Health, Wellbeing, Mystery

A lot has been written about the politics of hope, but I find myself thinking about the social psychology of health and wellbeing. Maybe my interest is really more about a philosophy of health and wellbeing. I hunt for more specific words to describe a specific condition. Forget about generalizations such as cancer, sickness, ill health.

Every person has some condition of health. A person with cancer can be very healthy. A person without cancer can be very unhealthy.

What are the fundamental components of health? Three categories interest me:

Physical...nutrition, housing, medical
What is the strength, energy and vitality of the body?
Are there limitations, deformities, pain?
Is nutrition, housing and medical intervention available?

Social...friends, family, income
What connections nourish the soul?
What economic conditions support or limit?

Emotional...spirituality, meaning, education
What is the state of mind?
What are the beliefs that shape a person's thoughts and offer meaning?
Is there ongoing learning and growth?

There is also a fourth influence, not really a category...mystery.

I continue to wonder how I landed a condition (multiple myeloma) that was first reported among survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb explosions. Exposure to ionizing radiation or particular chemicals is often a factor. So what about me? That remains a mystery.

The atomic baby image (shown here) was a popular icon seen around NYC during the early 1980s. Haring died before age forty of HIV disease.

They Say It's Your Birthday

According to a recent news report, Hallmark sold about 88,000 birthday cards last year for people turning 100. The Census Bureau claims there are 70,000 100-year-old folks in the USA.

I suppose nobody imagines arriving at that birthday until the day you find yourself trying to blow out a hundred candles on a cake.

Some birthdays slip by quietly, but last month I blew out birthday candles on three chocolate cakes....three separate occasions (thanks to Lynn and Paige) in celebration of the unremarkable 54th year.

The hats in this photo were purchased in a small grocery store in Mexico (thanks to Toby, Corinne, Romney) during a 1981 vacation in celebration of my unremarkable 29th year.

29, 54, 100....Waking up each day is actually quite remarkable!