“From Neurons to Neighborhoods”

Our mother’s well-being and safety whilst we are developing in utero along with our early life experiences strongly influence our brain development. Stressful events that occurred to our parents will naturally affect us as children. Sadly, our culture is full of violence and negativity yet also doesn’t support processing negative events or emotions. The presence of at least one safe, nurturing, and responsive adult to be there for us to process emotions and negative events, especially during stressful times, is vital for well-being and positive development.

Nature’s sweetener stings…

rAmbLingsFrOmPEACEmaker

I spent 15 minutes rescuing a honey bee from a glass. Well, actually I felt a bit responsible as its wing was stuck in dried wine at the bottom of a glass. I am the one who drank the wine and left the glass in front of an open window.  I am acutely aware that honeybees are endangered which would be a detriment to our ecosystem.  Ironically, I am highly allergic to bees.

I desperately wanted to save the bee yet was afraid of getting stung. At first, I asked my partner to do it. Gratefully he said “no” and offered a suggestion of gently putting water down the side of the glass. The bee was still stuck after many attempts. I worried the weight of gravity will force him out too quickly and break his body away from its wing. As I saw its leg flailing in distress, I thought what would calm…

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