Changing Our Narrative
From the editor….
Stephanie Kelley
Everything in our universe is conscious, the air around us, the soil under our feet and all the cells in our bodies. We carry on dialogs with ourselves and the world around us all the time, in fact.
We think or give voice to opinions constantly and are actually continually influencing the world we inhabit. Researchers have discovered that plants respond to our thoughts. For instance, maybe you’ve heard that houseplants that are coddled, loved and talked to with affection are more healthy and vigorous than plants who merely receive food and water alone.
This has been confirmed in laboratory experiments! Scientists have attached monitors similar to human lie detector equipment to plants to gauge their responses to various stimuli. Plants freak out when the people around them even think of doing them harm! Like, just the thought of holding a lighter to burn a plant will spike the monitor, actually holding the flame to the plant will send the plant into a frenzy. And other plants in the lab will respond with extreme distress signals as well, even if they are not personally under threat, they are clearly in communication with each other.
Kids who are treated with respect and affection grow up with a greater sense of self -esteem and confidence, relationships flourish where there is mutual respect and affection, and even your own body wants to be loved.
A very real and effective way to empower oneself, and increase self -confidence is to face yourself in a full length mirror and tell yourself how beautiful, smart and healthy you are. Say it with feeling and emotion, too, so your subconscious knows you mean business!
This may sound ridiculous, but every time you face a mirror and criticize your own body and appearance, your body listens and responds accordingly. It shrinks into itself and grows weaker if you tell it it is ugly, but will grow stronger if you praise it and love it, no matter what you think you see in your mirror.
One personal empowerment counsellor cited an experiment where subjects were instructed to throw back their shoulders and stand tall. They were filmed in their normal posture first, then in their “Super Hero” posture.
Other subjects used as objective observers to view videos of these people judged the Super Hero personas to be more attractive and intelligent, even though they were looking at the exact same people in two different postures. Body language speaks volumes, obviously.
If you are applying for a job, or going on an important date, practice being a super hero in front of your mirror first. You’ll stand taller and exhibit more self- confidence.
Alternative health practitioners advise patients to speak lovingly to their body parts. Don’t yell at your body, even silently! Treat it like your best and dearest friend, which indeed it is, or should be.
Which brings me to my actual point, here. Brenda Goodine has submitted an essay in this issue titled “The Little Town That Might”. This article describes what the small town of Eastport, Maine is doing to reinvent and reinvigorate itself. After years of decline in population and industry, townspeople are engaging in a new narrative.
They see and speak of positive possibilities and changes for the better now. They are using what we call the Law of Attraction, in addition to actually rebuilding and renovating buildings.
They make positive statements when they describe their town and are actively engaged in envisioning a prosperous future for the community.
The so-called “Power of Positive Thinking” has a powerful effect on our communities, as well as our bodies and house plants! So, when you speak of our villages and local businesses use terms of love and affection, and if you don’t feel that yet, fake it till you make it!
Other articles included in this issue were submitted by local solar energy enthusiast and activist Linda Nicholas and alternative employment advocate Francine St.Amand.
Both articles endorse alternative energy, and as you may have heard, our province is currently engaged in a bitter controversy over energy.
I think it’s interesting that the current energy dialog only offers two options: The government and energy corporations want to extract shale gas deposits by hydro-fracking, and run a tar sands pipeline across the province.
Environmentalists, activists, and anyone who’d like to have clean water to drink are fighting this bitterly.
It’s like it’s an either/or situation. We need to consider and look at other options.
Fossil fuel proponents claim that green energy is too expensive to invest in, in spite of plenty of evidence to the contrary. In fact, check out the local story of the guy in Fredericton who built a $300 Solar Furnace using a recycled thermopane window, pop cans and some eavestrough downspouts.
Randy Buchanan is an environmental consultant, and he threw this amazing solar furnace together in his garage!
Most resistance against alternative energy focuses on the initial cost, but innovators like Randy are going to make Green Energy accessible to everyday folks like us.
