If I Were Angelina Jolie

A news item which went viral over various social media caught my attention this week. Angelina Jolie had her two breasts removed! The beautiful celebrity herself detailed—albeit unemotionally—her voluntary double mastectomy in an article she contributed to the New York Times.
Angelina Jolie said she watched her mother grimly fight breast cancer for a decade—a fight which she lost in the end. Apparently scarred by her mother’s death, Ms. Jolie took some steps to assess her own probability of someday coming down with breast cancer. Unfortunately, it was found that she had the dreaded BRCA1 gene which, according to oncologists, lends her an 85% risk of getting breast cancer.
Consultation with cancer specialists led to her decision to have both of her breasts removed as a way to cut her risk of getting breast cancer down from 85% to only 5%. Ms. Jolie said the surgery had Brad Pitt’s approval.

My initial reaction was one of confused disbelief which later turned to a deep sense of waste. To have anatomical body parts removed when they are as yet healthy is unbelievably horrible. True, some would commend her pragmatism and bravery, and especially her coming out into the open with her surgery, yet I still consider it unnecessary.

If I were Angelina Jolie, I would not allow any smart-aleck doctor to remove my breasts when there is nothing wrong with them. If I had Angelina Jolie’s wealth, I would use my vast resources to ensure that I could prevent the development of breast cancer but in a natural and non-invasive way.
I would perhaps buy only organic produce, milk and meats. Or I would hire a farmer trained in organic farming to grow organic fruits and vegetables for my consumption. I would find me some quaint little village where the air is clean and where there is a healthful spring to supply my water needs. I would buy the purest natural and organic toiletries I could find such as my money could afford. I would scour the whole world for the choicest turmeric, grape seed extract, virgin coconut oil, berries and other wonder herbs which fight cancer naturally.
If I were Angelina Jolie, I would use my vast wealth to invest in natural, safe and painless preventive measures. I would probably give up sources of stress and find time to nurture my soul and spirit. I would surround myself with things and people that would nourish and fortify my body as well as strengthen my soul.
If I were Angelina Jolie, it probably would never occur to me to have my breasts removed. Not just because these parts are iconic symbols of the feminine shape (although that is a big factor) but also because there is just something precious about each body part that I have—whether it’s just my little finger or the lobe of my ear. I would never give up any part of my body just because of some abstract statistic. For an actual, real risk—gangrene or irreparable post-accident damage— removal may be in order, but for a mere, bookish probable risk? A resounding no. Stories abound of clinically diagnosed cancer cases which revert back to normal after nothing more than a switch to healthy eating, living and thinking. Surely surgery is not the only way to prevent cancer. As a naturalnews.com article puts it, Angelina Jolie may have been duped by cancer specialists into self-mutilation. Tsk, tsk…

Here are some of my previous posts on breast cancer:
How to lower your risk for breast cancer
Breast Cancer News

Photo Credit: telegraph.co.uk

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Visit daphne.ph (Blog Review)

It used to be that I feel timid about being honest. Now I am resolving to be (quite) fearless. At least in print. For instance, a lot of times I skip recommending blogs for fear of losing my few readers to them. But that is not fair. And I must be fair. And honest. And so I recommend daphne.ph. Even if it means losing my readers to her. Yes, I mean THE Daphne as in Daphne Osena-Paez. The Daphne of Urban Zone legend. The Daphne of Olay Forever. The Daphne who is an effortless beauty. The Daphne who has beauty and brains and heart—and not necessarily in that order.
You may be wondering how in the world a lifestyle blog would be recommended by a health and wellness blog. Well, reading her personal blog is one of the things that makes me healthy and well. Not just because she is a breastfeeding advocate. Not just because she is the epitome of perfect weight. But because she is practically radiating with health and wellness. She is beautiful and yet beauty is not all there is to her. She is smart but not overbearing. She has a successful career but has taken the time to breastfeed all her 3 kids and does not feel at a loss when deserted by househelp. She is a jeweler alright, but finds time to be a UNICEF ambassadress. She is a creative TV producer, very good host, prolific blogger, credible endorser, professional photographer, solid businesswoman, stunning model, fine jeweler, savvy art enthusiast, good mother and good wife. She has good work-life balance. No wonder her husband rates her a 10.
There is a nonchanlance about her that is so disarming and charming and captivating. There is an elegance that is not ostentatious. She is not cheesy and OA. And her blog is just so, so her. The pictures are stunning. Her writing is lovely. You’ll find a lot that will educate, motivate, inspire and simply gladden you. Why, it has grabbed the attention of local brands such as National Bookstore and international brands like Vogue, Reiss and Links of London. The whole blog is a thing of so much beauty that you’ll find yourself inspired. Sigh.
Need I say more? Visit http://daphne.ph some time, or many times. But please, please don’t forget this site, haha.

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Earthship-- Probably the Best House Ever

Earth ship. I first heard of the word from an American neighbor. The Earth Ship is said to be a house built by a brilliant and rather eccentric American architect, Michael Reynolds. He proposed to build a house out of trash, in a manner which society met with disbelief and ridicule. He designed his house like a cave—with very thick walls—the thickness of which would naturally act as thermoregulator. The house cools the interior during the heat of the day and warms the same during the cold of the night.
Made out of rubbish—hammered plastics, tin cans, mud, used clothes—the proposed house was not received warmly, so much so that the architect set out to build his house in the middle of the desert as perhaps a way to spite the public’s ridicule. Lo and behold! The house did indeed perfom as the architect said it would. The sheer thickness of the walls acted as a thermomass which cooled the house interiors in the middle of the desert. At night the massive walls kept the inside air warm.
There were other environmentally sound specifications as well. The architect designed cisterns which caught enough rainfall to supply the water needs of his household. For his drinking water he made the rainwater pass through a water filter. There was unfiltered rainwater for household cleaning purposes, recycled water for flushing the toilet and black water for draining to the organic farm outside of his home.
The house had no need for air conditioning, heating and commercial water. It even has an indoor and outdoor garden which takes care of the food needs of the homeowners. Come to think of it, the very house itself, being made of waste materials, had no need of expensive traditional construction materials. The house was the very first of its kind ever.
The video featuring the ingenious house design soon went viral over youtube, attracting both critics and fans. Yet what criticism could ever stand up to the solid evidence of environmental soundness and practical frugality the queer house displayed? The architect soon found himself transported across state lines and travelling to as far as Africa to duplicate his different house.
The Earth Ship as it was soon called also proved to be strong enough to withstand flood, earthquakes and fires. Queer no longer, the architect is now revered as a trailblazer among environmentally aware builders. It was a house that fared well in both hot and cold places, a house which could be built on any part of the earth.
I wonder how and when the Earth Ship could be built here in the Philippies. This seems to me to be the answer to the garbage problem, the problem of exorbitantly-priced housing and the food and water shortage problem.
Do check their website out at earthship.com. It’s a joy to watch.

Photo Credit: earthship.com

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