It’s the end of October, and that means Halloween is here. And while many of use may carve a pumpkin, go trick-or-treating, or decorate our homes with ghosts and goblins, few people may know that – although many of our most cherished Halloween traditions have more modern roots, the holiday itself is very ancient. In […]
COVID-19: How Can the Pandemic End?
By now, news of the COVID-19 pandemic feels stale. The pandemic first hit the United States in March 2020, and now, nearly two years later, the scourge is still with us. But the situation continues to change and evolve. Just this week, it was announced that 700,000 Americans have lost their lives to COVID-19 – […]
A Tour of Medical Marijuana: History and Benefits
In the last decade, more and more states have legalized the use of medical marijuana, including Pennsylvania. And most people do not know, that in the decades before the U.S. government decided to make all forms of the plant illegal, marijuana was used medicinally for thousands of years. In fact, the Greek “Father of History,” […]
September is a Season: Exploring Transition, Change, and Harmony
Harmony, change, and balance – these are but some of the words that may come to mind when you think of September. September is the time of summer’s end, the Harvest Moon, and the Autumnal Equinox. The equinox is that special day when daylight and darkness are in balance, albeit for a brief moment, […]
Kintsugi: Finding Beauty in Imperfection
According to author Erin Niimi Longhurst, “Kintsugi is the art of repairing broken pottery with golden lacquer.” The concept is Japanese, and its part of a larger set of concepts that Longhurst refers to as the “Japanese Contentments.” “Shattered pieces are put back together and become even more beautiful laced with gold than they were […]
Caffeine as a Drug
Most people don’t realize it, but caffeine is a drug. That doesn’t mean to say that consuming caffeine is bad. On the contrary, there are many positive effects from having your coffee or tea in the morning. Some detractors (a small number to be sure) have argued that coffee should be eliminated from our diets […]
The Emerging Science of ‘Nutrition Psychiatry’: How Food Can Change How You Feel
When I first heard the idea that food can influence your mood, I was a little skeptical at first. “Was this just another trend that will pass in a few months?” “Is the idea just another diet fad?” “A gimmick?” But once I started to dive deeper into the subject, it changed the way I […]
Tapping into the ‘Power of Ritual’
According to author Casper ter Kuile, our world has become a place where “people have a more transient commitment to their jobs, locales, friendships, and marriages.” The author cites, for example, that studies find that the average citizen of the US, and likely the world, is lonelier than ever before. Kuile also adds that “people […]
The Health Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar Every few years or so, a new “miracle” health product arrives on store shelves. I can personally recall that in the 2010s, things like coconut milk, pomegranate juice, and avocado butter have been all the rage. And despite how trendy some of these products have become, they are […]
Technology and the Human Mind
“We are living in a nonlinear world where combinations of technology have become far greater than the sum of their parts,” author Daniel M. Gerstein says in his 2019 book, The Story of Technology. In the past century, the development of technology has been unprecedented – and this has been truer in the past 20 […]