Linus Doll, For USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin 7:49 a.m. CT April 8, 2017

Linus Doll(Photo: USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)Buy Photo

I have never been obsessed with what is going around, in perhaps the last 50years, more or less, that I call the organic food craze. Latelywe are bombarded with ads about organic food and how much better it is for us. I became curious and decided to find out just what is meant by organic.

My dictionary shows 12definitions of this word, but I will only use the very first one and it should suffice for this article. It says this:Noting or pertaining to a class of compounds that formerly comprised only those existing in or derived from plants or animals, but now includes all other compounds of carbon. So what does this mean pertaining to the food we eat? Wikipedia defines organic foods as those that are produced that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as pesticides and chemical fertilizers, etc.

Here is what got me to thinking. Heck, when I was a young boy, my parents planted a big garden with vegetables, sweet corn, potatoesand such, and I never saw them using anything on their crops except sweat and labor. So that tells me I was eating organic food many years ago. I remember my brother Tony and I had to pick potato bugs by hand. No spraying with chemicals back then. Food must have been good;Istill am here.

What really got me to thinking about this article was when I read an advertisement about eggs. Seems like a certain company claims that their eggs are the best and they give you the best in taste, nutrition, variety and savings. Wow! Now they sell organic eggs, cage-free eggs and best eggs. I am a bit confused. I wonder how they get their chickens to lay three different types of eggs. I checked in one of our local supermarkets and I found regular eggs for 98 cents for 18 eggs and the aforementioned best eggs were priced above$3a dozen. Thats a saving? My opinion is an egg is an egg and only the chicken has the say about what it is.

Another ad that caught my eye was one for organic butter. Years ago, people churned their own butter and added a little salt so it didnt taste so flat, but we didnt call it organic. All the stores only called it salted or unsalted. Now they tell us the organic butter is better for us. Huh? What really got me was the cost. One ad was for $5.69 a pound and another was for $4.49 for selected 16-ounce varieties. What are they adding to the cream to make varieties of butter? Can they still be called organic? If a person is a believer in organic food, more power to them. Eggs and butter are only two of the many products that are on the organic bandwagon, and I am sure the bandwagon has not stopped rolling. I just cant jump up on it.

Continuing on with my curiosity, I went online to see what the experts have to say about organic food. When I found what I was looking for, I clicked on print and got six full pages of information. I will only write a few quotes that I thought were interesting. Most of these are answers to questions.

Your friends are right: Organic food does have some benefits, but depending on what your friends told you, some may be bigger than others. A new study published by the American College of Physicians that reviewed 200 studies and determined that organic foods do not have higher vitamin or mineral content than the same foods grown using conventional methods.

The study has been hotly debated, and some outlets say the added-cost of organics is wasted money. Others point out that focusing on nutritional benefit misses the point entirely of certifying, supporting, and buying organic foods. Regardless, the trust is this: The result should cast doubt on any assertions that organic foods somehow have higher nutritional benefits than conventional foods.

Whether you should buy organic foods over conventional depends entirely on you, your budget,and what you expect to get out of those foods. If the reason youve been buying organic is because you believe theyre better for you nutritionally, then theres no reason to continue.

So you ask, Linus, do you buy organic? The answer is Yes, but only if the price is less than your name brand product. I drink tea (green) just about every day and I found a brand of organic tea bags that suits my budget. And I still am here.

Shop wisely.

Linus Doll of Fond du Lac writes community columns for The Reporter. This is his 105thcolumn.

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Doll wonders about organic foods - Fond du Lac Reporter

Most people are aware that organically grown food is free from exposure to harmful chemicals, but that is only one small part of what organic is about.

A larger part of organic agriculture involves the health of the soil and of the ecosystems in which crops and livestock are raised. Organic agriculture is born from the idea that a healthy environment significantly benefits crops and the health of those consuming them. In addition, organic practices are also viable in the long term, since they are efficient in their use of resources, and do not damage the environment and local communities like large scale "chemical agriculture" does.

LocalHarvest does not restrict its listings to organic producers only, since our mission is first and foremost to support small growers, and then to promote Organic agriculture.

We do track our growers' organic status with the following categories:

There are many organizations worldwide that certify produce as being grown in a manner that does not harm the environment and that preserves or improves soil fertility, soil structure, and farm sustainability. Farms that are certified organic are shown as such in LocalHarvest.

Some of our farms prefer not to pursue an organic certification, but do follow organic principles in growing their produce.

CNG is a grassroots certification program created specifically for farmers that sell locally and directly to their customers. CNG's certification standards are based on the National Organic Program but with some variation, including improved livestock living conditions and more explicit access to pasture requirements.

Organic certification standards are very strict, and it usually takes years for farms the achieve them, as all pesticide and chemical residue from the soil is slowly broken down and leached away. Farms marked as "Transitional" are farms in the process of getting their certification, but that are not quite there yet.

Conventional farming does not necessarily have to be as destructive as large scale chemical agriculture. There are many small farms worldwide that sparingly use chemicals when needed, and that otherwise follow good guidelines in the care of their environments and communities. We list those farms in LocalHarvest too.

Based on a series of lectures given by Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner in 1924, Biodynamics is a method of agriculture which seeks to actively work with the health-giving forces of nature. It is the oldest non-chemical agricultural movement, predating the organic agriculture movement by some 20 years and has now spread throughout the world.

Grass fed, or pastured, animals are raised on pasture, as opposed to being kept in confinement and fed primarily grains. Pasturing livestock and poultry is the traditional method of raising farm animals, is ecologically sustainable, humane, and produces the most nutritious meat, dairy and eggs.

Read this article:

Organic Food - LocalHarvest

In 1993, a hundred years after the renowned World Parliament of Religionsmet in Chicago a second parliament gathered. The highlight for many was an address by the Dalai Lama. And certainly a worthy thing.

For me, however, the most important thing to come out of that gathering was a document, Towards a Global Ethic. The principal author was the Roman Catholic priest and scholar Hans Kung. Father Kung is something of a controversial figure within his church, I once heard him described as the Catholic Churchs finest Lutheran theologian. He is nonetheless considered one of the ecumenical Christian communitys finest minds.

The document declares there are four broad, ancient guidelines for human behavior which are found in most of the religions of the world, which it listed as irrevocable directives for those who would find peace on and for our planet.

The document was signed by two hundred religious leaders representing, if not officially, pretty much all the worlds religions, including Christians, Jews, Muslims, Taoists, Jains, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, Bahai, Native Americans and other earth-centered traditions. The Dalai Lama signed it, as did the Reverend Dr Robert Traer of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches in the United Kingdom, and, Im delighted to note, my old mentor the Buddhist scholar Professor Masao Abe.

These irrevocable directives were, I should say, are 1) a commitment to a culture of non-violence and respect for life 2) a commitment to a culture of solidarity and a just economic order 3) a commitment to a culture of tolerance and a life of truthfulness 4) a commitment to a culture of equal rights and partnership between men and women.

Im deeply moved by this analysis, which I think cuts through the fog of the conservative part of religions, that part which is meant to sustain and transmit a particular culture, defining an inside and an outside, a us and a them and, which is so often the part of religion used as a club to beat people into conformity. And, instead, really, really succeeds at pointing to the radical heart of pretty much all religions, that part which opens us to the finest of what it means to be human located within and among, fully celebrating, all as a part of some mysterious whole that claims our allegiance. More, claims our very lives.

The first of the directives, a grand intuition of our deep humanity, is that in spite of our natural proclivities to violence, there is always the possibility of a better way. The second tells us we genuinely are responsible for each other, and how our lives need to take that deep truth into account. The third points to our need for broad tolerance, which is found within our commitment to genuine honesty with our selves and with each other. And, finally, that fourth, so buried in so many religions, but implicit at their heart, that women and men need each other, and can only heal from the wounds of life when we see we are all in it together as equals. I would add that the issues of sexual minorities are bound up with this last assertion, inevitably, inextricably. The only thing missing is a clear statement seeing beyond the wounds of race. Sadly, it is a big thing missing.

Small wonder the Zen Peacemakers founded by Roshi Bernie Glassman and other members of the White Plum Asangha have adopted it as a principal document. And, my own Boundless Way Zen has, with some tweaking of the language to address our own sense of the need to fix that one missing point by explicitly including women, and men, and people of every race and condition sharing this small and fragile planet, trying to capture that fullness through the phrase all people, also take it as a core document, usually cited in our precepts ceremonies as well as in our ordinations.

I commit myself to a culture of nonviolence and reverence for life; I commit myself to a culture of solidarity and a just economic order; I commit myself to a culture of acceptance and a life based on truthfulness; and I commit myself to a culture of equal rights and partnership among all people. Here we these four commitments I feel we find something terribly important being held up. It is a call to a life of authenticity and truth. And it shows us a way of healing for hearts and mending a world torn by strife.

And certainly, certainly this is something expressing much of the heart of the Zen way. At least as Ive come to understand that way of holiness and care through attention to the totally ordinary.For me this document and its four irrevocables take us from ink on paper and into our actual lives.

There is a Japanese saying, gyogaku funi, which means practice and study are not two.And these four deceptively simple statements, these four commitments are a pretty good way to find how that practice and our investigation of the deep matter are in fact not two.

And, yes, not one, either. Messy. And beautiful.

See more here:

Zen and the Four Commitments: A Small Meditation - Patheos (blog)

I fell in love with Puducherry (formerly, Pondicherry) at first sight. The sleepy town is one of the biggest tourist attractions in India because of Auroville, and a wonderful study of contrasts of the Tamil and French cultures. The town itself is divided into what the locals call 'the Tamil part' and the colonial part of Puducherry, which transports you to a town that is best suited in a romance novella.

My hotel, a restored traditional Tamil style house near the beach was full of young tourists, almost all of them foreigners and almost all of them dressed in baggy cotton patiala style pants (I was later told that they are called elephant pants, and seem to be a must for every foreign traveler here). A couple from New York staying in the next room tells us that they have come here because they have heard so much about Auroville. Auroville and the Aurobindo Ashram in Puducherry are the reasons that bring the majority of the tourists here, but I later discovered that the small French town has a lot more to offer other than the Aurobindo Ashram-Auroville spirituality package.

Eat My Cake! in White Town

As I strolled through White Town, the french colonial part of Puducherry, you cannot help but look in awe at the hues of yellow, blue and pink houses that line the perpendicular, sea facing part of the town. I came across a cafe called Eat My Cake! which promised to offer a authentic french experience. As I entered, I was greeted by the smell of chocolate and fresh bread. The tiny pink and yellow cafe was opened by three french women just a year ago and offers a different menu everyday. The owners told me how everything about the small cafe is, 'made by women, and run by women.' Their tie-up with a local NGO helps employ women and empower them by making them learn skills like cooking and baking. Also, the coffee is freshly brewed and the ingredients are organic and locally grown. It was a fascinating thing to learn that Puducherry, which welcomes a large part of foreign tourist population, also hosts a large number of restaurants that promise you fresh, organic locally grown food to go with 'the wellness trend'.

As my friend and Iorderan item from the day's menu, Chicken Liver Bagel and a coffee pot in the terrace cafe, I find it interesting to note that food in Puducherry, andeverything else for the matter, comes at its own relaxed pace. Not that its a bad thing, but just a fascinating concept to sit and actually savour food for 4 to 5 hours rather than in Mumbai, where we come from. My friend noted that how our restaurant meals in the city of dreams were always rushed, we were always handed the bill as soon as we ordered dessert.

The Promenade hosts one of the biggest statutes of Gandhiji in India.

The laid back pace of the town was the biggest luxury we indulged in. After over wonderful meal, we strolled through the Promenade(Puducherrys only sea facing, Marine drive-esque boulevard) in the afternoon, we were mesmerised by how other people around us were sitting at the shoreline indulging in the activity of doing nothing. For us, the looking at the sea for hours at the peaceful town was a welcome break from elbowing people out of the way to get into a local train in Mumbai.

We came across an antique shop during one of our strolls. Located near Les Space in White Town, the nameless store housedantiques that were as old as the time when the French started colonising the place, and each and every piece had an interesting piece of history attached to it. Thisis whyI recommend walking over taking a cycle or a bike, because there is so much to see in Puducherry. Each building is unique, and seems to have a history. The town is best taken in, slowly, walking through the streets at a glacial pace staring at the beautiful Franco-Tamil pieces of architecture. Or if you are in the other 'Tamil' part of town, just looking at the old world charm of the city and seeing it transport from a city in Europe to a forgotten era in India in a matter of kilometres.

A walk through the streets

Coming to the reason we were on the trip the food. The variety of food is one of the best things that Puducherry has to offer, and even if you do not include the fascinating cuisines of Auroville there is a lot that can be sampled. One of the most unique cuisines is the Creole cuisine of Puducherry. The french-tamil fusion cuisine was also influenced by the Dutch and Portuguese colonisers.

Creole food is more Indian than french while french cuisine is all about cooking and savouring each item individually, Creole food is more of an Indian curry and rice variety. One of the best places we sampledcreole was at Le Dupleix in White Town. The best dish hands down was Rasam Aux Crevettes (Rasam with shrimp served French style).

Moving on to a different kind of fusion a small cafe called Kasha Ki Asha specialises in giving the picky tourist a literal mix of both the cuisines and overs yummy samplings like Pizza Dosai. The cafe, opened in 2013 by an American woman, Kasha, runs on the same principle as Eat My Cake! it started out as an initiative by Kasha to help and empower women. The best part about the cafe is the beautiful boutique that is a part of the terrace cafe.

Now comes the time to satisfy the sweet tooth. The french brought with them the art of the yummy desserts, and it has stayed. One of our walks through the town landed us in a bakery that calledBaker Street. Being huge Sherlock fans ourselves, we went into the bakery that promised 'an authentic french experience' and were transported to what might have been a bakery in France. Whether it is a simple chocolate cake or a piece of expertly crafted chocolate, 212 Baker Street suprises you with the variety of desserts it stocks.

White Town

And if you want your fill of the best Tamil cuisine, Puducherry hosts excellent restaurants that serve, what is in my opinion, the best rasamin the world. Try out restaurants like A2B Adyar Ananda Bhavan and Surgurewhere the crowd will be a mix of Indian tourists tired of sampling pastas and wine, and foreign tourists keen on trying the local cuisine and fascinatingly trying to eat dosa and rice plates with their hands.

When we went to Surguru, we were seated with two tourists from London, who were watching YouTube videos about how to eat rasam rice with their hands before getting to the real act itself. Why were they here, and not in a French cafe that serves organic food, I asked. The girl, a backpacker who was visiting India for the first time said that French cuisine was passe for them, and the only reason they went to the cafes was to use the free Wifi. 'Spicy Indian food' was more fascinating. That was the time it struck me, what's a novelty for me is 'the plain old' for them and vice versa, and Puducherry works well in balancing both sets of tastes.

Puducherry might seem like a small, sleepy town that only houses the Aurobindo Ashram and its offshoot shopping experiences, but it is more than that. If you are looking at a long, peaceful getaway or a short escapade from the city life and the thought of Goa makes you cringe, Puducherry is just a hop, skip and jump away from Chennai airport (3 hours by bus). The town is a novelty in itself, if not the food, or the shopping that gets you, just strolling through the pink, blue and yellow houses around town are fascinating in itself and make you feel like you are in a movie.

Read the rest here:

Puducherry: There's more to this sleepy town than Auroville and the Shri Aurobindo Ashram - Firstpost

Jen Bennett and her dog. Photo by Jason Langley Photography, https://www.jasonlangleyphoto.com/

Vegan options in New Jersey have been hard to come by in the past, but suddenly seem to becoming more and more common. Even in Morristown, places like Morristown Pancake House offer vegan pancakes, waffles and scrambled tofu featured on their menu and Beenies Ice Cream, which is scheduled to open in May on Morris Street, will feature vegan ice creamright alongside their other treats. The New Jersey VegFest has launched vegan pop-up shops on the last Sunday of every month at the Laundromat Bar and the crowds keep growing.

Not sure what vegan means? The helpful folks at vegan.com have lots of info spelling it out, but it really refers to anything thats free of animal products: no meat, milk, eggs, wool, leather.

Enter Jen Bennett, who aims to create Morristowns first Vegan Cafe, The Plant Based Kitchen. She launched a Kickstartercampaign last week, which has already attracted 16 backers and over $1,200.

We reached out to Jen with some questions about what motivated her to launch this project and what her plans are.

Whats your background?

I am an artist who is a bit of a foodie and Im passionate about learning and being outdoors as much as possible. As far as my career background goes, I am currently an Art Director and graphic designer finishing up my Masters Degree in Nutrition & Food Science.

I am fascinated by the way our bodies naturally function and how the foods we choose to eat are the most important factor in our health outcomes. So many of us have been conditioned to believe that genetics and other factors leave us helpless to effect our predetermined health, but its just not true. The Standard American Diet is the main driving force in most of our biggest health issues we face as a country obesity, heart disease, etc. This has been shown over and over is scientific studies published in various journals. And yet, were still led to believe things just happen and theres a new pill for that or one to treat the side effects from the other pill you were given. We do have a choice and a responsibility for our personal health, but we often arent educated about how much of an impact our diet really has or how easy and delicious it can be to eat primarily healthy, plant-based meals. Health food became stigmatized and we need to correct that so that its just as fashionable to be healthy and happy as it currently is to make jokes about bacon.

What makes you think Morristown will support a vegan restaurant when other health food places have failed?

I think the NJ VegFest has shown that there is definitely a community looking for a great vegan spot to eat in this area. For The Plant Based Kitchen, the goal is delicious and easily accessible the healthy part for customers is a bonus. I dont know anything about the other places that have failed, but maybe Morristown just wasnt ready for them at the time. Its definitely ready now and even people that arent vegan or vegetarian or plant-based or any other label have seemed interested and excited about the idea. That is even more motivating and exciting!

If Im reading your page right, you are trying to raise $140K in a month? Is that correct? If so, thats a gargantuan task. Have you tried to get traditional backing, too?

$143K to be exact andit is definitely not a small fundraising goal hahaha. I decided on a Kickstarter because I love their platform being a give and take situation and its given me an opportunity to back some other amazing projects. I like the idea of having the community involved and excited right alongside me and I love knowing that theyll get something in return as a my thank you for their support. Its more fun to build a movement with a team and Kickstarter focuses on short, quick fundraising so it made sense for this situation.

Traditional funding is always an option, too. That becomes a little more difficult to acquire, though, when you are doing something new. Without having been in business for some amount of time to show banks that you have cash flow, they are generally hesitant to give out loans. Its that funny cycle of you need cash flow to start, but many places dont want to give money to someone who hasnt already started and has cash flow to show. So what can you can do to get started? I saw an amazing space that became available and it would be perfect. Thing is, a space that amazing doesnt stay available for long so I had to throw myself in and see what kind of fundraising could be done quickly. Idecided to put it out there on Kickstarter and after their fees I calculated it would put about $130K in place which maybe would givea bank some confidence in seeing that there isplenty of interest in grassroots capital raised.Couldnt let that opportunity go by without giving all of my energy into trying.

If this campaign doesnt get funded, its not going to stop the mission. It just means it slows back down a little and thats ok. Good things rarely come together easily and Im more than happy to put in the work for a slightly slower build of this movement if thats what it takes.

Oh I sure do haha. Its incredible and has the most amazing character to it. It is such a cool space and whoever ends up in it is going to be very lucky. I am so grateful and humbled by the kindness of all the Kickstarter campaign supporters so far. There are a whole bunch of financial backers and a ton of people sharing and promoting. Its really awesome to have so much support.

Unfortunately, weve not raised enough yet for me to feel comfortable throwing my hat in to be considered for that space right now. Fingers are still crossed, though! If the campaign goes wild and we get all of the funding together, Im prepared to immediately submit the necessary paperwork to be considered for the space if its not already leased out by that time. If we get funded and that space is gone, then the mission carries on with the search for a new space in town. Im a big believer in whats meant to be will be. If this space was not the space meant for The Plant Based Kitchen (even though I totally fell in love with it), thats ok. It just means theres something else thats right for it and itll come together when the time is right. (Yes, in addition to beign sort of a nerd, Im also a little bit of a hippie deep down.)

Until then, Im going to continue working on building this movement.The Plant Based Kitchen is a little plan I have to make a big impact on our society. The beginning stages of an app are underway now and there will be more to come.

The rest is here:

Plant Based Kitchen looking for Kickstart for Vegan Cafe - Morristown Green

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Should Black Folks Go Vegan? - ThyBlackMan

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We love finding a new place to eat in Cornwall and we've just discovered a new seaside spot that's not only going to prove a mecca for veggies and vegans but is also offering FREE tasters of its new menu - and cakes.

The Vood Bar is a vegan street food van which has just been launched by ex-nanny Danielle Clancy and has secured a summertime spot on Penzance prom.

It's opening on Thursday, April 13 and in their first few days, they're looking for taste testers to try out their new menu - particularly their range of cakes, tarts and brownies - for free.

Read more: My 30-day vegan experiment - will eating like Beyonce and J-Lo change my life forever?

Vood Bar cakes - mmmmm.

Danielle, 27, from Pool, is a dedicated vegan who came up with the idea for Vood in her quest for meat-free food at Camp Bestival, where she working as a nanny last year.

Read more: 25 of the best Cornwall beaches to visit this Easter

She said: "It's usually quite difficult to find vegan stuff to eat when I'm out and about but there was so much choice at the festival. There was one place I went to that I loved and I thought, 'I could do that'.

"I've always enjoyed cooking and my mum said I should go into catering. This (the vegan van) is something that Cornwall should have, so I thought I'd give it a go."

The Vood Bar on Penzance prom.

Danielle, who's setting up on her own, but who says she's had lots of help from her friend, Stanya Schofield, secured one of a handful of Cornwall Council pitches on Penzance promenade and is looking forward to opening day.

Read more: Are Warrens Thai and Mexican vegan pasties a step too far? We take the taste test

The menu will change daily but will include barbecue jackfruit burgers, potato curry, terriyaki sushi rolls, southern fried cauliflower and satay skewers - as well as a big selection of cakes.

To volunteer as a taste tester, head over the VoodBar Facebook page.

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Original post:

Vegan food van Vood Bar is coming to Penzance prom and they want you to try their cakes for free - Cornwall Live

Spring Break is a weeks vacation for students typically held around Easter. There are many names for this week-long vacation and some college students may seek an opportunity to travel or party.

Taking a break during this week could be well spent by catching up to finish homework, cleaning house, or taking a little rest and relaxation can be far more invigorating. There are at least two things that help with relaxing the body for rest, sleep and listening to music.

However, there are students who want to stay at home and just binge watch their favorite TV show, play video games, or visit family members without traveling too far.

One way a student could relax can be by taking a rest.

Sleep can be a way to regulate memory and learning functions through complex means according to Harvard Health Publications, the media and publishing division of the Harvard Medical School.

The human body needs on average copious hours of sleep a day to help with the recall center of the brain to access information that may be pertinent to use.

Listening to music while trying to sleep has a positive effect on the human stress response occurs.

For example, listening to music such as jazz, hip hop, soft, or relaxing music has a calming tone.

According to researchers at a Stanford University from a press release issued in 2006, listening to music seems to be able to change brain functioning to the same extent as medication.

According to University of Nevada, Reno any music that plays around 60 beats per minute can match the alpha brainwaves, which are found to be the cause of when we are relaxed and conscious.

Spring break should be to take a break, so why not relax with a nice book in hand while hearing a song that makes you feel at peace.

Another tip on relaxation during spring break can be organizing objectives.

Taking a week off to organize what students should do after spring break can be beneficial in understanding how to accomplish his or hertasks.

For example, a student could organize a checklist on what they need to do first then set up bullet points on how to accomplish that goal.

Lastly, a more simple task for anyone not just students can be taking a walk.

Spring break this year should be a day to take a break from all the stress in life, lay down, and take it easy. So, kick up your feet, drink your favorite drink, listen to the music you love, and have your goals prepared because the future is bright and ahead of you.

Mychael Jones is a third-semester student on the Current, where he was an Opinion editor one semester and is currently a staff writer. His major is Journalism and plans on transferring with an AA to a CSU College.

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Ideas for relaxing on Spring Break - American River Current

I was at work when I received a surprise call from my son, Jeff. When I saw his name pop up on my caller ID, I felt a twinge (OK, more than a twinge) of anxiety. It was 11:30 a.m. Jeff and his wife live in Northern California; he was calling at 7:30 a.m. Pacific time. Yikes!

I answered with: Jeff, whats wrong? He paused (that was the longest pause, ever) and began to laugh. Mom! Nothing! Ill be driving for three hours to attend a meeting and I thought of you. Then he added: Youre still such a mom!

Yes, Im still such a mom as my son says, but more disturbing, is that I entered into the darksomething Ive outgrown, so I thought. Perhaps you are thinking: What in the world is she going off about now? Well, we all do it at one time or another, or maybe its habitual. A situation arises and we step into the dark aka, expecting the worstwithout any evidence. Sound familiar?

Heres a well-known scenario.

We go to our physician for a routine visit or perhaps are experiencing a minor issue. Said physician decides to do standard blood work and advises that if we dont hear back in seven business days to call for the results.

We may or may not leave with a prescription, but we definitely leave with a little niggling worry: What if there is something wrong? What if I need more testing? What if(fill in the blank). Up till now, we have not entered the dark, yet. At this point, we are able to dismiss those anxious thoughts, easily enough, until.

The seven days pass and no word from our physician. We wait another day then, with some trepidation, make the wanted and dreaded call. The medical assistant tells us that the physician is busy, but will return the call at the end of his day. At this point, some of us enter into the dark.

The day passes slowly, as we watch the clock. Ticktockticktock. We begin to wonder. When does the physicians day end? How long will I have to endure this suspense? What if?Theres that what if, again, folks

By this time, some of us may concoct a scary story. We may envision ourselves in a hospital bed, surrounded by our concerned family. As the day slowly passes, were becoming more and more distracted. Anxiety kicks up its heels and is wildly dancing to the two-step rhythm of our heart.

We check our phone, more often than usual (if thats possible!) and finally at 6:30 p.m. the phone rings causing us to startle. Our caller ID shows the medical office number. The pleasant medical assistant informs us that the doctor will be on the line shortly. The recording plays some relaxing music, interrupted by a recorded message Your call is important, the doctor will be right with you.

By this time we may see ourselves facing certain death! Our hands are slippery and the phone takes on a different personathe bearer of horrible news. The physician gets on the line and cordially asks how were doing.

We answer with tremulous OK. We think, Are ya kidding? You should know.

Doctor: Your tests came out fine, but

But what? We silently scream.Our hearts two-step tempo speeds up to a rhumba.

Doctor: You need to take more vitamin D. See me in three months.

We hang up weak with relief. However, we have entered into the dark and caused needless suffering for ourselves.

Heres more:

A friend was about to celebrate a big birthday. Her husband planned a surprise party and hired a party planner. A month before her gala, my friend confided that she was worried about her husband. How so? I asked. She admitted that her husband seemed preoccupied and was acting strangely. Knowing that her husband was stressed about the upcoming party, I placated her.

Two weeks before the party, she called me at the ungodly hour of 7 a.m. (Yup, my friends know not to call me at that time.) I sat up in bed when I heard her sobbing. She was sure her husband was having an affair. She had gone through his cell phone and found an unfamiliar number that appeared numerous times.

Whats a friend to do? Tell her the truth, let her suffer from her overactive imagination, or call her husband. I chose the latter. At first, he thought it was funny, and then he became annoyed that she investigated his call history. With that, he said, Let her suffer!

And me along with her, as I was her confidant.

Finally, the big day arrived. As my friend and her husband were driving to the party, she was sure he was going to spill the beans and confess that he was seeing another woman. She conjured up a mystery gal who was twenty years her junior. (Typical!)

When she entered the hall, the band started playing Happy Birthday and everyone yelled, Surprise. I thought she was going to faint, literally. She turned pale and started to shake. When her husband planted a big kiss on her lips she burst into tearstears of relief!

Ah, me. Those stories we tell ourselves. Why do we do it? Why get so upset? Is it human nature, or human nurture, or both? We humans are creatures of habit. Every time we think a certain way, a habit is forming and deepening in us, like a groove. Every repetition adds new life to the habit until it becomes second nature to enter into the dark.

Its daunting to think how often we walk in the darkness of fear, anxiety, insecurity, jealousy and the like, allowing the what ifs to dictate how we will think or feel. How much of life have we missed because we were in the dark? Once we really examine all the what if stuff that feeds our fears, we can ask ourselves: What evidence do I have that this is true? Most times we find little or no evidence; however, we are physically and mentally exhausted. We have been fighting shadows.

When we find ourselves shadowboxing in the dark, we need to turn on the light of consciousness. Eleanor Roosevelt put things in perspective by saying, Its better to light a candle than curse the darkness. All we need to do is flip the switch: Light or darkyou choose!

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Celia Iannelli Choose to light a candle to chase away the dark - RiverheadLOCAL

After many years, Michelle Branch has finally delivered her first full studio album since Hotel Paper. Between that time, she released many EPs, plus collaborated with her friend to release an album under the name of The Wreckers. It's been a long time, but fans are now happy that she has released some new material.

Michelle Branch may not be a household name in today's music world, but she got pretty famous from her 2001 album called The Spirit Room. That album was very successful as songs such as Everything, You Get Me and You Set Me Free were featured in many TV shows and movies back in the day. That album had a classic early '00s pop feel to it and remains to this day to be my favorite female artist album of all time. I'm not alone on this opinion as The Voice season 3 winner Cassadee Pope loves that album too.

Hotel Paper was released in 2003 and had a more country/pop feel to it. It wasn't as well recognized as The Spirit Room, but it's still an enjoyable album. After the release of that album, Michelle Branch laid low releasing EPs and focused on her family among other things.

Musical artists usually tend to change their sound as the years go by and Branch is no different. Hopeless Romantic sounds a lot different compared to both The Spirit Room and Hotel Paper. That being said, Branch has not "sold-out" as the album does not sound like the usual stuff we hear from the radio today. It has a more indie rock feel to it.

On iTunes they classify this album as "Alternative" as opposed to Pop music and I do not disagree with them. I know some fans of the older albums may not like the new sound, but I have enjoyed this album a lot. It's the kind of album that I can listen to when I'm out skateboarding or relaxing while playing a video game.

Anyway, let's now start talking about the individual songs. One of the best songs is the first track on the album called Best You Ever. It has the most pop music feel to it and has the most memorable chorus. The second track called You're Good is slower, but sounds similar to some to UK artist Florrie.

Another very good song on this album is Fault Line. This song also has a relaxing feel to it. It's a song that you could listen to while lying on the beach. Bad Side, Heartbreak Now and the title track Hopeless Romantic are also tracks you should look out for.

There are a few songs that sound like '70s or '80s disco tracks. The most funky song in the entire album is Living a Lie. It's the fastest pace song and sounds different from the rest of the album. There are 14 tracks in total and there aren't many weak songs here.

Overall, Hopeless Romantic is a decent album even though it sounds much different to Michelle Branch's previous work. The songs have a skateboarding/surfing feel to them in my opinion. Personally, the album won't be able to surpass The Spirit Room, but at least Branch didn't sell out and mimic all of the commercial music we hear on the radio.

Verdict: 4/5

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Review: Michelle Branch Returns With A New Album Called 'Hopeless Romantic' - Empty Lighthouse Magazine