Writing
Speaker Of Powerful Words
“Speaker Of Powerful Words” was recently added to my professional bio. It makes me laugh because I don’t always realize how much power I put into the words I use. If you heard how I say things in my everyday life, you’d quickly learn it’s not any different from how I apply my voice to the written word.
One of the things I like about myself the most is that I don’t have dual-personalities. The way I write is the same way I speak in every format possible. Be it e-mail, letters, text messages, phone calls; I remain the same. It’s one of the things my closest friends have pointed out to me, and it’s one of the things they most love and respect about me.
Not everyone can handle unadulterated honesty or unfiltered realness. I, occasionally, struggle with the things people say to me when they are said with malice, disrespect, or a severe lack of clarity. 95% of the time, I wouldn’t say something with malicious intent to someone I care about. The tiny back-end percentage would be higher, but you haven’t met my extended family. I’d believe I was adopted if I didn’t know with absolute certainty that I wasn’t. I used to dream of being rescued by my “real parents” for many years, but now I know that the only person who can rescue me is…me.
Words do have incredible power. It’s important to use your words wisely, even if, on occasion, it turns you into a hypocrite. No one is perfect and there are often moments in life where we don’t always practice what we preach, or follow the path we’ve personally suggested.
People often come to me with problems. They require advice and they need a trusted ear. I almost always find that they’re struggling between logic and intuition. As someone who lives an intuitive based life, I struggle with their issues because no matter what I say, they desperately want to see the good in the behavior of others, even when they’re being hurt and disrespected, or worse. I don’t care what other people may think: Good does not reside in the heart and soul of every single person in this world. Hell, jails are full of rapists, murderers, and all sorts of living proof, but it clearly bears repeating. Not everyone is good, not everyone has good intentions, and not everyone is 100% genuine. It’s sad, but it’s a fact.
In life, I take everything and everyone on a case-by-case basis. I can be a really nice person (No, I’m not kidding. Get to know me.), but if I’m shown the ugliest side of someone, the niceness goes away in 0.1 seconds. If you throw the “bitch card’ at me, you’re showing me an ugly side that isn’t something I respect. If you break it out once and I never see it again, I move on, the relationship continues in whatever form it resides in, but I will NEVER forget that I saw it. There’s a reason Scorpio is attached to my on-line profile, it’s not just my astrological sign; I can and will see through your bullshit. I have the power to sting, and I’m incredibly self-aware. I cannot unhear or unsee red flags, whatever they may be. I attribute that to being intuitive and living my life based on sensory perception.
I don’t understand people who will spit on you and tell you it’s raining. I don’t understand passive-aggressive people who turn the tiniest comment into the issue of the century. Far too many people struggle with difference of opinion. It’s their way or the highway. Unfortunately, they don’t understand that life is full of grey area. I’m a person of extremes, but I spend a lot of time in the grey, so I understand it maybe too well. I am baffled by people who refuse to expand their own minds and learn. How else do you grow? The stagnant life is pitiful indeed.
Whenever I see “Speaker Of Powerful Words” on my bio, I feel as though it comes with immense responsibility. People talk a lot about athletes being role models for our children, but WE should be role models for our children and our children’s children. We should be the teachers who inspire them with words and actions to be better people. There is an exceptionally long list of ways to go about that.
I believe it’s important not to treat children like babies and talk to them like they’re morons. By all means, allow them to have their childhood, but do not be afraid to tackle the tough stuff. Uninformed children, or children that spend their entire lives being lied to by their parents, become insecure and completely unsure of themselves with age. They lack much-needed self-confidence. I have seen this carry over into adulthood, so please, avoid the bullshit and be real.
No one ever spoke “baby talk” to me, so when I started speaking, I spoke in full sentences. That was one of the ways I knew that adults took me seriously. I wasn’t encouraged to be the “next President of the United States” (who the hell would want that job?! No one sane!), but all of my talents were fostered.
My athletic ability was not ignored. I spent a huge chunk of my life as a gymnast, starting at age 4. Later on when my voice teacher called my mother and told her that I could sing, really sing, and that she wanted to tutor me privately, I got voice lessons. To this day, I still sing.
When my writing ability became my voice, it was not ignored. I was enrolled in a performing arts school at the time because of my singing, but every English, History, and Science teacher was completely blown away by me. I have incredibly fond memories of them and how encouraging they were of me. They all wanted me to move on and shine.
When I moved on to major in journalism and creative writing, that’s when I came upon my first real critic. When a professor tells you you’re “ruining the class” because of what you write and tells you he will continue to fail you until you drop the class, you can either keep going or you can laugh. I did both. He’d belittle me three times a week and I’d go home laughing because I was being published for thinking outside the box. In a room full of roughly 30 of the best writers in that part of New York City at the time, he singled me out constantly. Nothing I wrote was ever “good enough”. It only made me better. It gave me incredible vision for the future.
The years have come and gone and I have yet to meet someone who agrees with him. And if I did…I’d laugh.
I may not be everyone’s cup of coffee or tea, and that is perfectly acceptable to me, but at the end of each day, I am a speaker of powerful words. I salute you for reading my work and clicking LIKE.
Enjoy the updated bio and by all means, feel free to follow me on Twitter. Anyone that would also like to connect with me on Facebook can message me.
Thank you to #ChiropracticDaily for featuring my second article on migraines. It is most appreciated.
copyright © 2015 by Lisa Marino & Blackbird Serenity LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Migraines: Part II
As a follow-up to part one, many migraine sufferers know that we have to be careful of what we eat. Sometimes it plays a role in whether or not we are triggering a migraine, and many people experience cravings days in advance of an actual episode, so it’s often hard to pinpoint the more difficult triggers. (On occasion I’ll have a major sugar craving 2-3 days before a massive attack. Other times they come barreling towards me without any warning.)
There are many external factors as well. Avoiding loud noises, bright lights, strong odors, extreme temperatures, etc., but there is also the underlying dietary concerns for many. Not all of these will apply to you, many do not apply to me, but it’s definitely good information to have.
Potential Food & Drink Triggers Include But Are Not Limited To: Chocolate, ice-cold foods, aged cheese (Blue, Swiss, Brie, Cheddar, Gorgonzola, Muenster, Smoked Provolone, Parmesan, Feta, Stilton, Mozzarella, and all processed cheeses.), pickles, soy sauce, certain types of red wine & saki, certain types of beer, citrus fruits, ripe bananas, kiwi, raspberries, red plums, papaya, pineapple, dried fruit (figs, raisins, dates, & apricots), tofu, processed soy (like a lot of veggie burgers), eggs, garlic, onions, olives, beans (broad, fava, pinto, lima, & garbanzo), cultured dairy products (yogurt, sour cream, buttermilk, etc.), peanuts, peanut butter, pizza, potato chips, chicken livers and other organ meats, smoked or dried fish, Sourdough bread, freshly baked yeast goods (donuts, cakes, homemade bread, & rolls), crackers, soups made from meat extracts or bouillon (homemade broth is different), aspartame and other artificial sweeteners, caffeine found in chocolate, cocoa, coffee, tea, colas, beverages like Mountain Dew, and certain medications.
Some of these were new for me, and some were things I’ve known forever about myself. I’ll go down the list.
Milk chocolate is a problem for me at times. White chocolate isn’t real chocolate, it is pure fat. I eat dark chocolate almost exclusively. A small amount (often less than an ounce) curbs my cravings. I’ve found that dark chocolate with chili peppers helps alleviate a migraine at times. You can normally find this particular type of chocolate in the candy section of every store. A single bar is about $2. It’s nowhere near as spicy as you might think. In fact, the chili pepper in the chocolate is subtle.
Cheese wise I’m pretty strange. I eliminated cow’s milk from my diet five years ago. I only buy Coconut milk or Almond milk (Vanilla flavored on both. Also, there is an AMAZING Dark Chocolate Almond milk that I have a hard time keeping in my fridge. It’s a great mid-day snack, but is also awesome first thing in the morning.). You won’t find me buying or using milk or cream unless a recipe calls for it and I cannot substitute. With certain things, substitution is downright evil. I hate fake sugar and I hate fake butter. I’m part Italian and I’m almost never without mozzarella cheese. I would take it with me to a deserted island, I love it. I have threatened to cut people’s fingers off if they steal it out of my fridge, I take it seriously. Mozzarella has very simple ingredients in it (less than four), so whether you prefer whole milk or part skim, you should be fine. Don’t bother with the Fat Free version, it’s disgusting beyond words. Who wants to eat grey rubber?
I grew up with a real love for pickles and even though I’m not supposed to eat them, I can’t resist a good Sour Pickle. They trigger a migraine once in a while, but I don’t eat them often enough for it to be a real issue. I wouldn’t eat them at all if they were any kind of consistent problem. Regular pickles don’t bother me, but sometimes 30 minutes later, I’m sick. I’m never 100% sure if regular ones will get me or not, but since they’re not a constant in my life, I let it slide.
I never eat ripe bananas, that’s a rule of mine. I like them when they’re still a little green (the first day I’ve bought them or within two days before they start to turn really yellow) and that seems to avoid the chemical in them that can trigger migraines. Kiwi, pineapple, plums, raspberries, and papaya don’t affect me either. I’m a big fruit person, but I tend to stick to strawberries, blueberries, avocado, cantaloupe, peaches, and watermelon. I find that buying precisely what’s in season works well for me. Of late, I’ve been craving apples and since I stopped eating them years ago, I don’t make a big issue out of having the occasional apple because I know it’s not a trigger. Citrus fruit sometimes gets me, but it’s usually oranges or grapefruit.
Eggs, garlic, and onions are three of the worst offenders because of their high sulfur content. I love to cook, and garlic and onions are in so many of the starting ingredients to a lot of what I make, so I have to be careful and reduce the amounts I use at times. If I use fresh garlic I don’t eat it in the finished product, which helps eliminate the issue for me because sliced, cooked garlic will make me really sick. I choose Vidalia onions for most recipes because they’re naturally sweeter and don’t tend to affect me as much as yellow, Spanish, and white onions do. Red onions don’t affect me much either, but onions can still sneak up on me at times, so I have to be careful when I’m making salads or stir-frying vegetables. My life has gotten a lot healthier since I increased my spinach and kale intake. If you can incorporate these veggies into your diet without any fuss, it will help detox a lot of the negative things that cause migraines.
I love hummus, it borders on obsession, so clearly garbanzo beans don’t bother me. I have started to get sick from certain things that aren’t on this list, but sometimes it’s hard to decide if something is genuine food allergy, an intolerance, or something triggering headaches.
I used to eat tofu at least once a week. Sometimes it would make me sick and other times it wouldn’t. Processed soy can trigger a migraine for me, fresh tofu is different, but can still pose a problem for some.
Under normal circumstances I try only to drink water, seltzer, iced green tea, or iced herbal teas. I’ve got a slight addiction to Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper, but a 12-20 ounce cup once a day (on occasion) that is mostly ice and rarely ever gets finished is not the issue. If I drank it every single day, all day long, I’d be jumping off the walls from the caffeine. I know people who do that (it takes me forever to finish a 2 liter bottle) and they get headaches from the lack of caffeine, so it becomes a vicious cycle.
Artificial sweetener is a slippery slope. As I previously stated, I hate fake sugar. This time of year I become a bit obsessed with lemonade, but I find that regular lemonade is way too sweet, even with a lot of ice, even if I make it myself. Several years ago I decided to start using the “On The Go” packs from Crystal Light in Pink Lemonade or Raspberry Lemonade. Yes, it’s got sweetener in it, but for some reason, I’m numb to it, so long as it’s one of these two lemonades. I’d gotten a bunch of them with a water bottle I purchased for Breast Cancer Awareness one year. When I opened the sealed bottle, it was full of pink drink packets from Crystal Light. I set them aside, but one day I got desperate to drink something that wasn’t plain, and now I’m hooked. It increases my water intake, but on occasion, too much sweetener is way too much for me. It’s in almost all diet sodas, so if it’s a trigger for you, go on Pinterest and learn how to make your own flavor infused water. I’m a big fan of Decaf Mint Green Tea. Twinings has an awesome one, you just throw the tea bags into a water pitcher and within a few hours, you’ve got really good tea. On top of being refreshing, it’s completely sugar-free and doesn’t require a sweetener unless you choose to add it. Plus, it’s easy to tote along in a BPA free bottle wherever you go. I fill my bottle with ice and tea and even on a really hot day, it’s amazingly hydrating. I go through a pitcher a day, sometimes two. It’s that good.
Red wine is a mixed bag. I almost always order/buy Merlot. I aim for the fruitier ones as they don’t tend to bother me, aside from making me sleepy. Sometimes I do a lot better with a mixed drink as opposed to wine, but it all depends on my mood. White wine also contains sulfites, so it is just as likely to give you (or me) a migraine as red wine.
Most of the other things on the list are things I don’t eat at all, or rarely eat.
I think it’s important to pay attention to preservatives. If you can’t pronounce what’s in your food, you might want to avoid it. TBHQ is one that scares me a bit. It is being studied to find out if it causes stomach tumors. Some studies say it does, others say it inhibits the growth of stomach cancer completely. Either way, it’s cause for concern. I only recently realized it was in some of the things I buy. It’s more commonly used on dog food and both the EU and FDA have decided it is safe for human consumption. It’s your body, you be the judge.
Some people believe that going gluten-free will help eliminate some, if not all, of their migraines. I tried it for a period of time, along with several months of vegetarian bordering on vegan. It didn’t help me, it drove me insane, so do what works best for your body and overall health. Consult with a doctor before attempting a gluten-free diet. Many recommend you only go gluten-free is you have a genuine intolerance or Celiac disease, saying that it will not do anything for you if you don’t have one or the other. There’s a big difference between the two.
In the end, we are all different. It is extremely important for each of us to know our bodies and know that works for us. What triggers a migraine for you may not be an issue for me, but the second you become a migraine sufferer, it is extremely important that you find out what food and drink items have to be eliminated from your diet. Initially I cut everything out and slowly worked an item back into my diet here and there, and that worked for me, so I highly recommend that route for others. If one item affects you, eliminate it and move on to the next. See what helps and hinders, it will help you make the best choices for yourself.
The next part of this piece will talk about various herbs, essential oils, and a few treatments that some consider radical, but are bringing immense relief to others. Relief is the ultimate dream when you suffer from migraines, and many people will do anything to achieve that goal.
If you have any info you’d like to share or pass along to me, feel free to send me a message or leave a comment. 🙂
copyright © 2013-2015 by Lisa Marino & Blackbird Serenity LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Plagued
I’ve been plagued by pain in so many ways over the last week and a half, that I really haven’t been able to finish anything I’ve started to write. Work, at the moment, is that thing I should be doing, but can’t because sitting here for 5-12 hours editing is excruciatingly painful. I won’t lie; I feel a tremendous amount of guilt over it. I shouldn’t, but I do.
I have been extraordinarily exhausted. If I’m up longer than 12 hours, I will start to fall asleep wherever I am. By 6:20 last night, I seriously thought about getting into my bed without my favorite blanket. I went downstairs to pull it out of the dryer, basking in its warmth. There’s something incredibly cozy about a blanket fresh from the dryer, especially when you have chills and need to go to bed. Once again, I was in bed before the sun went into set mode. Sometimes it’s just a 3-5 hour nap, and other times, like last night, it was a total “lights out” moment. I rarely sleep straight through the night. I woke up once sometime after one to yell about something (it might have been my wicked next door neighbor’s new dog, which must have come home with them from their vacation because they’ve never had a dog since moving in. The dog, naturally, is as annoying as they are. It barks at its own shadow, and everything else it can see. I don’t want to hear your dog at 1:00 a.m. or 5:00 a.m. Train the beast! I’d be able to tune it out if their backyard wasn’t right on top of my bedroom window.) and after that I didn’t wake up until kitten walked on my head. As supreme “can opener”, this makes me a favorite between cat and kitten. Especially since kitten is always hungry, unless she’s sleeping.
I haven’t had much to say this week. I have ideas and other things swirling inside my head, all of which will come to fruition at some point, but mostly I am tired, stressed, and in so much pain, it’s hard to see straight.
You have absolutely no idea how much time you spend sitting until sitting becomes the single most painful thing you can do. My back and I are at odds. Every single thing is painful. Walking, standing, bending down to pick something up off the floor, even being in bed is uncomfortable. I lucked out yesterday and was finally able to do the laundry I hadn’t been able to do over the weekend. I didn’t want to make my back any worse after Saturday morning. It’s bruised, sore, and achy, but I think with continued rest, it will be all right. If it’s not, you can all send me weird things while I’m in the hospital (No cheese, Lucy! LOL.).
I hope everyone is having a happy, productive week. Me? I’m glad it’s almost over.
copyright © 2015 by Lisa Marino & Blackbird Serenity LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Good Writers Are…
Falling Apart
I apologize for not writing yesterday. I fully intended to do so, I’ve had a few things partially fleshed out, but by 8:00 a.m., I was not in a position to do anything. I couldn’t even bend down!
Something in my lower back popped yesterday morning while I was scrolling through messages on my cell phone. For most people, that wouldn’t mean an awful lot. It might mean popping a few OTC pain meds and resting for a few days, no real damage done, but for someone with lower lumbar spinal issues, this meant shooting pain in more directions than I could fathom at the time. As the day progressed, it became pain in my entire body. I have no idea the what/why/how of any of it, just that I am having immense difficulty struggling through so much pain because there’s no end in sight.
As of this moment, the pain has settled into my head as a migraine with maddening sinus pain and pressure. It’s past the point of my normal pain threshold, so if you hear screaming in the distance, it’s me.
All written posts will be suspended until I figure out what the hell this is and how long it’s going to affect me. I’m no good to anyone if I cannot see past the pain and cannot sit long enough to type anything worth reading.
I hope everyone has a good Sunday. Life is short, make it count.
Migraines: Part One
I went to bed last night with what I consider a “mild migraine”. Most of mine are horrific in their intensity, so hopefully this post will help someone.
I have suffered from migraines for almost 18 years. I have a family history of migraines, but that’s not the case for all sufferers. Technically if someone in your family has experienced just one migraine in their life, that is considered a “history”, and even if they never get another migraine again, they are still considered someone who suffers from migraines.
I have a pretty high threshold for pain, so when a migraine takes me down, it messes with my mood and view of the world a lot more than the previous migraine.
I am extremely photosensitive, so on any normal day I avoid the sun, bright lights, and anything that bothers my vision. I wear sunglasses before I leave the house and I wear them after dark if I am coming home with a migraine, even if it looks off to someone else, it saves me.
A cool, dark room is my preference as I’m going through the “coping”, but this really works best during Spring & Summer when you don’t have to justify it in any capacity. In the Winter, no one wants to be freezing through a migraine. I am also highly sensitive to smell, and it becomes more intense when I’m in “migraine mode”.
When things are really bad and I’m dizzy and nauseous beyond belief on top of all that, I find that not moving around a lot helps, as does ginger (Ginger ale, even though it’s basically liquid candy, ginger candy, ginger tea, etc.). When I’m going through a really bad bout of repetitive migraines, I subsist on soup and ginger ale almost exclusively, with ginger tea and ginger-snaps being the only things I can truly keep down. I didn’t have nausea with my migraines until a few years ago. The fabulous benefit of getting older. For some weird reason, diet root beer (It has to be A&W. Every other brand, except for Pennsylvania Dutch Birch Beer, is absolutely disgusting to me.) and anything with wintergreen also helps with the nausea.
A migraine starts in my head, as it does for most of us, but it’s not truly gone until it has affected my stomach. I refer to this as the “head to toe” phenomenon. It starts above and doesn’t truly leave until it has wrecked my stomach. (This is where proper hydration comes in to the picture later on.)
If you suspect you suffer from migraines, find a really good neurologist who specializes almost exclusively in headaches. Let he/she run all the necessary tests to eliminate any other possibilities, but don’t just take over-the-counter analgesics and allow yourself to suffer. My methods are tried and true, and they work. Unfortunately every migraine is a little different.
I try not to treat a migraine medically if I’ve had to take more than three rounds of medication in a 12 hour time period. If it requires that much medication, sometimes a trip the emergency room is necessary. There are several drugs that can stop the migraine completely and others that are used to treat the pain. Be sure to have a copy of your migraine plan from your doctor with you, or you might not be received very well, or be treated properly, in most ER’s. One of the last times I went to the ER for my doctor-ordered shot of morphine (FYI: I’d NEVER gone before, always suffering through it no matter how bad, and I’d NEVER been given morphine for anything. I’d never wanted to risk the “last straw”. To this day, I’ve somehow managed to avoid getting a shot in the ER for my migraines, but believe me when I say, sometimes I wish I would just go.), they refused to follow his instructions. The nurses stood off to the side with the doctor whispering (which to my ears, sounded like a fucking freight train) that I “might be faking it”, as they “suspected I could be a junkie looking for a fix”. I was SO sick, the mere mention of the word “junkie” ensured I would never again seek treatment at that hospital, nor would I ever return to their emergency room for anything. I did not receive any treatment that day, except for a cat scan which, as we all know, proves absolutely NOTHING in regard to migraines. When I later told my doctor what happened, he was ENRAGED. Hell, they’d called him for the authorization and he faxed them my migraine plan. They couldn’t and wouldn’t follow simple instructions from an on-staff neurologist. If I hadn’t been so sick at the time, I would have asked him to come down and give me the shot himself. He had privileges to do so, but I was truly too ill to make the call.
My first step to coping when I feel the pain come on is to try to remain calm (I often fail here.). I won’t lie, migraines can ruin more than just a single day and when I feel the pain, I panic. Anyone who suffers from them knows that you can be out of the game for over four hours, or a week, depending on the severity of the pain, how long it took the pain to stop completely, and the recovery process. If the first migraine tapered off for a few hours and you got hit with a second one soon after, it makes your recovery time hard to pinpoint because it can suck the life out of you fast. The second I feel that “Uh Oh” twinge anywhere in my head, I take what I’m supposed to, which is supposed to stop the migraine in its tracks before my stomach shuts down, which is roughly 30 minutes or so from when you feel that first burst of pain.
When I am on Relpax (I’m not paid to say this, but it’s the only medication that truly works for me.), which is a prescription-only migraine medicine, I find relief generally without having to take more than 1-3 pills in a 24 hour period. These suckers are expensive, even with insurance, and I only get 6 at a time when they’re prescribed because my insurance doesn’t like paying over $22 per pill (and there’s no way in hell I am paying $240 out-of-pocket for it several times a month), but there are other ways to get them to pay for this if you need it. If this medicine works for you, stick with it. If it doesn’t, don’t worry, because there are a lot of other migraine medicines on the market that help to prevent migraines, and so many others that handle the pain when you suffer an attack. There is also a long list of preventives.
I am not a doctor, but when you suffer from something consistently, you start to feel like one at times. It took about two and half years before I was put on a preventative medicine that lowered my percentage of migraines. Before that, it was one drug after the other that did not work, and the side effects were almost as bad as the constant headaches. Many of them made the headaches worse. I lost my patience with the first neurologist who didn’t believe in managing the pain once it was trying to tear its way through my head. The one time I had to have him paged in the middle of the night because I was a step away from the emergency room, his response was obnoxious. He called something into the pharmacy for me that night, the headache stopped after a few days, but I never went back to see him because I felt he wasn’t properly handling things. If I’ve been a patient of yours for a year or two, and you can’t seem to think outside the box, I do have the right to seek a second opinion. Be your own best friend here. If you and a doctor fundamentally disagree on how you should be treated, find a new doctor. You’re the patient, you don’t deserve to be treated like someone’s science experiment.
Neurologist #2 saved me from drastic measures. To this day, he is someone I respect highly and trust to help me. I have recommended him to other people and will continue to do so. The very first medication he put me on dropped my almost daily migraines down by about 75%. I took it on and off for close to ten years before it stopped working completely. For me, that was still considerable progress. It’s a drug that doesn’t work for everyone and I was the first patient he’d ever given it to for migraines. Because of my initial success with it, he felt comfortable prescribing it to others that were experiencing the same level of pain as I was.
A lot of people who are on the homeopathic route should know this: Certain essential oils might help. I use Lavender. Sometimes I add a little Vanilla to the Lavender because that’s a calming combination for me, but Chamomile is also really helpful. I purchase these oils from TheOrganicWitch.com. Her prices are very reasonable for a 1 ounce bottle, and she often has a Buy 3 or 4, Get 1 Free deal going, so you get the oil you need, and often find a new one that helps with something else. Find out which oils work best for you, but know that not every one of them is safe for direct skin contact. Peppermint needs a carrier oil (in a pinch, olive oil works just fine since most of us have that on hand.). I find that Spearmint doesn’t irritate me or my skin when applied directly, and it’s easier on the senses, especially if you are super sensitive to fragrance, which I am. With Lavender I literally dip a Q-tip into it and apply a little to my temples, the spot on the forehead that is the “Third Eye”, behind my ears, and on my wrists. When using these oils, try to stay away from your pets to avoid direct contact with the oil itself. Over time, some of them are poisonous to cats if inhaled, so be aware of this. Occasional exposure will not kill your dog/cat. Tea Tree Oil is the only exception, they shouldn’t EVER be exposed to it as it is 100% toxic. Cat and kitten automatically move away from anything they find repulsive scent wise, so I don’t worry about them being curious. If you can’t flush the used Q-tip, toss it at the very bottom of your garbage can/bag. Your garbage will smell fantastic, and it will keep your pet(s) away from the remnants of the oil. If you have smaller pets that like to chew on Q-tips, find an alternative disposal method.
Hydration during a migraine and throughout the recovery process is crucial. I’ve had people say “You need to drink more fluids. When you get a headache your brain is thirsty.” I honestly don’t think it’s possible for anyone to drink more water than I do, but in the beginning, I did have to work on this theory of the dehydrated brain. Initially I experimented with things like Gatorade and Powerade (not in large amounts, as I was once concerned about the sodium content), but have since moved on to coconut water, which is 100% natural. I tend to keep Zico Dark Chocolate Coconut Water on hand for migraines (and assorted forms of dehydration) and I buy it by the liter, which is cheaper. If it’s not cold, I pour it over a couple of ice cubes and sip as much of it as I can, slowly. I cannot begin to tell you how many times this has saved me from additional pain and suffering. There are many times I drink it as soon as I’ve taken migraine medication, and if I then take a short nap, I wake up feeling like I never had pain in my head. Not all the time, but a high percentage of the time. I recommend Zico’s Coconut Water because all of the other brands I’ve tried tasted vile to me, including Zico’s Natural and other flavored products (They have several. Check out their web-site.). If you’re already used to the taste, go for it, but the one I’ve recommended is, by far, the superior tasting product and when you have a migraine, taste does often count. I have used their coconut water consistently for five years. It has not failed me.
I’ve got other migraine tips, and that will be in part two.
Do you have any migraine or pain related tip(s) you’d like to share? If so, leave a message in the comments section.
Wishing you all a pain-free day. 🙂
Portions of this are copyright © 2013-2015 by Lisa Marino & Blackbird Serenity LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This may not be re-blogged or posted anywhere without express written consent from the author.
The Low Bid
If you’re any kind of freelancer, you know, all too well, what the “low bid” means. In today’s market, it is something I find utterly distasteful. You cannot put a price on creativity, but apparently many people are going around claiming they cannot afford it. Okay, then don’t ask for it for free, and don’t disrespect those of us who work our asses off doing what you are incapable of.
A few years ago, I had a long-term client leave me for $100 less PER YEAR so she could go to another editor. It was a big contract. Instead of talking to me, she waited until the final month of the contract and while we were in negotiations to renew, she told me she had found someone willing to charge $100 a year less than her current contract, which was paid out in monthly installments. It wasn’t $100 a month less, it was $100 total. That’s less than $10 a month in “savings”.
If she had told me ahead of time that there was an issue, I would have dropped the yearly price in order to keep the job, but overall, it wasn’t worth the argument once she’d drawn the line in the sand. If you have no loyalty to me, I will have absolutely none to you in kind. My NDA’s with this client have expired, but I have never publicly or professionally told anyone what she did, and I’ve never called her out, despite the fact that I find it deplorable. If you’ve been a client for more than a month, I tend to be pretty loyal and helpful, but this was the epitome of insulting and disrespectful. It also showed me the level of this person’s character. “I wish you well, but you’re on my shit list.”
We are all working with budgets these days, and that is a result of daily life, the job and housing market, and the economy. It is not uncommon to see people with calculators at the grocery store, myself included, or a bag full of coupons. It doesn’t phase me at all for someone to ask me to work within their budget, but when you try to cheapen my, or someone else’s hard work, that’s when it pisses me off.
I have people who come to me with jobs, thinking that a penny is worth 1000-5000 words of editing. In most cases, that is several pages worth of work, and it could very well be more than an hour of my time. So, not only is the answer no, it’s HELL NO. Yes, they can hire someone in a different country to do it, someone whose first language isn’t English, but I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for, in all things. Unless an article of clothing is actually on sale, I suspect that the lower price means it will need to be replaced in 3-12 months. I liken it to buying a bra at Walmart. It might be $10, or less, and who doesn’t want to save money? But it won’t last as long as the $80 bra I got on sale for $25 that is well made, and is something I wear often, something that I’ve had in perfect condition for 6 years. That’s a simple fact. You DO get what you pay for.
Low bidding an editor who spends months on your work or a graphic designer who you’re asking to make miracles happen is disgustingly disrespectful to me. You want sixteen different things done, but you expect it done for pennies.
I have a graphic designer I refer work to because she has the experience, work ethic, and talent. I don’t care if it’s a brand logo, a t-shirt design, or a book cover. If you lowball her, I am going to hunt you down. If you’re going to disrespect her, I am going to find you and make your life extremely unpleasant. If you’re selling a product, I am going to personally make sure no one I know buys the product. With a book, I say “live and let live”, but I will never forget the rudeness or the disrespect. I have a LONG memory and if you’ve made my shit list, walk very carefully through life. I am not afraid to speak up or speak out.
I am open to working with people who get it, who realize that fairness and decency go a long way. But today, and from here on out, I am unwilling to work with ignorant assholes who will go behind my back, or the back of those they are referred to, and expect us to demean ourselves for a buck.
I am not a whore for my line of work. What you choose to make out of that is your issue, not mine.
copyright © 2015 by Lisa Marino & Blackbird Serenity LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Written by LISA MARINO-Molchanova 