Immunity And Anonymous
Someone asked about my immunity regimen. I wanted to say that on the advice of my acupuncturist, it includes an herbal supplement called Astra 8 by Health Concerns. It's mostly astragalus and some other Chinese herbs. This is serious stuff so please don't think I'm recommending that you just buy it off the internet and start popping it without consulting a medical person. I don't want anything happening to my dear powder pigeons! What if it interacted with your blood pressure medication and you tipped over? I would be bereft. So please be careful with any herbal preparations.
I also take Astra Isatis by Health Concerns when my immune system is exhibiting signs of real wear and tear, which it does by breaking out into huge, hideous facial blisters near my nose. Just the other day I started to get all rashy on the left side of my face and could feel an enormous blister coming out. I iced it, used all my anti-inflammatory Origins products (the Dr. Weil line), and started on 6 Astra Isatis a day with plenty of water. It cleared up in 36 hours with no outbreak. Good stuff.
Sleep is great for the immune system, as you know. When I'm really raggedy, I need 9 hours. When not raggedy, 7 is great. Eight tends to leave me groggy. Having an anxiety disorder that occasionally causes me to wake me in the middle of the night with panic attacks, I have to be very protective of good sleep time. No caffeine after 11 a.m. No alcohol or sugary stuff near sleepytime. Prayers before bed. Breathing. Cat petting. If you have a lover around, you can pet each other and I hope you do.
I'm still in extreme October Fat-n-Uglies (my God! What an inspired name for a line of ... I don't know, but something!). My hair is a nightmare right now; not sure what to do with it. Right now, just getting through everything the day requires is all-consuming. Fashion isn't fun -- I'm not enjoying clothing or make-up or accessorizing but putting together whatever I need to to get through the day. That's okay, but it's more fun when there's a creative zing to it.
Someone anonymously commented on a very old post today that she thought all my emphasis on clothing and beauty tips was "incredibly sad," because she herself (Anonymous) doesn't wear make-up and since she didn't wear heels to her own wedding, she isn't likely to wear them anywhere else. AND, she reminds me, brilliant religious leaders like Dorothy Day didn't wear make-up, etc.
Once again, I must say that I don't know why someone would even VISIT a blog called Beauty Tips For Ministers if they're avowedly uninterested in such frivolous chatter. Furthermore, and I can attest to this from firsthand experience, shunning lipstick and nice clothes doesn't make anyone into Dorothy Day any more than wearing mascara makes anyone into Tammy Faye Bakker.
LikePeaceBang always says, you can wear Birkenstocks all over the desert, but that don't make you Jesus.
Yes, that was a snap you just heard.
I'm sort of hoping someone will start a blog called "Ministers Who Don't Give a Fig What They Look Like" so I can refer folks over there from time to time.
I also take Astra Isatis by Health Concerns when my immune system is exhibiting signs of real wear and tear, which it does by breaking out into huge, hideous facial blisters near my nose. Just the other day I started to get all rashy on the left side of my face and could feel an enormous blister coming out. I iced it, used all my anti-inflammatory Origins products (the Dr. Weil line), and started on 6 Astra Isatis a day with plenty of water. It cleared up in 36 hours with no outbreak. Good stuff.
Sleep is great for the immune system, as you know. When I'm really raggedy, I need 9 hours. When not raggedy, 7 is great. Eight tends to leave me groggy. Having an anxiety disorder that occasionally causes me to wake me in the middle of the night with panic attacks, I have to be very protective of good sleep time. No caffeine after 11 a.m. No alcohol or sugary stuff near sleepytime. Prayers before bed. Breathing. Cat petting. If you have a lover around, you can pet each other and I hope you do.
I'm still in extreme October Fat-n-Uglies (my God! What an inspired name for a line of ... I don't know, but something!). My hair is a nightmare right now; not sure what to do with it. Right now, just getting through everything the day requires is all-consuming. Fashion isn't fun -- I'm not enjoying clothing or make-up or accessorizing but putting together whatever I need to to get through the day. That's okay, but it's more fun when there's a creative zing to it.
Someone anonymously commented on a very old post today that she thought all my emphasis on clothing and beauty tips was "incredibly sad," because she herself (Anonymous) doesn't wear make-up and since she didn't wear heels to her own wedding, she isn't likely to wear them anywhere else. AND, she reminds me, brilliant religious leaders like Dorothy Day didn't wear make-up, etc.
Once again, I must say that I don't know why someone would even VISIT a blog called Beauty Tips For Ministers if they're avowedly uninterested in such frivolous chatter. Furthermore, and I can attest to this from firsthand experience, shunning lipstick and nice clothes doesn't make anyone into Dorothy Day any more than wearing mascara makes anyone into Tammy Faye Bakker.
LikePeaceBang always says, you can wear Birkenstocks all over the desert, but that don't make you Jesus.
Yes, that was a snap you just heard.
I'm sort of hoping someone will start a blog called "Ministers Who Don't Give a Fig What They Look Like" so I can refer folks over there from time to time.
Labels: Self Care
posted by PeaceBang at 7:39 PM
11 Comments:
I read just the other day that it takes 9-1/2 hours of sleep to rejuvenate your immune system.
I read your comment, Aola, I said, "RILLY?" and my cat goes, "DUH. I could have told you that. That's why I sleep 19 hours a day. Because I'm rejuvenated my immune system TWICE a day. That's why I have nine lives."
Well, and anyone who thinks you focus solely on beauty and fashion clearly is missing the excellent writing over at your other journal - she should thank you for being considerate enough to put the fashion and beauty talk in a separate journal so that she can enjoy your deep theological insights uninterrupted. What's sad is people who waste their time reading things they claim they're not interested in.
Yea! You can have deep theological insights and care about lipstick, too! Thanks, Elizabeth.
giggling giggling giggling...
you are a breath of fresh air! I will be back...
Ms. Dr. RevWannabe
Come on back now, y'hear? We love giggling Dr. Ms. RevWannabes!
dear peacebang,
I *heart* your site very much. That no-heels-wearing woman is dumb!
Though I am not a woman of the cloth, I am an "emerging" academic, and have found solace and insights in your posts.
Someday, could you please write about those of us public, professing ladies who, unfortunately, do not have the benefit of ecclesiastical garb? I'd love to project authority in the classroom while still being my cute, female, under-40 self. How can I do it without a.) looking like a hootchie-mama student, and b.) looking like an old guard, sexless female academic in bad shoes and no makeup?
love,
forlorn about academic fashion
p.s. FWIW, I have "tall" fit issues: wide shoulders, long sleeves and inseams, not very busty, hips but no waist.
Oh my goodness, Forlorn, there are two of us! I'm a research scientist and mom, two professions that are not known for sartorial elegance. I love the blog because most of what you write for ministers is completely appropriate for those of us in that non-ecclesiastical gray area: too dignified for hoochie-mama clothing, too sexy to do the schlumpy earth mother/Cambridge, MA grad student look. Rock on, Peacebang.
PS: your other blog rocks, too.
Loving on all of you, whatever your life calling!
The reason why you can sleep 7 or 9 hours but not 8 is due to REM periods. Basic sleep study research should provide proof...that's why when I sleep, I give myself an hour and a half or 3 hours or any other multiple of 90 minutes from my regular wake up time...because that's how the sleep cycle rolls.
P.S. make your other blog postable to non-Bloggers...please. There's a lot you say I'd like to respond to but cannot....thanks PB
I guess when posting as anonymous I should admit that I am the anonymous who posted and to whom you reply in this post. I found your blog because I really do need some what to wear info. You'll notice that I end up with lots of clothes from the donation/thrift store arena, and there are lots of things to avoid there. And I admit to being quite clueless about a basic survival skill in the professional world. I get terribly stressed out over the attempt to procure and wear appropriate garb.
It is often easier to simply be grumpy about people who can be "put together" and give theological reasons. To the extent that that was my motive, I apologize.
On the other hand, there are reasons to be uncomfortable. I will just mention two.
1. Jesus/Dorothy Day/Romero/Wendell Berry--I know that wearing bad sandals doesn't make you Jesus, and I could swear off makeup for the next 90 years without being anywhere near as cool as Dorothy Day. But heroes like these legitimately question the extent to which we engage with (and try to impress?) the fashion-conscious world. The idea of living simply is to me a really important one, and there is at least some conflict between that and using resources on great hair/skin/nails/clothes. But I do give a fig what I look like. Maybe even 3 or 4 figs. So I read the blog. And feel a bit disoriented ("incredibly sad" was probably an overstatement.
2. Being the "ugly kid" is no fun. I grew up in the land of beautiful people. At church even more than school, I was surrounded by beautiful, put together people. Many of whom also happened to be mean (I am not claiming that the two go together, I just happened to know beautiful unkind people). It didn't take long to develop the "if you can't win drop out" strategy. So, on occasion I engage in cynicism and bitterness, excusing myself by the claim that I'm right.
Anyway, I really can't manage heels because I fall down way too often in flats. And I apologize for being mean while standing by my concern for how we can be responsibly good-looking.
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