A couple of months ago, the New York Times Styles section profiled Amy Cunningham, a magazine writer and blogger who surprised all her friends—myself included—when she abruptly shifted gears in her mid-50s to enroll at the American Academy McAllister Institute of Funeral Service. Now a licensed funeral director, she specializes in eco-friendly burials and do-it-yourself, spiritually attuned ceremonies for people…
I will get to the lovesick goat, but not yet. First, let’s talk about cat videos. A few years ago, I attended a conference on using technology for good. At a session about promoting citizenship through the use of the Internet, someone asked the speaker about YouTube. The man said, despondently, that half of YouTube was videos of cats flushing…
I’ve been interested in martial arts since I was a child. I took classes here and there, but I never found the courage or confidence to stick with it. The art intimidated me because I couldn’t fully understand it. Years later, in my adult life working with Reiki energy, I was introduced to Qigong, a practice of aligning body, breath,…
Summer is synonymous with love, romance, and joy. We celebrate the abundance of Mother Earth. This is a time to reach high and aim high. The summer solstice is a celebration of the longest day of the year and marks the height of the waxing season: a time of fertility of nature. Think of this as a time of being…
I love summer! I don’t have to wear a bulky coat, days are longer, and there’s more time to enjoy things I love like bonfires on the beach. It’s a perfect opportunity to slow down and enjoy what’s around us and recharge our batteries! Here are some of the ways I rewire myself during the summer. Don’t work so hard,…
A number of years ago, my partner and I moved into a fixer-upper. I saw the potential of the inside—the good bones of the small but well-built house. He saw the rocks and woods and graceful space around the house—a little under two acres but completely suffocated by trees of every size, and no sunlight. I was frenzied. I had…
By Traci Pedersen Negative ions are anything but negative when it comes to your health. Recent studies suggest that breathing in air that is abundant in negative ions can have a big influence on your feelings of well-being. So, what are negative ions and how do we gain exposure to them? Ions are atoms or molecules that have gained or…
By Steve Lewis The soundtrack to my road trip fantasy always begins with the Allman Brothers’ “Ramblin’ Man.” In my imagination, the camera pans down to a glistening Winnebago cresting a hill on a clear blue July morning, everyone in my big family laughing, free as the clichéd wind as we sluice down narrow lanes and merge onto interstates crisscrossing…
