Today's Inspiration Replaced By Media Binge

Dr. Oberhauser's diagnosis was straightforward enough: "There's somebody in there." And there he was, a little blob with a head and a flashing light for a heartbeat. Who knew a person the size of a peanut could wreak such havoc?

That is, I've been unspeakably miserable for the last six weeks, dizzy and nauseated from morning until night. It's as though an alien has taken over my body. I'm nauseated on an empty stomach and nauseated on a full one. I spend most of my day in bed as my present condition has made nearly every activity impossible. And I haven't even gotten to the alarming physical developments, which I will spare you for now.

On the brighter side, however, I will say that pregnancy is better than electro-shock therapy.

. . . . .

In the throes of my wretchedness, I rediscovered books. While I was a full-time gypsy, reading was a distraction from the experience of life, so I was compelled to give it up. Suddenly, I found that reading was the only way to escape the experience of life - that is, the unrelenting nausea and headaches - and the result is that I've read more books in the last month than I have in the last four years. Here's a quick rundown of my findings:

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts is an unparalleled autobiographical adventure set in the slums of Bombay. The author is a writer turned felon/escaped convict/slum doctor/mafioso and the book is entirely impossible to put down, no matter who you are. If you have ever known the joy of escaping into a really great story, this is it.

Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse is another page-turning adventure story set in medieval Germany. Narcissus is the analytical, logical thinker living the predictable life of a monk while Goldmund is the passionate adventurer living the life of player/wandering gypsy. Plenty of philosophical undercurrents to provoke thoughtful discussion, particularly if you are either a monk or a wandering gypsy.

Berlin, The Downfall 1945 by Antony Beevor is a fascinating if somewhat painfully detailed account of the dying breaths of the Third Reich. Great for people with no general historical education (a.k.a. me).

A Passage to India by E.M. Forester is the only "classic" book that disappointed me. Set in India during British occupation, the dialogue was unrealistic and the plot was boring. Guess you had to be there.

. . . . .

Then, after I'd finished every previously unread English novel in the house, the internet man came and blessed (cursed?) us and now I'm addicted to watching documentaries online. The following is a rundown of my recent forays:

Reincarnation: Dr. Ian Stevensen from the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia collects and studies the cases of children who recall and talk about their past lives in detail, usually between the ages of 2-6. Thousands of cases worldwide have been investigated with the details of past lives verified. Fun stuff!

Vitamins are a questionable source of health, if they actually break down and/or get absorbed into the body. And some vitamins become toxic when taken in large amounts, i.e. beta carotene causing increased incidence of lung cancer in smokers and Vitamin A causing osteoporosis.

Aspartame: Plenty of evidence detailing the toxic effects of this chemical additive, as well as the dodgy way it was pushed through the FDA by none other than Mr. Rumsfeld himself. Aspartame (Nutrasweet, Equal) is a sugar replacement found in many diet products including sodas and sugarless gum. It's linked to neurological problems and disorders such as multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, fibromyalgia and lupus, among others.

GMO foods are created by splicing animal or human DNA code into plant DNA to give plants specific properties. Examples: flounder blood genes spliced into tomato DNA, making them resistant to frostbite and Monsanto soyabeans modified to be resistant to Roundup (tm), the chemical pesticide sold by Monsanto. The problems here are multi-faceted: First, nobody ever studied what the effects are on consumers. Second, the GMO versions of food slowly replace the natural ones (there are no longer any non-GMO soyabeans or canola left)...In other words, unlike chemical contamination, DNA contamination is self-reproducing, making it difficult if not impossible to undo.

Vaccinations: There is no empirical evidence that vaccines have stopped the spread of disease, but plenty of evidence that better hygiene, a cleaner food supply and better living conditions have. Vaccines are loaded with all kinds of dodgy ingredients, including formaldehyde, mercury, aborted fetal tissue, animal bits, thimerosal and other chemicals I can't name. These things are injected directly into the blood stream, bypassing the body's natural defenses, often at a young age. Autism as well as SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) are just two of the many adverse health consequences attributed to vaccines.

Curing Diabetes: Lastly, six diabetic Americans check into an Arizona clinic and eat nothing but raw food for 30 days. Result is all of them stop taking insulin, stop all their medications and see their diabetes reversed. I particularly liked this one because it seems to corroborate the notion that many "terminal" and/or "chronic" disease can be cured or reversed through long-term fasting, as held in ancient Ayurvedic tradition.

It's not hard to see what the common denominator is here: money. Companies make money selling stuff, whether it's aspartame, vitamins, GMO foods or chemicals or patents or vaccines or insulin. The scary thing is that our government treats Americans like helpless guinea pigs, and unless we take pains to educate ourselves, we essentially are.

. . . . .

Happily, my media binge has seen me through the worst and my nausea is finally beginning to subside. Doc says I should be nausea-free within a couple weeks, but I'm hoping for sooner than that 'cause next week I'm heading to Munich for another round of masochistic meditation. I'm not exactly prepared for it, seeing as how I've been laying around in my bed like a diseased chicken for the last month, but what the hell? Ha hah haah!


Signing out for now,
an inspiration-challenged LMH