Living Positively and Healthy

“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” ~ Bob Marley Music plays a special role in most of our lives.  It evokes a response that is universal.  It can take you back to a place and time long ago.  It can change your mood.  It can inspire, or it can make you cry.  It can get you through a long morning commute or accompany you in a workout at the gym.  Music can help you pass the time while you are doing mundane chores like laundry.  Employees have been found to be more productive when allowed to listen to their preferred music choices over those who have no control over their musical choices.  But even background music increases performance and accuracy in employees and also enables efficiency in repetitive tasks.  Music has been a teacher to us as children, helping us learn the alphabet and numbers.  Like with color, advertisers exploit music to get us excited to buy the products that they are peddling....

We've all heard the old saying that money doesn't lead to happiness, but does a lack of it actually lead to unhappiness? Like most people, I have bouts of anxiety and depression from time to time.  I'm not talking about the kind of depression where you feel a little sad.  I'm talking about the kind of depression that makes it nearly impossible to get out of bed, where you sleep half the day away, and where you feel despair that homelessness is creeping around the corner.  One minute you can't eat, and the next you are eating anything that you can get your hands on.  I go from crying to feeling nothing at all.  I recently had a relapse of anxiety combined with depression (which if you have never experienced both at the same time, you don't know what you're missing!).  For the first time in decades, I was late on my rent.  I also was behind on some bills.  I was devastated and felt useless.  I became worried that I may lose my home, really ...

(I wrote this 11 years ago, but I think it holds just as true today.) “Excuse me.   Where do I go to be a star?”   Heather Graham says this as she gets off of the bus in the movie “Bowfinger”.   I saw this movie way before I ever moved to Los Angeles , and thought it was hilarious then.   But wow, after moving here, I had no idea how accurate that movie was.   Some reviews weren’t favorable for the movie, but I have always loved Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy.   And after living here, I realize how realistic those characters really are.   We’ve all met the actor who keeps holding on, waiting for their break, and why, we don’t know.   It never comes.   We’ve met the lucky guy who just happened to be in the right place at the right time.   The director (or agent) who’ll tell you exactly what you want to hear.   The actress that, if it weren’t for her looks, wouldn’t be anywhere.   The leading man, who is so arrogant and ...

I have been doing standup for over years now.  I have been suffering from anxiety and depression for twice as long.  It has taken decades of trial and error to figure out what works for me to cope. And I am not alone.  There is a history of comedians who have committed suicide:  Robin Williams, Freddie Prinze, Ray Combs, Charles Rocket, Richard Jeni, Brody Stevens, Michael Roof, Micke Dubois, Doodles Weaver, Tony Hancock, and Andrew Koenig.  Many of them you know, and some of them you may have never heard of.  But what did most of them have in common?  Depression.  Greg Giraldo died of an accidental drug overdose.  Many people who have a history of drug abuse also suffered from mental illness such as depression.  Robin Williams had a history of drug use and abuse, but at the time of his death, he was only taking prescribed medications in the proper amount.  While he did suffer from depression throughout his life, he also had undia...