LETTERS FROM HOME: A WARNING SIGN OF GOOD HEALTH: LEARNING TO LIVE IN FEARLESSNESS

Feb. 5, 1998

Dear Leslie,

In "Amistad," when all seems hopeless, Cinque says he will appeal to his ancestors for help, reasoning that each of us alive is now the purpose for our ancestors' existence. Looking at life that way, why would anyone waste another minute?

But we do waste time, hypnotized by TV, paralyzed by addictions to loneliness and insecurity and painlessness.

DC and I have embarked on a lifestyle change that is giving both of us an experience we'd long not had: the experience of hunger. Not starvation hunger, just the little tummy growl that you never hear when you've grown accustomed to feeling full all the time.

We're eating smaller-than-customary portions of grainier-than-usual food and exercising in the belief that good health is worth some trouble.

But concentrating solely on physical well-being is going only part way. Everybody has emotional and spiritual selves that need tending as well. They are less visible but just as essential to our health.

Most people were told in childhood that they must learn to control their emotions. Control is not the best thing for emotions. They are best expressed.

So, too, are our spiritual natures, in whatever form only we alone can choose.

The good-morning TV shows bombard us with reminders that we co-inhabit this oxygen-crazed planet with some fearsome creatures, from staphylococci to serial killers.

One of my relations carries an antibacterial spray with her at all times.

To be aware makes sense, but it's destructive to live in fear of anything or anyone for any prolonged time.

How much better to live in fearlessness. That would be one indication of health.

A publication called Brain/Mind and Common Sense compiled some other indicators. Herewith:

"The 12 Warning Signs of Health"

1. Persistent presence of support network.

2. Chronic positive expectations; tendency to frame events in a constructive light.

3. Episodic peak experiences.

4. Sense of spiritual involvement.

5. Increased sensitivity.

6. Tendency to adapt to changing conditions.

7. Rapid response and recovery of adrenaline system due to repeated challenges.

8. Increased appetite for physical activity.

9. Tendency to identify and communicate feelings.

10. Repeated episodes of gratitude, generosity or related emotions.

11. Compulsion to contribute to society.

12. Persistent sense of humor.

"If five or more of these indicators are present," the publication says, "you may be at risk for full-blown health."

A few days ago, I was wasting some time watching MTV. The program seemed to be based on their "The Real World" series, in which a bunch of strangers are put into a funky apartment together and try to find ways to keep from murdering each other. Except in this program, the strangers are all London models. One who looked a bit like Cleopatra, and reassured us that you don't have to shoot heroin in order to effect "heroin chic," was trying to read a book about Zen. "When you eat, eat," she read. "When you walk, walk."

"This is stupid," she said, throwing the book on the floor.

"This is stupid," I said, turning off the TV.

Love, Sam

~Sam Blackwell is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.