Welcome Back to Basics: a simple, healthy, green, natural, relaxed and thrifty life

Back to Basics has become a necessity for many of us. For some it may be a trend, a fad, even an adventure. It is all of those. But at the same time, it is an imperative for those of us who:
• Need to simplify our lives
• Become healthy
• Live a green life
• Live naturally
• Relax
• Practice thriftiness

What started out as a project called, The Middle Class Poor and Resources for the Middle Class Poor, is evolving into a whole lifestyle, Back to Basics.

Let’s examine each of the above points to get a better understanding of the Back to Basics Movement.
• Need to simplify our lives
One need look no further than the skyline to see the proliferation of self-storage facilities. We have so much stuff. How much stuff do we need? How many cars? televisions? Internet devices?
How many of us have gone into debt, maxing our credit cards, to have the things that we keep consuming to fill the hole inside us?

• Become healthy
We are a nation of sick people. We have been led to believe that disease is inevitable. We are committed to a deteriorating life-style as we age until the point that we die an unnatural death.
Disease is not our birthright. Wellness is.

• Live a green life
We suffer from allergies. We can’t breathe. We get headaches. These have become the norm. They are not normal. Due to all the chemicals and toxins in the air and in the food we eat, we are being poisoned. Our very immune systems are being compromised.

• Live naturally
How great it would be to live free of allergies, breathing difficulties, headaches, other symptoms and illnesses. Imagine that as well as not having to take a cabinet full of medicines for these ailments. Living more naturally can go a long way in helping to bring this about.

• Relax
Our lives are very stressful. We work longer and harder than ever before. We have tremendous financial pressures. We have lost the ability to just be. We are always having to do something.

• Practice thriftiness
Increasing numbers of people are having to be very thrifty. In addition, the number of people who need government assistance are employed. But the money earned is not enough to live. We need to be thrifty, very thrifty.

The intention of going Back to Basics is to recapture something good that we have lost while seeking more. We need to surrender the glut, greed and self-destruction. It requires letting go of the baggage that weighs us down by literally and figuratively. We live lives based on immediate gratification and ‘gimme-gimme-gimme’. The idea is to regain a good life, a really good life. Slow down. Get back to basics and let’s see what happens. The results may be very pleasantly surprising.

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Prevention or Mutilation?

Angelina Jolie on the cover of People Magazine

Prevention or mutilation? This is the question being asked. Angelina Jolie’s dramatic decision to have a double mastectomy as cancer prevention, rather than because of the existence of the disease, has the holistic pundits up in arms.

It also begs these questions. What is prevention? What is treatment? What is unnecessary or mutilation? This information filled video gives the holistic perspective on the ramifications of such a severe decision regarding prevention or mutilation.

Here is an article from People Magazine about her story. It does not go into any medical details or explanations for her decision.

Here is another People Magazine article that sheds no further light on the topic. The only additional information is that she plans to remove her ovaries as well. Is this prevention or mutilation?

This New York Times op-ed piece sheds some light on the story. The piece is written by Angelina Jolie, herself, and explains both her decision and a bit of the process.

The Pink Lotus Breast Center is mentioned as the place where she was treated. I wonder how many of the women who decide to follow her example would have access to such luxurious facilities and care?

Continue to ponder this important issue and read other stories on Alison*s Art Online Magazines, at right, curated features of Alison*s Blog.

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