Chattering Mind: March 2007 Archives

Metamucil, the fiber "regularity" product for older folks has developed ads for the young, nut-and-berry set. "Drop Dead Gorgeous Guts" the ad headline reads next to a pretty model moving into a yoga "plow" position.

Issues of these ads and potential eating disorder-related concerns aside, Metamucil is okay, but not necessary for everyone. I keep a discreet mini food grinder on our kitchen counter for the express purpose of grinding flax seed every morning to either sprinkle on food, or eat as a cereal with rice milk, soy milk, or milk of the conventional cow kind. Great fiber. Plus you get your Omega-threes. Flax seed, whole or pre-ground, is now available at all health food stores. Be sure to refrigerate it.

What's your fiber of choice?

The hottest actor in New York right now is Liev Schreiber. "New York Times" theater critic Ben Brantley calls him the "finest American theater actor of his generation." I saw Schreiber in David Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross" a couple of years ago. And last week I saw him drink, chain smoke, snort cocaine, and viciously hurt those who love him in the guise of a broken talk radio show host named Barry Champlain, in Eric Bogosian's play "Talk Radio."

Though Mr. Chattering will forever be my one and only, I've... um, it's been difficult to get Liev Schreiber out of my chattering head.

In the course of 90 minutes, Schreiber's character dumps his co-dependent girlfriend, viciously chews out his best friend, maybe ruins his whole career (but maybe not), and gets drunk and stoned enough to sustain more than 60 seconds of radio silence as he sits at his desk in a depressive sulk. Schreiber's hugely attractive, compelling energy seemed to be sucking nothing but awe out of the audience. The way he physically portrays a man who is completely smashed mesmerized me. I'm the adult child of an alcoholic parent, you see. And it was surprising how both the revulsion and the love came charging back.

Drunks are truth-tellers. Drunks have special connections to wonderous states of consciousness.

Drunks are also drunks. And really dense, oblivious to the lives they're damaging.

Anyway, I don't think Schreiber, the actor, is too religious or spiritual. Here's the only piece of an interview I could find that touches upon his Jewish upbringing.

ELLE: You've said that you felt being Jewish was a cultural thing. In relationships, is there any trait that you regularly display that would be considered culturally Jewish?

LS: Complaining a lot.

Hum. Too bad. So that's that.

"CSI" fans are jubilant that Schreiber has signed on for a continuing part in that television series.

March 31st is Al Gore's birthday (he's an Aries), and astrologer Shelley Ackerman has responded to my initial please-lose-the- grief-weight-Al post so intelligently, that I must quote her here. She posted this on her website KarmicRelief:

"How about examining WHY we're so freaked out by weight in the first place? Do we really understand what causes it? Is it the same for everyone?

"I've felt for a long time that, beyond the obvious benefits of diet and exercise, there is an "X" factor...I've noticed in my own life, and in the lives of other very sensitive friends and associates (especially empaths, caretakers, or those in a care-taking sequence), that weight is harder to drop, almost as if energetically it is used as a kind of 'bubble wrap' for a very fragile core that hasn't found a better or healthier way to protect itself.

"Vice President Gore has been dealing with loss, injustice, and being misunderstood by millions. His journey can be compared to that of a very high initiate. He continues to serve and by all accounts is a very kind and caring man to all who he encounters. For years, millions, no billions, have projected their psychic energy on to him. Like all public figures he has been scrutinized, criticized, and at times treated very shabbily by the media. How well would any of us do with the projections of a couple of billion people (many misunderstanding of your good will) focused intently on you?

"Gore has just completed his second Saturn return, and in his solar return chart the Moon in Virgo--in a positive aspect to Venus in Taurus--suggests that his health and fitness will be a priority this year, and the Pluto station bodes well for an expansion of his power and influence in the year ahead."

Please chime in with your thoughts.

Now, new books are being released that argue against the "Law of Attraction" mindset so many find inspiring in "The Secret."

Somehow I doubt they'll sell as well.

One thing in today's New York Times really struck my fancy. It's about how fashionable it's become to check in for a drug or alcohol mind/body detox. I quote:


Less than a decade ago, a stint in rehab was assumed to be a body- and soul-wrenching experience. A trip to even an elite facility like the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., was sufficiently shaming to keep under wraps — the psychic equivalent of a week in the stocks. Today a sojourn at a boutique establishment like Promises in Malibu, Calif., where until last week Britney Spears was tucked away, is openly discussed and in some quarters glamorized as a hip, if costly, refuge for the gilded set.

That idea is perpetuated — indeed aggressively promoted — by the marketers of a handful of high-end facilities, some of which advertise amenities on their Web sites like private rooms with 600-thread-count bedsheets, high-tech gyms, spa cuisine and ocean views. “There used to be a stigma to coming to a place like this,” said Chris Prentiss, the director of Passages, another exclusive treatment center in Malibu. “Now it’s like wearing a Ralph Lauren shirt.”

It was bound to happen. Read all about the plastic grocery bag ban in San Francisco here, and then buy some of these or this great site's many other options so you'll be prepared when the same ordinance is passed...

Found a nice Easter egg decorating twist on iVillage: "fiber eggs" brought alive with bits of yarn or string. Click here....

Take the nine minutes to watch this inspiring documentary film trailer for "Raw for Thirty Days." It's the story of how six insulin-dependent diabetics who'd previously been subsisting on American junk food "undergo a radical 30-day diet and lifestyle change...

An appealing progressive group called Envision a New America is asking all of us to join their members for 10 minutes every Sunday, at any time of day, to pray and envision a new America. The idea is to imagine...

If you are thinking of showing your kids a film about the life of Christ as we get close to Easter (a valid, wonderful thing to do, no matter your faith), my choice for you would be the 1961 Samuel...

I found the following passage in Christian Hummel's "Space Clearing Kit: Working with Nature to Enhance the Energies of Your Home." She calls it "a personal demonstration of the transformational power of accepting what IS." It only takes a minute...

This week marks a time when Jewish families sweep their homes clean of any bread crumbs in preparation for Passover. Others clean this week because it's spring and they can sweep dust bunnies out the door.I've known people who have...

This is so fascinating. I just discovered it. Dr. Peter D'Adamo, author of "Eat Right 4 Your Type: The Individualized Diet Solution to Staying Healthy, Living Longer & Achieving Your Ideal Weight," maintains a site with a fleet of good...

Here's a funny piece by a groovy yoga-practicing liberal who discovers a passion for firing pistols at a gun-shooting class. The article nicely explains how we can all hold different temperaments alive inside us. Here's a brief excerpt:I believe in...

Fans of "The Secret" will want to read about ABC's "Nightline" show that included experts expounding on the best and worst ways to interpret the "Law of Attraction" philosophy. (Including one of Beliefnet's own editors, Valerie Reiss.)The show inspired a...

Diane Sawyer mentioned Friday morning on ABC's "Good Morning America" program that this Emily Dickinson poem is Elizabeth Edwards' favorite. Hope Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune--without the words, And never...

The new yoga teacher I'm seeing every Thursday at 4 p.m. is a wonderfully odd duck. Last week, she played a depressing Nick Drake tune at what's supposed to be the most blissful, relaxed moment of class. Yesterday--ZAP! POW! CRASH!--she...

Lots of disagreement today regarding Al Gore's weight, and what he should do about it. Writes CM reader Laurie Sue: "Weight gained via trauma-based consumption holds the trauma in place. And he, as a public figure who was beloved and...

It bothers me that Al Gore is holding onto the weight he's gained. Not because I'm anti-fat. Not because I want him to run again.But because I've always believed that his weight gain was due to the personal trauma of...

Thank you, James Keough, for telling us how we can sensibly sustain our bone health, in the April 2007 issue of "Alternative Medicine" magazine. In a courageous article titled "Bones of Contention," Keough explains how osteoporosis is being "sold" to...

I don't know, seems to me that when you're young and cute and active, you have a few years where what you eat barely matters. But here are some vegetarians who've submitted themselves to a "Most Sexy Vegetarian" contest. Have...

New York-based writer Colin Beavan has launched a marvelous blog about how he, his wife and two-year-old are striving to have "no impact" on the current warming of our planet. His blog (which already has a great archive of posts)...

Since we were recently speaking about "The Secret" and how some people might see illness as something the sufferer brought on or "created," I went back to a blog post integral philosopher Ken Wilber wrote about his own health, in...

Here is a wonderful passage from Vedic astrologer James Kelleher's website in which he describes the beauty and pandemonium of India as he searches for a spiritual teacher. He is a young man here in 1975, describing how, despite being...

Beliefnet is gathering stories from readers on different ways they welcomed babies into this world (from anointing the baby with holy oil to hosting a Jewish bris or baby-naming to Muslim head-shaving ceremonies). The editors also hope to learn how...

NPR's "All Things Considered" aired a piece yesterday about an artist named Lisa Bufano who dances without fingers or feet. That's right, when Bufano was 21, a staph bacteria infection cut off blood flow to her extremities, and doctors had...

ReligiousTolerance.org has good information on how Tuesday's Spring Equinox is celebrated as a sacred time around the globe.And here are wonderful images of the stones at Cairn T, the ancient Irish burial mound that is aligned like a clock with...

The greatest anthem to springtime wasn't written with spring in mind. Here's what modern dancer Martha Graham wrote about how Aaron Copeland's ballet score for her most famous ballet (a story of pioneering newlyweds in Pennsylvania) came to be called...

Café Emunah, the first-ever Kabbalistic lifestyle lounge and tea bar is opening this month in Ft. Lauderdale with a "biblically inspired" menu. I quote from the press release: Café Emunah’s modern “organic chic” aesthetic presents diners with environmentally sensitive décor...

Thanks J. Esmerelda Durbin for this clarifying post regarding the absence of the feminine form near and around sacred obelisks: "...I was led by my teachers to believe that every obelisk has a reflecting pool (of water), either at its...

Denise Roy, author of "My Monastery is a Minivan," has written a new book called "Momfulness: Mothering with Mindfulness, Compassion, and Grace." And boy, is it good. It's the best book on parenting I've read since Jon Kabat-Zinn's "Everyday Blessings:...

Here's an excerpt from Denise Roy's wonderfully helpful new book "Momfulness: Mothering with Mindfulness, Compassion, and Grace." Try this practice when you're running late with your family, or just feeling stressed, she says.1. First, take a slow, deep breath--for you.2....

I love deceased British singer Nick Drake as much as anybody. The melancholic, lean, long-haired man in jeans and a rumpled sports coat--who either took an overdose of his anti-depressant by mistake in 1974, or killed himself because his albums...

Don't miss Wendy Schuman's interview with folk legend/civil rights leader Pete Seeger, focusing mainly on his spiritual beliefs."I feel most spiritual when I’m out in the woods. I feel part of nature. Or looking up at the stars," Seeger says....

"St. Patrick was born in Britain to wealthy parents near the end of the fourth century," says this St. Patrick bio. At the age of 16, it is said he was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders who...

This has excellent pass-around value. It's really cute and funny....

If you're looking to improve your collection of Irish folk music, here's an award-winning Irish folk music blogger's list of the best folk albums of 2006.Oh, and here's a list of the best Irish bloggers addressing all subjects....

If you don't have an Irish pub in your neighborhood, this and this will help you open your heart to the real soul of Ireland next Monday....

If you are shopping ahead for Easter goodies, please check out the Monastery Greetings homepage for music, incense, and the most remarkable Easter cookies I've ever seen or tasted. (They're cut from a 17th century German cookie mold!)...

We were talking about festivals and the Washington Monument yesterday (scroll down if you missed this valuable conversation). So I decided to press on with my research into the sacred symbolism of obelisks (tall, four-sided towers than end in a...

Thank you, reader Matthew for the following letter in regards to the questions stirred by the popularity of "The Secret"'s Law of Attraction philosophy. Matthew writes: The idea of blame is completely without merit in the larger New Age set...

Well, the postman struggled to squeeze it through my slim mail slot. And when I picked it up to quickly review its contents, I realized that reading it slowly is a much better objective. At a full-figured 136-pages, it's a...

I once wrote an article for "The Washington Post" about the dreams people have about Washington D.C. Turns out lots of people have dreams that involve the Washington Monument. When I queried a Jungian analyst on this, we both agreed...

While attending Washington National Cathedral's Sacred Circles conference a couple of weeks ago, I took a workshop with Carol Lee Flinders, the highly-acclaimed scholar of women's studies and religion, most recently the author of "Enduring Lives: Portraits of Women and...

Incidentally, Hay House has just released a new 4-CD set, for the first time combining the talents of inspirational teachers Byron Katie and Dr. Wayne Dyer (two people whose faces for me have the most gorgeous radiance). Both of these...

Have a look at Valerie Reiss' response to the publishing phenomenon called "The Secret." She rightly points out that the notion of attracting positive energy and "manifesting" a new reality is nothing new, and mentions a book by Esther and...

Wow. This downloadable paper on why gay marriage is part of God's plan for more freedom and equality should light up the ChatteringMind boards.It's written by a young, Episcopal, black, gay lawyer named Otis Gaddis III who additionally serves as...

This Monday marks the day Pope Gregory the First is commemorated in the Eastern Catholic Church and Orthodox church. Saint Gregory was a pope from September 3, 590 until his death, March 12, 604. Though the term "Gregorian chant" was...

It's hard not to notice that a lot of guys are assuming the Ken Wilber/Moby/Andre Agassi look not because they're losing their hair anyway, but because it's now cool to be "bold" (the new word for bald). Here's an article...

"Elmo" recently suggested in a post that "New-Agey spirituality" might not lend itself to compelling ideas or strong writing. I sat on this for a few days a little defensively 'cause it stirred old painful questions for me as to...

I am sitting in the pristine examining room of Dr. O. Alton Barron, Assistant Clinical Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Attending Physician, CV Starr Hand Surgery Center, St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center. As luck would...

On the subject of how you can practice Buddhism and stay loyal to your faith of choice or origin, CM reader Pacific231 posted this: "Buddhist teachers like Surya Das, Thich Nhat Hanh et al, actively encourage Buddhist practitioners to return...

Here's a cute article about being the husband of a woman interested in her own spiritual development that ran in Harville Hendrix/Helen LaKelly Hunt's Imago couples therapy newsletter. It's called "Gynestrology 101: How to Husband An Enlightened Hottie," and it's...

Writes reader Paul M. Martin: "..while I grew up with Christianity telling me to be good, in Buddhism I found many concrete practices for how to go about it."His post led me to his excellent "Original Faith" blog, which I...

My 12-year-old-son is home today, slightly ill. Not too ill. Not so ill he can't make dioramas of the Battle of the Alamo with plastic toy soldiers on the floor of our family room.He just rushed into my office asking...

“As for the world’s future, I am not so discouraged as many are. Granted that the old, easygoing optimism is impossible!...Nevertheless at threescore years and eighteen I find this generation the most stimulating, exciting, provocative - yes, promising - era...

If I could go away for extended meditation retreats and study Buddhism with full heart and mind, I would want to be listening with expanded focus to the teachings of Lama Surya Das. Some people feel he has over-Americanized Buddhism,...

On Sunday, my younger son sang with his school chorus to some 3,000 Montessori teachers, all here in New York City for their annual meeting. The performance went just fine. But then our whole family stayed on for the keynote...

Here at the Chattering home, we are sorting receipts and bills in preparation to take a fat envelope of records to the tax preparer. I'm confident you are doing the same thing, or preparing to do so. Have a look...

Some 1,430 vintage Easter postcards (with chicks, cherubs, crosses and more) are currently for sale on Ebay.com. I sometimes buy antique post cards in thrift stores (with their odd, cryptic messages and old addresses on the back), remount them, and...

This week's Newsweek details the spiritual journey of Boston University professor Steve Prothero, author of the new book "Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know--and Doesn't." His beef is that while most Americans claim they are religious or spiritual,...

Lots of couples are booking churches or ballrooms and vying for group hotel rates so that they might be wed on the upcoming weekend of July 7th, 2007 (o7/07/07). Sevens are lucky. Or sacred, or something, right?No, not in this...

Every now and then, I get depressed about this blog. I worry that I'm trying to cover too much. I think that I'm aggravating the nerves in my hands (I have tendonitis in my forearms). I believe that I'm not...

This Saturday evening marks an incredibly potent, wild moment on the earth. --The moon will be full and, for six hours, eclipsed by the earth, giving it a rosy glow, the accumulated glow of all the world's sunsets, in fact,...

Oh, we heard from Reiki master and interfaith minister Vic Fuhrman on his approach to helping people with cancer bless their chemo drugs. Here's what he wrote:"For many years, I’ve shared a simple ritual and visualization for chemotherapy recipients to...

Here's an especially delightful paper on the roots of the British Royal Family's allegiance to homeopathy, the style of healthcare management that involves ingesting tiny pellets of greatly dilluted medicinal substances. Thanks to CM reader Lisa, who reminded me of...

Would you like to hear The Lord's Prayer as Jesus is likely to have said it? Click here.Avvon d-bish-maiya, nith-qaddash shim-mukh.Tih-teh mal-chootukh. Nih-weh çiw-yanukh:ei-chana d'bish-maiya: ap b'ar-ah.Haw lan lakh-ma d'soonqa-nan yoo-mana.O'shwooq lan kho-bein:ei-chana d'ap kh'nan shwiq-qan l'khaya-ween.Oo'la te-ellan l'niss-yoona:il-la paç-çan...

Dove has launched a line of "Pro-Age" products to set themselves apart from all the "anti-aging" ointments on the market. Dove marketing director Kathy O'Brien told Natasha Singer of The New York Times: "We are not saying turn back the...