Laura Wilder

I hope this cut and paste reply is not too hard to
follow. I am the K, and Sandra is the S.


K-"<< If they are
not addictive, then why is it so hard to give them up?
>>"

S- "But you could say that about water and sleep and
being with other
people.
It would be hard for me to give up being with my
kids."


K- Those things are not giving you health problems, so
they are not related to the discussion.

Try to find any example of a food that you crave even
though it makes you sick. If you have no experience
with that, then I am happy for you.


K-"<<Is
alcoholism just a habit? Is smoking only something the
smoker enjoys but feels no real physical cravings
for?>>"

S-"Nobody at my house smokes. I bought cheap bourbon
yesterday to make a
fruit
cake. I had a margarita last month. No addictions."

K- Again I am glad that these items are not addictions
for you personally. For many people they are a real
problem.


S-"Beans and tortillas are super-common here. I don't
think people are
addicted
to them, I just think they're cheap and common local
comfort foods."

K- If you are not having any health problems from
these foods, then they are not related to the
discussion. Again I am glad they are not a problem for
you personally.

S-"All humans eat some kind of bread. Have we been
bread addicts for a
thousands of years?"

K- Maybe many of us are. Breads are commonly referred
to as "comfort foods", mood altering, calming, and
soothing. Personally wheat makes me feel drugged, but
I don't even notice it until I avoided it for quite a
long time. Trying it again was like being high. There
are many other life sustaining grains out there. Why
is wheat so important? Maybe it is a calming food.

Just because something has always been done or is
"just the way things are" doesn't mean that it will be
healthy for everyone. It just makes it harder for
anyone to believe there could be any problem.

Smoking is an example of something that has been done
for thousands of years. Anyone who said it was
addictive or unhealthy would have been laughed at. Yet
now the popular scientific opinion has changed.


S-"Maybe addiction is too strong a word to use for
every single thing
people
like and need.

Sandra"

K-Of course it is too strong a word for every single
thing people like or need. I did not use it that way.
I used it to describe certain foods that some people
crave and keep eating, even though that food makes
them ill.

I am not claiming that everyone is in denial if they
think they have no food allergies. I think that lack
of personal experience with it doesn't make it true or
false. I expect everyone will do their own experiments
and research, and see for themselves whether or not it
is true for them. Many people I know have been
surprised.

I am proposing this idea as an open question to anyone
who may have (or be caring for someone who has)
chronic health problems like obesity, exhaustion,
inability to concentrate, asthma, digestive troubles
and basically anything that really bothers you that
you have no other known cause for. I am asking you to
ask your own questions about the relationship of what
you eat to how you feel. There is a real chemical
connection.

This list is full of people who ask their own
questions and find answers that work for them. We do
not believe that everything society says is true is
always healthy for every person. We are happy to share
experiences and ideas without dismissing them. Our own
lack of personal experience with something doesn't
make us claim it doesn't exist.

There are almost 600 people on this list. What do you
all think about this idea?

Kathy B.


__________________________________________________
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Bridget E Coffman

Kathy,

I think you are exactly right about allergies. People who don't have
them and haven't had to live with them, sometimes just don't understand.
I think the same holds true with many other things. OCD, depression, etc.
- - I wish I had a dime for every person who has told me to just cheer up
and go do stuff and I'd feel better. When I'm down, that's the last
thing I need - to force myself out in public which ALWAYS makes my downs
worse. It's the same with my daughter. When she is down, she has to get
her meds adjusted and work it out her way.

I'm not saying someone who has never experienced something can't come up
with a suggestion or two but when the person living it says, "no that
won't work because . . ." then the advice giver needs to accept that as
truth - not say it's a denial of reality.

Bridget

>
> There are almost 600 people on this list. What do you
> all think about this idea?
>
> Kathy B.
>


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it
goes on.
- Robert Frost

Alan Moorehead

Hi Bridget, Kathy, and everyone,

I am new to this list. This is my first post.

Bridget, I agree with what you wrote:

I'm not saying someone who has never experienced something can't come up

with a suggestion or two but when the person living it says, "no that
won't work because . . ." then the advice giver needs to accept that as
truth - not say it's a denial of reality.

I have suffered from severe clinical depression my entire life. For
years I tried many non-medical ways to counter this condition (when I
finally realized what I was suffering from). Excercise (until recently,
I was always very athletic and active), diet (years of being on a vegan
and then a macrobiotic diet, etc.). I tried many different things. I
finally resorted to medication. Prozac was my answer. It has made a
tremendous difference in my life. I swear by it. It is right for me.
I wish I had found it many years before I finally did. Obviously, I
make no secret of my need for this medication. I'm not embarrassed by
it.

Sometimes, people start questioning me about, "well did you try changing
your diet? Or, do you excercise, etc.?" I have recently found myself
resenting the fact I have to go through my whole history (which is very
extensive - there are many factors invloved, which goes back 3
generations) to explain why I have found that I need to medicate
myself. Maybe I'm just too sensitive. After all, aren't these people
just trying to help me? People need to realize how different we all are
and respect their choices just as I try to respect my childrens'
choices, which I think is a big factor in unschooling. I hope I am
making sense.

Mimi

Bridget E Coffman wrote:

> Kathy,
>
> I think you are exactly right about allergies. People who don't have
> them and haven't had to live with them, sometimes just don't
> understand.
> I think the same holds true with many other things. OCD, depression,
> etc.
> - - I wish I had a dime for every person who has told me to just cheer
> up
> and go do stuff and I'd feel better. When I'm down, that's the last
> thing I need - to force myself out in public which ALWAYS makes my
> downs
> worse. It's the same with my daughter. When she is down, she has to
> get
> her meds adjusted and work it out her way.
>
> I'm not saying someone who has never experienced something can't come
> up
> with a suggestion or two but when the person living it says, "no that
> won't work because . . ." then the advice giver needs to accept that
> as
> truth - not say it's a denial of reality.
>
> Bridget
>
> >
> > There are almost 600 people on this list. What do you
> > all think about this idea?
> >
> > Kathy B.
> >
>
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life:
> it
> goes on.
> - Robert Frost
>
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

meghan anderson

I think what a wonderful response! Very concise and
intelligent and not taken personally and out of
context! What a refreshing read. Thank you.
Meghan
P.S. Does anyone know of a website or online group
along Pat Montgomery's line of
thinking/unschooling/being? I friend that has a very
similar style to mine was very impressed with her talk
at homeschooling conference. TIA

<<This list is full of people who ask their own
questions and find answers that work for them. We do
not believe that everything society says is true is
always healthy for every person. We are happy to share
experiences and ideas without dismissing them. Our own
lack of personal experience with something doesn't
make us claim it doesn't exist.

There are almost 600 people on this list. What do you
all think about this idea?

Kathy B.>>

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Find the one for you at Yahoo! Personals
http://personals.yahoo.com

Elsa Haas

Try the website for the Clonlara School, at http://www.clonlara.org She’s
the director. At some point in the past they had a newsletter (on paper) –
don’t know whether they still do.

Elsa Haas

-----Original Message-----
From: meghan anderson [mailto:moonmeghan@...]
Sent: Monday, November 19, 2001 5:29 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] Re: Sandra seemed to miss my point, try again

P.S. Does anyone know of a website or online group
along Pat Montgomery's line of
thinking/unschooling/being? I friend that has a very
similar style to mine was very impressed with her talk
at homeschooling conference. TIA




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]