Wellness Journalism: Can I Kick It?

Italy gives an old tradition the boot, and so can you.

Giorgia Boscolo is 24 years old a mother of two. She is also the first female gondolier to tackle the canals of Venice—breaking with 900 years of conviction that gondola steering is a man’s job.

Whether a conviction is 900 or 9 years old, what we believe tends to steer us through the course of our lives. Sometimes, our belief systems need to be updated.

Sometimes, if you think you can’t do something, that’s the best reason to do it. Maybe you’d like to participate in a marathon but you think it’s only for “runners.” Maybe you’d like to eat less meat, but you are worried that you will “starve.” Maybe you’d like to be a dancer (or a doctor, or a detective), but you are worried that you will “fail.” What do you dream of? What do you picture yourself doing? What is it that you really want?

The bottom line is that no matter how lofty your goals may be, no matter how impossible they may seem, simply heading in their general direction will provide you with a fulfilling life. Since your greatest goals can only be reached one step at a time, your heart is pre-wired to appreciate the journey.

This is excellent news to those of us who may not know exactly how we are going to make our dreams come true, what with so many paths crisscrossing at our feet and so many flashing lights and signs (This way! Wrong way! Turn here!). But we have to believe we can.

Giorgia Boscolo is living proof that old molds are giving way to new possibilities, and even the most hardened establishments can bend in new directions. With the swipe of an oar, Giorgia reminds us that life is a flow(er)… and we each decide where to go(grow).

Wellness Journalism: Cuttle me this!

The Wonders of Nature

Cuttlefish!

I was at my Mom’s yesterday, eating her groceries, when my eye happened to fall upon the white bone tied inside the wire of her parakeet cage. The Cuttlebone, as it is called, is not for the birds to snuggle up against. It is for beak sharpening, and an extra helping of calcium.

Cuttlefish are actually much more closely related to garden slugs and snails than they are to fish. They are cephalopods, like octopuses and squid and nautilus. (So you wouldn’t want to cuddle with them anyway.)

The cuttlefish is incredibly technologically advanced. While they have not yet been spotted with the new iPhone, they do have 8 arms, 3 hearts, 2 feeding tentacles, and the ability to change color and texture of skin within seconds. Then there’s that fancy gas-filled bone which gives them buoyancy. That is, of course, until it’s hung in a birdcage.

If you’ve ever been experimenting with color tone on your camera, perhaps you recall the dark-brownish option called “sepia.” Sepia is actually the scientific name for a cuttlefish and the ink that is derived from it; when the cuttlefish isn’t in the mood the play hide and seek, it will just squirt you in the mouth with this nasty stuff. But when the hungry cuttlefish spots a crab or fish, it approaches steadily using its camouflage and sneaks up on its prey. When it gets close enough, the 8 arms open wide and out shoot the deceptively long feeding tentacles. On the end of each is a pad covered in suckers that grasp hold of the breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and quickly pull it close to the cuttlefish's mouth that looks like a parrot's beak (ironically enough).

In addition to colors, cuttlefish come in many sizes. The smallest are about an inch long, and the largest are roughly the size of Danny DeVito.

Recent studies indicate that cuttlefish are among the most intelligent invertebrates; after all, they have one of the largest brain-to-body size ratios. And many people would like to keep cuttlefish as pets. This is quite easy in the UK and Europe as some species of cuttlefish are found there. In the USA however, there are no naturally found candidates. This never stops Americans, however, and the most commonly imported species is from Bali… but it arrives in poor condition, tiny and travel-weary, and quickly kicks the bucket.

Just another example of the marvelous designs Mother Nature has hatched (and which no human being can rival.)