Desert Messenger

6 www.DesertMessenger.com September 15, 2021 Read Desert Messenger online! Sign up for free email alerts when the Desert Messenger becomes available online! Join thousands reading the paper online at: www.DesertMessengerOnline.com DESERT MESSENGER Quartzsite's FREE Community Paper Proud to be a Quartzsite Licensed Business 928-916-4235 O� T��� - E���� T���! Founded by Walt Akin October 1, 2004 P�������� �� P���� R��� P��������� C�. P.O. Box 3185 Quartzsite, AZ 85359 NOW! P�������� ONCE/MONTH P�������� ONCE/MONTH on the 3rd Wednesday of each month OWNER/EDITOR/PUBLISHER GRAPHIC DESIGN/ AP AR MARKETING EXECUTIVE/CLASSIFIEDS Shanana "Rain" Golden-Bear CONTRIBUTING JOURNALIST Jackie Deal CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Starr BearCat NAME PLATE DESIGN Paul Winer www.DesertMessenger.com www.DesertMessengerOnline.com E-mail: Editor@DesertMessenger.com 2021-22 © Copyright All Rights Reserved Copyright 2013 Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Desert Messenger. LIKE US on Facebook.com/ DesertMessengerNews FOLLOW US on Twitter @QuartzsiteRain By Shanana "Rain" Golden-Bear DEADLINE DEADLINE : WED. WED. OCTOBER 8 OCTOBER 8 TH TH for for edition edition Desert Messenger News Email: editor@DesertMessenger.com 928-916-4235 www.DesertMessenger.com QUARTZSITE ROCKS! Well, as many of you know, I'm still recovering from two strokes back in March. The news is crazy and my mind is full of crazy thoughts too. Oh, well. As they say, "Chop wood and carry water." When I prepare for my editorials, I love looking back at editorials from previous editions. I saw one where I wrote about the good ol' days when decency was the norm. I sure have been frustrated over my life changes, however I still make an effort to not lash out at oth- ers. Do we want to inspire others or not? How we CHOOSE to use our words impact everyone around us. Focusing on the things that make us angry won't change anything except how we feel. According to Harvard brain sci- entist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, who suffered a massive stroke at age 37, ninety seconds is all it takes to identify an emotion and allow it to dissipate while you simply notice it. When you're stressed, pausing ninety seconds and labeling what you're feeling (eg., I'm getting an- gry), tamps down activity in the amygdala. Pychologist Rick Hanson, Ph.D. adds, "the brain is like Velcro for negative experiences but Tefl on for positive ones." Another thought is "Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional." Yeah, right! But I have learned if I practice deep breathing for those 90 seconds -most of the time- I can move past the thoughts going crazy in my brain. But I'm doing a lot of retraining due to my brain damange. If you have a healthy brain, what's your excuse for being so angry all the time? Wh so angry all the time? Wh so angry y do you focus on all the negative in people and that conspiracy stuff? Taylor explains, "Something happens in the external world, and chemicals are fl ushed through your body which puts it on full alert. For those chemicals to totally fl ush out of the body, it takes less than 90 seconds. This means that for 90 seconds you can watch the process happening, you can feel it happen- ing, and then you can watch it go LETTERS TO EDITOR POLICY Desert Messenger encourages letters from its readers. Letters should be no longer than 300 words, and may be edited for grammar, content and length. OPINIONS EXPRESSED HEREIN DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT THOSE OF THE DESERT MESSENGER. We invite you to not only see a problem, but search for the solution to share with the community, keeping the benefit of all in mind. Letters considered libelous, in poor taste, on a personal issue, mean spirited or dominated by Scripture quotes will not be published. Third party letters will not be accepted. To avoid confusion over people with common or similar names, writers must provide a full name and indicate the name they are known by. Writers must provide a full street address and phone number. Rvers can provide the location of park/BLM land, etc. Street addresses will not be published. Phone numbers are for verification only and will not be printed. Send letters to: Desert Messenger, P.O. Box 3185, Quartzsite, AZ 85359 or E-mail to: Editor@DesertMessenger.com 928-916-4235 "Please be responsible for the energy you bring into this space."-- Jill Bolte Taylor away. After that, if you continue to feel fear, anger, and so on, you need to look at the thoughts that you're thinking that are re-stimulating the circuitry that is resulting in you hav- ing this physiological reaction, over and over again." Emotions hang around, and are maintained, by our minds... like the stories we tell ourselves about those emotions - how something, some- body or some situation, should be, rather than what it is. How someone should have behaved, or what we should have done. Feeling down? Take a hike. Researchers at Stanford discov- ered in a study published in Pro- ceedings of the National Academy of Science, found that people who walked for 90 minutes in a natural area, as opposed to participants who walked in a high-traffi c urban set- ting, showed decreased activity in a region of the brain associated with a key factor in depression. But how about all those angry mes- sages coming in on your social media feed? We live in a world of thoughts. What we focus on expands. So why not focus on better thoughts? Post more positive words for your friends and family to see. Share your simple joys in life. Find something to be grateful for. Share your gratitude, even if it's just a beautiful sunrise. My brain tried to kill me, but I'm still here. It's always not easy to fi nd something to be grateful for, but heck, if I can, so can you! "We spend all our time and money and energy trying to change our experience on the out- side, not realizing that the whole thing is being projected from the inside out."—Michael Neill, Author

• Cover