This is Joe's World

1/17 The Risks of Catching RaysIt feels good to lounge in the sunshine, but it can hurt your health in the long run. Over the years, too much time outdoors can put you at risk for wrinkles, age spots, scaly patches called actinic keratosis, and skin cancer. Swipe to advance 2/17 SuntanA tan may look nice, but that golden color is due to an injury to the top layer of your skin. When you soak up the sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays, it speeds up the aging of your skin and raises your risk of skin cancer. To prevent damage, use a "broad spectrum" sunscreen that is SPF 30 or higher. Swipe to advance 3/17 Sunburn (First-Degree Burns)There's no guesswork about whether you've got a sunburn. Your skin turns red, it feels hot to the touch, and you may have some mild pain. It's called a first-degree burn when it affects only the outer layer of your skin. To get some relief from pain, take aspirin or ibuprofen. Try a cold compress, or apply some moisturizing cream or aloe. Swipe to ad…

1/13 The Wrong ShoeYou probably already know that high heels aren’t the best choice. Tennis and basketball shoes also present problems. The stiffness of these court shoes helps support quick sideways movement but hinders the heel-to-toe flexibility that’s good for walking. Look for a shoe with a well-padded heel that’s light, breathable, and water-resistant. A running shoe might work as well as a walk-specific model. Swipe to advance 2/13 Poor FitIf your shoes are too loose, they won’t provide the support you need. Too tight and they can rub and cause calluses or corns. They should feel comfortable in the store: roomy enough to wiggle your toes with ease but snug enough to keep your foot from sliding around. Shop later in the afternoon when your feet are slightly swollen so you get a good sense of your true size. Swipe to advance 3/13 Stuck in a RutYou might get bored and lose interest in your walk if you go the same route every day. Change it on a regular basis to keep it interesting. Not …

In an interview begun in 2012, when being honored with the Donald Hall-Jane Kenyon Award in American Poetry, Jane Hirshfield shares her experiential journey towards "the quick brushstroke of singular perception" for which her poems have come to be known. Acknowledging the grace of her gift she says, "I never take for granted that I'll be able to write. There's no acorn stash of ideas in my desk drawer. There's only the wanting to know my life through writing, a wish felt sometimes as desire, sometimes as desperation."

https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/blog/interviews/calligraphic-perception-conversation-jane-hirshfield

"My own time on earth has led me to believe in two powerful instruments that turn experience into love: holding and listening. For every time I have held or been held, every time I have listened or been listened to, experience burns like wood in that eternal fire and I find myself in the presence of love. This has always been so. Consider these two old beliefs that carry the wisdom and challenge of holding and listening..." Mark Nepo shares more in this thoughtful passage.

http://www.awakin.org/read/view.php?tid=2265

"Anguish over the diminishment of our world, the destruction of Earths life support systems, and the extinction of species is deep in our shared human psyche, though largely unexpressed. So many of us can only dimly imagine our way through the psychic and physical debris to a regenerated, thriving, Earth community. Yet the mysterious human imagination itself may be our best resource for experiential recovery of a vibrant, participatory, and wildly sacred Earth." Geneen Marie Haugen shares more.

https://parabola.org/2019/05/16/wild-imagination-by-geneen-marie-haugen/

Old age can last half a century, says physician Louise Aronson, so it needs a better definition—and more praise.

By Jenara Nerenberg


What do you think of when you think of “old age?” Maybe you think of it as your time of decline—something to be avoided at all costs. Many of us imagine the few short years just before our death, rather than the long stretch of time often available to explore new interests and relationships and activities. 

Author and physician Louise Aronson wants to change that. In her new book, Elderhood, she argues that old age or “elderhood” is a much richer, more nuanced experience than most people understand, and that treating it like an illness or pathology is the wrong approach. She believes people need to embrace elderhood as another normal phase of life—just like childhood and adulthood—with its own challenges and rewards. By reclaiming the narrative around older age, she hopes to not only support elders, but to impact family life, health, research, policy, and …

Jenny Cullinan dedicates her time to studying and learning from bees in the wild. Spending time with any species in the wild over time leads to understanding of that species as it truly is. She calls this greater understanding wild wisdom. With an allergy to bee stings, instead of being afraid of them she chose to learn how to be with them. She urges us to look at nature's genius and use it as a guide, allowing wild wisdom to restore our relationship with ourselves and with other species.

http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=8438

Researchers discovered an important factor that influences how contagious emotions are.

By Alex Shashkevich


In a new study, Stanford psychologists examined why some people respond differently to an upsetting situation and learned that people’s motivations play an important role in how they react.

Their study found that when a person wanted to stay calm, they remained relatively unfazed by angry people, but if they wanted to feel angry, then they were highly influenced by angry people. The researchers also discovered that people who wanted to feel angry also got more emotional when they learned that other people were just as upset as they were, according to the results from a series of laboratory experiments the researchers conducted.

Their findings, published in June in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, reveal that people have more control over how their emotions get influenced than previously realized, the researchers said.

“We have long known that people often try to regul…

"In early 2015, when the 10,000-entry Oxford children's dictionary dropped around fifty words related to nature -- words like fern, willow, and starling -- in favor of terms like broadband and cut and paste, some of the worlds most prominent authors composed an open letter of protest and alarm at this impoverishment of children's vocabulary and its consequent diminishment of children's belonging to and with the natural world. Among them was one of the great nature writers of our time: Robert MacFarlane a rare descendent from the lyrical tradition of Rachel Carson and Henry Beston...Troubled by this loss of vital and vitalizing language, MacFarlane teamed up with illustrator and children's book author Jackie Morris, who had reached out to him to write an introduction for a sort of wild dictionary she wanted to create as a counterpoint to Oxford's erasure. Instead, MacFarlane envisioned something greater. The Lost Words: A Spell Book was born."…

Research suggests that adolescents thrive when they can make meaningful contributions to their social groups.

By Meghan Lynch Forder

As parents of adolescents, we think a lot about what we need to do for our kids so they thrive as adults—or (depending on our philosophy) what our kids need to do for themselves to thrive as adults.


And one of the most crucial activities our teens can engage in is contributing to their social groups.

As they get older, teens can provide emotional and practical support to friends, family, and the broader community in deeper, more meaningful ways. Research suggests that kind and helpful behavior toward others actually increases from childhood through adolescence—making the stereotype of the self-absorbed teen a myth.

In fact, adolescence is a sweet spot for contributing to others. With massive changes happening in teens’ brains, their newfound physical, cognitive, and emotional capabilities combine to enable them to make contributions that have real benefits t…

Breast cancer does not ask you if it is part of your plan for life. When the diagnosis comes, your plans must change to accommodate. And how do women find their way back into life without cancer as it's center point? Colleen Webster, a DailyGood reader, shares her experience leading a retreat she organized for breast cancer survivors where she had to travel a similar journey. While she planned for a beautiful spring weekend of warmth and sun, what she got was a rain-soaked gift of new life emerging from the mud. Read her essay and discover how a group of women with new life ahead of them began to emerge from the chrysalis of cancer.

http://www.dailygood.org/story/2344/finding-a-way-back-colleen-m-webster/