By Nicole Caldwell of Better Farm
Originally published at Martha Stewart
Think of all the excuses you have for not changing your life. Now wad them up and throw them into the compost pile out back. Research shows that having a sense of purpose improves overall wellness, prevents depression and may even extend life expectancy. Here’s a cheat sheet of 10 easy ways to find your purpose, encourage whimsy, and live cleaner and happier than ever before.
Guest post for WhyWhisper by Nicole Caldwell, co-founder and CEO of Better Farm and author of Better: The Everyday Art of Sustainable Living
Responsible stewardship of the land and sustainable living are crafts. Living green is an art form requiring no formal training; in fact, we already innately know how to do it. Humans are natural leaders, natural innovators and have always been naturally resourceful. But we've misinterpreted our role on the planet. As a culture we've determined that the Earth is here for our use, and we've in turn treated the environment like a commodity.
But our higher level of consciousness allows us to protect. Our ability to take care of each other - not our might - is what sets us apart from other living things. It is our responsibility, not our gift, that distinguishes us.
The story of California’s water shortage is the story of Manifest Destiny in the US. It is the story of our belief that resources are limitless; that we could and were "meant" to stretch our civilization from coast to coast; that humanity had the right to dominate the natural landscape and bring it to its knees in servitude of Our Way of Life. The American Dream: to enjoy boundless growth, unimaginable luxury and to always have the ability to do and have more.
“A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor.” – English proverb
By Nicole Caldwell for Elite Daily
We go out of our way to avoid hurt, dodge danger and prevent hardships. Yet, it is the triumph over frailties or challenges that define us as strong, resilient, mature and experienced.
Contrary to popular belief, it appears a little suffering may be good for us. It forces us to solve problems creatively, think differently and explore our own vulnerabilities.
In the Better Theory, what most people see as the negative—pain, struggles, mishaps—are actually tools to enlightenment. Crisis teaches us cool. Pain teaches us pleasure. Loss teaches us love. Every negative we face is a potential guide we are wise to pay attention to.
We generally consider hardships to be disadvantages—experiences to be loathed and avoided at all costs. With this conventional wisdom, anything that is difficult or painful works against us. Yet history tells a different story:
Albert Einstein didn’t start speaking until he was four. Benjamin Franklin dropped out of school when he was 10 because his parents couldn’t afford his education. Ella Fitzgerald—along with other celebrities like Halle Berry, Jewel, Dr. Phil, Jim Carrey, Harry Houdini and Charlie Chaplin—experienced homelessness. Stephen King’s first novel, Carrie, was rejected 30 times. Oprah Winfrey was sexually abused as a child and became pregnant at 14. Beethoven lost his hearing at the peak of his musical career.
Casper Van Dien is hot. His sizzling acting career boasts more than two dozen movie credits (Starship Troopers, Tarzan and the Lost City, Sleepy Hollow) and more than five dozen roles in television (“Beverly Hills 90210”, “Saved by the Bell”, “Monk”). He's starred in his own Lifetime TV reality show “I Married a Princess”, acts as ambassador for Egard Watch Company, and is now making his directorial debut with an adaptation of the classic fairy tale Sleeping Beauty—which he also has a role in. Another directorial credit follows soon after with A Patient Killer. On top of all this, he recently wrapped up work with his wife Catherine Oxenberg and her bestie Gabrielle Anwar on Sexology, a documentary that reexamines the state of female sexuality and arousal in the 21st Century.
While there are many people comfortable in the spotlight, few look as good while they're in it. Van Dien is distractingly handsome—it's no wonder he scored the title "Sexiest Soap Star" from People Magazine back in 2000. Of course, anyone who saw the Starship Troopers shower scene—or has so much as taken a look at this man—already could have told you that. Know this: The years have done nothing to diminish his sex appeal. Van Dien sat down with Playgirl to give us his insights on male beauty, his favorite acting role, and full-body orgasms.
Being a tech geek has never been sexier.
Steve Jobs and Bill Gates may have paved the way for the Mark Zuckerbergs of the world, and given Vitamin D-deficient dorks like MySpace founder Tom Anderson some spotlight. But one man, behind the scenes until now, embodies the sex appeal of technological know-how like none other.
WATERTOWN, NY—Self-expression and art go hand-in-hand, and art isn’t just for galleries, either. The history of art tells the history of governments, cultures, war and peace, farming, gathering, and exploration. Art tracks every human frailty and triumph, pushing us to solve problems creatively and to think more critically.
WATERTOWN, NEW YORK–A man walks through a set of doors next to an archway with a sign: “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread.” As he gets a shopping cart, he’s joined by an employee who points out new products, and calls his attention to posters depicting portion allotments based on family size. The man pulls a bag of rice, a bottle of juice, a loaf of fresh-baked French bread, shampoo, produce from a local garden, and a can of tomatoes. He is walked to the front of the store, checks out, and takes his bags of groceries home to his family.
Patrick turns his head in my direction as the Greyhound bus quietly bumps its way through the middle of Texas. It's night, I don't know what time.
Interior bus lights are turned down to a dim glow.
The low hum of the engine has lulled me mostly to sleep with my eyes partly open; but I pick up my head when I see this man across the aisle pivot to face me.
"I like Schlitz." He says it like he's answering a question; as if we've been mid-conversation and he is just now punctuating a previous point. I stare at him blankly. Waiting.
"My family lives in a trailer," he continues, "so I’m already white trash."
Ronnie, Patrick’s friend sitting behind him, chuckles.
"If you can fall off a horse without spilling your beer,” Patrick says, as if by explanation, "you’re alright."
He shrugs and turns toward his window, considering the pitch-black world outside.
The pussy is the first wonder of the world.
That labially adorned chute is the portal through which all life hitchhikes onto this mortal coil. That muscular mass is solely responsible for so much arousal; its pink and tan and brown and bluish velvety folds so welcoming and soft as to bring knights in armor to their knees. The fertile crescent—that hotbed of humanity that spawned the human race and nourished it on its uphill climb to the top of the proverbial food chain—refers explicitly to fertility. To womanhood. To the pussy.
It's surprising, to say the least. In a world where many consider feminism passe—where you can purchase a vibrator or dildo just as easily as you can a pair of shoes—roughly one-third of all women have never experienced an orgasm. In 2014, a half-century after the so-called sexual revolution, women are still very much strangers to their own bodies. Unable to access our own innate sexual energy, we allow sexuality to be equated with promiscuity, ejaculation with penises, and sex itself with intercourse and penetration.
Originally published in Playgirl Issue #65, September 2013
Originally Published in August/September issue of Mother Earth News, 2013
There's nothing glamorous or holy beyond everything; which is both: this holy paper. The holy drunk slouched over the bar. The holy Caribbean sunset. Even the magical can become mundane; fame's a bore. This holy moment. Everything in the here. The now. Can you see the holy bird? The enlightened moon? The silvery fish, the helpless chick? Everything is already here.
