I
am the 70s child of a health nut. I wasn’t vaccinated. I was brought up
on an incredibly healthy diet: no sugar til I was one, breastfed for
over a year, organic homegrown vegetables, raw milk, no MSG, no
additives, no aspartame. My mother used homeopathy,
aromatherapy, osteopathy, we took daily supplements of vitamin C,
echinacea, cod liver oil. I had an outdoor lifestyle; I grew up next to a
farm, walked everywhere, did sports and danced twice a week, drank
plenty of water. I wasn’t even allowed pop; even my fresh juice was
watered down to protect my teeth, and I would’ve killed for white,
shop-bought bread in my lunch box once in a while and biscuits instead
of fruit like all the other kids. We only ate (organic local) meat maybe
once or twice a week and my mother and father cooked everything from
scratch – I have yet to taste a Findus crispy pancake and oven chips
were reserved for those nights when mum and dad had friends over and we
got a “treat.”
As healthy as my lifestyle seemed, I contracted measles,
mumps, rubella, a type of viral meningitis, scarlatina, whooping cough,
yearly tonsillitis, and chickenpox, some of which are vaccine
preventable. In my twenties I got precancerous HPV
and spent 6 months of my life wondering how I was going to tell my two
children under the age of 7 that mummy might have cancer before it was
safely removed.
So having the “natural immunity sterilised out of us” just doesn’t
cut it for me. How could I, with my idyllic childhood and my amazing
health food, get so freaking ill all the time? My mother was the biggest
health freak around–she would put most of my current “crunchy” friends
to shame. She didn’t drink, she didn’t smoke, she didn’t do drugs and we
certainly weren’t allowed to watch whatever we wanted on telly or wear
plastic shoes or any of that stuff. She LIVED alternative health. And
you know what? I’m glad she gave us the great diet that we had, I’m glad
that she cared about us in that way.
But it just didn’t stop me getting childhood illnesses.
My two vaccinated children, on the other hand, have rarely been ill,
have had antibiotics maybe twice in their lives, if that (not like me
who got so many illnesses which needed treatment with antibiotics that I
developed a resistance to them, which led me to be hospitalized with penicillin-resistant quinsy
at 21–you know that old fashioned disease that killed Queen Elizabeth I
and which was almost wiped out through use of antibiotics).
My kids have had no childhood illnesses other than chickenpox, which
they both contracted while still breastfeeding. They too grew up on a
healthy diet, homegrown organics etc. Not to the same extent as I did,
though, as I was not quite as strict as my mother, but they are both
healthier than I have ever been.
I find myself wondering about the claim that complications from
childhood illnesses are extremely rare but that “vaccine injuries” are
rampant. If this is the case, I struggle to understand why I know far
more people who have experienced complications from preventable
childhood illnesses than I have EVER met with complications from
vaccines. I have friends who became deaf from measles. I have a partially sighted friend who contracted rubella in the womb. My ex got pneumonia from chickenpox. A friend’s brother died from meningitis.
Anecdotal evidence is nothing to base decisions on. But when facts
and evidence-based science aren’t good enough to sway someone’s opinion,
then this is where I come from. After all, anecdotes are the
anti-vaccine supporter’s way. Well, this is my personal experience. And my personal experience prompts me to vaccinate my children and myself. I got the flu vaccine recently, and I am getting the whooping cough booster to protect my unborn baby. My natural immunity from having whooping cough at age 5 will not protect him once he’s born.
I understand, to a point, where the anti-vaccine parents are coming
from. Back in the 90s when I was a concerned, 19-year-old mother,
frightened by the world I was bringing my child into, I was studying
homeopathy, herbalism and aromatherapy; I believed in angels,
witchcraft, clairvoyants, crop circles, aliens at Nazca, giant ginger
mariners spreading their knowledge to the Aztecs, the Incas and the
Egyptians and that I was somehow personally blessed by the Holy Spirit
with healing abilities. I was having my aura read at a hefty price and
filtering the fluoride out of my water. I was choosing to have past life
regressions instead of taking anti-depressants. I was taking my daily
advice from tarot cards. I grew all my own veg and made my own herbal
remedies. I was so freaking crunchy that I literally crumbled. It was
only when I took control of those paranoid thoughts and fears about the
world around me and became an objective critical thinker that I got
well. It was when I stopped taking sugar pills for everything and
started seeing medical professionals that I began to thrive physically
and mentally.
If you think your child’s immune system is strong enough to fight off vaccine-preventable diseases, then it’s strong enough to fight off the tiny amounts of dead or weakened pathogens present in any of the vaccines.
But not everyone around you is that strong, not everyone has a choice,
not everyone can fight those illnesses, and not everyone can be
vaccinated. If you have a healthy child, then your healthy child can
cope with vaccines and can care about those unhealthy children who
can’t. Teach your child compassion, and teach your child a sense of
responsibility for those around them. Don’t teach your child to be self
serving and scared of the world in which it lives and the people around
him/her. And teach them to LOVE people with ASD or any other disability for that matter, not to label them as damaged.
And lastly but most importantly for me – knowingly exposing your
child to childhood illnesses is cruel; even without complications these
diseases aren’t exactly pleasant. I don’t know about you, but I don’t
enjoy watching children suffer even with a cold or a hurt knee. If
you’ve never had these illnesses you don’t know how awful they are–I do.
Pain, discomfort, the inability to breathe or to eat or to swallow,
fever and nightmares, itching all over your body so much that you can’t
stand lying on bed sheets, losing so much weight you can’t walk
properly, diarrhea that leaves you lying prostrate on the bathroom
floor, the unpaid time off work for parents (and if you’re self employed
that means NO INCOME), the quarantine, missing school, missing parties,
the worry, the sleepless nights, the sweat, the tears and the blood,
the midnight visits to A and E,
sitting in a doctor’s waiting room on your own because no one will sit
near you because they’re rightfully scared of those spots all over your
kids face.
Those of you who have avoided childhood illnesses without vaccines are lucky. You couldn’t do it without us pro-vaxxers.
Once the vaccination rates begin dropping, the less herd immunity will
be able to protect your children. The more people you convert to your
anti-vax stance, the quicker that luck will run out.
Amy Parker is a 37 year old mother of two teenagers, with
a new arrival on the way. She was brought up in the idyllic countryside
of the Lake District, England by my health conscious parents–an artist
and a ballet teacher. I currently live on the Fylde coast where I teach
piano and singing and run arts and crafts workshops for children and
adults.
If
your car was powered by thorium, you would never need to refuel it. The
vehicle would burn out long before the chemical did. The thorium would
last so long, in fact, it would probably outlive you.
That’s
why a company called Laser Power Systems has created a concept for a
thorium-powered car engine. The element is radioactive, and the team
uses bits of it to build a laserbeam that heats water, produces steam,
and powers an energy-producing turbine. Thorium
is one of the most dense materials on the planet. A small sample of it
packs 20 million times more energy than a similarly-sized sample of
coal, making it an ideal energy source.
The
thing is, Dr. Charles Stevens, the CEO of Laser Power Systems, told
Mashable that thorium engines won’t be in cars anytime soon.
“Cars are not our primary interest,” Stevens said. “The automakers don’t want to buy them.”
He
said too much of the automobile industry is focused on making money off
of gas engines, and it will take at least a couple decades for thorium
technology to be used enough in other industries that vehicle
manufacturers will begin to consider revamping the way they think about
engines.
“We’re
building this to power the rest of the world,” Stevens said. He
believes a thorium turbine about the size of an air conditioning unit
could more provide cheap power for whole restaurants, hotels, office
buildings, even small towns in areas of the world without electricity.
At some point, thorium could power individual homes.
Stevens understands that people may be wary of Thorium because it is radioactive — but any such worry would be unfounded.
“The
radiation that we develop off of one of these things can be shielded by
a single sheet off of aluminum foil,” Stevens said.” “You will get more
radiation from one of those dental X-rays than this.”
We indeed are what we eat and what we are eating in many ‘first world
nations’ is quite scary. The chemicals added to these ‘foods’ are
disrupting our hormones, causing cancer and leading to a variety of
health issues.
“In the 21st century our tastes buds,
our brain chemistry, our biochemistry, our hormones and our kitchens
have been hijacked by the food industry.” ~ Mark Hyman
The Omnivore’s Dilemma
by Michael Pollan is one of my favorite books. He describes his journey
through 4 different ways of obtaining food: industrialized (or fast)
food, conventional farming practices, organic/symbiotic farming
practices, and people that hunt/forage for their meals. He follows the
food chain literally from the ground to the table.
“Much of our food system depends on our not knowing much about
it, beyond the price disclosed by the checkout scanner; cheapness and
ignorance are mutually reinforcing. And it’s a short way from not
knowing who’s at the other end of your food chain to not caring–to the
carelessness of both producers and consumers that characterizes our
economy today. Of course, the global economy couldn’t very well function
without this wall of ignorance and the indifference it breeds. This is
why the American food industry and its international counterparts fight
to keep their products from telling even the simplest stories–”dolphin
safe,” “humanely slaughtered,” etc.–about how they were produced. The
more knowledge people have about the way their food is produced, the
more likely it is that their values–and not just “value”–will inform
their purchasing decisions.” ~ Michael Pollan
I highly encourage you to do your own research in regards to not only the products that you put into your body but also the products you put onto your body (check out the Skindeep website
to research your personal care products). If you’d like to live a life
full of health and vitality, start by controlling your food choices.
This is the easiest and most controllable factor in regards to health. I
always aim for fresh, local and in season produce. And in regards to
what I DON’T ever eat, well that’s this list below.
1. Canned Foods - We live in a world where
convenience is king. I know this. It’s hard to find fresh produce and to
only eat what is in season, kind of. When you buy canned foods,
however, you are also buying BPA
– a toxic chemical linked to reproductive abnormalities, neurological
effects, diabetes, heart disease and a heightened risk of breast and
prostate cancers. Canned foods that are highly acidic, such as tomatoes
for example, cause the BPA to leach into your food. I recommend you
avoid canned foods, whenever possible, and stick to what’s fresh and
season. You can also switch over to glass containers or frozen foods
instead.
2. Processed Meats – Most deli meats are typically
made with meats from animals that are not raised in an ecologically
sound fashion. They are given growth hormones, antibiotics and other
drugs that stick in their bodies and are passed on to you when you eat
their flesh. They are also raised in horrible conditions that gives rise
to innumerable diseases that are then treated with more drugs. These
meats are also treated with sodium nitrite (which adds color and flavor)
which your body converts to nitrosamines, which are cancer-causing
chemicals. Most processed meats also contain a variety of other cancer-promoting chemicals including HCAs, PAHs, and AGEs. Says Michael Pollan in his book the Omnivore’s Dilemma, “were
the walls of our meat industry to become transparent, literally or even
figuratively, we would not long continue to raise, kill, and eat
animals the way we do.” If you’re going to eat meat, avoid all
processed meats at all costs. Go for local and sustainably raised (and
grass-fed) meat. Wild caught salmon (and other fish) are a great
alternative as well.
3. Margarine – The low-fat diet craze is perhaps one
of the worst diet fads to happen in the last 50 years. Healthy fats are
ESSENTIAL to your diet as your cells are built with fat. Margarine, and
other butter impostors, are loaded with trans fats, free radicals,
emulsifiers, and preservatives. Any of these alone can lead to: heart
disease, cancer, bone problems, hormonal imbalances, skin disease,
infertility, and many more health problems. Don’t let clever marketing
fool you. Good old fashioned butter, when made from grass-fed cows, is a
healthy substance filled with conjugated linoleic acid which actually
helps to fight cancer and diabetes.
4. Vegetable Oils - Vegetable oils (and margarine,
made from these oils) are oils extracted from seeds like the rapeseed
(canola oil) soybean (soybean oil), corn, sunflower, and safflower. They
were practically non-existent in our diets until the early 1900s when
new chemical processes allowed them to be extracted. Vegetable oils are
manufactured in a factory, usually from genetically modified crops that
have been heavily treated with pesticides. Unlike butter or coconut oil,
these vegetable oils can’t be extracted just by pressing or separating
naturally. They must be chemically removed, deodorized, and altered.
These are some of the most chemically altered foods in our diets.
Vegetable oils are found in practically every processed food, from salad
dressing to potato chips to mayo to conventional nuts and seeds. Today,
people consume, on average, about 70 pounds of vegetable oils
throughout the year! Anytime you cook a food, you run the risk of
creating heat-induced damage. The oils you choose to cook with must be
stable enough to resist chemical changes when heated to high
temperatures, or you run the risk of damaging your health. One of the
ways vegetable oils can inflict damage is by converting your good
cholesterol into bad cholesterol–by oxidizing it. When you cook with
polyunsaturated vegetable oils (such as canola, corn, and soy oils),
oxidized cholesterol is introduced into your system. As the oil is
heated and mixed with oxygen, it goes rancid. Rancid oil is oxidized oil
and should NOT be consumed–it leads directly to vascular disease.
Trans-fats are introduced when these oils are hydrogenated, which
increases your risk of chronic diseases like breast cancer and heart
disease. Instead, whenever I cook, I use either butter or coconut oil.
Coconut oil is practically 100% saturated, which means it is stable at
high temperatures. It also is very beneficial to the health of your body.
5. Microwave Popcorn - Honestly, you shouldn’t eat anything that’s been put in a microwave, but especially microwave popcorn! The bags of microwave popcorn contain
chemicals called perfluoroalkyls which keep the grease from leaking
through the fast food wrappers. These ‘gender bending’ chemicals disrupt
the endocrine system and are carcinogenic. They are linked to
infertility, thyroid malfunction, cancerous tumors, and immunological
problems. I highly recommend you toss your microwave out today. Opt for
the old fashioned route of stove-top or air-popped popcorn. And also
know that most fast food or junk food wrappers contain these chemicals
and are adding toxicity to your body.
6. Non-Organic Produce – I’ve read plenty of articles about the ‘safest non-organic’ produce
to eat. Which simply makes me laugh. Sure, the thick skin of the fruit
or vegetable may ‘protect’ the edible portion inside, but what about the
fact that the chemicals are sprayed on the plants, leach into the
groundwater and are absorbed into the plant by the roots? And what about
the workers and the surrounding areas of conventional farms that are
affected by the toxic chemicals? Produce that has been treated with
toxic chemicals affects the planet as a whole regardless of the
thickness of the skin of the product. Do yourself, and the rest of us a
favor, buy local and organic whenever possible.
7. Table Salt - Did you know that processed salt is
98% sodium chloride and the remaining 2% consists of dangerous chemicals
like ferrocyanide and aluminosilicate in addition to fluoride? Natural
salt, like sea salt for example, is only 84% sodium chloride with the
remaining 16% consisting of trace minerals like silicon, phosphorous and
vanadium. Salt is essential to your health in it’s natural form. I
personally enjoy the flavor of Himalayan sea salt. But there are a
variety of salts out there. Try black lava salt from Hawaii or Fleur de
sel from France. But like anything, go easy on the salt in your diet.
Even though the minerals are good for your body, too much can still lead
to a variety of health problems like high blood pressure. And remember,
most processed foods are loaded with sodium, so avoid them at all costs.
8. Soy Products – Soy
is one of the leading genetically modified (GM) foods on the planet
today (along with corn). GM soy has been shown to cause damage to the
female reproductive system and is toxic to the placenta. Soy can be
found in practically everything from protein bars to bottled fruit
drinks to soups and sauces to baked goods and even breakfast cereals!
It’s important to read labels as soy is hidden in many processed foods.
The only soy which can promote health is organic fermented soy products.
9. Artificial Sweeteners – Without going into too much scientific detail, aspartame
forms methanol in the body. Methanol is carried into the brain and bone
marrow, where it’s converted into formaldehyde, which damages DNA. All
animals, except humans, can harmlessly break down methanol into formic
acid. This is why animal testing is incorrect in regards to the safety
of artificial sweeteners and humans. If you need to sweeten something go for natural sweeteners like honey, maple syrup or stevia.
10. Sugar – As a continuation of the point above, sugar
suppresses the immune system, leads to weight gain and leaches precious
minerals from your body. Sugar, even in small amounts, is detrimental
to your health. It suppresses the immune system for hours and plays
significant effect on your hormones, throwing your body out of balance
and into a state of biochemical chaos. If you eat sugar, morning, noon
and night, your body is always in this state of chaos leading to
disease. Furthermore, sugar is actually an anti-nutrient, meaning that
it leaches nutrients from your body! Because certain nutrients are
removed from sugar in the refining process, your body cannot process it.
So, it leaches minerals from your body to attach to the refined sugar
molecules in order to move the sugar through your body. Also, because
it’s an anti-nutrient, sugar also causes calcium to be lost in the
urine, which in turn is replaced by calcium from the bones, leading to
osteoporosis.You may say ‘but I don’t eat sugar,’ but what you mean is
that you don’t ADD sugar to your meals and drinks. Once you start
reading labels of boxed foods, you’ll soon learn that sugar (in all of
its chemically created/altered forms) is present in most, if not all,
processed foods. It’s almost impossible to avoid! Stay away from
processed foods and drinks in order to stray away from sugar and stick
to the natural sweeteners.
Honestly – the easiest way to stay healthy is to eat whole un-refined and fresh foods. As Michael Pollan stated beautifully: “If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.” Words to live by, my friends.
The idea of beating the banks at
their own game may seem like a rich joke, but Dmitry Agarkov, a
42-year-old Russian man, may have managed it. Unhappy with the terms of
an unsolicited credit card offer he received from online bank Tinkoff
Credit Systems, Agarkov scanned the document, wrote in his own terms and
sent it through. The bank approved the contract without reading the
amended fine print, unwittingly agreeing to a 0 percent interest rate,
unlimited credit and no fees, as well as a stipulation that the bank pay
steep fines for changing or canceling the contract.
Agarkov
used the card for two years, but the bank ultimately canceled it and
sued Agarkov for $1,363. The bank said he owed them charges, interest
and late-payment fees. A court ruled that, because of the no-fee,
no-interest stipulation Agarkov had written in, he owed only his unpaid
$575 balance. Now Agarkov is suing the bank for $727,000 for not
honoring the contract's terms, and the bank is hollering fraud. "They
signed the documents without looking. They said what usually their
borrowers say in court: 'We have not read it,'” Agarkov's lawyer said.
The shoe's on the other foot now, eh?
Quartz
|
By Christopher Mims
Posted: 08/07/2013 9:57 am EDT
“Tell me what kinds of toxins are in your body, and I’ll tell you how
much you’re worth,” could be the new motto of doctors everywhere. In a
finding that surprised even the researchers conducting the study,
it turns out that both rich and poor Americans are walking toxic waste
dumps for chemicals like mercury, arsenic, lead, cadmium and bisphenol
A, which could be a cause of infertility. And while a buildup of environmental toxins in the body afflicts rich and poor alike, the type of toxin varies by wealth.
America’s rich are harboring chemicals associated with what are normally considered healthy lifestyles
People who can afford sushi and other sources of aquatic lean protein
appear to be paying the price with a buildup of heavy metals in their
bodies, found Jessica Tyrrell and colleagues from the University of
Exeter. Using data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination
Survey, Tyrrell et al. found that compared to poorer people, the rich
had higher levels of mercury, arsenic, caesium and thallium, all of
which tend to accumulate in fish and shellfish.
The rich also had higher levels of benzophenone-3, aka oxybenzone,
the active ingredient in most sunscreens, which is under investigation
by the EU and, argue some experts, may actually encourage skin cancer.
America’s poor have toxins associated with exposure to plastics and cigarette smoke
Higher
rates of cigarette smoking among those of lower means seem to be
associated with higher levels of lead and cadmium. Poor people in
America also had higher levels of Bisphenol-A, a substance used to line
cans and other food containers, and which is banned in the EU, Malaysia, South Africa, China and, in the US, in baby bottles.
Previous research has established that rich Americans are more likely to eat their fruits and vegetables
and less likely to eat “energy-dense” fast food and snacks, but this
work establishes that in some ways, in moving up the economic ladder
Americans are simply trading one set of environmental toxins for
another.
There is a theory that at least a partial explanation of the decline of
Ancient Rome can be found in the heavy use of lead in Roman society.
Lead was used in pipes (our word for plumbing comes from the word for
lead in Latin, Plumbum), and of course, the wealthier one was in Rome,
the more plumbing one could afford in one's house. The Romans also
cherished powered lead for its smooth creamy look, and used it in
cosmetics. Romans had a taste for wine with a touch of lead flavoring.
One of the earliest effects of lead poisoning is a reduced fertility in
young adults, and children born of persons who are suffering from lead
poisoning are less healthy, and robust. Another effect of lead poisoning
is a reduced intelligence. Whether these effects were sufficient to
"dumb down" the wealthier classes of Rome, and lead to a social decline,
is an interesting speculation.
It therefore not unprecedented that the
wealthier classes in our own society, may be suffering from this curious
effect of the higher consumption of products contaminated by heavy
metals.
Some societies, such as India, have a high consumption of foods
spiced with curry, which contains turmeric. A component of turmeric,
curcumin, can assist the human body in removing heavy metals, and
turmeric also acts as a natural agent that resists spoilage, i.e. it
acts as a preservative in foods, important in an area where
refrigeration is problematical.
Happiness
is so interesting, because we all have different ideas about what it is
and how to get it. It’s also no surprise that it’s the Nr.1 value for Buffer’s culture, if you see our slidedeck about it. So naturally we are obsessed with it.
I would love to be happier, as I’m sure most people would, so I
thought it would be interesting to find some ways to become a happier
person that are actually backed up by science. Here are ten of the best
ones I found.
1. Exercise more – 7 minutes might be enough
You might have seen some talk recently about the scientific 7 minute workout mentioned in The New York Times. So if you thought exercise was something you didn’t have time for, maybe you can fit it in after all.
Exercise has such a profound effect on our happiness and well-being
that it’s actually been proven to be an effective strategy for
overcoming depression. In a study cited in Shawn Achor’s book, The Happiness Advantage,
three groups of patients treated their depression with either
medication, exercise, or a combination of the two. The results of this
study really surprised me. Although all three groups experienced similar
improvements in their happiness levels to begin with, the follow up
assessments proved to be radically different:
The groups were then tested six months later to assess
their relapse rate. Of those who had taken the medication alone, 38
percent had slipped back into depression. Those in the combination group
were doing only slightly better, with a 31 percent relapse rate. The biggest shock, though, came from the exercise group: Their relapse rate was only 9 percent!
You don’t have to be depressed to gain benefit from exercise, though.
It can help you to relax, increase your brain power and even improve
your body image, even if you don’t lose any weight.
A study in the Journal of Health Psychology found that people who exercised felt better about their bodies, even when they saw no physical changes:
Body weight, shape and body image were assessed in 16
males and 18 females before and after both 6 × 40 mins exercise and 6 ×
40 mins reading. Over both conditions, body weight and shape did not
change. Various aspects of body image, however, improved after exercise
compared to before.
We’ve explored exercise in depth before,
and looked at what it does to our brains, such as releasing proteins
and endorphins that make us feel happier, as you can see in the image
below.
2. Sleep more – you’ll be less sensitive to negative emotions
We know that sleep helps our bodies to recover from the day and
repair themselves, and that it helps us focus and be more productive. It
turns out, it’s also important for our happiness.
In NutureShock, Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman explain how sleep affects our positivity:
Negative stimuli get processed by the amygdala; positive
or neutral memories gets processed by the hippocampus. Sleep deprivation
hits the hippocampus harder than the amygdala. The result is that
sleep-deprived people fail to recall pleasant memories, yet recall
gloomy memories just fine.
In one experiment by Walker, sleep-deprived college students tried to
memorize a list of words. They could remember 81% of the words with a
negative connotation, like “cancer.” But they could remember only 31% of
the words with a positive or neutral connotation, like “sunshine” or
“basket.”
The BPS Research Digest explores another study
that proves sleep affects our sensitivity to negative emotions. Using a
facial recognition task over the course of a day, the researchers
studied how sensitive participants were to positive and negative
emotions. Those who worked through the afternoon without taking a nap
became more sensitive late in the day to negative emotions like fear and
anger.
Using a face recognition task, here we demonstrate an
amplified reactivity to anger and fear emotions across the day, without
sleep. However, an intervening nap blocked and even reversed this
negative emotional reactivity to anger and fear while conversely
enhancing ratings of positive (happy) expressions.
Of course, how well (and how long) you
sleep will probably affect how you feel when you wake up, which can make
a difference to your whole day. Especially this graph showing how your
brain activity decreases is a great insight about how important enough
sleep is for productivity and happiness:
Another study tested how employees’ moods when they started work in the morning affected their work day.
Researchers found that employees’ moods when they clocked
in tended to affect how they felt the rest of the day. Early mood was
linked to their perceptions of customers and to how they reacted to
customers’ moods.
And most importantly to managers, employee mood had a clear impact on
performance, including both how much work employees did and how well
they did it.
3. Move closer to work – a short commute is worth more than a big house
Our commute to the office can have a surprisingly powerful impact on
our happiness. The fact that we tend to do this twice a day, five days a
week, makes it unsurprising that its effect would build up over time
and make us less and less happy.
According to The Art of Manliness, having a long commute is something we often fail to realize will affect us so dramatically:
… while many voluntary conditions don’t affect our
happiness in the long term because we acclimate to them, people never
get accustomed to their daily slog to work because sometimes the traffic
is awful and sometimes it’s not. Or as Harvard psychologist Daniel
Gilbert put it, “Driving in traffic is a different kind of hell every
day.”
We tend to try to compensate for this by having a bigger house or a better job, but these compensations just don’t work:
Two Swiss economists who studied the effect of commuting
on happiness found that such factors could not make up for the misery
created by a long commute.
4. Spend time with friends and family – don’t regret it on your deathbed
Staying in touch with friends and family is one of the top five regrets of the dying.
If you want more evidence that it’s beneficial for you, I’ve found some
research that proves it can make you happier right now.
Social time is highly valuable when it comes to improving our
happiness, even for introverts. Several studies have found that time
spent with friends and family makes a big difference to how happy we
feel, generally.
I love the way Harvard happiness expert Daniel Gilbert explains it:
We are happy when we have family, we are happy when we have friends and almost all the other things we think make us happy are actually just ways of getting more family and friends.
George Vaillant is the director of a 72-year study of the lives of 268 men.
In an interview in the March 2008 newsletter to the Grant
Study subjects, Vaillant was asked, “What have you learned from the
Grant Study men?” Vaillant’s response: “That the only thing that really
matters in life are your relationships to other people.”
He shared insights of the study with Joshua Wolf Shenk at The Atlantic on how the men’s social connections made a difference to their overall happiness:
The men’s relationships at age 47, he found, predicted
late-life adjustment better than any other variable, except defenses.
Good sibling relationships seem especially powerful: 93 percent of the
men who were thriving at age 65 had been close to a brother or sister
when younger.
In fact, a study published in the Journal of Socio-Economics states than your relationships are worth more than $100,000:
Using the British Household Panel Survey, I find that an
increase in the level of social involvements is worth up to an extra
£85,000 a year in terms of life satisfaction. Actual changes in income,
on the other hand, buy very little happiness.
I think that last line is especially fascinating: Actual changes in income, on the other hand, buy very little happiness.
So we could increase our annual income by hundreds of thousands of
dollars and still not be as happy as if we increased the strength of our
social relationships.
The Terman study, which is covered in The Longevity Project, found that relationships and how we help others were important factors in living long, happy lives:
We figured that if a Terman participant sincerely felt
that he or she had friends and relatives to count on when having a hard
time then that person would be healthier. Those who felt very loved and
cared for, we predicted, would live the longest.
Surprise: our prediction was wrong… Beyond social network size, the
clearest benefit of social relationships came from helping others. Those
who helped their friends and neighbors, advising and caring for others,
tended to live to old age.
5. Go outside – happiness is maximized at 13.9°C
In The Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor recommends spending time in the fresh air to improve your happiness:
Making time to go outside on a nice day also delivers a
huge advantage; one study found that spending 20 minutes outside in good
weather not only boosted positive mood, but broadened thinking and
improved working memory…
This is pretty good news for those of us who are worried about
fitting new habits into our already-busy schedules. Twenty minutes is a
short enough time to spend outside that you could fit it into your
commute or even your lunch break.
A UK study from the University of Sussex also found that being outdoors made people happier:
Being outdoors, near the sea, on a warm, sunny weekend
afternoon is the perfect spot for most. In fact, participants were found
to be substantially happier outdoors in all natural environments than
they were in urban environments.
The American Meteorological Society
published research in 2011 that found current temperature has a bigger
effect on our happiness than variables like wind speed and humidity, or
even the average temperature over the course of a day. It also found
that happiness is maximized at 13.9°C, so keep an eye on the weather forecast before heading outside for your 20 minutes of fresh air.
6. Help others – 100 hours a year is the magical number
One of the most counterintuitive pieces of advice I found is that to
make yourself feel happier, you should help others. In fact, 100 hours
per year (or two hours per week) is the optimal time we should dedicate to helping others in order to enrich our lives.
If we go back to Shawn Achor’s book again, he says this about helping others:
…when researchers interviewed more than 150 people about
their recent purchases, they found that money spent on activities—such
as concerts and group dinners out—brought far more pleasure than
material purchases like shoes, televisions, or expensive watches.
Spending money on other people, called “prosocial spending,” also boosts
happiness.
The Journal of Happiness Studies published a study that explored this very topic:
Participants recalled a previous purchase made for either
themselves or someone else and then reported their happiness.
Afterward, participants chose whether to spend a monetary windfall on
themselves or someone else. Participants assigned to recall a purchase made for someone else reported feeling significantly happier immediately after this recollection; most importantly, the happier participants felt, the more likely they were to choose to spend a windfall on someone else in the near future.
So spending money on other people makes us happier than buying stuff for ourselves. What about spending our time on other people? A study of volunteering in Germany explored how volunteers were affected when their opportunities to help others were taken away:
Shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall but before the
German reunion, the first wave of data of the GSOEP was collected in
East Germany. Volunteering was still widespread. Due to the shock of the
reunion, a large portion of the infrastructure of volunteering (e.g.
sports clubs associated with firms) collapsed and people randomly lost
their opportunities for volunteering. Based on a comparison of the
change in subjective well-being of these people and of people from the
control group who had no change in their volunteer status, the
hypothesis is supported that volunteering is rewarding in terms of
higher life satisfaction.
…we scientists have found that doing a kindness produces
the single most reliable momentary increase in well-being of any
exercise we have tested.
7. Practice smiling – it can alleviate pain
Smiling itself can make us feel better, but it’s more effective when we back it up with positive thoughts, according to this study:
A new study led by a Michigan State University business
scholar suggests customer-service workers who fake smile throughout the
day worsen their mood and withdraw from work, affecting productivity.
But workers who smile as a result of cultivating positive thoughts –
such as a tropical vacation or a child’s recital – improve their mood
and withdraw less.
Of course it’s important to practice “real smiles” where you use your eye sockets. It’s very easy to spot the difference:
According to PsyBlog, smiling can improve our attention and help us perform better on cognitive tasks:
Smiling makes us feel good which also increases our
attentional flexibility and our ability to think holistically. When this
idea was tested by Johnson et al. (2010), the results showed that
participants who smiled performed better on attentional tasks which
required seeing the whole forest rather than just the trees.
A smile is also a good way to alleviate some of the pain we feel in troubling circumstances:
Smiling is one way to reduce the distress caused by an
upsetting situation. Psychologists call this the facial feedback
hypothesis. Even forcing a smile when we don’t feel like it is enough to
lift our mood slightly (this is one example of embodied cognition).
As opposed to actually taking a holiday, it seems that planning a
vacation or just a break from work can improve our happiness. A study
published in the journal, Applied Research in Quality of Life
showed that the highest spike in happiness came during the planning
stage of a vacation as employees enjoyed the sense of anticipation:
In the study, the effect of vacation anticipation boosted happiness for eight weeks.
After the vacation, happiness quickly dropped back to baseline levels for most people.
Shawn Achor has some info for us on this point, as well:
One study found that people who just thought
about watching their favorite movie actually raised their endorphin
levels by 27 percent.
If you can’t take the time for a vacation right now,
or even a night out with friends, put something on the calendar—even if
it’s a month or a year down the road. Then whenever you need a boost of
happiness, remind yourself about it.
9. Meditate – rewire your brain for happiness
Meditation is often touted as an important habit for improving focus,
clarity and attention span, as well as helping to keep you calm. It
turns out it’s also useful for improving your happiness:
In one study, a research team from Massachusetts General
Hospital looked at the brain scans of 16 people before and after they
participated in an eight-week course in mindfulness meditation. The
study, published in the January issue of Psychiatry Research:
Neuroimaging, concluded that after completing the course, parts of the
participants’ brains associated with compassion and self-awareness grew,
and parts associated with stress shrank.
Meditation literally clears your mind and calms you down, it’s been
often proven to be the single most effective way to live a happier live.
I believe that this graphic explains it the best:
According to Shawn Achor, meditation can actually make you happier long-term:
Studies show that in the minutes right after meditating,
we experience feelings of calm and contentment, as well as heightened
awareness and empathy. And, research even shows that regular meditation
can permanently rewire the brain to raise levels of happiness.
The fact that we can actually alter our brain structure through
mediation is most surprising to me and somewhat reassuring that however
we feel and think today isn’t permanent.
10. Practice gratitude – increase both happiness and life satisfaction
This is a seemingly simple strategy, but I’ve personally found it to
make a huge difference to my outlook. There are lots of ways to practice
gratitude, from keeping a journal of things you’re grateful for, sharing three good things that happen each day with a friend or your partner, and going out of your way to show gratitude when others help you.
In an experiment
where some participants took note of things they were grateful for each
day, their moods were improved just from this simple practice:
The gratitude-outlook groups exhibited heightened
well-being across several, though not all, of the outcome measures
across the 3 studies, relative to the comparison groups. The effect on
positive affect appeared to be the most robust finding. Results suggest
that a conscious focus on blessings may have emotional and interpersonal
benefits.
The Journal of Happiness studies published a study that used letters of gratitude to test how being grateful can affect our levels of happiness:
Participants included 219 men and women who wrote three letters of gratitude over a 3 week period.
Results indicated that writing letters of gratitude increased
participants’ happiness and life satisfaction, while decreasing
depressive symptoms.
Quick last fact: Getting older will make yourself happier
As a final point, it’s interesting to note that as we get older, particularly past middle age, we tend to grow happier naturally. There’s still some debate over why this happens, but scientists have got a few ideas:
Researchers, including the authors, have found that older
people shown pictures of faces or situations tend to focus on and
remember the happier ones more and the negative ones less.
Other studies have discovered that as people age, they seek out
situations that will lift their moods — for instance, pruning social
circles of friends or acquaintances who might bring them down. Still
other work finds that older adults learn to let go of loss and
disappointment over unachieved goals, and hew their goals toward greater
wellbeing.
So if you thought being old would make you miserable, rest assured
that it’s likely you’ll develop a more positive outlook than you
probably have now. Want to chat about this article? Leave a comment below or send me an email with your thoughts.
Oh and before I forget, we’ve recently launched the new Buffer for Business. Take a look, it’s the most powerful Buffer yet to help you better manage your social media everywhere.
This phenomenon, familiar to anyone, is becoming a global problem.
According to the WHO, over the past 100 years, people began to sleep an
average of 20% less. Severe lack of sleep creates the risk that different parts of the brain move into a phase of slow wave sleep in the state of wakefulness.
As a result, a person can’t concentrate and his fine motor skills
deteriorate. The regular lack of sleep leads to brain cell death.
2. Lack of breakfast
Skipping the morning meal affects the performance
and energy of the person during the day. It seems obvious, but the
point here is not so much the consumption of energy necessary for the
body, but the fact that lack of breakfast lowers the level of sugar in the blood. This in turn reduces and hinders the flow of nutrients to the brain.
3. Sugar
The preceding paragraph explains why it is recommended to eat sweets, especially dark chocolate, to have a good brain performance.
However, excessive amounts of sugar cause problems with the
assimilation of protein and nutrients. It leads to the same result as
the low level of blood sugar: the brain does not receive enough nutrients.
4. Stress
Severe emotional stress weakens the connections between neurons
and thus complicates the understanding of cause-effect relationships
and sequence of events. Strong nervous excitement, poor memory and the
feeling that everything goes wrong are also linked to stress.
5. Tranquilizers and sleeping pills
The use of sleeping pills and popular tranquilizers such as Xanax can impair memory up to amnesia, cause dementia and obsessive suicidal thoughts.
6. Smoking
Speaking about the negative effects of smoking on the body, the image
of black lung and damaged teeth first comes to mind. At the same time,
it is not said much about how cigarettes affect the brain: nicotine narrows its vessels. Besides the problems associated with lack of nutrients in the brain, this greatly increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
7. Lack of sun
Lack of sufficient sunlight directly affects cognitive abilities. First, ultraviolet light produced from sunlight regulates blood circulation, that is, the flow of oxygen and nutrients. Second, sunlight helps produce serotonin – the hormone that affects a person’s mood.
8. Lack of water
Lack of water causes a decrease in brain volume, which considerably reduces its efficiency and leads to almost zero ability to memorize information. It is recommended to drink an average of 1,5-2 liters of water per day.
9. Too much information
Year after year, the amount of information to digest increases
enormously. This would seem quite useful for the brain exercise and the
maintenance of its performance. However, brain responds to such an information excess with resistance. It is expressed in the fact that at a certain moment the information is no longer absorbed causing up to memory lapses.
10. Multitasking
Another anomaly of the information world: people simultaneously process multiple streams of information. As a consequence, none of them is absorbed properly, and the mind gets used to this way of working. Information is perceived superficially, while being focused and doing only one thing without frequent change of activity is becoming more difficult.
Une mauvaise
nouvelle d’abord. Si, comme la plupart des gens, vous misez sur
l’exercice cardio-vasculaire pour maigrir, sachez que la majorité des
experts que nous avons interrogés considèrent que l’entraînement n’est
pas un très bon outil pour perdre du poids.
Selon le Dr
Yoni Freedhoff, professeur à la faculté de médecine de l’Université
d’Ottawa, directeur de l’Institut médical bariatrique et auteur de The Diet Fix (qui
sera publié l’an prochain), « nous savons depuis longtemps que la prise
de poids est un problème lié à ce que nous mangeons, pas à l’exercice.
Vous pouvez consommer en trente secondes des calories qu’il vous
faudrait une heure à brûler. Il est donc plus facile de ne pas consommer
500 calories que de brûler 500 calories ». Il ajoute que « pour arriver
à perdre une livre par semaine en s’exerçant, il faudrait, en matière
d’effort, y consacrer l’équivalent d’un marathon. Ce n’est pas
réaliste ».
Même s’il est vrai qu’en théorie, nous perdons du
poids lorsque notre dépense énergétique est supérieure à notre apport
énergétique, la réalité est beaucoup plus complexe. Selon Timothy
Caulfield, professeur à la faculté de droit et de santé publique à
l’Université de l’Alberta, la perte de poids relève à 80 ou 90 % du
contrôle des calories. Il explique que les gens qui s’entraînent peuvent
avoir tendance à avoir plus faim, par exemple, ou à avaler un deuxième
biscuit parce qu’ils pensent l’avoir mérité.
Ils sont aussi
susceptibles de dépenser moins d’énergie pendant le reste de la journée,
parce qu’ils sont fatigués après l’effort. « En passant, ajoute-t-il
dans son livre The Cure for Everything,
vous devriez probablement ignorer les compteurs de calories que vous
voyez sur vos exerciseurs. Il s’agit vraisemblablement de surestimations
extrêmement généreuses. »
Efficaces intervalles
L’entraînement
cardio-vasculaire est tout de même essentiel pour la santé et le
bien-être, deux aspects qui peuvent à leur tour influencer notre poids
indirectement. Vous êtes pressé? L’entraînement par intervalles permet
d’obtenir des résultats spectaculaires en y consacrant une fraction du
temps habituel.
Selon Timothy Caulfield, l’entraînement
intermittent est de quatre à cinq fois plus efficace qu’un entraînement
modéré et constant. Il cite dans son livre une étude où des cyclistes,
après avoir fait quelques sprints de 30 secondes, trois jours par
semaine, obtenaient les mêmes résultats que ceux qui avaient pédalé de
40 à 60 minutes, cinq jours par semaine !
« Les gens disent qu’ils
n’ont pas le temps de s’entraîner, c’est donc une très bonne nouvelle.
La mauvaise nouvelle, c’est qu’il faut travailler fort. Les intervalles
doivent être assez intenses. Cependant, tout est relatif. Pour ceux qui
débutent, un intervalle pourrait être de marcher la longueur d’un pâté
de maisons rapidement, et le prochain lentement. »
« Les formules
d’entraînement par intervalles sont toujours plus payantes que les
formules en continu. Il y a consensus là-dessus dans la communauté
scientifique, plus personne ne met ça en doute », fait valoir Guy
Thibault, docteur en physiologie de l’exercice, professeur associé au
département de kinésiologie de l’Université de Montréal et auteur du
livre En pleine forme : conseils pratiques pour s’entraîner et persévérer, à paraître en août.
Pourquoi
ces séances d’entraînement, que Guy Thibault a rebaptisées « nano
entraînement », sont-elles si efficaces? « Parce que, selon lui, elles
permettent d’accumuler un plus grand volume global d’exercice, sans
nécessairement causer une plus grande fatigue. »
C’est aussi à
cause du principe d’adaptation. Comme l’explique Timothy Caulfield, « il
faut travailler assez fort pour pousser notre corps à s’adapter, à
changer ». La clé d’un entraînement par intervalles efficace est donc
son intensité. « Encore faut-il bien le faire, dit Guy Thibault. L’une
des erreurs les plus courantes, c’est d’insister sur le volume. Les gens
accumulent les minutes et les calories dépensées, ce qui n’est pas une
bonne idée parce que ça va nous amener à faire un compromis sur
l’intensité. De tous les paramètres de l’entraînement, le plus
important, ce n’est pas le volume, c’est l’intensité. » Il ajoute que,
« pour la plupart des gens qui s’entraînent, même si c’est mieux que
rien, l’intensité n’est pas assez élevée. Il faut vraiment avoir un
minimum d’essoufflement ».
Il existe de nombreuses formules
d’intervalles : quelques sprints de 15 secondes, par exemple, suivis de
15 secondes ou de 30 secondes de repos. Ou encore un effort intense
d’une minute, suivi d’un ralentissement d’une minute. Guy Thibault
conseille donc d’expérimenter, de jouer avec la longueur des intervalles
et le type de récupération, pour voir ce qui fonctionne le mieux pour
vous. Pour mesurer ses intervalles, plusieurs applications pour
téléphones intelligents, comme Seconds Pro, sont offertes.
C’est
la formule 20-40 secondes que Guy Thibault a conseillée à l’athlète
Clara Hughes en 1995. « Elle faisait ça tous les jours pendant une
heure, tout l’hiver, dit-il. Ce qui était fou, d’ailleurs. J’ai un peu
chicané son entraîneur, parce que je n’avais pas suggéré qu’elle fasse
ça tous les jours. Et aux Jeux olympiques cet été-là, elle a remporté
deux médailles ! »
Envie de tout laisser tomber et de partir à l’aventure? Ces voyageurs
ont osé plier bagage pour plusieurs mois et sauront sûrement vous
inspirer… Qui : Cécile, François-Xavier et leur fille de six ans, Emma. Le grand voyage : le tour du monde pendant trois ans.
La maison de Cécile Choyau et de son conjoint est presque vide. « Ça
résonne un peu! », lance-t-elle au bout du fil, quelques jours avant le
grand départ. Cécile et François-Xavier ont quitté leur emploi, vendu
leur maison, leur voiture et presque tous leurs biens.
« On s’est préparés pendant un an et demi, indique Mme
Choyau. C’est un peu vertigineux de sortir de sa zone de confort, mais
c’est ce qu’on voulait depuis longtemps. » Sur la route, qui les amènera
sur cinq continents, la petite famille se déplace presque entièrement à
vélo.
Pendant les 1 000 prochains jours, la petite famille s’impose la
simplicité volontaire. Dans ses bagages : trois vélos, huit sacoches et
une petite remorque pour l’équipement de camping… Son budget pour cette
aventure : 100 000 $. L’achat d’un triplex à loyers, il y a sept ans, et
la vente de celui-ci ont permis d’amasser les sous nécessaires. Le
couple a planifié le parcours selon les saisons, mais se permettra
quelques dérogations. Si le climat géopolitique de certains coins du
monde l’impose, par exemple. Comme Cécile et François-Xavier voyagent
avec leur fillette, ils n’ont toutefois rien laissé au hasard. Ils ont
suivi des cours de secourisme et de mécanique et ils devront aussi
s’assurer de l’éducation d’Emma, six ans, à raison de deux heures trente
par jour.
On peut suivre leur périple sur le blogue Rêve nomade. Qui : Marilaine, Frédéric et leurs deux enfants, Louka et Manu. Les grands voyages : un an aux États-Unis et en Amérique
centrale en 2002, pour leur lune de miel. Dix ans plus tard, un long
séjour en Asie avec leurs enfants, alors âgés de deux et quatre ans.
(Sur la photo : le quatuor est au Vietnam.)
« Ça a énormément changé en 10 ans, constate Marilaine Bolduc-Jacob.
C’est beaucoup plus facile aujourd’hui grâce aux nouvelles technologies.
En Asie, on avait un itinéraire très vague qu’on confirmait au fur et à
mesure. Quarante-huit heures avant de quitter une ville, on réservait
sur Internet. »
Malgré tout, Marilaine croit en la pertinence de bien préparer son
voyage… mais pas trop! « Plus on se prépare, plus on part l’esprit
tranquille, avance la voyageuse, qui conseille de planifier les choses
au moins trois mois à l’avance. C’est important d’avoir une idée du
voyage qu’on souhaite faire, mais de ne pas avoir un itinéraire trop
précis, pour garder l’effet de surprise et d’émerveillement. »
Pour ce qui est des bagages, l’idée, c’est de voyager léger, croit Mme
Bolduc-Jacob. « C’est facile de trouver tout ce dont on a besoin à
l’étranger, même pour les enfants et même dans les coins plus reculés. À
quatre, nous avions deux sacs à dos et une valise. »
Lors de son retour d’Asie, Marilaine avait prévu deux semaines et
demie supplémentaires à son congé sans solde avant de reprendre le
travail. « Je voulais être prête psychologiquement, explique-t-elle. De
la même façon, nous n’avons pas pitché les enfants tout de suite à la garderie. »
Qui : Jordan et son conjoint, Thom. Le grand voyage : un an autour du monde (Océanie, Asie, Europe).
Jordan St. James et son conjoint, Thom Seivewright, ont choisi de
partir en décembre 2012 pour un an. En commençant leur voyage dans
l’hémisphère Sud, en Nouvelle-Zélande (photo ci-bas), et en remontant
tranquillement vers l’Asie, puis l’Europe, ils se sont assurés d’un
climat estival pour les huit premiers mois de leur périple.
« Nous avions chacun une valise et un bagage à main, raconte Jordan
St. James. Nous pensions que nous pourrions garder nos vêtements toute
l’année, mais nous avons dû en acheter de nouveaux en cours de route et
en expédier certains à la maison. Certains de nos vêtements, trop épais,
n’étaient pas adaptés pour des climats comme celui de l’Inde. Aussi,
nous avons réalisé que nous avions envie de magasiner un peu! »
Malgré ces achats imprévus, Jordan et Thom ont pu respecter leur
budget initial de 80 000 $, des sous qu’ils ont commencé à économiser
trois ans avant le départ. « Nous mettions 70 % de notre chèque de paye
de côté. Puis, nous avons établi un budget très détaillé par pays et par
ville… Ça comprenait même les dépenses pour les cartes postales et les
timbres! »
Si les préparatifs avant de partir sont importants, Jordan croit que
la planification du retour est aussi primordiale. « Financièrement, afin
d’avoir un coussin, mais aussi mentalement. » Le couple a donc vécu ses
dernières semaines de voyage à Paris et à New York, des villes que les
deux connaissaient bien, pour que la transition soit plus facile. « On
ne peut toutefois jamais se préparer totalement au retour », conclut-il.
On se le fait dire
assez souvent, Montréal est devenu l’une des capitales mondiales du
cirque contemporain. Un titre obtenu en bonne partie grâce à la
formation exceptionnelle offerte par les écoles professionnelles de
cirque de Montréal et de Québec. Mais aussi à la TOHU, qui a créé un
véritable pôle national de cirque à Montréal.
La popularité croissante des écoles de loisirs
comme celle de Verdun et les programmes communautaires de qualité comme
ceux de la Caserne 18-30 ont également contribué à cette consécration.
Avec
à sa tête le Cirque du Soleil, Éloize et Les 7 doigts de la main, le
cirque québécois rayonne dans le monde entier depuis des années, c’est
acquis. Mais avec la création du festival Montréal complètement cirque,
il y a quatre ans, les artistes de cirque ont commencé à se faire
connaître au Québec.
En empruntant les codes de la danse et du
théâtre, le cirque contemporain québécois est en train de réinventer les
arts vivants, tout en attirant auprès de lui un public plus jeune. Une
petite révolution en soi.
Ce n’est probablement pas un hasard si,
depuis la naissance de Montréal complètement cirque, on assiste à
l’éclosion de plusieurs nouvelles compagnies de cirque. Le festival leur
a donné une nouvelle impulsion et, surtout, une visibilité.
Le
Cirque Alfonse, né à Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez, Vague de cirque, des
Îles-de-la-Madeleine, les collectifs Flip Fabrique et Cat-Wall, de
Québec, forment quelques-unes des étoiles montantes de cette nouvelle
constellation.
Mais elles ne sont pas seules. De nombreuses autres
compagnies ont vu le jour depuis les six dernières années : Throw2Catch
de Samuel Roy et Nicolas Boivin-Gravel ; Les parfaits inconnus de
Sylvain Dubois ; La bande artistique d’Émile Carey et Marie-Claude
Chamberland.
Cette année, on a aussi découvert Fabrique
Métamorphosis, d’Héloïse Depocas ; Nord Nord Est de Benoît Landry ; Les
beaux-frères, le trio Barcode, Céans, LaboKracBoom, Toxique Trottoir et
on en passe…
Pour survivre, ces compagnies doivent trouver des
diffuseurs. Certaines se sont déjà engagées dans le circuit des
festivals internationaux. C’est le cas d’Alfonse et de Flip Fabrique.
Mais
plusieurs d’entre elles voudraient aussi tourner au Québec. Pour des
raisons familiales, Noémie Gervais, cofondatrice de Vague de cirque,
s’est lancée dans cette aventure il y a quatre ans avec Alain Boudreau
(cofondateur d’Éloize). Mais les routes du Québec sont parsemées
d’obstacles.
« Le problème, nous a récemment dit Noémie Gervais,
c’est qu’il n’y a aucune infrastructure de cirque au Québec. Quand on
arrive quelque part, on doit tout faire. En France, par exemple, chaque
ville a un lieu pour installer un chapiteau ; on peut aussi trouver tous
les équipements dont on a besoin. Pas ici. »
Bien sûr, la France
a une longue tradition de cirque. On dénombre au moins 800 compagnies
là-bas. On est loin du compte ici. Tout est donc à faire.
L’autre
défi de ces compagnies qui veulent tourner au Québec est d’attirer les
foules. Pour qu’un spectacle soit rentable, il faut remplir son
chapiteau ou sa salle pendant plusieurs jours.
Or, les villes du
Québec, peu populeuses, ne s’engagent bien souvent que pour un ou deux
soirs, une question bassement mathématique. Les coûts de déplacements et
d’installation sont souvent très élevés. Un constat qu’a fait en son
temps le cirque ambulant Akya de Rodrigue « Chocolat » Tremblay, qui a
pratiquement cessé de tourner.
Enfin, la plupart de ces petites
compagnies sont gérées par les artistes eux-mêmes. Un double emploi qui
n’est pas toujours heureux. D’où l’importance de l’aide gouvernementale
pour permettre aux compagnies québécoises de s’administrer et d’être
diffusées.
Malheureusement, le budget du Conseil des arts et des
lettres du Québec (CALQ) est limité. L’an dernier, le cirque a reçu
environ 1,2 million, soit 20 fois moins que le théâtre. Pour tourner au
Québec, sept compagnies se sont partagé une enveloppe d’à peine 100
000 $, une somme nettement insuffisante.
Le directeur du CALQ,
Christian O’Leary, reconnaît que la demande d’aide aux tournées
(notamment au Québec) a augmenté depuis quelques années. Il constate
aussi une augmentation du nombre de compagnies demandeuses, mais avec
cette nuance.
« Comme la plupart des artistes de cirque sont
recrutés par des cirques existants aussitôt leur formation terminée, ils
ne sont pas si nombreux à fonder des compagnies. Cela dit, je suis
optimiste sur le fait que nos budgets suivront la croissance du
cirque. »
La semaine dernière, le Conseil des arts de Montréal a
annoncé la création d’un fonds de 30 000 $ d’aide à la relève en cirque.
Une belle initiative menée avec la TOHU, mais une aide réduite pour
cette famille de cirque qui s’agrandit.
Inévitablement, le CALQ
et le ministère de la Culture devront soutenir cette industrie avec de
nouveaux fonds, une demande répétée par la TOHU au fil des ans. Pour
soutenir ces nouvelles compagnies de la relève en cirque, mais aussi
pour que le cirque québécois rayonne ici, et pas seulement dans les
cabarets allemands.
Photo : Archives La Presse canadienneOutre les fonds marins, une étude
britannique publiée le mois dernier indique que le pergélisol de toute
la zone arctique pourrait commencer à dégeler de façon durable d’ici 10 à
30 ans.
Si rien n’est fait pour tenter de freiner les bouleversements
climatiques provoqués par l’être humain, ceux-ci devraient engendrer la
libération de quantités massives de méthane emprisonné présentement au
fond de l’océan Arctique. En accélérant le réchauffement planétaire, ce
puissant gaz à effet de serre pourrait coûter plus de 60 000 milliards
$US à l’économie mondiale, selon ce qui ressort d’une étude publiée
mercredi dans la réputée revue Nature.
Avec le recul annuel « sans précédent » de la banquise, la fonte
du pergélisol situé au fond de l’océan Arctique permet le relâchement du
méthane qui s’y trouve. Or, selon les estimations actuelles, pas moins
de 50 milliards de tonnes de ce gaz à effet de serre - 20 fois plus
puissant que le CO2 - se trouveraient en mer de Sibérie orientale, soit
la partie de l’océan Arctique située au nord-est de la Russie.
En 2008, des chercheurs russes avaient considéré qu’il était «
hautement possible » que jusqu’à 50 milliards de tonnes de méthane s’en
libèrent. Et encore, ce chiffre ne correspond qu’à 10 % du stock de
méthane coincé dans le plateau continental sibérien. En fait, les
quantités de méthane stockées sous les fonds sous-marins de l’Arctique
dépasseraient en importance la totalité du carbone contenu dans les
réserves mondiales de charbon, le combustible fossile le plus abondant
sur la planète.
Les chercheurs de l’Université de Cambridge et de Rotterdam ont donc
cherché à évaluer l’impact économique d’une possible fuite de 50
milliards de tonnes de ce méthane, s’échappant sur une période de dix
ans en raison d’un réchauffement climatique déjà bien entamé. Ils ont
ainsi découvert que cet ajout rapide agirait comme un accélérateur sur
les bouleversements que subit déjà la Terre. « Si ce méthane était
libéré, le temps qui nous sépare du moment où l’augmentation de la
température moyenne globale dépassera les 2 °C serait raccourci de 15 à
35 ans », estime ainsi l’expert en modélisation Chris Hope, de
l’Université de Cambridge en Angleterre, dans un communiqué présentant
l’étude.
En théorie, l’objectif de la communauté internationale est de freiner
la hausse du thermomètre mondial à 2 °C par rapport aux niveaux
préindustriels, alors que la planète en est déjà à + 0,8 °C. Mais dans
les faits, les prévisions indiquent que cet objectif est actuellement
hors d’atteinte, et ce, même sans ajouter l’apport du méthane dans le
calcul. L’Agence internationale de l’énergie évoque même une hausse de
5,3 °C d’ici la fin du siècle. Bombe à retardement
Bref, la libération des quantités de méthane identifiées par les
chercheurs constitue rien de moins qu’une « bombe à retardement
invisible », selon les mots utilisés par Gail Whiteman, spécialiste du
climat à l’Université Erasmus de Rotterdam, aux Pays-Bas, et coauteur de
l’étude.
Une bombe qui risque de coûter très cher à l’humanité. Prenant en
compte les inondations, sécheresses, tempêtes, ainsi que les pertes de
productivité de l’économie que provoquerait ce changement climatique, «
l’impact est évalué à 60 000 milliards de dollars ». Et si les 50
milliards de tonnes de méthane étaient libérées durant 20 ans, entre
2015 et 2035, le coût serait d’environ 64 500 milliards de dollars. Si
la fuite s’étalait sur 30 ans, entre 2015 et 2045, il s’élèverait à 66
200 milliards. À titre de comparaison, la valeur de l’économie mondiale
en 2012 avoisinait les 70 000 milliards de dollars.
Les chercheurs soulignent en outre que les coûts pourraient s’avérer
encore plus élevés, puisque les bouleversements provoqués par l’activité
humaine auront aussi un impact sur la « circulation des eaux dans les
océans », mais également sur l’« acidification » de ceux-ci. Qui plus
est, la fonte des glaces fait déjà saliver les pétrolières qui lorgnent
les ressources en énergie fossile qui se trouvent en Arctique. Des
ressources qui, une fois exploitées, viendront aggraver les changements
climatiques. Le Canada, qui a pris récemment la présidence du Conseil de
l’Arctique, préconise l’exploitation des hydrocarbures dans cette
région.
Toujours selon les résultats de l’étude publiée dans Nature, quelque
80 % des effets seraient constatés dans les pays les plus vulnérables en
Afrique, en Asie et en Amérique du Sud. Des régions où on retrouve les
populations les plus défavorisées du globe et qui sont déjà fortement
exposées aux conséquences du réchauffement planétaire.
Des chercheurs ont mis en évidence ces dernières années que le fond
de l’océan Arctique commençait déjà à libérer du méthane, mais ce
phénomène reste en général mal expliqué et peu documenté.
Fonte du pergélisol
Outre les fonds marins, une étude britannique publiée le mois dernier
indique que le pergélisol de toute la zone arctique pourrait commencer à
dégeler de façon durable d’ici 10 à 30 ans. Ce pergélisol représente un
quart de la surface des terres dans l’hémisphère Nord. Au niveau
mondial, il renferme pas moins de 1700 milliards de tonnes de carbone,
soit environ le double du CO2 déjà présent dans l’atmosphère.
Selon des travaux menés par le Département des sciences de la terre
de l’Université d’Oxford, le pergélisol pourrait commencer à fondre à
partir d’un réchauffement du globe de 1,5 °C. Si cette matière organique
gelée fond, elle relâche lentement tout le carbone qui y a été accumulé
au fil des siècles.
Or, cet énorme apport de CO2 rejeté dans l’atmosphère n’a jusqu’à
présent pas été pris en compte dans les projections sur le réchauffement
climatique qui sont utilisées dans le cadre des négociations mondiales
sur le climat.
La communauté internationale s’est donnée comme objectif de conclure
un accord contraignant sur le climat regroupant 190 États, et ce, d’ici
2015.
La plupart des spécialistes s’entendent pour dire que l’humanité n’a
pas le droit à l’échec. Le secrétaire général des Nations unies, Ban
Ki-moon, est d’ailleurs catégorique : il sera « bientôt trop tard » pour
sauver la santé environnementale de la planète si les pays n’y
parviennent pas.
Maude Goyer est journaliste. Elle tient le blogue Maman 24/7 sur Yahoo! Québec.
Tout le monde passe son chemin sans me prêter attention. Je suis
plantée là, en haut des marches d’une station de métro, avec ma fille
d’un an dans sa poussette. J’entends le train qui arrive et le ton de ma
petite qui monte. Je suis coincée en haut de ce satané escalier, le
front en sueur, le sac à dos trop lourd sur les épaules, le manteau
déboutonné, la suce dans une main, un toutou dans l’autre.
« Au secours ! » voudrais-je hurler aux passants. Je demande plutôt
de l’aide à une dame qui, je l’ai bien vu, m’a jeté un regard furtif.
Dans le wagon bondé, les gens ne se précipitent pas pour me céder une
place. Je me transforme en équilibriste, debout dans la foule, me
forçant à sourire à ma fillette au lieu de crier des énormités à mes
concitoyens.
J’arrive à destination. La porte du café où j’ai rendez-vous est
précédée d’un escalier. Cette fois, je ne me fie à personne, je ne veux
surtout pas déranger… J’atterris dans un lieu exigu, sans chaise haute,
rempli de gens qui, visiblement, n’ont aucune compassion pour une mère à
la recherche d’un peu de temps pour elle. Et, comble de malheur, le
menu n’a rien prévu pour les bambins.
J’en ai marre. Qu’on cesse d’affirmer que notre société est gaga de
ses enfants ! « Socialement, on ne le dira pas mais on n’est pas ouverts
aux enfants, on les tolère, dit Jacques Davidts, scénariste et auteur
des Parent. On les supporte tant qu’ils sont de petits adultes. Mais quand ils agissent en enfants, ça nous tape sur les nerfs. »
Assis à proximité d’un petit en bas âge dans l’avion ? Certains ne se
gênent pas pour demander à changer de siège. « Je me suis déjà fait
traiter de conne parce que je faisais Toronto-Tokyo avec mon bébé »,
confie Marie-Julie Gagnon, blogueuse et globe-trotter. Manger dans un
restaurant qui n’est pas étiqueté « familial » ? Bonne chance ! « Au
Québec, vous en voyez souvent des enfants dans un restaurant avec des
tables à nappe blanche ? » demande André Turmel, sociologue. Sans
parler des regards noirs jetés par les gens : si je laisse mes enfants
explorer les lieux, je suis une mère indigne ; si je les tiens
tranquilles en les laissant jouer avec le iPad, je suis une mère
indigne. Bonjour la culpabilité.
Accompagnés de nos coquins de cinq et trois ans, l’Homme et moi nous
faisons rarement proposer un deuxième verre de vin au resto. Comme si on
se faisait poliment dire : « Rentrez donc chez vous, allez coucher vos
petits… »
Est-ce que nous compartimentons nos vies au point de verser dans
l’intolérance ? On vit ensemble, certes, mais dans une certaine unicité.
Si on sort des sentiers battus, on se fait regarder de travers. Un bébé
qui dort dans sa poussette dans un bistro chic un vendredi soir ?
Louche. Un petit garçon dans la salle d’attente d’un salon de coiffure
branché ? Voilà qui est très étrange.
André Turmel confirme : « Nous ne sommes pas une société pluraliste.
Nous n’avons pas une grande ouverture. Et il y a eu peu de débats sur
la question. » Pour Marie-Julie Gagnon, « les enfants ne font pas partie
de la société, on les “dompe” à une gardienne pour faire ses affaires.
C’est une question de mode de vie. » Trop axés sur leurs plaisirs
personnels, les adultes versent dans l’hédonisme. « Parce qu’on a des
enfants, on se dit que ça nous empêche de faire ceci ou cela, ajoute
Jacques Davidts, père de trois ados. Et on a une crotte sur le cœur. »
Je rêve de vivre en Suisse, en Espagne, en Argentine ou au Brésil,
où, m’a-t-on affirmé, les enfants gambadent sur les places publiques à
23 h, mangent dans de bons restaurants, s’endorment sur les banquettes
dans un délicieux chaos. Je rêve que mes compatriotes fassent preuve
d’un peu plus de savoir-vivre, d’empathie, de souplesse, bref, d’un peu
plus d’humanisme. Et je rêve, surtout, qu’un inconnu me lance un regard
complice et me dise : « Ah oui, je me souviens… »
Guinea pigs at a farm for the animals in Puno, Peru, where they're considered a delicacy.
You may best know the guinea pig as a nervous little pet that lives in a cage and eats alfalfa pellets.
Now, the rodents are increasingly showing up on plates in the United States.
South
American restaurants on both coasts seem to be pushing the trend,
answering to demand mostly from Andean expats for what is considered a
fine and valuable food in Ecuador, Peru and Colombia.
Middle-class
foodies with a taste for exotic delicacies are also ordering,
photographing and blogging about guinea pig. The animals — called cuyes
in Spanish — are usually cooked whole, often grilled, sometimes deep
fried. Many diners eat every last morsel, literally from head to toe.
Guinea pigs on the grill
Courtesy of Curtiss Calleo
But there may be more to gain from eating guinea pig than bizarre
foods bragging rights. According to activists, eating guinea pig is good
for the environment.
Matt Miller, an Idaho-based science writer with The
Nature Conservancy, says rodents and other small livestock represent a
low-impact meat alternative to carbon-costly beef. Miller, who is
writing a book about the ecological benefits of eating unconventional
meats, visited Colombia several years ago. At the time, he says,
conservation groups were expressing concern about local ranchers
clearing forest to provide pasture for their cattle — activity that was
causing erosion and water pollution.
"They were encouraging
people to switch from cattle to guinea pigs," Miller says. "Guinea pigs
don't require the land that cattle do. They can be kept in backyards, or
in your home. They're docile and easy to raise."
The Little
Rock-based humanitarian organization Heifer International, which assists
communities in enhancing their economies and streamlining local food
production, is also promoting guinea pig husbandry in Peru, Ecuador and
Guatemala. Jason Woods, the nonprofit's Americas regional program assistant, says
guinea pigs — which he says usually weigh no more than 2 pounds — are
twice as efficient as cows at turning food, like hay and compost scraps,
into meat: To render a pound of meat, a cow, he explains, may require 8
pounds of feed. A guinea pig only needs 4.
To help start a
home guinea pig farm, Heifer International typically supplies a family
with one male and seven females. In just months, such a collection may
have doubled in size. Woods says a guinea pig herd consisting of two
males and 20 females can sustain itself while providing meat for a
family of six.
In the United States, most guinea pigs intended
for human consumption come from Peru as whole, frozen, hairless rodents
in plastic bags.
The Salt contacted several federal regulatory
agencies, including USDA and Fish and Wildlife, but none seemed to track
guinea pig imports. However, we spoke with the owners of two Peruvian
food importers who said cuy consumption in the United States is
certainly rising. Neither would speak on record, but each said they are
now importing more guinea pigs than ever before.
At one
company, in Connecticut, imports have nearly doubled since 2008 — from
600 guinea pigs per year then to more than 1,000 today.
Urubamba, a
Peruvian restaurant in Queens, wasn't serving guinea pig at all eight
years ago. Since then, demand has climbed every year, according to
Carlos Atorga, who opened Urubamba in 1976.
Now, Urubamba customers can expect cuy on the menu about one weekend each month. The animals go for $17 a plate, each cuy splayed down the middle like a lobster and served with a front leg and a back, an eye, an ear and a nostril.
In San Francisco, Diego Oka, a native of Peru and the executive chef of La Mar Cebicheria, serves imported Peruvian cuy every summer around Peru's July 28 Independence Day. Oka marinates and deep-fries his guinea pigs for a dish called cuy chactado.
He says the nose, ears and fingery little hands are the best bites of
all — but Oka removes the animals' extremities to avoid offending
sensitive diners.
In Los Angeles, Helen Springut, co-founder of the adventurous eaters club Gastronauts, says guinea pig is a food worth pursuing only as a cultural experience. She says the meat can be tough and stringy.
I
ate a quarter of a grilled guinea pig recently during a cycling trip in
Ecuador. The sinewy meat was dry and sparse, and I went away hungry.
But others describe what sounds like a different creature.
Miller
at The Nature Conservancy says guinea pig is "delicious, very tender
and hard to compare to anything else" — not even chicken. Chef Astorga
at Urubamba says cuy — which he describes as "about the size of
a squirrel" — has "tender flesh and very tender skin." La Mar
Cebicheria's Chef Oka says cuy is "very oily, like pork combined with rabbit."
While
guinea pig may be attaining star status as a
hold-your-nose-and-roll-the-camera bizarre food, whether an animal so
favored as a pet in the United States will become a mainstream piece of
protein is, perhaps, doubtful.
"There's a clear cultural
prejudice against eating guinea pigs, and rodents in general, in the
United States," Miller says. "But finding ways to reduce our carbon
footprint is a good idea, and so is eating small livestock, like guinea
pigs."
