Written by Pierre Pradervand and Narrated by Marie T. Russell

Until Gutenberg invented the printing press, it was difficult to challenge authority, hence the stability of the systems in place for centuries, even millennia. The printing press allowed an increase in the circulation of ideas in all fields, which accelerated even more with the modern media: radio, telephone, television, etc.

When I was a child, what the family doctor said was gospel, and no one would even have thought of disputing it.

©2021 by Pierre Pradervand. All Rights Reserved.

Written by Areva Martin and Narrated by Marie T. Russell.

As the world navigates the complexities of gender inequity and the systems that hold it in place, individual women are trying to navigate their own industries. Hard work alone will not earn recognition from the system. Often, you need connections, clout, or a mentor to open doors for you. Those "doors"—including jobs, projects, or speaking opportunities—have been shut to women for decades.

Copyright 2021 by Areva Martin. All Rights Reserved.

Written by Alliison Carmen and Narrated by Marie T. Russell.

Editor's Note: While this article is written "for women", it can also be read and adapted to the male gender, as "beauty" is not restricted only to the female gender -- and self-empowerment applies to all.

“The best and most beautiful things in the world

I felt so ugly when my husband left me. I felt so rejected that there was no blush, no cover-up, and no Botox that would give me a lift. I needed to redefine what beauty meant to me to see if beauty could become "that which gives pleasure to my senses or my mind." as Merriam-Webster suggested. How could I feel whole as I walk out my door, go to work, and interact with the world without finding a way to embrace my true beauty?

Copyright 2021. All Rights Reserved.

Written by Vanessa Vieites and Narrated by Marie T. Russell, InnerSelf.com

The distance from home that kids are allowed to roam and play has shrunk significantly over the last 50 years. That’s largely due to parents’ concerns over safety, especially in cities. More recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has further restricted children’s independent activity.

Continue Reading at InnerSelf.com (plus audio/mp3 version of article)

Vanessa Vieites, Postdoctoral Associate, Rutgers University. Vanessa Vieites is an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Mass Media Science & Engineering Fellow at The Conversation US sponsored by AAAS.

This article originally appeared on The Conversation

Written by Robert Jennings, InnerSelf.com. Narrated by AI

If death from disease is the the ultimate judgement of a society's quality of healthcare then US healthcare is an abject failure. The US is the home of 20% of the world's deaths from Covid-19 while only having 4% of the world's population. And as disturbing, the US has spent more and endured more economic loss than any other society. I have no economic statistic to back this up but like Bill Maher says "I just know it's true".

The country that spends the most on healthcare, other than the US, of the OECD countries is Switzerland. They, like the US have a private system but it is heavily regulated and supervised much like the system used to be in the US when there were many non-profit solutions prior to the neoliberalism era.

One of my favorite dishes at Chinese restaurants used to be Sweet and Sour anything... I loved the tangy "sour" flavor combined with the sweetness in the sauce. I think that "sweet and sour" is also an apt description for life... some sweetness mixed in with some sour.

The Sweetness of Life

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This is Marie T. Russell, publisher of InnerSelf, wishing you a day of noticing the sweetness in life (today and every day)

Astrologer Pam Younghans writes this weekly astrological journal based on planetary influences, and offers perspectives and insights to assist you in making the best use of current energies. This column is not intended as prediction. Your own experience will be more specifically defined by transits to your personal chart.

Aspects of Note this Week:

All times listed are Pacific Daylight Time. (For Eastern Time, add 3 hours; For Greenwich Mean Time, add 7 hours.)

STILL BREATHLESS and a bit wobbly-legged from the steep climb that has been the month of October, we now pause to assess our current position and also observe what lies ahead. We are still engaged in "the final ascent" for the next two months, but to offset the challenges of the continued climb, we will be seeing some incredible vistas.

For the most part, planetary events in the rest of 2021 will propel us forward, as compared to tangling our feet in the web of what is falling away. The main exception to this is a stumbling block in the form of the final Saturn-Uranus square that occurs on December 23.

MOST WOULD AGREE that perceived time is moving very quickly these days. Our sense of that variability in the time-space continuum will grow even stronger from now through the end of 2021, driven by some very mind-expanding cosmic events.

Starting with next week's New Moon, we enter eclipse season, a two-month period that usually corresponds with rapid changes, karmic resolution, and an acceleration in spiritual evolution. This upcoming...

Continue Reading at InnerSelf.com (plus audio/mp3 version of article)

Written and Narrated by Marie T. Russell.

As much as we like to think of ourselves as unique individuals, we all have so much in common. One of those things is a need or yearning for love. Even the most hardened criminal needs to be loved. And actually, maybe one reason they are as they are was the lack of love in their childhood... but that's conjecture on my part as I don't think I know any hardened criminal personally. And maybe there is no such thing as a hardened criminal... only a person "temporarily hardened" by life experiences. But I digress.

While most of us think of our parents as the first people we were in relationship with, actually we are the first person we were in relationship with. And we will be the last. Thus that makes our relationship with ourselves the most important one.

Life can feel chaotic with its many stresses and challenges. However, when we maintain a peaceful perspective, things flow much more smoothly. We always have the choice to react from tension, or from peace. The difference can be as simple as taking a deep breath and looking for the good, rather than the bad.

Today's Focus was excerpted from the InnerSelf.com article:

Loving Relationships and a Peaceful Soul

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This is Marie T. Russell, publisher of InnerSelf, wishing you a day of inner calm and outer relaxation (today and every day)

One of our assets is previous knowledge and experience. That experience of previous relationships is all part of the tools we have to use in our day-to-day encounters. We learn from previous successes and failures.

Today's Focus was excerpted from the InnerSelf.com article:

Loving Relationships: Old Soul Wisdom

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This is Marie T. Russell, publisher of InnerSelf, wishing you a day of connecting to old soul wisdom (today and every day)