Everything Else

Here you go:
The Actual AD, as promised in part 1.
You didn’t think I was going to get around to actually writing this, did you?

Oh Ye of Little Faith!

Ahem.
As I was saying…

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Preface & Disclaimer: Though I’ve labeled this “part 1″, it’s actually more of a prequel, &  should probably be numbered part zero, or negative .4, or something odd like that.

Also, this whole thing is probably going to sound a bit wacky. I’ve tried to explain a bit of the nuttier parts so they sound less woo-filled, but, you know what? There’s only so much explaining you can do about Helper Mice.

So if you’re going to decide I’m stark raving mad, go ahead.   If you’d just like to know more about one of the concepts I’m touching on here, and why I don’t think it makes me crazier than a dormouse, well…  let me know in the comments and I’ll do my best to explain!  Now, on with the post proper, in a more appropriate and readable font-size.

Over on The Fluent Self, Havi Brooks (yes, I’ve been plugging her a lot. Get used to it. ) has been doing this thing she calls Very Personal Ads.

In Havi’s own words:

” The Very Personal Ads are a practice where we ask for something we want in order to get clarity on stuff and also to practice getting better at asking for things.”

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In my home town, the powers that be had a brilliant idea: turn a historic  farmstead (which now sits in the middle of town) into a community garden.  Citizens can sign up for 10×10 raised plots for vegetable or flower gardens, and the whole thing is  decorated by scarecrows in pioneer outfits, and old farm equipment.  (The 1800’s farmhouse itself is being restored to it’s  original form, and turned into a hands on museum, but that’s a ‘different matter. Today, we’re focused on the garden aspect)

In the same town, my Grandmother (who determined long ago she should never be called “Granny” ) has opened up her empty next-door lot for a neighborhood garden.  My grandfather had always kept it planted with garlic, onions, corn, and so forth… so it’s been great to see it in use again, and the neighbors all cooperating on the project.

Even in the most urban areas, gardeners are learning to create and manipulate cracks in paved areas to create community “crack gardens”. And at the White House, Michelle Obama has planted the first vegetable garden since Eleanor Roosevelt, an act that has seemingly rejuvenated gardening as a hobby among younger generations.

But what’s any of this got to do with tweaking your mind?

Well…   Lots!  Gardening has everything to do with with mood balancing and brain fitness and general good attitudeness.

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The other day, in a post about Penn & Teller, I wrote this:

When I was in my wacky lets-learn-all-about-spiritual-secrets-and shamanism phase, I became fascinated by the way shamans could use tricks of illusion and magic as part of ritual and surprisingly effective medical treatments. Indigenous spiritual practices are full of manufactured illusions that are treated as reality, even by the practitioners themselves - but that’s another post.

This Is That Post (and yes, it’s stoopid-long)

Ahem.

For a few years during my spiritual insanity, I had an actual-real-live-official mentor amid all the wackiness.

And yes, he was more than a wee-bit-wacky himself, but he was also quite smart, knowledgable and insightful, and a good sort of mentor (at least so long as you remembered he was basically a bit wacky. I did forget, every once in a while)

But anyway.

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Yes, ok, fine…. I’ve been suckered into writing about the latest “big sensation”. But it’s on topic, dang nab it! The phenomena of this British singer is apparently a bit of a mind tweak for millions of Americans.

For those of you who live under a rock, Susan Boyle is a contestant in a British reality TV/talent show. She’s become an overnight sensation - not just in Britain, where the program airs, but in America, where the YouTube clip of her performance has made waves.

She’s a singer. And yes, she’s a good singer.

But what makes her (and the YouTube clip of her performance) so notable is that she doesn’t *look* like a great singer - or rather, she doesn’t look the way we’ve been conditioned to expect “great singers” to look.

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