7/4/2023

Happy Independence Day,

            Are you ready for your BBQ & concert this evening? We are gathering on the cul-de-sac & then keeping the dogs company while the fireworks explode. I am no longer a fan of pyrotechnic displays. Bah Hambug.

            What do you think the junta is up to in giving Aung San Suu Kyi an appeal for 2 of her convictions? What are they trying to prove & who are they trying to impress? Their logic is so often lost on me. Would love to hear your insights.

            I would also appreciate your insights into how we might foster complex friendships in our co-housing community (WSWC). How might we set up structures & norms to foster relationships like the one that Anthony Fauci (AF) had with AIDS activist Larry Kramer? It was so profound that AF wrote about in today’s NYT, observing “differences of opinion & even a history of antagonism are entirely compatible with friendship & even love.” Do you have a friend like that who pushes your buttons? I do & am lunching with her tomorrow.

            Have you heard of Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR)? It’s a sensation that some people get that involves “a ‘silvery sparkle’ inside the head, a euphoric ‘brain-gasm’ or a feeling like goose bumps in the scalp that faded ‘in and out in waves of heightened intensity.’” Some kids get it from watching that guy paint on PBS & now you-tubers release 500 new videos each day claiming to induce ASMR. Scientists have only recently started to study it theorizing it has to do with “socially bonding ‘affiliative behaviors,’ known to release feel-good hormones like oxytocin…. coming from a general complex of safety, caring, connectedness and trust.”

            I’m thinking we need ASMR stimulators for the folks in my WSWC, for the junta in Burma & for VVP. Hypnotizing people with calming, repetitive stimuli to release their anxiety would do a world of good. Please invest in the development of this technology rather than those that kill people.

            WINTA!