Happy Hedonism Hangover Day! That's the day after Bad Karma Day (aka, Thanksgiving). Most of you probably ate and drank way more than you had any right to yesterday, and you may be feeling the negative effects of that today. Some people also call it Black Friday, one of the massive corporate money grabs that happens a few times per year, usually around the major holidays observed by the dominant culture (and Black Friday is one of the biggest, tapping into the potent human emotions of guilt, shame, and anxiety to get you to buy things ahead of the upcoming major holidays of Christmas and Hanukah - typically things you don't need or that you will give away to others under the rubric of "promoting Peace on Earth" - a Peace which, oddly, never seems to arrive...).
I'll be the first to admit that I am not beneath taking a slice of that proverbial promotional pie. As many of you know, this blog is free for all to access and enjoy. But we have to financially underwrite it somehow, and we do so using the mechanism called affiliate marketing - whereby a few subtle-but-strategically-placed keyword links, when clicked upon, take you to a site (usually Amazon) where you can purchase something, from which a very tiny percentage of the purchase price goes to us (at no cost to you)!
I thought I'd use today's post to list and share a handful of THINGS that I have found mission critical for living my best life, in hopes that they help you live your best life too. All of these things are things that I can fully endorse, having used them firsthand myself.
A Mood Lamp. Sometimes called a Happy Lamp, these are lamps that give off an intense blue light that simulates daylight, triggering the pineal gland in your brain to dump neurotransmitters and hormones into your brain and bloodstream that "trick" your mind and body into believing it is summertime, even if it's not. As such, people (including me) use these to ameliorate Seasonal Affective Disorder, a common mental health issue in northern latitudes, often comprising symptoms of low mood, low energy, anhedonia, sadness/emptiness, irritability, loss of focus/concentration/memory, and more. If you've experienced it, you know. These lamps can also be used to artificially increase your brain's perception of the duration of daylight each day. Turned on in the early morning or early evening during the winter months, when it is dark outside, again tricks your brain into believing the availability of daylight is longer than it actually is, simulating summertime. I use my mood lamp every day. It sits on my desk and I have it on while I am seeing my marriage and family therapy clients. Be warned, if you use it too late at night, it can disrupt your diurnal rhythm, something akin to jet lag.
The 4 Agreements (book). Shared with me by a mental health counselor I was seeing years ago, this book has proven a resilient, relevant, and extraordinarily pragmatic spiritual guide. I don't have much more to say about it, other than its tenets (the four actual Agreements) collectively cover the management of a significant number of the hassles and BS nonsense life throws at you.
How Not to Die (book). While The 4 Agreements is a great reference guide for improving mental and spiritual wellness, How Not to Die (by Dr. Michael Greger) is a must have screed for improving your physical (and to some extent also mental) health. The good doctor does extensive research on the peer reviewed scientific literature on the role of nutrition in human health. He shares a lot of this info FOR FREE on his website nutritionfacts.org. But he has also compiled all the best bits into this great book, How Not to Die.
I'm gonna pause it there for today, mainly because I have to pee, but also because I have to get a-crackin' on today's action packed agenda: a Peloton workout (to burn off a fraction of the calories I consumed yesterday), practicing rock-n-roll songs (ahead of GUPPY EFFECT duo band practice on Sunday), booking airplane flights for my parents (so they can visit my sister in Colorado for Christmas), and possibly making my infamous vegan curry, if time permits.
I wish you all a wonderful day and I hope that you have a fulfilling and enjoyable weekend. Try to fast from social and mainstream media if you can. I know you can't, but try...you will really notice the improvement in your Zen if you do.
Fin.
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