Nearly thirteen years ago, my husband and I made a decision that seemed like the logical thing to do. Our youngest son had just been born, and we were content with the way our family looked. We decided we were done having kids. So we did what we had to to make sure our decision […]
Author Archives: Paula Widish
17
Jul
Jul
I just love opening up to a random page in D.C. Jarvis’s book Folk Medicine: A New England Almanac of Natural Health Care from a Noted Vermont Country Doctor. Every time I do, I come across some fascinating piece of information that makes me think, “Really?! I had no idea. How interesting!” Then I completely […]
10
Jul
Jul
Once upon a time, there was a slow cooker named Patience. Patience loved her job and took great pride in providing for her family. She lived in the pantry closet and got a case of the butterflies every time one of her people reached for her handles. Whenever this happened, she knew she would be […]
03
Jul
Jul
Our family’s new home has a kitchen appliance that has sparked a debate I hadn’t thought about in some time. You see, our refrigerator has a handy dandy ice-and-water dispenser right on the door, a feature we’d lived without thus far in our lives but seems to be in use more than not now that […]
26
Jun
Jun
The other day, I overheard one of our boys make this comment: “If I can afford it, I will shower three times a day when I have my own place.” In the morning showering helps him wake up. At midday he showers to clean himself after his rigorous basketball workout. And in the evening a […]
19
Jun
Jun
Thursday is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year and my favorite time to check in with myself. Why? For me the solstice brings more than just some bonus daylight; it brings energy and optimism. (I’m kind of an optimism junkie, seeking and finding it wherever possible.) It’s the perfect time to think […]
12
Jun
Jun
My brother was visiting last weekend, and I noticed he had slimmed down quite a bit. He’s never been a large person, but the change was obvious. When it came up in conversation, he mentioned he’d had some nagging health issues he wanted to get the upper hand on. So he made some changes and […]
05
Jun
Jun
Makeup isn’t really my thing. I’m more likely to throw away a tube of mascara because I’ve forgotten when I bought it than because it’s empty. But the other day, as I looked in the mirror, I was thrown back some years to a cosmetics party a friend had convinced me to attend. The woman […]
29
May
May
When my kids were in grade school, I used to love coming up with a memorable gift to give their teachers at the end of the school year. Sometimes I would recruit help from the rest of the parents, and sometimes I went solo. It all depended on the teacher’s taste. But how in the […]
22
May
May
When you think about addiction, there are probably certain words that come to mind, and I’ll guess there isn’t one that has a positive connotation to it. Maybe you think of words like weak, sick, unstable, and so on. But based on the current reality of drug addiction, I think something has to give. Something […]
15
May
May
When you’re first starting out on your self-health journey, chances are pretty good that one of your first moves will be to start noticing food labels at your local market. You’ll want to make sure there are zero grams of this and “all” of that, so you keep a keen eye out for those things. […]
08
May
May
Anyone who’s made it as far as grade-school health class knows what PMS is. And once you know about this phenomenon, you start recognizing how frequently our society refers to it. Whether it’s treated as a punchline on sitcoms or a scapegoat for undesirable actions, PMS seems to be treated as an all-purpose insult or […]
01
May
May
I’m the latest victim of a bug one of our boys brought home last week. One of the main highlights of this particular bug is vomiting. Too much information? Be grateful this is the only highlight I’m sharing. ;) Curious about all that this highlight had to offer, I couldn’t help but think to myself, […]
24
Apr
Apr
I know, I know…you aren’t a meditator. You can’t imagine just sitting there, trying to empty your head of thoughts and focus on your breath for minutes on end. You’re too busy, too high-strung, too whatever. While all good things become easier with practice, just because you’re not willing to put in the time it […]
17
Apr
Apr
You’ve arrived at the conclusion that it’s time to stop taking your health for granted. You’re ready to start paying attention to how to maintain your health, or even improve it. You’re bright. You’re resourceful. And you’ve saved all sorts of articles and tidbits from social media and other great online resources like Selene River […]
10
Apr
Apr
Whether you know it or not, your liver is kicking ass and taking names each and every day on your behalf. Being your largest internal organ (about the size of a football), the liver sits to the right of your stomach, just under your diaphragm, and is protected by your right rib cage. In the […]
27
Mar
Mar
As I was chatting on the phone with a dear friend the other day, I could hear her anxiety-ridden teenager in the background. I hadn’t realized this was a concern in my friend’s home, but it sounds like her family has been dealing with it for quite some time. After we hung up, it struck […]
13
Mar
Mar
I read an intriguing article the other day that made my head spin. It was about inversion thinking, or focusing on the opposite of what you want. Rather than fixating on success, for example, you concentrate on avoiding failure. Huh. Being an optimist, I hadn’t ever considered this idea. But it got me thinking about […]
06
Mar
Mar
The other day my hubby told me of an odd thing that happened to him at work. He had a slight headache as he was driving in, and by the time he sat down to his dual monitors he wasn’t able to focus on them. He said everything had a kaleidoscope look to it. As […]
27
Feb
Feb
If you’ve been waiting on a particular study to come out that would finally get you to move away from mass-produced cleaning products, a group of scientists at University of Bergen in Norway have just done you a huge favor. As reported in Newsweek, the researchers of the study offered the startling comparison that the […]