LIVING SMART
Living Smart season 3 started last weekend on October 21st with Eliza Duncan. This Sunday John Sage will be featured again at 3pm. I really loved hanging out with John Sage of Bridges to Life. He taught me to stand up for what is right but also to have compassion. He lost his sister in a brutal murder. After suffering from depression, and a year of prayer, he realized he wanted to start a program in prison to understand why inmates do what they do and for them to understand how victim's families feel about their actions. His program has been so successful the recidivism rate for prisoners he and his volunteers work with has gone from the general 60 percent to less than 10 percent. He is an amazing man who chose a positive way to respond to a horrible situation. This Sunday October 29th at 3pm on Ch. 8.
I want to share another story about Living Smart which gives me the incentive to fight to keep the show on the air. On season 2 I interviewed Marilyn Gambrell of No More Victims. The organization takes care of children of incarcerated parents. These children have been raped, neglected, abandoned, starved, etc. Their problems are innumerable. Marilyn has become a surrogate mother for these children. When I met her, Marilyn felt very little hope she could do much with the little monies she was getting so I connected her with my favorite charity. Cherish Our children International. This past Sunday I attended a fundraiser organized for No more Victims and played drums along with 400 other drummers to raise money for the children. We raised over 36,000! Miracles happen. Since Marilyn met Cherish our children they have raised a lot more than that and the children will be getting a new home, a new community garden and many other activities to help them cope with the myriad of problems they face.
MUSIC
November 10th at the ARTERY will be my last concert this year. I have decided to take a break from music for a while so I can rest. I have been quite stressed lately and I need to spend more time taking care of myself. I hope you will all come. I have no idea when I will take up music again.
Thursday
Soul Pain and what I can do about it
Yesterday I met someone going through a divorce and today, I met someone else who shared his pain after his divorce. Since I have never gone through this, all I could say is. It takes time, but from my own personal experience, suffering does not go away after a breakup, it only gets more "maneagable."
I am reading a book called Creating a Life by James Hollis. He will be on my Living Smart season 4 and I would like to share some of the paragraphs that help me deal with my own soul pain after things don't work out the way I want them to.
"The temptation to live on the surface of life is clear enough. When we are pulled deeply into something, even love, it hurts and opens us up to great suffering. But the willingness to open to depth is the chief way in which dignity and purpose return to life.
Then I read "When we embrace the anxiety attendant upon our condition, we open to the power of the divine."
My friend's response to me after reading it to him was. "That is just too deep for me" In a way I understood his response, right after a breakup, the last thing I wanted to read was why suffering is good for me!!! Now that time has passed. I am a better person because I can actually recognize soul pain when I meet someone. I have learned compassion and that is not easy to learn.
I am reading a book called Creating a Life by James Hollis. He will be on my Living Smart season 4 and I would like to share some of the paragraphs that help me deal with my own soul pain after things don't work out the way I want them to.
"The temptation to live on the surface of life is clear enough. When we are pulled deeply into something, even love, it hurts and opens us up to great suffering. But the willingness to open to depth is the chief way in which dignity and purpose return to life.
Then I read "When we embrace the anxiety attendant upon our condition, we open to the power of the divine."
My friend's response to me after reading it to him was. "That is just too deep for me" In a way I understood his response, right after a breakup, the last thing I wanted to read was why suffering is good for me!!! Now that time has passed. I am a better person because I can actually recognize soul pain when I meet someone. I have learned compassion and that is not easy to learn.
Living Smart, Caregiving Townmeeting and Music!
For 10 years, I have been doing stories or documentaries on obesity and why we are overweight and it still amazes me most of us still don't get it. That's why the show on addiction to sugars and flours is so important. It will air on HoustonPBS on Sunday October 14th at 3pm.
When I first did the story on addiction to sugars and flours years ago, I too became aware of what I was drinking and eating. For instance I used to think fruit juices were healthy. Well if you don't add sugar to them they generally are. It's called juicing! However what we usually get in the store has tons of sugar or worse, corn syrup! This is not healthy. I stopped drinking any drink with sugar in it and I have been doing that ever since. Although I am not thin, I feel it has helped me maintain my weight for years.
The other addiction is to processed foods with flour. This includes breads, cookies, cakes, doughnuts, bagels etc. Believe it or not, I hardly eat bread for this reason and I stay away from cakes, cookies and desserts. Okay, not always! but most of the time. The question we try to answer in this program is whether these types of foods, that have sugars and flours are addictive. In my opinion they are. Many disagree but what I will say. We would do much better without them. With the growth of processed foods, we have become fatter and sicker. That is a fact.
Season 3 of Living Smart begins again with the show on Alcohol and substance abuse addiction on October 21st at 3pm. Most of us are affected by addiction. We have friends or family who have the disease. The challenge is to prevent it or better yet learn what is available today. The science of addiction which I will cover in Living Smart's next season shows us there are so many new medications and vaccines in the works, there will be more hope for effective treatments in the future.
Last saturday I worked on a town meeting on caregiving. This was a very important program for me. I am a baby boomer with older parents! My family is facing all the issues we should talk about with our folks. Do you know what your parents want? Do you know if they have a will, a power of attorney or medical directive? Fortunately my parents were smart enough to visit a lawyer years ago. For now they have chosen to retire abroad in part to save money. I find this difficult but understandable with the cost of health care in our nation. The fact is we have focused on treatment and not on prevention in America and this is becoming so expensive many are going abroad for healthcare. Most seniors in America don't have long term care insurance and don't realize how expensive care can be in the end of life. This is sad. It is essential that each family really think about these issues before it is too late.
The CAREGIVING TOWN MEETING will air on Thursday October 25th at 8:30pm and Sunday October 29th at 4pm. I really find this show very useful for many of us with older parents and relatives. You will learn every aspect of caregiving you need to know. In the long run, this show can save you a lot of money and headaches.
MUSIC NEWS
To keep my sanity I am still performing with my duo "Las Latin Chicks” We play at Mi Pueblito on Thursday nights at 7:30pm until 10pm. Mi Pueblito is on Richomd between Fondren and Gessner..(NOT THE OTHER PUEBLITO close to Montrose)
On October 13th we'll play at Salento in Rice Village.
Also write on your calendar about Our November 10th concert at the ARTERY. We will be playing a whole new repertoire with Quartus.
When I first did the story on addiction to sugars and flours years ago, I too became aware of what I was drinking and eating. For instance I used to think fruit juices were healthy. Well if you don't add sugar to them they generally are. It's called juicing! However what we usually get in the store has tons of sugar or worse, corn syrup! This is not healthy. I stopped drinking any drink with sugar in it and I have been doing that ever since. Although I am not thin, I feel it has helped me maintain my weight for years.
The other addiction is to processed foods with flour. This includes breads, cookies, cakes, doughnuts, bagels etc. Believe it or not, I hardly eat bread for this reason and I stay away from cakes, cookies and desserts. Okay, not always! but most of the time. The question we try to answer in this program is whether these types of foods, that have sugars and flours are addictive. In my opinion they are. Many disagree but what I will say. We would do much better without them. With the growth of processed foods, we have become fatter and sicker. That is a fact.
Season 3 of Living Smart begins again with the show on Alcohol and substance abuse addiction on October 21st at 3pm. Most of us are affected by addiction. We have friends or family who have the disease. The challenge is to prevent it or better yet learn what is available today. The science of addiction which I will cover in Living Smart's next season shows us there are so many new medications and vaccines in the works, there will be more hope for effective treatments in the future.
Last saturday I worked on a town meeting on caregiving. This was a very important program for me. I am a baby boomer with older parents! My family is facing all the issues we should talk about with our folks. Do you know what your parents want? Do you know if they have a will, a power of attorney or medical directive? Fortunately my parents were smart enough to visit a lawyer years ago. For now they have chosen to retire abroad in part to save money. I find this difficult but understandable with the cost of health care in our nation. The fact is we have focused on treatment and not on prevention in America and this is becoming so expensive many are going abroad for healthcare. Most seniors in America don't have long term care insurance and don't realize how expensive care can be in the end of life. This is sad. It is essential that each family really think about these issues before it is too late.
The CAREGIVING TOWN MEETING will air on Thursday October 25th at 8:30pm and Sunday October 29th at 4pm. I really find this show very useful for many of us with older parents and relatives. You will learn every aspect of caregiving you need to know. In the long run, this show can save you a lot of money and headaches.
MUSIC NEWS
To keep my sanity I am still performing with my duo "Las Latin Chicks” We play at Mi Pueblito on Thursday nights at 7:30pm until 10pm. Mi Pueblito is on Richomd between Fondren and Gessner..(NOT THE OTHER PUEBLITO close to Montrose)
On October 13th we'll play at Salento in Rice Village.
Also write on your calendar about Our November 10th concert at the ARTERY. We will be playing a whole new repertoire with Quartus.
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