Hey friends! I had a great conversation with many of my personal friends today and decided to upload the convo over here. It’s really about EMF and 5G….. but it’s also a bit about the current virus situation too, and how EMF and 5G might be playing a part in it.
If you are someone who likes to put all the pieces together, you may find this information really interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JalNf0XiGfw&feature=youtu.be
xoxo~ liz
#knowbetterdobetter
#themoreweknowthebetterwedo
#becauseIloveyou
#ThanksYL
Freedom
Victory Gardens
Springtime is one of my most very favorite times of the year, for many reasons…. Not the least of which is the anticipation of getting my fingers deep into the earth in preparation for seed planting time.
Spring this year has been somewhat challenging. Lots of distractions, an incredibly wet February and March, and a spirit of unrest that seems to have enveloped our world.
And yet….
The leaves and flowers continue to unfurl from the safety of their buds as if to tell us that life will go on, despite the circumstances at hand.
It makes me want to talk to the old timers…. The ones who were around as kiddos and young adults during WWII. What did it feel like, to have such a great unknown? To know that a loved one could be taken from them because they said yes to following God and their country? With only snail mail letters to communicate in the interim?
I hope a bearer or two of these memories will comment because I have a strong love of history and would love to hear the stories of resilience on the home front……the peace they perhaps held that surpassed all understanding even when the world seemed anything but calm.
Perhaps this was another reason the people at home returned to gardening in 1942-43? Canned food and buying from grocery stores instead of self sufficiency was a relatively new concept to the world back then.
It had only been about 25 years since the first grocery store (A Piggly Wiggly if you remember those!) opened and self serve grocery shopping had quickly taken over supplying the USA with food.
25 years. One generation. Many had already lost sight of where nourishing food must come from.
1942….. Not 2020.
And then World War II happened…. and it didn’t last days….it lasted years. 😥
Ask one of the old timers about those times. Invariably, one of their strongest memories will be the rationing of foodstuffs. Food was in short supply for a variety of reasons:
🍅The processed and canned foods they had become accustomed to buying at Piggly Wiggly suddenly were reserved for shipping overseas to the soldiers who were fighting and to our Allies who were bearing the brunt of the war devastation.
🍅Transportation of fresh foods was limited because of gasoline and tire rationing (priorities were placed on getting those to soldiers and to the war effort)
🍅Many farmers in the USA were off fighting instead of growing food.
🍅Imported food, especially the likes of coffee and sugar, were limited in supply.
Rationing books were issued. (I have one that belonged to my grandmother.) Stamps inside the books were for certain food categories, and if you had already used your stamp for that product for the month, you were not eligible to buy it until the following month rolled around. It prevented hoarding and encouraged creative menu planning. ( Hmmm …. Seems like we could use that principle these days for basic things like toilet paper!)
Suddenly, the skill of gardening became an asset again…. Not reserved for someone living on a farm. By 1920 tho, more Americans lived in cities than in rural areas for the first time in America’s history so this had to have been hard.
Real hard.😔
This situation was something they felt unprepared for, they had no land to make gardens. For others, it felt like they were being called home….. back to their roots…. and it was those whom the former leaned into and learned from….. And a beautiful thing began to sprout around the United States…..
Victory Gardens.
They began to sprout up across America and eventually across the world:
👩🌾People plowed up their beautiful front yards and lawns and began growing fruits and veggies.
👩🌾They pulled up their rose bushes and flowers and replaced them with edible foodstuffs.
👩🌾Pots and containers were used to grow gardens on back porches, patios, and stairways.
👩🌾Even public land was put to use….. San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park had one of the best public gardens in the country!
Neighbors helping neighbors. 👫
Sharing knowledge.
Sharing bounty.
Relying on God to supply no more or less than they needed.
Back to their roots.
The food, of course, was important, but so was the community idea of doing something for the common good, and the daily grounding… the resetting of emotions and release of nervous energy expelled just by getting dirt under their fingernails. In times like those, I am sure that gardening felt heavenly!
Anyone can do this…. Gardening.
All you need is Sunlight. Seeds. A container or two, or 12 (or a plot of land of any size). ….. And a desire to be part of the solution.
A time to heal.
A time to return to our roots.
If this post is calling to you, there are TONS of seed packets for sale at the feed stores. There are also half grown “teenager” plants if waiting is too much to bear.
Never gardened? Don’t let that stop you. You never know, you might pick up a new hobby you love while in this time of national time out.
The best growth comes during times of adversity…. Knowing that, our Great Nation should be due for a bountiful harvest. The Bible says it. This I know.
Garden on friends!
xoxo ~liz
#GodblesstheUSAandtheworld
#wecandothis
#strongerthanyouthinkyouare
#learnsomethingnew
#embraceyourdowntime
#youwillbeproudofyourfood
#springtime2020
#healthyfoodismedicine
Whoops…We Did It Again(smh)
Yesterday, while at work in the pharmacy, we got official word of a voluntary recall on several brands of valsartan containing medications. A voluntary recall means that the drug company requests that products be pulled from the pharmacy shelves, and selling of that product cease immediately until new product is issued. It does not extend to the consumer level. You can read more about the recall itself here.
Recalls like this happen every so often in pharmacy, and are not usually call for alarm unless it happens to be one that extends to the customer level (not the case this time). That said, media caught wind of it and began reporting on the recall, causing fear and worry amongst customers who are on this particular blood pressure medication. I began and ended my pharmacy day yesterday fielding these many calls from customers who were fearful of continuing their medication even one more day, now that this information was known.
Once you know something, you can’t un-know it.
The cause of the recall? It became known that one of the ingredients used in this particular medication is a ‘probable’ cancer causing agent. (Ironically, one of the people I spoke to was a smoker. SMH!) Now, before you start calling your pharmacy wondering what you are supposed to do if you are on valsartan, let’s take a look at the facts:
- Right or wrong, the alleged ingredient has been in the medication since at least 2015.
- The recall is not at the customer level (meaning that the situation has not given the FDA cause to issue a recall on dispensed medication too). In fact, this statement was issued by the FDA: “Because valsartan is used in medicines to treat serious medical conditions, patients taking the recalled valsartan-containing medicines should continue taking their medicine until they have a replacement product.”
- “Probable” cancer causing agents should be fully excluded from our daily lives, but sadly they are everywhere you turn. The FDA and the EPA turn a blind eye daily as companies pump probable (and known) cancer causing agents into the environment, our homes, our food and drinking water, AND our personal care products. It’s no wonder that the cancer rate in the United States has skyrocketed since the 1950’s.
Visit the American Cancer Society website, you’ll see a list of these ‘probable (and known) cancer causing agents’ that people unwittingly use and allow into their lives.
Once you know something, you can’t un-know it.
I would advise stopping reading now if you want to remain blissfully unaware, because I’m about to give you the lowdown on just a few items on the FDA/EPA list.
Seriously. Stop now.
Here are just a few offenders from the long list:
- Acetaldehyde- solvent used in the manufacturing of many items including perfumes
- Asbestos – As recently as last week, Johnson and Johnson (yes, the very same company that produces well known baby products) was found guilty of producing asbestos laden talcum powder and must now pay 4.7 BILLION dollars in settlement to women who have suffered physical damage (cancer) because of regular use of their product.
- Azathioprine, Chlorambucil, Cyclophosphamide, Cyclosporine, Etoposide, Metronidazole, Tamoxifen….. these are all medications. The list is so long, I can’t name them all. Several on the list are cancer treating agents (that also may cause cancer themselves. SMH!)
- Formaldehyde – used throughout industry. Commonly found in nail products, soap, hair growing products. Also commonly found in the ingredients of cosmetics. (It is considered an inexpensive preservative….hence, its use. Economy trumps health unfortunately).
- Arsenic, Cadmium, Chromium, Cobalt, Lead, Mercury, and Nickel (not all of these are cancer causing agents, but do potentially cause significant health concerns and are found in many ‘mainstream’ cosmetic companies). The FDA has published an interesting survey on cosmetics that can be found here (or on the full length reference at the end of this post). https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/general-info/known-and-probable-human-carcinogens.html
- Herbicides such as Roundup and others. These are truly among the most disastrous carcinogenic agents allowed into our food and water supplies. If you’d like to read a treasure trove of information on this topic, please take a bit of time to visit a document depository on the history of the subterfuge within the chemical industry that stretches back nearly 100 years: The Poison Papers(link below). Roundup and other Monsanto/Bayer chemical products have been banned by wiser countries (sadly, not our own).
Giving you examples of known and probable carcinogens could easily consume my day, because this list just goes on and on and on.…… and ultimately I will bore you to tears (or wake you up to what you likely have in your home).
I’m hoping by now you see my frustration in yesterday’s moment of media hyped hysteria over the valsartan recall. Of course it should have been recalled, but friends…… we have much larger fish to fry if we are going to worry about this.
I would venture to guess that each person I spoke to about the recall yesterday has more than 100+ known carcinogenic products in their home and garage that they willingly (but perhaps unwittingly) choose to expose themselves to on a daily basis.
SMH.
If you didn’t listen to me, and read this post to completion, you’ve got some decisions to make. What you can’t choose tho, is to now ‘un-know what you now know‘. Knowing gives you personal responsibility for the skin in the game (your own) and begs the next question….. what are you going to do about it?
Reality is this: It’s not possible to avoid every carcinogenic or body damaging product out there, but there IS so much we CAN do to avoid the majority of them within our own home. There are also many ways to encourage detoxification of the body cheaply, effectively, and holistically.
If this post has you thinking that maybe it is time to wake up and clean up, I’d encourage you to start small in big ways. Get the ‘standard’ household cleaners out of your home…. one by one. When you run out of a product, don’t buy that junk again. Consider switching to Thieves Cleaner (a completely healthy way to clean).
Get the candles and formaldehyde laced air fresheners out of your home, and replace them with healthy diffusers. I promise…. you’ll sleep better, be happier, have fewer headaches, and….. if you diffuse the right oils, you’ll even boost your immune system and provide positive emotional support. This trumps possible and probable carcinogenic loaded products any day. Science backs this ya’ll….. as a pharmacist, I wouldn’t be here if it didn’t.
The cosmetic industry is rife with concerning chemicals. Use up what you have, but as you get close to needing more, consider ‘clean’ skin care and makeup. Yes, it does exist. I’d love to send you a few samples of whatever you’d like to see or try that is not only beautiful, but also loaded with health promoting ingredients. Ever heard of Savvy Minerals? If not, you are missing out.
This is one of the (many) things I love about Young Living. They stand in the gap for us where other companies do not. Scouring labels for toxins was time consuming and the print is small and fine (purposefully I think). I know I am taken care of safely with whatever I purchase for my family and our farm, and that we are taking personal responsibility for us….. because clearly, the governmental entities, are not doing enough of it.
If you’d like to learn more about living a more carcinogenic free life, please feel free to private message me.
I am not perfect in my walk, but I’ve done it now for much of my adult life and would be happy to walk with you as you begin your journey. It’s never too late to start.
Hugs and love ~ Liz
References:
Equipped and Called
Have you ever felt like you were at a crossroads in your life? I’m not talking about a midlife crisis, but rather something bigger and more profound.
About 3 years ago, we took a pretty long road trip to pick up a bull in a remote (VERY REMOTE) area in West Texas. I mean…… drive to the very edge of civilization and then head 3 hours further…..the kind of remote that requires a physical map instead of cell phone/ GPS service. Without a map or good navigational tools, you’re sunk kind of remote. As you might guess, we confidently drove down the road….. in the wrong direction because we thought we knew where we were going. It cost us about 3 extra hours that day. We were reminded the value of an old school map and a dose of intuition!
This kind of parallels the last 15+ years of my life. I have been a pharmacist since 1991. I graduated, and like most health professionals…. upon graduation…… was pretty sure I had a really good grasp of the profession. I’m not saying I was God’s gift to pharmacy (hardly!), but I certainly thought I knew enough to make a difference in people’s lives. I toodled along in pharmacy doing the absolute best job I could do (because that’s my nature….. never tackle anything halfway).
When I was in my 30’s I thought we were living the dream. Charlie and I both had good jobs, had bought our farm, and had begun building our home (by hand, ourselves…. because that’s how we do things…. with all our heart and soul). We worked super hard…. 40-60 hrs a week at our respective jobs and then swung hammers and wielded paint brushes on nights and weekends for about 3 years before completing our home. It was somewhere during that time that I broke my wrist, was subsequently diagnosed with osteopenia , and both Charlie and I were diagnosed with high cholesterol. In hindsight, that broken wrist was probably the best thing that could have ever happened to me. I won’t go into great detail (you can read more about that journey here and the second half here), but it was a big fat hairy road sign to stop and assess what I thought I knew.
That broken wrist reopened a different avenue of education for me…. only this time, it was not subsidized by the pharmaceutical industry and there was some skin in the game…. my own. When you are a pharmacist, you’re in the business of knowing side effects of meds. The good news is…. you know the potential side effects. The bad news is…. you know the potential side effects. I wasn’t willing to go down that road given the med options they were dangling in front of me. My gut said no way, and once my research started it changed my life forever. It all began with raw milk. From there, my research extended into finding access to truly healthy and healing foods. Each time I thought I knew enough, I found that more pieces to health puzzles were MIA…. not just my puzzle, but everyone else’s too.
About the same time, I went to work at a pharmacy that specialized in rare diseases, oncology, auto-immune disorders, and infertility (which frequently has an auto-immune component). Sadly, this pharmacy represented the outcome of people living in toxin filled environments. Silly me. I still thought I was helping people. I guess I was. Kindness matters, especially when you are dealing with life altering body dysfunctions….. but kindness and pharmaceuticals don’t dissolve the problems these patients face every day.
Another personal puzzle piece fell into place after I was diagnosed with something called interstitial cystitis and discovered (after 9 years of no REM sleep and frequent trips to the bathroom), that it could be managed well with a fresh and healthy, but limited, diet. Expensive medication and daily catheterization are the common treatments. Ummm, no thank you. I would later learn that IC is part of the autoimmune disorder family. Not surprisingly, approximately 1 in 5 adults in the USA are card carrying autoimmune disorder patients. I had been given my card.
Eight years ago, my dad was diagnosed with dementia. It made no sense to me and we had no family history of dementia. I backtracked the onset to a statin drug (commonly prescribed for high cholesterol). In the finest of the fine print of this class of drugs you will find information alluding to possible memory loss with these drugs. Dig deeply and you’ll find it. I thank God for leading me to raw milk to lower my cholesterol instead of that which stole my dad’s memory. I don’t blame the pharmaceutical industry for burying the whole ‘memory loss’ side effect in the fine print. I mean, would you want to take a drug that could potentially rob you of your memory as a side effect? Ummmm, no thank you.
By now, I’ve truly begun second guessing pharmaceuticals. I began educating myself on everything I could get my hands on that gave honest and documented proof that maybe what I knew wasn’t EVERYTHING…… that perhaps there were some gaps in my education and knowledge base. I dug deep deep deep into gut health and discovered the link to most autoimmune disorders. I studied sleep patterns, herbs, thyroid and hormones. I picked up yoga and began healing my posture and my stress level. That led to my recent certification (7 years later) as a Christian yoga instructor.
I had a life changing accident 3 years ago this week, and (eventually… after a 3 month recovery) walked out of it when I should have been an amputee. Last week I walked a 37 minute 5K with many close friends. Thank God. Despite the severity of my injury, I have no pain day to day and am not on any medication. I’ve got oils, supplements and a little thing called Dolphin MPS that rocked my recovery world so much so that I decided to begin taking classes so that I could help others as I was helped…. another tool in my toolbox that wasn’t related to pharmacy.
The last 18 years, by serendipity or Divine design (I believe the latter), I have been gathering tools to help people (myself included) heal physically and emotionally. What had started out as a mission to care for myself and my family gradually extended to include friends and strangers who have become dear friends. The more truth in healing I gleaned, the more uncomfortable I became in my white lab coat. Back in the day, we took an oath to do no harm (that oath has been changed and no longer includes that phrase).
Once you know something, you can’t unknow it.
I have grown uncomfortable in my pharmacist skin (and coat)….. able to speak only truths that are approved talking points regulated by the pharmaceutical industry.
Once I found that there are better, safer, more life sustainable ways to heal, it became harder and harder to deny people access to these opportunities in wellness……. because they exist for the taking.
Every day, people make unconscious choices that affect their health….. making poor food choices, drinking chemically treated water, watching too much media and not exercising enough…. taking meds without researching them thoroughly first. They think a pill will solve their ills. I’m here to tell you that medications are simply adding to the already hefty toxin load within all of us. The heavier the load, the sicker the individual.
I’ve had several people in the last many months call me a healer. I don’t claim that moniker. I feel more like a shepherd, leading those who are thirsty to a safe place to drink, eat, and rest. It gives me great peace, and it makes my heart sing a song it’s never sung before.
I have straddled both worlds now for many years, and being true to myself is becoming increasingly difficult despite the six figure income that comes with the white coat. I fill prescriptions for people I have grown to love in the community, knowing that they can be helped in other ways that actually heal. I respect my duty as a pharmacist and do not step outside that boundary……but I feel God’s hand firmly on my back telling me to Go. Do. Become. Shepherd those I send your way.
Really God?
Yes. Really.
And so I prayed. “Lord, if it is your will, send me those who need me.” I began praying this daily about 5 months ago. God has a sense of humor. I’m sure of it. About a month ago, I had to alter my prayer a tiny bit. ” Lord, if it is your will, can I have a little breather so I can adequately help those you sent so far? ” God is so very good.
I would have never in a million years guessed that I would step away from pharmacy more than halfway thru my career. Pharmacy has taught me so much. Perhaps most importantly, it has given me the gift of scientific discernment: the ability to understand fact from fiction or skewed data.
When I was a young pup out of pharmacy school, I thought my life was set on auto pilot. I couldn’t have been more wrong. God took me down a completely different path, guiding me and giving me tools along the way: pharmacy, nutrition, exercise, yoga, health coaching, scientific based knowledge of essential oils, supplements, and herbs, Dolphin MPS, and most importantly the empathy acquired from personal experiences.
God doesn’t call the equipped. He equips the called.
Here’s to the journey! I can’t wait to see what the second half of my life holds.
Hugs and love, Liz
PS: I am not completely stepping away from the pharmacy just yet. You will still see me in a white coat one or two days a week.
It’s Not Just the Water
We’ve lived on our farm for nearly 24 years. When we first moved here, our hometown, Anna, Texas was population 900. Today, I believe it is pushing 10,000. Although we’ll likely never move, we’ve learned some valuable lessons about buying property, utility companies, and government. All these things would play a part in a ‘do over’ if that were possible in life.
Little towns everywhere (but especially those within an hour or so of booming metroplexes) are frequently the assailed and hostaged of the aforementioned entities. Things happen. Deals are made behind closed doors. Money exchanges hands. The voices are too few to fight back. In a town of 900, those who try to fight are easily outnumbered by big business and big government. It is tragic. There is a difference between growth and what I can only call a hostile takeover of urban life. Residents in small town USA bear the brunt of the outcome.
In the last 24 years we have fought:
- Enormous power lines delivering power to other cities, all while emitting dangerous levels of EMF’s to those who are forced to live close to them due to eminent domain laws. These laws allow the power company to place these things on private citizen property). We’ve fought this battle more than once.
- An enormous landfill (aka: The Dump). This was a long hard and lost battle with the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD). The deal was done and small towns in our area were dealt a blow once again. It wasn’t even our trash…. it is trash from Dallas and other surrounding large cities. A back door deal that eventually landed a local mayor in jail a few years back when it all came out. Too late tho. The deal was done.
- And now, the water. Thankfully, our personal water supply does not come from this company (Is it any coincidence that the same company manages both water and trash?) ….. but I work and serve people within our community who have been deeply impacted. Groups of us have attempted to speak against the water quality for months (if not years), and have been hushed, pacified, and condescended to. I spoke at a city council meeting many months ago regarding the impact that I, as a pharmacist, saw on local resident’s health. Anna, Texas truly is one of the most nauseous towns (I mean this literally) I’ve ever filled prescriptions for. I determined years ago, that it had to be the water. No other explanation fit. Local Facebook groups had long discussions about it… but still nothing was done.
Last week, Erin Brockovich (yes, that one!) drew the NTMWD into the spotlight for the quality of water it has been delivering to its people. Hundreds upon thousands of families. No longer is this a small town situation. Thank God. I’ve seen mention more than once that Anna, Texas might be of particular concern.
If you’d like to read more about this particular fight, please read on here.
Suddenly, we have thousands of people interested and concerned about their health and their personal safety. We are such a litigious society these days….. it’s so easy to place blame for woes we have (on others) without giving due introspection on how we ourselves have played a part.
Friends, the water quality is important and we do need to fight it hard…. but it is a ‘drop in the bucket’ (excuse the pun) when you look at the bigger picture. The chemicals in the water are causing rashes and other health concerns. This is truth ya’ll, and unfortunately, we have no choice but to use the water that is supplied to each of us.
I know thousands of families in this area buy and drink bottled water to circumvent the crummy tap water, but this still leaves themselves exposed to the SAME chemicals when they take a shower or bath. Our skin is not like saran wrap…. keeping everything out. On the contrary…. it is our largest organ and absorbs chemicals like a sponge. (Precisely the reason that drugs applied topically have a systemic effect! ).
Now, here comes the self introspective part of this post that may hurt a little …. people are squealing about the water quality…. which we pay for and have no choice but to allow into our homes…..But what about the items we DO have the choice on what we do or don’t bring into our homes? These things cause equal damage (if not greater)…. and yet you may unconsciously do this every day.
Toxic words to look for in your products:
Fragrance (about 300 chemicals hide behind that word)
Dyes of any sort (Red, Blue, Yellow, Green)
SLS (Sodium Laureth Sulfate)
This is only 3 in a LOOOONG list of harmful chemicals that are in nearly all standard body care products.
We point fingers at the water company who is doing us wrong , but we may also need to begin to take a close look at ourselves too ….. are we grabbing things at the store that are also causing insidious damage? Just because it’s for sale, doesn’t mean it’s safe……. case and point with our water source. Our government does not do an adequate job of regulating chemicals in our country…. again… just look at this water situation.
I know many of my friends have also realized this over the years and now make conscious decisions when buying products…. whether that be food, house cleaning supplies, or personal care products.
The problem, is that now we have companies who operate on subterfuge to sell…. they brand themselves as ‘healthy alternatives’ but then slip in damaging chemicals. One bad apple then spoils the barrel. Take a look at this article by Food Babe (one of my vocal heroes) on the company LUSH as an example: https://foodbabe.com/lush-bath-bombs-not-think/…… and DANG, their products aren’t cheap ($8.95 for a bath bomb?)
I put my pharmacist detective hat on each time I look at a product… and for a long time, that made shopping incredibly time consuming. Over 4 years ago, I found Young Living, and quit reading labels. Originally, it was about the incredible health properties of their oils (because I believe in doing life’s ups and downs naturally instead of with man made chemicals), but YL has evolved into my ‘everything company’. I pretty much just shop once a month for TRULY non-toxic body care products and household cleaning supplies (and yes, they have bath bombs that actually have heal-th benefits, smell great, and cost less than Lush’s… or, you can make your own if you are a DIY’er for even cheaper!).
People argue that living healthy is expensive, but I would argue that just the opposite is true. Studies have found that people spend (on average) 16x more on their health on the backside (when all heck has broken out in your body), versus taking care of things up front by eliminating toxic chemicals, exercising, eating right, etc. Our environment really does determine (90%) our health outcome, and we have to take some personal responsibility for creating that environment.
I see the ramifications of NOT doing these things every day I work at the pharmacy and it breaks my heart. It is the reason I have slowly stepped back (not yet completely away) from pharmacy and looked toward ways to help people become whole again. Dolphin MPS, Health Coaching, Christian Yoga teacher training, Young Living product education, other holistic modalities…. all of this. The need for repair in our bodies is HUGE and we need more people being part of the solution instead of part of the problem.
But it starts with what we choose to allow into our own homes …. and that starts with us as individuals…. you and me.
If you aren’t sure where to start, reach out to someone you know who is already walking this path. We all had someone lead us initially too, and I don’t know any one who isn’t happy to share tips and life hacks on how to live a healthier life.
To learn more about the personal care products that Young Living offers, you can take a gander at my Young Living store.
Even our makeup usually contains ‘dirty’ ingredients. Young Living has that covered as well.
Be Well my friends ~
Hugs and love, Liz
#itstartswithpersonalchoice
#todaysthedaytobeginmakingchanges