I’m not a big fan of commercial holidays – think Valentine’s, or Mother’s and Father’s Day where you’re made to feel obligated to “honor” a loved one. In fact, I always like to honor people close to me without an “enforced” holiday nipping at my heels – forcing me into doing it.
I was flabbergasted – it was almost beyond belief. Last week, the New York Times recited a litany of horror stories about cannabis causing severe health issues. The article, As America’s Marijuana Use Grows, So Do the Harms (I’ve gifted the link so you can read it, in case you missed it) presented accounts from doctors, researchers, health officials and, most importantly, the people who take cannabis as a medicine for countless health issues, including anxiety and depression, migraines, relief from painful symptoms of cancer and AIDS (all mentioned in the NYT story).
I know what it’s like to feel anxious – back in the day, I lived with anxiety for decades. Crippling anxiety actually, and it was particularly overwhelming in social settings, where I would perceive everyone around me as superior, telling myself that I was unworthy to be there and out of place.
Mystical traditions teach that there’s an infinite world inside of us – and the question for our Western minds has always been, “How do I access that infinite Inner world?” Of course most of us know that meditation is the one approach recommended time and time again…