Thursday, August 23, 2012

The Small Things..........


As we go about or daily lives, we often take things for granted. Of course we look at the weather to see what the day will be like and prepare accordingly. However, how often do we take a moment to stop and look at the sky, marvel at the display of the clouds and the brightness of the sun (do not look at directly :-)




When you walk through the park or driving along seeing the trees lined up standing tall and spreading their glorious branches, do you take it in and all that it means to be a tree?

As I reviewed my twitter feed today, I saw several tweets that mentioned - breathe. One tweet simply said - Breathe. Another tweet said Good morning :) Remember to breathe. I thought to myself, how can we forget to breathe? Then I realized that there are so many things that we take for granted.



I have a great appreciation for mother nature and I am in awe of all of it's beauty. In fact, I have many pictures of the sky, it is an amazing canvas that changes from one moment to the next. It all began when I was a little girl and I would lay in the grass and look at the clouds. Some clouds looked like animals or had profiles or figures of people. I loved sunny days and hated when it rained. Thunder and lightening always frightened me. I am not a fan of winter although I love to see the snow, spreading out like a beautiful white blanket.

Now, I try to see the beauty and purpose of the everything nature has shared with us. I would much prefer to dwell in the late spring early fall period but I am also giving in to the seasons and their purpose which presents us with it's own beauty. The flowers, the trees, the fruits, the vegetables, the animals, the ocean, the rivers, the lakes, the grass, the water falls, the sea, the sand, the dirt, the rocks, shells, the fish, the birds, the sun, the moon, the stars, the clouds, the sky and most importantly, the air that we need. It's the small things we must take a moment to appreciate - just breathe.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Breastfeeding Week!

There is another controversy brewing with the latest promotion of breastfeeding. The New York State Department of Health has a Breastfeeding Campaign program that provides training and guidelines to help get more mothers to breastfeed and to get them to breastfeed longer. This is not a political issue, it is the position that the health department should take in promoting health and wellness. New York's Mayor Bloomberg supports this campaign as it is a positive move in creating healthier babies as well as great benefits to the mothers.

Needless to say, there are those in the media who are creating a debate on whether or not this is another effort to control people and tell them what to do. Is it an effort to control mothers? Take down the formula companies? Make new mothers feel guilty for having difficulties with breast feeding? NO!!!!!! It is not, it is about health and wellness for mother and child - where is the controversy in that?

As you know there are many benefits to breastfeeding and the campaign is a way to bring awareness to new mothers and those who may find the information good enough to give it a try. Just imagine there was a time when breastfeeding was the way to go and introducing formulas was not necessarily embraced immediately. O course, formulas offer a lot of conveniences to those who would prefer not to breastfeed for many reasons that includes - working, difficulty with the baby latching on, etc. However, if you knew all of the benefits to breastfeeding, perhaps more mothers would give it a try.

In support of Breastfeeding Week (August 1-7, 2012)I would like to share the following videos. Take a gander and do share :-)






Breastfeeding in Public - A Mother's Choice