cleverness."

"No I haven't. No I'm not. What the hell is Blind Spot Bias?" she said a bit too loudly.

The conversation devolved from there. She raised her voice in denial, losing control of her arms. Flaying like Charlie Chaplin directing traffic in Times Square, and slapped Mark's right cheek putting his fancy Cabernet in a slow-motion flight across the room, spilling its contents like an airplane fire retardant drop. The wine quenched any blaze that might have been smoldering in Tom and Mimi's new carpet.

The rest of the evening and the lonely trip home were a blur. Sitting on her bed, struggling to make sense of her actions, Sarah sees a text she'd not noticed on her phone.

"Coffee?" was from Mark only an hour ago.

Thumb typing like an 11-year-old after stealing a few swigs of her dad's beer, "yws" then rethinking that, pounding the backspace button frantically with her right thumb, then trying "maybr." No, that wouldn't do, "sooory, i didn't mean to hit you" No, that wouldn't do either. So she let her thumbs blurted out, "Love to have coffee." SEND Laying the phone on the bed, slumping with her hands cupping her eyes, thinking she was making a big mistake. She waited for what would happen next.

Chime! -- "Oh, NO!" she screamed into the empty room, launching her phone into a flight like Mark's wine with the same wild juggling gyrations that had gotten her into this mess.

She looks down and sees, "How about now?" Her heart sinks into her stomach.

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This flash fiction essay should be filed under the “Is this anything?” category, one unpolished story for your consideration in roughly 500 words, give or take.