Wow. What a wonderful story. Hopeful. Sweet. Amazing the life stories wonderful nurses like you drive and participate in. Bless you kim.

@raintree: Very interesting. The supertaster theory sounds reasonable. Compared to me, my wife is certainly a supersmeller and superhearer too. Maybe it's a package deal. :)

Thanks!

Interesting post kim about the dichotomy between (1) how we feel in our hearts, and (2) the body language we give out. I've never been good as having #2 being opposite from #1 -- I guess I never le...

drLove: Right - that was my thought too. i.e. Higher dose => faster effect. Indeed, for the last two weeks of the trial, I had started integrating the seeds into my diet. That, perhaps, accounted f...

drLove: Re the supplement, two things: (1) the ingredients label simply says "Irvingia gabonensis" which is the name for the tree. In contrast, when you get Vitamin C, the label says "ascorbic acid...

She was on the big side, but not in an apple-shaped fat-person way. Very buxom, bustin' out in every direction. Dunno if she is Nigerian. She did have an accent of some sort that sounded African.

drLove: I agree. The science behind Ogbono says that it reverses "leptin resistance" caused by the binding of C-reactive protein to leptin. That is, the Ogbono works it magic by cleaving the bond b...

Update on my informal Northern-Southern taste test trial: I gave an Ogbono nut to my neighbor to try. He is of British Isles extraction -- just like my wife. And just like my wife, he strongly didn...

I was thinking about the relative interest in "spirit" stories versus "mind" or "body" one. To me, and I would think to most of us on this site, mind-body-spirit is a pretty seamless connection. So...

Yeah, I'm glad Dr. Love is going to give it a try too. Now we'll get a significant upgrade in the quality of the analysis and appraisal. :) I ordered some of the supplement bottles for her and they...

Good question. I did come across a government study that showed, at least up to a few years ago, the harvesting of Ogbono was a small-time thing. That is, individuals would go out into the wild for...

Good idea re asking about source. Re dosage, what I did was to look for native Ogbono recipes. The most common one is a soup recipe in which Ogbono is used as the thickener. Recipes I'm seeing ask ...

I agree. I'm off the supplements now, but consuming the actual seeds daily. This morning, my weight was down another pound. I think I'll keep Ogbono in my daily diet until I hit 175 -- which I thin...

What a wonderful post. So many resonant themes. The healing sun, the power of slowness and moderation, stepping outside our routines to gain perspective. There are a number of older postings that s...

Wow. Very interesting. Clearly, our mom's death was an extremely stressful thing for everyone in our family. Interesting that you and I seem to have processed the big bulk of that pain through powe...

Interesting thought kim. I wouldn't be surprised if slower regeneration plays a role. On another angle, I'm going to post a blog in the next few weeks about the results of a 10 week self-experiment...

Interesting, Kathy. I might have added that in addition to 40+, the other period in our lives when we are super-sensitive to damaging foods is 1- (i.e. in the womb and as young babies). I can alrea...

Wow. Powerful story. What amazing mysteries of our existence you angelic nurses get to see! Thanks so much for sharing this story.

Wonderful!

Thanks for the great info drLove. If one was to try oral supplementation of vitamin B12, where would be a good to get that? If you know, maybe you could put that in your posting. Thanks.

drLove -- on your suggestion about just offering my wife expressions of unconditional love, followed by my request. This approach sounds quite elegant (in the mathematical sense). I mean, this is h...

drLove - your toilet roll "solution" sounds like treating the symptoms of the problem, rather the root causes. :)

kim -- I wish I had a formula to give out. As I write in my post "True Closure", I experienced a transcendental day in the aftermath of meeting with my ex-wife for a couple of hours in July, 10 yea...

Beautiful. Thanks.

Interesting stories. Consistent with my belief that pretty much all of us walk around reliving our childhood with our current intimates "playing the roles" of family members from our childhood (esp...

Your two comments remind me a riddle I ask people from time to time: What do terminally ill patients, people in jail, homeless people, the really super wealthy, and foreigners all have in common? T...

My bad! It was a bug. Must have been around for over a year. No wonder nobody was editing their posts. Anyway, the bug should be fixed now. And you should see an "Edit" link just below the title of...

Thanks again for the story. I believe that we're born with only one form of communication: emotion. Later, we communicate with words and intellectualism. But we need to be taught that. In some peop...

Yeah I agree that I've never seen a "transformed" person -- just people in the process of transforming. This particular transforming story reminded me of a running conversation I had with drLove aw...

Seems obvious your heart is still ticking nicely given the moving stories you've shared. A couple of notes: You can edit your post (e.g. change 1962 to 1972) by click the small "Edit" link just bel...

Kim - You're story dovetails with a core belief of mine: "Most every persistent pattern in our adulthood can be traced back to childhood events." The hard part often is spotting the patterns in our...

To kim and drLove -- your poignant nursing stories have led me to the following idea: When I get the chance, I think I'll try adding another tab/feature to the site called "Books". The idea would b...

Thanks for the suggestion kim! Done and done. I guess I didn't think about that one when I first writing up this post because I do lots of things with my daughter.

On a procedural topic, this beautiful story reminds me that this site has many such stories - perhaps not all as poignant or beautiful, but still rich and moving. To me, that's the best aspect of t...

Ditto for me re drLove's responses to your stories. Thanks form me as well.

Beautiful story. Nurses see the most amazing things.

I agree with drLove. I don't distinguish teens or 20-somethings. Kids that age appreciating that in their mother is a wonderful thing. My wife Cathy seems a lot like you in that regard (ie. "err" o...

Yeah, there's the time element that favors the expensive one, in addition to all the extra features. Maybe when we're done having offspring and they're all in high school, and the novelty has long ...

When drLove says "I think [nursing] is the most undervalued job on the planet", that goes double in America where I live. I've done a bit of my own research on the brain and personality. In that re...

Thank you again Kim and drLove. I'm heartened that someone other than my sister (drLove) shares the view that "when these stories are shared the value of [the] experience [recounted] is multiplied....

Beautiful. Thank you so much Kim. Gave me goosebumps reading this, and my eyes watered. This is because of the healing power of love that your recounted, and your own recognition of it. Bless you.

Thanks. I have one caveat to add on my belief that this approach will help my marriage. I believe that in the short term, during the transition from selfish peter to serving peter, things will be e...

Agreed again.

Wonderful again. I was talking with our mutual friend today who takes the "discretion" side of things, and I agreed with him that mom might not have wanted us to share the "shameful" things about h...

Wonderful sentiments. I agree completely with the facts (I am her son). But also with the sharing of all experiences, both joyful and painful. Much is to be learned from a full discussion; nothing ...

I just re-read this testimony because my dearest friend, spudcan (http://youscription.com/users/17), and I had a conversation last night about it. Couple additional thoughts: (1) 1970, not 1972? Ho...

The other parallel between our two theories is subject I'll delve into in a reply blog to this one. Basic idea concerns the way right versus left processes reality.

Thanks. Yeah, I think there's an intersection in our two theories. Optimists (left brain dominance) tend to unconsciously "spin" reality into something consistent with their interests. So it takes ...

I like this approach. I think bad diet is a much bigger cause of belly fat in men than bad exercise. I agree that excessive protein is long term dangerous. Gonna have to create my own reply when I ...

Sounds interesting. I'll pass this on to my wife. Thanks for posting.

OK Jenya, my wife Cathy just posted a response to your question. I figured that was better than an email exchange between you two (though she'd be happy to do that too). By posting her experience o...

Jenya -- I just signed my wife up to Holonation. I'll do what I can to get her to post a reply to your question in the next day or two.

test

Beautiful testimony. Couldn't agree more with your theme. And thanks for filling in the details of that day. Interesting that you remember so much, whereas I remember only the part where Dad "helps...

Just to give examples of my last comment, some of the "actionable" bullet points from this story that might make it into a recipe include: 1. "Finally I decided to 'ask for help'. I looked up at ...

The other thing I wanted to say is that this testimony really highlights something I've been thinking about re this site. Personal stories like this one must be told in prose -- not in punchy algor...

Bless you Nutrition1. What a beautiful redemptive story. Dovetails nicely with my own experiences as well. Thanks so much for sharing.

Yum! Picture please! (Next time you make one)

IMHO, you've already completed the first two huge requirements: (1) Understand you have this problem, and (2) see how it stems from lessons learned in your childhood. Where to go from there? I shou...

to Nutrition1: Hmm. Another feature I need to add: "Change my testimony into a question (or vis versa)". Seems easy enough.

Yum. Sounds good. I need to revamp this site in a number of ways. One way will be enabling photo uploads for testimonies. I'd like to see a picture of that yummy sounding dish.

to drLove: Thanks. yeah, I didn't mean for this testimony to sound like it was an alternative to the modalities you mention. Just something that worked for me.

Lovely testimony. In addition to enjoying reading this, it made clear something that has been brewing in my head. Specifically: users (including me) want to post testimonies or questions, not recip...

to soulflower: So sorry to hear you lost your dad. I'm thankful my dad is still going strong at 81. But my mom died 9 nine years ago. That was defintely the hardest thing I've faced. But quite a sp...

to drLove: Re your theory about my "fixation" -- could be true, but if so, it's in my subconscious. My consciousness thinks my interest is purely functional. i.e. I'm no more nor no less interested...

to anne: BTW, since you live close to us, let me know if you want to borrow it some time. I've used it to check what foods drive my blood sugar above 85 mg/dL (out of the optimal range). I learned ...

to anne: I have one those finger prick glucometers. I inherited from my wife who got during her pregnancy. She had been eating bags of apricots, and her blood sugar got so high the doctor had her g...

to drLove: Interesting idea. Might be a bit tough to code though. i.e. to return meaning results.

to drLove: This is great. Given that the Internet Archive records sites, our wishes about our deaths should be available to anyone at anytime in the future. Who needs a will?

to drLove: Well said. I guess since it's all in the future, I won't know until I get there.

to drLove: I still think it's about type rather than development. I'm an Eight, you and mom are/were Ones. In the model, Eights, Nines, and Ones are the "anger" types (in contrast with the "flight"...

to peter: Oh -- one other example. In addition to the tingling I feel during this closure process, afterward, my mind is clear. And new ideas crop up that should have been obvious but which were ap...

to peter: One quick example of what I mean here: I've read that one major purpose of dreams is to resolve stressful circumstances in our lives. In the first couple of years after my mom died, I wou...

I think you might be using the term "closure" differently from what I'm talking about. I'm referring to any residual aversive feelings within myself about a circumstance. For me, "closure" means I ...

Entertaining testimony! Given the funeral my wife and I attended last weekend, we got to talking about what to do with our dead bodies should either of us die first. Both of us said the same thing:...

Thanks so much for the testimony. Sorry for the loss and for your grief. Your testimony is so thought-provoking. I think I'll to respond with a deeper testimony. Hopefully tomorrow.

to Angel_C: Agreed. But the more proficient we get at not jumping off at #1 through our practices and understandings, the fewer opportunities we get to practice and the more difficult it becomes to...

Another thought of mine concerns the Enneagram theory of personality. Member haiku is also interested in it. (Note to self: Get the 'messaging' feature working so I can send haiku this Recipe.) I l...

Thanks for the Recipe. Looks useful. I look at your Steps and realize that Step 1 is the whole ballgame for me. If I can catch myself at Step 1, the rest of the steps are cake for me. But that's a ...

to drLove: Thanks

Yum, sounds tasty. I need to develop a "Print" feature allowing us to print out Recipes like this one on a tidy single sheet. Then we could post it in our kitchen for reference. Thanks.

to haiku: Thanks for the comment haiku. Yeah, I think Holonation will be a wonderful place to explore ideas and experiences concerning your thyroid issues. From what I understand, thyroid issues ha...

to haiku: Thanks haiku. I agree that the optimal expiation process for different Enneagram types might be quite different. Being an 8 -- one of the three optimist types with a core fear of weakness...

to haiku: Fascinating Testimony. Thanks so much. Brings to my mind something that a water diviner once told me. He said that when he was a kid, his sensitivity was very high for picking up the loca...

to drLove: Sounds reasonable drLove. But what if you end up taking 50g on a really sick day. If you're taking it in a buffered form, might not that end up putting too much of the buffering substanc...

Yeah the game needs to go back to the fans. Let fans rank the refs, vote on player salaries per month, etc. The Internet is there for all that and the game would be resurrected.

Well said. As the "CEO" of this site, I'll say that I personally agree with the gist of your notions. Moreover, I think there's probably enough cross-disciplinary evidence of the notion of a "onene...

to drLove: I might have to agree with you about this Recipe. My wife and I have just started doing Qi Gong and early results are amazing. I'll put in my own Recipe and Testimony after we've tried i...

to drLove: Thanks. Now we just need to get the organizer pages really tight and useful, and a;so the conditions pages. That will start making the site obviously useful to typical people who think o...

Great. Now someone just needs to find the American counterpart.

Thanks for your Testimony. Makes sense. Similar outward symptoms can be the result of a wide variety of underlying causes. So there's not just one simple Recipe-that-fits-all.

More to the point of the pyramid idea ... true, the clinic that has seen all sorts of different patients with similar symptoms is in the best position to assess a new situation. However, I suspect ...

Thanks for your beautiful Testimony. It brings up so many thoughts for me. I believe that, in some way, each and every one of us is "incomplete" with respect to being as loving and wise as we could...

Thanks for the Recipe. Yeah, we were already on to your Step 4 (probiotics). We've had her tested for allergies, but I don't think via ELISA. We'll ned to try that. Your Recipe gives us much food f...

I like this one. To me, it's a more elegant way to say what I will be saying on my Recipe for Happiness (that I need to post).

to drLove: No problemo. It looks great! Thanks.

Cute story. Maybe there's some truth in it. I've always come from the other side of belief. That is, I've always seen names as relatively empty vessels that we fill with our actions and statements....

to herestomww: I should read that book sometime. I have a whole theory of the "beauty of small and slow." This theory became clear to me around the turn of the millenium. In fact, the core of this ...

to Beverley: Being the brother in this story, I'll confirm it. I didn't know what my sister had said to my mom, but it sure had a surprising effect. However, what I wasn't surprised about was that ...

Sounds good. I'll try it.

Thanks for the Testimony. A few years ago, I bought a medical ozone generator with the thought that it would be useful in case of avian flu becoming human transmittable. I haven't gotten around to ...

I remember participating in a sweat lodge back in 1998 with my mother shortly before she died. It was an intense experience. It requires you to completely relax and go with the experience; anxiety ...

Your Testimony makes me think of a "pyramid" of natural health. At the bottom are "exercise, rest, good nutrition, regular detoxification, ..." (ie. your list above). Then above that (and narrower)...

to drLove: I am in the processing of changing my hygiene practices to bring them up to the standards of most civilized people. I was also going to try ozone therapy to kill any bugs inside me. But ...

to drLove: Both theories seem sound. I suspect it's some of both for me. The last six months, I had been not exercising enough, not eating enough fruits and veggies, not sleeping as soundly (due to...

to drLove: Thanks for the suggestions. I'll get the Ferretin tested. We do cook in cast iron pans, and I do take Vit C in 5g doses from time to time. However, I was doing all that last Fall when I ...

to drLove: My serum iron was 195 ug/dL. Last year it was 85. Convntional reference range is 40-155. I don't think Ferritin was one of the 55 things tested for.

to drLove: Yeah, I'll do that. Plus, I'm instituing new changes as I write (e.g. organizing my clothes so that I wear new clean clothes every day, rather than say, evey 4-7 days).

to drLove: I agree. And given that Holonation is anonymous, this might be easier for many members. I mean, even the site doesn't know who the members are since the site doesn't even collect the nam...

to drLove: Thanks. On the last paragraph, yeah I see your point. But if we let the negative feelings that commonly accompany personal tragedies sit inside ourselves for some time, they do us harm. ...

to spudcan: Some things implicit in what drLove just wrote seem to be: (1) both parents have to be on the same page (2) both parents have to be doing this for themselves as well for their kids (3) ...

to drLove: For me, it's a little of both. Coming to grips with profound disappointment is a cause for joy. With our next two IVF attempts, my heart felt free to hope and even believe, but without t...

By the way, the "Excretion" connection I made with this Recipe concerns tears your cry while writing up your tragedy, and psychic burden you release after you complete the Recipe.

to drLove: Woohoo! God is in da house! One cool thing about signing up early as a Holonation is that we get pretty much whatever member name we want. e.g. God gets to be "God", rather than "God378"...

Kinda makes me wish I was a smoker so I could read this book and turn my life around. :) Thanks for the great Testimony.

Beautiful! Thanks for the wonderful prose, and inspiring story. In addition to "Exercise", I'd say this Testimony also is about "Love". Love os nature, and love amongst the group.

Thanks for your answer. I agree that kids probably have intuitive wisdom about healthy choices put in front of them. But America is full of parents who don't do that. Anyway, I feel better about th...

Right -- and third element is: communication among the individual holons. In his lecture last night that I attended, Raymond Francis said that the cells of our bodies communicate with each other in...

to drLove: Hmmm. Interesting bodliy response. I just get a very pleasant buzz feeling. Will be interesting hear from others who try this.

to drLove: I'm just writing about what the brain science shows. For example, studies have shown the amygdala activating when young heterosexual males are shown pornography, cocaine addicts are show...

I'm glad you got this great Testimony up there just as were changing the name to "Holonation". Had we changed it one week earlier, maybe we wouldn't have the opportunity to read your wonderful stor...

Well, I guess since we changed the name of the site last week to "Holonation", that "whole landslide of cultural/political/religious issues" juts fell down the hill, not to be seen again.

Thanks!

I must say that when I am able to break away from the work of dveloping this site, and then approach this site as a user (as I'm doing now), my mood perks up. Amazing to see the different practices...

drLove: What your wrote in your comment sounds funny, but it could be as useful and revolutionary for someone like me as is focusing what "I want for myself" for a pessimist.

Beverly: I find the same practice useful. If only I can see someone as a young child, I can't be mad at them. Given that I believe most all of our annoying behaviors arise from childhood (ie. we le...

I'm a strong believer in trying to "tell the story" from the point of view of the person with wom we are upset. When we're upset, our mind narrows, and makes it hard to do that.

I tried it for a couple of weeks. No wax plug came out. Seems unlikely there isn't one. I might try again later.

I gave this one 5 stars because I think steps 3-7 are useful for all kids, not just ones with autism.

Yeah, since our baby was born, it's been hard to find a quiet, undisturbed place first thing in the morning in our house. So I take it where and when I can.

I gave this one 3 stars because I suspect it's most useful only for peope with "Seattle weather" type emotions (ie. if you don't like the weather, wait ten minutes). Others like myself, have "Greek...

I think it's fantastic that you've found a way to work through the initial feelings of anger. When the day comes that you don't even feel any anger at all, I wonder if your kids will still "mess up...

Well said. I look forward to the day when this site has so many workers that the collective wisdom can percolate up from us. Who knows what it will say? Who knows whether it will jive what we believe?

I think the "miss[ing] your family" part is almost the most important aspect of the vacation. At least, that feeling is the sign that the vacation is serving its purpose (i.e. to renew the family ...

Agreed. I categorized this one as "Resting" because like fasting, meditation, and sleep, this idea is about taking a break from something that is normally "always on". Of course, the key to ths is ...

The photo I just uploaded is a picture of the salad I made for myself after typing up this Recipe. I'm eating it right now. Mmm, mmm.

I'm on Day 3 of Step 1. Kind of annoying sleeping with olive oil and cotton in my ears. But an upside is that our toddler can't wake me up with mere murmurs or shouts in her sleep. She needs to cr...

Beautiful sentiments. I'm coming from the opposite end of the pole. So I don't think I can be much help on your last question. My personal challenge is: "Find the joy in obliglation." I've been shi...

Gotta admit, I do that too! When I shake it in front of our toddler, she looks at me with a puzzled expression. But soon enough, she'll be joining me.

Thanks! Very detailed, and unambiguous. I'll try this and report back.

LastDFer: Do it in the friggin' spring/summer/fall by hand buddy! Slower than hydraulic to be sure, but what a great workout.

This Recipe shows that no matter the environment, there is at some practice that is resonant with that environment, and enjoyable. The trick is to find that practice and master it. Where we live, S...

to drLove: Actually, it's best to chop wood and stack the pieces for seasoning at least one year before burning the pieces. So, for example, wood you split in, say, September of this year would not...

to drLove: Well said. Chopping wood is not for everyone. There is a bit of strength requirement in it. And moreover, city-dwellers are often prohibited from operating wood burning fireplaces in the...

I agree with the Testimony. This one fits under: "enjoy the journey; the destination will take of itself." I think of "Living to 100" not as a goal to reach, but rather as a focuser for my daily pr...

to randy1: You eat up all your vegetables, young man, or you're not leaving the table! Love, Mom

BTW, I just added quotes around "Christian wackos" and "apostate evil-doers" to make clear that these aren't my views. Instead, they are views present in the media and public discourse in America. ...

Re "Christian wackos", there seem to be some people who feel that a person who seeks to guide their life by words in a 2000-year-old book is delusional at best. On the flip side, there seem to be f...

Thanks! Our kid is still a toddler so I can't follow his Recipe yet. Need to get a "Print This" or "Clip This" feature up to save it in a file that I can refer to when the time comes.

Well said. I share this view. Reverence of the more powerful seems almost hard-wired into humans. As science emerged as dominant in the last century, the powerful were those who controlled the impe...

Yeah, this site needs some die-hard city folks who hate the mountains -- just to give the opposite view. As for me, I hate to simply vehemently agree with this testimony, but I do!

Enjoyable testimony. Thanks. I agree that in the healthiest of humans, balance is key. Certainly, balance in giving and receiving (I'll change that to "taking" here) is important. One extra observa...

On amelia's point about not asking children to "give", I'll agree, with a couple of caveats. First, the younger the kid, the more I agree; the older, the less so. Second, how, when, and whether I'd...

Wonderful. Moreover, that you're open to trying new "dangerous" things (with prudence of course), makes it (in my view), less likely that your daughter will seek out social "danger" when she's away...

2 LastDFer Last Worker *is* a Food Site -- but not in the way of regular food sites, and it's much much more than that. On this site, food and drink and the like are merely a kind of thing that we ...

Yum. I'm looking forward to trying this one.

My wife and I used infant probiotic with our baby too and similarly found beneficial results. Thanks for sharing.

Couldn't have said it better. Your testimony and comment capture the "wisdom of the crowds" dynamic that lies at the heart of this site. I suspect that the collection of Last Workers will prove to ...

Beautiful.

Agreed that site name can be controversial. But I think that is a good thing because ensuing the discussion could produce useful ideas.

I love it. Reminds me of that video that went around the Net in the past year or two of the guy standing in a mall hugging people as they passed by.

Yep. I see this as a necessary (but insufficient) condition for moving forward in a relationship. Another component is understanding why we "goofed up" in order to help avoiding repeating that beha...

I agree with the larger point that keeping our teeth and gums clean and strong is a critical component of health.

Absolutely agree. Personally, I use a 40oz military surplus anodized steel canteen for this purpose. It's endlessly fascinating to my toddler, as well as one of the biggest components of my own hea...

I think this could be very useful in our little family.

Absolutely agree. It's for recipes like this that I started up this website.

Sounds like a bug in their site. Or maybe it's just their polite way of saying that you're taking up too space on this Earth and you'd make the world a better place by recylcing yourself. :)

You almost make me feel bad about living in a place where its 80 degrees more than a week before the Spring solstice. :) That snowboarding sure sounds fun.

I also agree with amelia. But although I love all of nature, I find that hiking in the mountains is more likely to bring out that exhilarated, soaring feeling in me. Maybe I just come from a long...

Msuic and dance -- brilliant! I would have given this 5 stars if it wasn't limited to 50s-60s-70s music. I see both music and dance as powerful forms of emotional communication. This communication ...

Have to agree with amelia. The science on GMO is may be in its infancy, but I ain't waiting for definitive answers while I feed myself and my family.

I love this one. Personally, I never feel more alive and vital then when I'm high up in the mountains breathing that air.

I don't know if this will work but you make it sound worth trying. One question ... Are you missing one ingredient: 6. Your partner wants to Tango.?

Check out the 40-question Living to 100 questionairre linked to my testimony "Red Wine for Healthy People". One questions concerns quality of air. Actually, most of the ideas there seem to track yo...

Agreed! Just bliss. I like going out my myself too in our local mountains. No bears or big cats to worry about. I think I'll put in solo hiking as a recipe.

I think this works splendidly for pessimists (ie. "that won't work for me") and youth, decently for optimist-pessimists (ie. "stop or go? stop or go? I need more time"), and no so good for optimist...

I'm suspecting that alcohol might be one of those things that, in moderation, helps healthly people, but, like you say, damages people whose livers aren't healthy. I find it telling that more than ...