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Why You Should Cut Back on Social Media.

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Social media are in our everyday life, and is most likely in everything we do. We spend most of our day in social media to socialize with others, to promote products, follow celebrities, get more likes, and much more. Some of us can even be using it for time consuming and we see ourselves on social media without realizing that we’re doing it, such as when we’re eating, in the bathroom, before we fall asleep, and even the first thing when we wake up. 

We became so obsessed with our phones that we’re on them most of the day. People are using their phones to go on social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat while they’re working and even when driving, making it a truly life threatening thing. Data has been collected showing the people check their smartphones up to 150 times each day! (Source: Hackensack Meridian Health) It also showed that depression symptoms increased for people who used Facebook the most. What can we take away from this? 

It is evident that there are downsides to social media use. It’s not too late though! 

There are some ways that you can save yourself from social media addiction.

  1. Turn off the screens and silence devices at least one hour before bedtime.
  2. Use apps like screen monitoring to track your use of mobile devices and social media.
  3. Keep in mind that what people post on social media is only the best parts of their day/life. They don’t post the mundane and ordinary parts of their day. So don’t let yourself get caught comparing your “ordinary” life to the “perfect” life they present to the world online. (Cause it’s probably not real!)

I hope that these few simple tips help you to cut back on your use of social media, and make the time you spend using social media more healthy.

National Coming Out Day

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It’s been twelve years since I came out, but I still celebrate National Coming Out day each and every year. In 2019 when being gay is as common as being heterosexual, and with LGB individuals given the right to marry, why celebrate? Despite the progress we have made, there is still plenty of work to do. In fact as we speak the SCOTUS is deciding whether or not it’s nationally acceptable to terminate a individual based on their LGBTQ status. 

Yep, you read that right, a court is currently deciding whether or not it’s acceptable to fire someone because they are gay. While each state will have the right to decide for their own regulations around this, banning it nationally would help those living in suppressed parts of the country where living as your true authentic self is not socially acceptable. 

Besides fearing for the future of whether or not we could go into work and be fired because of who we love, there are more issues we are constantly fighting for. One of those being adoption. In ten states there are still legal discriminatory practices in place that allow welfare agencies to refuse adoption rights to LGBT individuals. However there is a silver lining, in the other 40 states LGBTQ parents represent 1 in 6 single parents raising children, there are 65k adopted children living with LGBTQ parents, and there are an additional 2 million LGBTQ individuals looking to adopt. 

These two topics just scratch the surface on why coming out day is still important. Until we live in a world where coming out doesn’t make headlines, where individuals aren’t bullied or even killed because of their status in the LGTBQ community, until we all live in this country with equal and fair rights I will come out. I will come out for the closeted lesbian in Kentucky who is harassed by her boss daily for not having a boyfriend, I will come out for the transgender individual who is scared to leave their house in the clothes they feel most comfortable in, and I will come out for the little gay boy walking home from school who is followed and bullied. Today I celebrate being out as a proud out gay man that is loved, respected, and driven to make a chance. Today I challenge you to come out, whether as LGBTQ or an ally; together we can make the world a more loving and acceptable place. 

Stay hydrated!

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Why do we need to drink more water? Most of us do not know why we should drink more water. We all grew up hearing the lectures of drinking water, and it should be at least 8 cups a day. We all mostly started whining when our parents tell us to drink water. However, drinking enough water is important. That’s because our bodies are made up of almost 60 percent water. Take a moment and think about what you drink throughout your day. Chances are you start off you day with a cup of coffee, possibly two, or maybe even three! Or are you someone who spends $5 on a fancy latte each morning. (This could be your chance to save some money, while doing something good for your body.)

A Harvard University study showed that drinking too much coffee can have harmful effects on the human body. The problem with drinking too much coffee is that it contains caffeine, which leads to dehydration. Instead of drinking coffee first thing in the morning. Try drinking a glass or two of water. It’s the fuel that your body runs off of. Drinking more water may have some nice side effects. First off your skin will thank you, especially if you normally have dry skin. This dryness may be the result of not drinking enough water. 

Sometimes it can be hard to drink enough water. It’s different for everyone, but mostly you should drink about 64-ounces or eight 8-ounce glasses of water every day. Not drinking the recommended amount of water, can result in dehydration. Even mild dehydration can impact a person’s ability to function at their best. So if you’re a student, or a career person, or even a stay at home parent, you should make sure you drink enough water, because your performance depends on it. It may help you focus better at work or school, and it can help your body maintain its optimal health. Even if you’re not feeling thirsty, you should still regularly drink water. That’s because thirst is a delayed response. By the time you feel thirsty, you’re already dehydrated. So remember, drink water regularly. Skip the soda, and coffee. When you do have soda or coffee, drink in moderation. Your health depends on it. Check out this article from www.prnewswire.com for more information about drinking water in the workplace.

Myths and Horror Films

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I’ve never quite been a “fan” of horror films, but have always been intrigued by the way they’re marketed to the public. Very often the marketing may include some cheesy tagline like “prepare to be scared” or “conquer your fears by visiting the theater”. Nevertheless, people often come out in droves to see the dreaded 2- headed monster, vengeful zombie, sneaky serpent, or flesh-eating shark, especially if the word spreads that the film has great special effects or a decent storyline.

Some of the elements that are often capitalized on in horror films are: fear of death, fear of the unknown, and fear of darkness. For me, films based on the fear of darkness or fear of the unknown always make for the best nail biters. If you combine that with the pitch black theater alongside a bunch of strangers it could also further add to the feeling of fear. Believe it or not the environment that one takes in a film has an effect on the overall experience for the viewer, especially in the realm of horror.

When I was 9, I remember watching a hodgepodge of Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street films with my uncle during the Summer. Back in those days one local TV station hosted a Summer horror movie marathon, maybe they still do. The marathon would show 2-3 horror films a night for a few days in a row, and every night during that period I would stay up in anticipation awaiting the next movie. Sometimes, my uncle would watch the films with me and other nights the film would end up watching him sleep.

On the nights my uncle watched, he was sometimes startled or scared by scenes and his frightened reactions would cause me to laugh. I’d laugh because as a kid I had yet to logically make the connection that adults could have the same fears as me. Yes, sometimes kids view adults as fearless, solely based on their obvious size difference alone.  I was one of those kids.

What kind of myths did you believe as a kid?

 

Love Your Melon

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According to the Cancer Center , cancer is the “uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the body. Cancer develops when the body’s normal control mechanism stops working…Old cells do not die and instead grow out of control, forming new, abnormal cells.” 

Cancer causes heart-wrenching, stressful, unimaginable pain and breaks apart families. Cancer is not a disease anyone wants to ask for. Patients’ treatment may be costly and painful. Not every cancer has a cure, and even those with a cure, it cannot be certain that the patient can be completely cancer-free. 

Love Your Melon is for-profit apparel company found in 2012 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their cause is for pediatric cancer. What does that mean? 50% of their merchandise profit is given to the Love Your Melon Fund which supports their nonprofit partners in pediatric cancer. With the fund, they are able to “create therapeutic experiences and fund charitable programming initiatives for children and families battling cancer.” 

Visit their website for more information on apparel details and their purpose.

Autumn is the Perfect Time to Enjoy St. Paul Brewing’s Patio

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Autumn is the perfect time to enjoy St. Paul Brewing’s spacious and unique patio. Tucked next to the building and away from the street, one can relax and enjoy a delicious craft beer. Picnic tables and benches provide for ample seating. The collapsed wall from a long-crumbled building has been left on the side, providing a unique urban aesthetic that pays homage to the buildings original occupant, the old Hamm’s Brewery, established in 1865. Space in the back of the patio has been left for games of bag toss, a staple among brewery patios. Don’t forget to bring your four-legged friend along-St. Paul Brewing is dog friendly!

St. Paul Brewing wants you get the most out of those crisp autumn nights too. They recently put in two fire pits so you can enjoy the outside even when that temperature starts to dip.

If beer’s not really your thing, or you need a little warm-up, head across the parking lot to 11 Wells distillery. Specializing in whiskey, 11 Wells has some really amazing cocktails. Located in a smaller space, their taproom is much more intimate and cozy. 11 Wells has a patio, too, which is why St. Paul Brewing and 11 Wells are the perfect place to enjoy those perfect autumn days.

Why do we need to vote?

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Voting is a rite of passage in the United States. Everyone at the age of eighteen should go and vote. Voting is one of the tools that we can use to practice our democracy. Nowadays people decide to keep their distance, and not to participate in any shape of voting. It is totally their right not to participate, but the question here is, are you willing to give up on your right as an American and let others make decisions for you? If yes. This is not your place, but if it is no you know how a single vote can affect the election, and maybe make a difference on election day.  

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “if you don’t vote you can’t complain.” According to Ilya Somin at the Washington Post, this statement is untrue. He argues this because he says that, “individual votes don’t make any difference.” He says this because of the low probability that an individual vote would actually make a difference in the presidential election in the event of a tie. This logic fails though because it only considers votes as single things, rather than as a whole. It also only looks at the presidential election as the only one that matters. In fact, there are thousands of elected positions that can actually depend on a small number of votes making the difference. It is these ones, like congressional reps, city council members, and school board members. These elected officials all create laws and ordinances that play a big role in our lives. So the truth is that voting actually does matter, and if you don’t vote then you’re giving up your right to complain because you’re showing that you don’t choose to participate. 

While politics can frequently be off-putting, the important thing to remember is that voting plays a direct role in choosing which politicians represent us, and in turn which laws they support. It’s not just about supporting the popular presidential candidate thinking that once they get in office, everything will change. That will never happen because the change comes from the thousands of local and state officials who are elected around the country and that change moves upward to the national level. So get out and vote, and make a difference. It’s easy!

Are you sick from eating junk food, and paying a lot for healthy food?

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We all know that eating junk food is not the best choice we can make in our daily lives, but we always ignore our inner voice and rush to get our favorite sugary snack, either making a quick stop before you head to work or after finishing a long stressful day at work. Many of us know that sometimes it is not that difficult to make the right diction when it’s affordable right? The thing here is when we try to take time to make the right choices for us or our significant other, we can not afford them. Eating healthy is a big issue for most of us, and it costs a lot to eat healthily. I wonder why is it so expensive to eat healthily? After reading an article on Time.com I discovered there were 27 studies conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health that foods like fruits, veggies, and tuna are more expensive in the market, and give more profit per unit to the food industry.

Here are some ways to eat simple healthy meals on a strict budget:

Source: Healthline.com

  1. Stick to your grocery list: Impulse buying is expensive and unhealthy. If you’re not strict with your grocery list you end up buying things you don’t need. For example, when you to Target and walk through the store, you are confronted by Starbucks and you may want to buy an expensive coffee to drink while you shop. Or when you go to the store to buy milk and then you walk out with a bag full of junk food too. Maybe you even forget to get the milk.
  2. Reduce or stop buying junk food: The less you eat junk food, the more you keep your body healthy and fit. Junk food may be cheaper and easier to eat because you don’t need to take time to prepare for it, but you sacrifice quality for quantity when you buy it. 
  3. Pack your lunch: Save money and eat healthier at the same time. Plus you get to know what is really in your food when you make your own lunch. You can even make larger portions when you cook meals at home and save leftovers to bring to lunch the next day or throughout the week.
  4. Buy Generic Brands: Name brands are expensive! Don’t let yourself get stuck in the mindset that you need to buy name brand foods. Generics/store brands are usually just as tasty, and you can get them for significantly less.

Make a habit of eating good healthy food that is good for you, such as: 

  1. Lentils.
  2. Oats.
  3. Almonds.
  4. Oranges.

These foods are healthy and very affordable. They also don’t need much work (if any) to prepare. You can keep a bag of oranges in your refrigerator and have one when you’re hungry. Almonds also make a great snack food in place of chips.

The Benefits of Having House Plants

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Do you spend a lot of your time indoors? Before you answer this question, take a moment to really think about it. Maybe you sit at a desk surrounded by cubicle walls all day long, or you spend your day stocking shelves in a grocery store, folding clothes in a retail store, or working on the factory floor for 10-12 hours a day. Whatever it is that you do, I’m sure, like most people you go from home to work and back home again without spending more time outside than it takes to walk from your car to the door at work or you home. So how much time do you think you really spend outside exposed to plants? I would hazard a guess that it is probably less than twenty percent of your day. 

Being that we spend so much time indoors, we should maybe try to bring some out nature from outside, inside. There are lots of benefits to increasing our exposure to plants. Based on research that was conducted, when plants are placed indoors, in places like homes, hospitals, schools, places of work, etc. Some of the indoor plants used in researching the benefits of having plants in the home are Golden Pothos, Arrowhead Vine, and Chinese Evergreen. The results of the studies showed that people experience increased productivity, mood, and health outcomes. People who have mental health diagnoses like anxiety and depression also experience great improvements in their conditions when they spend time around plants.

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Indoor Plant Misconception: "plants don't need drainage, just stones at the bottom". Lots of companies sell pots that have no drainage holes! These are cover pots and you are not meant to plant directly into them. Leave your plant in a separate well-draining plastic pot and place it inside. Although terrariums are essentially a glass pot with no drainage, the only reason these work is because of careful plant selection, and by building up layers of well draining soil, charcoal, moss, and stones – even then, watering has to be carefully controlled. ⠀ -⠀ -⠀ -⠀ -⠀ #houseplant #plant #plantsofinstagram #plants #plantsmakepeoplehappy #houseplants #urbanjungle #houseplantclub #houseplantsofinstagram #indoorplants #plantlover #plantlove #homedecor #plantstagram #indoorplant #plantlife #plantparenthood #crazyplantlady #indoorplantmisconceptions

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Here are a few simple ways for you to create your own indoor oasis at home or work:

  • Start with an easy plant. Buying a cactus or succulent is a very low cost and low maintenance entry point to bring some green into your life. You can find them at a local nursery if you want, but they have them at grocery stores, big-box retailers, like Target, Walmart, and even IKEA.
  • Choose the right plant for the room. When you pick your plant, be sure to know how much light and water it prefers. It is also good to pick a plant that will do well with the temperature of the room. You don’t want to buy a plant that likes to be warm and humid, and then have it die after a week of sitting under the air conditioner vent by your desk.
  • Be aware of allergies. The last thing you want to cause is a family member, friend, or co-worker to have an allergic reaction to your new plant. Be courteous and think about them before you invest in buying flowering plants that may cause someone to have a bad reaction. It should also go without saying to be aware of placing plants that could be poisonous in places where pets and young children would be able to reach them.
  • Have fun! There are so many options for plants to place in your home or workplace. Let your inner designer bloom and see where your creativity takes you.

Now that you know about some of the ways that bringing plants into your indoor spaces is good for you and a few of the things to think about before bringing them in. What do you think? Will you be putting some plants in your life? Where will you put them?

Medical Medium

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In today world many people are using millions of different techniques to cure things such as physical and mental illnesses. In this generations many adults and millennial depend on things such as pills and coffee to get them through the day. Two years ago I was very ill and was very reliant of pills that the doctors kept prescribing. The pills did not help me in any way shape or from in fact they made me feel more ill. Which started a spiral in my life. Then I learned about celery juice.

Celery juice might not sound like something that can cure many things but it proven to ‘reverse and reduce symptoms and conditions.’ This juice has a substance called sodium cluster salts who kills pathogens that cause shingles and bacteria. When I started eating celery juice daily I really felt caffeinated and better. This herb is in your supermarkets and is a naturally grown healer.

I urge people to look into the medical medium and learn about the benefits this juice has. One benefit I can tell you right now that can make you twice about buying pills is the COST! Invest in the book and see the instant change celery juice can make for you.

https://www.medicalmedium.com/

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| NEW #MEDICALMEDIUM CELERY JUICE GIFS | Thank you to all of you for being a part of the Medical Medium community here on Instagram. I love to see your posts and stories sharing your healing stories, showing how you incorporate @medicalmedium information into your lifestyle, and seeing photos and videos of you and your family and friends drinking celery juice and sharing its benefits. Most of all, it warms my heart to know that when you share about celery juice, you are inspiring others to try this healing herbal medicine. _ Never underestimate how just one post or story you share can change the life of someone else for the better. In truth, it’s an act of compassion and service when you take the time to encourage others to bring celery juice into their life so they too can receive its healing benefits. I value each of you deeply. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being here. _ I wanted to support the @medicalmedium Instagram community by creating some more Celery Juice GIFs you can use in your Instagram stories. Watch the video to see them all in action. You can find all the new GIFs under #medicalmedium when you go to add a GIF to your Instagram stories. I hope you enjoy them!

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