The most important work we can do, individually and globally, is the healing and prevention of traumas so that we don't pass them down to future generations. This blog is a working tool to contribute to this good work.
Check out this NOVA PBS video on EPIGENETICS. The epigenetic process is one of the ways that early infant-childhood stress, abuse and trauma changes the way our body-brain develops and can affect how our DNA information is ‘transcribed’ into action for the rest of our lives.
As New York and other states continue to struggle with budget shortfalls that have placed programs that focus on early childhood on the chopping block, we’d like to mention a recent issue brief from the Partnership for American’s Economic Success (PAES), part of the Pew Center on the States. The brief offers policymakers a succinct argument for maintaining and even increasing investments in early childhood as a strategy for smart budgeting during the economic downturn. PAES highlights the demonstrated economic gains in both the short term and the long term of supporting early childhood investments with solid examples from states.
Quite simply, children are our future. Investing in their success is perhaps the best way to guarantee future prosperity. Budget cuts that deprive children of a strong developmental start mean society and taxpayers lose too.
Effective pre-k programs reduce costly grade retention and special education services. Each child that is held back a grade costs the state $16,000 per year.
Better-prepared pre-k graduates make kindergarten teachers more effective, which reduces costs because ready learners have a tendency to reduce teacher turnover, as well as enabling the whole class to learn more and progress more quickly.
Programs that start children on the path to successful adulthood—such as early education and parent support/home visiting—spur the workforce development in multiple ways.
This is a sort of ‘scavenger’ post. I’ve been thinking about a comment left yesterday, and I wanted to make sure these links were easy to spot in case there might be something in here that might interest/assist!
Considering the fact that our body is a link in a generational and genetic chain, the more we can learn about how the actual circumstances of our individual life affects how our genetic code manifests itself throughout our lifetime, the more we can learn about both the specifics and the overall picture of where we came from and how the history of our species affects us now.
Understanding how our circumstances affect how our genetic code manifests itself through epigenetic processes helps us expand the range of our vision about our self and about our family.
We can think of a load-bearing wall in a house and understand that if that wall is removed without special attention being first made as to how the load that wall is carrying can be handled in some other way the house can collapse. Our body carries the load of all the combined debits and credits combined. Learning how the circumstances of our life affect how our body handles the load of our life involves an understanding of what is called allostasis and allostatic load.
Here are a few pictures of my current mud project. I want to direct the rain water coming off my south roof line away from the house’s foundation. Eventually I want to grade the back yard so that the water ends up where I want it: On the plants and trees!
Years of water pounding down along the sidewalk edge have lowered the soil there so far rain water cannot escape and run into the yard. I need to change that grade and direct the water flow - before the summer monsoon rains come (usually in July). The slope I need is 1/4 inch per foot down away from the house, and level across the width - my civil engineering father would probably cringe if he saw the way I do things!I had to go collect some rocks from nearby roadsides for this project. The rocks are embedded into the adobes. I find I don't care if I see the stones or not, but suspect that eventually wear on the adobes will expose them. Certainly the stones (and increased cement in my mud mix) will aid in survival of my adobes under the pressures of running water over time.It's always hard for me to be linear enough (left-brained?) to level anything! It just happens that directing the water requires that I pay at least SOME attention to which way 'what' is going!
I figure it will take several days before the blocks are dry enough that I can go back and fill the cracks - with cement-mud and gravel/small stones.I don't know the technical name for this species of aloe, but they survive winters and go 'native' - this is what they look like blooming (my neighbor's trailer was put there the day they moved in 3 years ago - has never moved - and I doubt it ever will in my lifetime!)
What’s the link between child abuse and BPD? We do know that people with BPD endorse child abuse at a much higher rate than the general population, but does that mean the BPD is caused by abuse?
Parents of BPD teens and adults often ask why their child has the disorder, and sometimes feel blamed for their child’s symptoms. Yes, sometimes BPD is caused by child maltreatment, but that isn’t the full story– parents are not always to blame. What is ‘Abusive’ Behavior?
Do you need help finding meaning in your life? Many people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) struggle with feelings of emptiness, identity problems, and depressed mood. Together, the symptoms of BPD can leave you searching for meaning in your life. This Week’s How-To — Grounding Exercises
Grounding exercises are designed to help you focus your attention on the present moment. They are helpful whenever you are having an experience that is overwhelming, or that is absorbing all of your attention. Grounding exercises are meant to “snap you back into reality” relatively quickly.
Stop the Storm 
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