Heart & Nerve

UCP Wheels for Humanity

Candace — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:24:00 GMT

A person (really more then one) told my friend, Bonnie Lewkowicz that it was too bad that she was confined to her wheelchair. Bonnie replied that her wheelchair wasn’t confining, it was liberating. It’s liberating because her wheelchair has given her freedom and opportunities in her personal and professional life that she would have never know about. Her wheelchair has been freeing, not confining, her. This idea that a wheelchair can be a vehicle for illumination and discovery does not occur to most people in the world. Read More

Cleansing 411

Candace — Tue, 01 May 2012 23:46:00 GMT

After posting my spring cleaning blog it came to my attention that I should follow up with “how to cleanse” blog. What got my attention was a friend who was having a really down day and then she mentioned that she was in the middle of a 5 day cleanse and I suddenly understood why she was so down. Her all-inclusive box cleanse came with instructions and supplements, but the instructions didn’t disclose was how much and what residual blow-by or healing crisis she might feel while cleansing. This is need-to-know information because without it a person might imagine the worst. Read More

Spring Cleaning

Candace — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 03:05:00 GMT

I live in the mountains of Northern California where winter snows can make one feel sorta stagnate, that is until the melt begins. Here, spring is the season of mud. Everywhere dirt is swirling and bestowing the look of faded denim on the landscape. Discarded piles of snow are simultaneously frosted with this dirt and melting in the mid-day sun sending rivers of mud everywhere. Everyone is sweeping, picking up the garbage, throwing open the shuttered windows stirring up life. Read More

The Dog and Pony Show

Candace — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 04:04:00 GMT

Recently I made the trek to Mecca. If you’ve never been to Mecca, you really must go. Mecca has been defined as a place that draws large numbers of people. The Mecca I speak of is The Abilities Expo. There’s nothing like it for our community, we the people with disabilities, where so many people and resources gather to connect and demonstrate their power to deliver more options for our lives. Read More

Cha Cha Changes

Candace — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 15:51:00 GMT

Throughout my life journey I’ve gotten messages, maybe from outer space or inner space or maybe they come from the gap in between, for me the jury is still out about the vicinity. You get messages too. You know what messages I’m speaking of “love is all there is” or “don’t judge a book by its cover,” the truths of life. These truths float into my territory from a person, a song, a smell or an image, anywhere. Sometimes I experience a piece of this truth but then they slide on by. Until one day this same message comes again and for whatever reason I'm ready, click I see and feel the message, the light, I got it from my head to my toes, inside and out. When the truth smacks me up side the head I get tingles on my scalp and goose bumps bubbling all over my skin. Read More

Shoot Straight Ski Fast

Candace — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 12:51:00 GMT

Wounded Warrior Project programs are popping up all over the country as our Government pumps mega millions into programs for our service women and men to deal, heal and get on track as healthy, productive citizens, again. A key ingredient having positive and healing impact in these programs is physical activity, specifically in the form of competitive sports. The sport of Biathlon is out front rocking the Casaba. Read More

Living without HD

Candace — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:52:00 GMT

Wherever you go, go with all your heart. - Confucius

Did you know that February is “heart” month? Yes, I know about Valentines Day, but the American Heart Association has made the whole month about our hearts. Well this makes me mighty happy, a whole month to explore my heart and if you’ve been following me you would know this makes me very happy for I am heart based, focused and driven. Gosh, even my blog has the word heart in it. Read More

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Candace — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:45:00 GMT

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food. - Hippocrates

Hot off the presses, a blood pressure follow up, blueberries, strawberries, cranberries, raspberries and lingonberries can lower your blood pressure. Yep, after 8 weeks of 2 cups a day (I know that seems like a lot to eat in a day) the people in the study experienced “significant” improvement in systolic and diastolic pressure, that’s our 120 over 80 numbers. Read More

A Spoon Full of Sugar

Candace — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:05:00 GMT

Since my SCI I think about my body, my weight and my wellness, a lot. Before that time I didn’t give my much thought to my body. Well, there was that one time in high school when I was about 15 years old and the conversations with girls my age began to center around how much we did or didn’t weight. Ah, that deadly comparison monster rears its head and I so wanted to fit in. So some of the girls bragged about throwing up to lose weight. I tried to, but couldn’t make myself throw up which effectively ended my thinking about how much I weighted, until everything changed in 1975. Read More

Energized and Gorgeous

Candace — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 04:02:00 GMT

I eat the same meal several times a week. It’s a delightful and savory meal of brown rice, tofu and vegetables. I feel very satiated from this plain meal and tonight I wonder why? My gut feeling on this is “need.” Yep, pretty sure that’s it, a simple need, a need to feel energized and gorgeous. This “need” I have is in alignment with why I don’t drink alcohol, like, hardly ever; I just don’t feel energized or gorgeous the morning after. A younger me could recover in a timely fashion from tipping back a few, but not now. The day after even one drink it’s POW!, getting outa bed I dread and my eyelids are over stuffed bags. Read More

Insights from the Edge of Disability: Jon Arnow Part 2

Candace — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:15:00 GMT

What follows is my interview with Jon Arnow:

Fast forward to 2010 when Jon completed the165 mile Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT) with the aid of Side Stix forearm crutches. He said his TRT adventure formed a sense of accomplishment that casts a wide and brilliant light shadowing all previous accomplishments. Really Jon? Read More

Going Deeper

Candace — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:32:00 GMT

"It is possible that the next Buddha will not take the form of an individual. The next Buddha may take the form of a community, a community practicing understanding and loving kindness, a community practicing mindful living. This may be the most important thing we can do for the survival of the earth." Thich Nhat Hanh

In Shamanic teachings it's said that we are all a part of the web of life, every being, all of nature, everything. Read More

What's a matter my bladder?

Candace — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 04:42:00 GMT

With the close of 2011 at hand I’m hoping my bladder health improves in 2012. I have gotten more bladder infections, endearingly know as UTI (gosh its own acronym) then maybe all of my 36 years I’ve been in the “the club.” I’m feeling some shame as I admit this to the world that reads my blog. All the words that define shame, the guilt, embarrassment, unworthiness, disgrace feel like they fit me to a T right now. Read More

Second Class Citizens

Candace — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 16:48:00 GMT

Recently my hair instantly caught on fire while reading this article. It's this sentence that really set me aflame, “A new set of Public Religion Research Institute surveys have found that a majority of Americans from across political and religious divides believe transgender people should be given the same legal protections against discrimination as other Americans.” I shouted “What???” ding dang where’s my fire extinguisher, my brain’s frying, ouch! Read More

They’re creepy and they’re kooky, mysterious and spooky!

Candace — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 03:44:00 GMT

It’s the night of Halloween and I’m sitting in my sister Cassandra’s living room with her husband and her friend Jennie rehashing stories of Halloween’s past. All the while giving out candy to the hordes of kids ringing the doorbell shouting Trick or Treat! Halloween is a magical time at my sister’s house. Read More