HeLa: How To Be Truly Immortal
1:14 AM PDT, May 22, 2009
Being a wizardly sort, Jan lives in Berkeley. If you’re a magically gifted world-changer in the San Francisco Bay area, and need help changing yourself, he’s definitely your man. I give him my highest recommendation and you a referral to his website here for more information. A Little Night Music… Henrietta Lacks, mother of the immortal HeLa cells This particular evening, Jan was speaking of immortality and mentioned the cancer cells of Henrietta Lacks, branded “HeLa” cells by scientists. I’d never heard of Henrietta or her world famous cell cultures and finding out about them makes me want to spread the word rather like HeLa cells have spread…worldwide. Henrietta Lacks was a homemaker living in Baltimore in 1951 when she was diagnosed with, and died of, virulent cervical cancer. During diagnosis, cells were taken from her tumor without her knowledge or consent and grown in some of medical science’s first cancer cell research. Researchers found that HeLa cells had extraordinary properties. Unlike cells from other donors, they grew on everything. They grew out of control. They consumed the growth medium in their test tubes and Petri dishes and grew outside of them to infect lab equipment, entire labs and finally, the world. HeLa cells can survive freezing, dehydration, starvation, radiation and deep space. They are known to be virtually indestructible. (There could quite literally be some of Henrietta Lacks in that glass you’re drinking from, right now. Mind that small speck on the rim there. Yes…that one.) Because these were the first cells to be cultured for study, labs across the world wanted samples, which were grown and shipped to Russia, Paris, Chile, Amsterdam, London, Reykjavik and many other labs. And from there due to their extraordinary growth properties, they spread outward like a virus, worldwide. HeLa cells were used to first culture then find the cure for polio and other diseases. They have learned to masquerade as cells from different parts of the body, and even as different diseases. In one notable incident, documented by author Harold Schmeck, American medical researchers had the unenviable task of notifying “…Soviet scientists that the cells in which their viruses were growing were not even derived from Russian cancer patients. The cells actually originated from Henrietta Lacks…” This interesting yet devastating property of HeLa meant that worldwide, contamination needed to be assumed, studies needed to be trashed, intense cleanroom protocols needed to be established and millions of dollars of research had to be done all over again. A commission was formed to contain the spread of HeLa, and today, genetic sequencing ensures the purity of research from HeLa contamination. Now that you know some of the background, we’ll be picking up this thread in later posts. As Jan and I debated, immortality is in the eye of the beholder - be it the individual or the collective. But for now… Enter the Goddess…
And in an interesting twist which brings in threads of my former life as a priestess in Northern European spirituality (yea, these many decades ago), Hela is also the name of the Nordic goddess of the Dead. She is typically depicted, as in this image, half white, living, and half black, dead. Goddess, thy name is Henrietta Lacks. Which brings me to the main theme of this afternoon’s symposium: In what ways will you achieve True Immortality?
Here is a place to let the world know, and get the word out about the value you will leave beyond your physical death. You can do that in the comment form below and we can continue this most interesting and provocative discussion… addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.maryamwebster.com%2Fhela-immorta l%2F'; addthis_title = 'HeLa%3A+How+To+Be+Truly+Immortal'; addthis_pub = 'maryamwebster';
This is syndicated from Everyday Bliss For Women In Leadership, and written by Maryam Webster.
HeLa: How You Can Be Truly Immortal
4:07 PM PDT, May 21, 2009
I have a late night study-buddy named Jan Saeger. We’re both night owls and both working on decoding certain levels of human experience that we wish to be able to change, enhance or amplify. We’ve been researching the same kind of thing for ages, and among my peers he’s one of only a handful who really gets the more arcane things I’m interested in. Like few others, he always tells me something I never knew before and sparks intense debate, discussion, learning and more research. Needless to say, being an arcane wizardly sort, Jan lives in Berkeley - you can see his website here for more information. If you’re a uniquely gifted world-changer and like most of us, need help changing yourself, he’s definitely your man. Highest recommendation. A Little Night Music…Henrietta Lacks, mother of the immortal HeLa cells This particular night, Jan was speaking about immortality and mentioned the cervical cancer cells of Henrietta Lack, branded “HeLa” cells by scientists. I’d never heard of Henrietta or her world famous cell cultures and finding out about them makes me want to spread the word rather like HeLa cells have spread…worldwide. Henrietta Lacks was a black homemaker living in Baltimore in 1951 when she was diagnosed with, and died of, virulent cervical cancer. During diagnosis, cells were taken from her tumor without her knowledge or consent and grown in some of medical science’s first cancer cell research. What researchers found was that the HeLa cells had an extraordinary property - they grew on everything. They grew out of control. They consumed the growth medium in their test tubes and Petri dishes and grew outside of them to infect lab equipment, entire labs and finally, the world. Because they were the first cells to be cultured, labs across the world wanted samples, which were grown and shipped to Russia, Paris, Chile, Amsterdam, London, Reykjavik. And from there, due to their extraordinary growth properties, spread out like a virus worldwide. HeLa cells were used to first culture then find the cure for polio and other diseases. They have learned to masquerade as cells from different parts of the body, and even as different diseases. In one notable incident, documented by author Harold Schmeck, American medical researchers had the unenviable task of notifying “Soviet scientists that the cells in which their viruses were growing were not even derived from Russian cancer patients. The cells actually originated from Henrietta Lacks…” This interesting yet devastating property of HeLa meant that worldwide, contamination needed to be assumed, studies needed to be trashed, intense cleanroom protocols needed to be established and millions of dollars of research had to be done all over again. A commission was formed to contain the spread of HeLa, and today, genetic sequencing ensures the purity of research from HeLa contamination. Sound crazy? While this may all sound like science fiction, it is most assuredly science fact. Though the woman herself perished, her cells have achieved true immortality. HeLa just can’t be stopped, so in a way, Henrietta Lacks has become the first known true Immortal. Which brings me to the main theme of this afternoon’s symposium: In what ways will you achieve True Immortality?I’m not talking cellular immortality (which includes having children) but other ways. What will you leave behind you that will go on after your macrobody ceases to exist? As the great philosophers, what immortal thoughts, questions and other cognitions will you leave behind? As the developers of cures, what patterns or processes that help others will you bequeath the world? What other things will survive you - perhaps forever? Here’s the place to let the world know, and get the word out about the value you will leave beyond your physical death. You can do that in the comment form below and we can continue this most interesting and provocative discussion… addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.maryamwebster.com%2Fhela-cells-a nd-how-you-can-be-truly-immortal%2F'; addthis_title = 'HeLa%3A+How+You+Can+Be+Truly+Immortal'; addthis_pub = 'maryamwebster';
This is syndicated from Everyday Bliss For Women In Leadership, and written by Maryam Webster.
Ever since my hiatus…
11:43 PM PDT, May 20, 2009
I’m back from my email hiatus…just barely. I’m quasi-back from my six week hiatus from email though not back in the office. What I deduced is that I need far more time offline, off email and incubating the juicy things bubbling on the back and middle burners in my life. On the front burner? Family, friends, real experiences (ie; offline, in the real world, like sand squishing between my toes and taking a whole hour to follow the flightpath of just one gull at the beach) and very long bouts of meditation. Lots more swimming. Softness of mittie ears rubbing affectionately against my ankles in the bower. Sunshine and moonlight. Yes. Others are experiencing this need to unplug, in increasing amounts. The more I enjoyed my own vacation from electronical the more people began to gripe about it. Two items on the news the day I came back to watching a little limited tv - one on having teens unplug their cells and computers for 10 days (the teens actually recommended it to their peers) and another on “Staycation my ass, I’m saving up to go to freakin’ HAWAII. I DESERVE IT.” by an employee (one of many) on the edge. Scary, kids, but not all that unusual. We’re fed up, had it and not about to take anymore. Here’s some help. Alex Fayle is guest writing on Men With Pens. He’s doing good work teaching soloprenurs to unplug and take real vacations. Read his sage words, they make sense. Then drop down and see what Byron Kati has to say below this: First Alex’s blog post: http://bit.ly/17WE3W And another, from which I quote: “frickin’ learn to delegate!” http://bit.ly/2Y0vvu Then proceed on to a fix Alex offers in the form of inspiring emails designed to get you relaxing and recreating no matter where you are: http://bit.ly/8va00 “But Maryam, I *can’t* just uproot my life and go, what would people think??!”
Are you listening to your body? To your heart? Are heart and head in congruence? Byron Katie has some interesting words that parallel my experience on this. She says that another person’s opinion of you is never personal, because it’s not really about you, it’s totally about them. What YOU think and feel about things is about you and is my business. And what someone else thinks and feels is THEIR business. If I get upset about how you feel about me, I’m minding your business. And if I’m minding in your business, how can I be conscious, alive and present to my own life and business? The answer is that I can’t. So ask yourself again, can you let go of others opinions of you? And if so, when? Can you listen to the subtle voices of your body, and heart before they become the scream of the ambulance siren? When? And anything that wouldn’t allow that to happen, you can uncreate, dissolve and release. Pulse your three cues: yesyesyesyesyesyesyes…seeing the rose opening its petals to all possibility…feeling the delicious deep relaxation sweeping over you and clearing the way to manifesting magic in your life. * image credit goes to http://www.worth1000.com/ which not only boasts a spiffy online image editor but hundreds of images submitted as contest entries, just like this one. Enjoy!addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.maryamwebster.com%2Fever-since-m y-hiatus%2F'; addthis_title = 'Ever+since+my+hiatus%26%238230%3B'; addthis_pub = 'maryamwebster';
This is syndicated from Everyday Bliss For Women In Leadership, and written by Maryam Webster.
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-04-12
1:02 AM PDT, April 13, 2009
This is syndicated from Everyday Bliss For Women In Leadership, and written by Maryam Webster.
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-04-05
1:55 AM PDT, April 6, 2009
This is syndicated from Everyday Bliss For Women In Leadership, and written by Maryam Webster.
In Defense of Moms & Stock Farmers
4:07 PM PDT, March 30, 2009
On another post in the archives, a commenter by the name of Ted got a little upset at my repost of an Yahoo.com article on “Top 10 Stress-less Careers”. I thought Ted’s comment was provocative enough to post (yes I approve vitriolic comments if they provide value) and also to answer. Here’s that thread, for the possible enlightenment it might provide:
Even being a masseuse causes your own muscles to tighten up. Who massages you? And a teacher? Try making ends meet on a teachers salary when you’ve baby sat a bunch of adolescents all day. You do no one any favors by propogating this drivel. It’s obviously written by someone who’s sitting at home, drinking tea and out of touch with the real world. Why? Because she’s figured out a way to make a stress free living by working 3 hours a day by writing useless garbage. I’d bet she’s living on a farm raising toddlers and chickens.” (~*~*~*~*~ pause for interlude music ~*~*~*~*~ ) Hi Ted, You’re also making a lot of judgements that may or many not have any basis in reality. And your experience may be atypical. So…why “propagate such drivel” yourself? To answer a few of your rants: who massages you? Your buddies - as a massage therapist, you develop cooperative relationships with other massage therapists. Been there, done that. Teacher? Been there too - high school English. Most teachers who are in it as a career are doing it for love of the job..and don’t view it as “baby sitting” - you demean teachers by this suggestion. The fact that you can read and write you owe to a teacher. Don’t disrespect them by suggesting their jobs amount to babysitting.
Moms and stock farmers work through it all - no exceptions. Respect. The next time you eat a steak, chop or chicken breast think about that. The next time you take a breath or do anything with your mind or body, you can thank your mother for that. Like her or not, you wouldn’t be here without her and whomever raised you to adulthood. If you were as angry then as you exhibit here…it probably wasn’t a 100% pleasant job. Finally, the article didn’t say zero stress, just less stress. Perhaps I should adjust the title (already done)…but really, is all the venom-spouting necessary? If destressing is important to you then I recommend: http://maryamwebster.com/stressrelief or your favorite aerobic exercise. Also, know that you can step away from this and into your own Unlimited Self, where the problems, stress and upset don’t exist. You started out in life Unlimited, able to make your life anything you choose. You still have that power and that choice, no matter what your station in life or how crappy your job or living situation. Ask yourself - “Would an Unlimited being choose to remain this angry, upset and stressed-out?” More here: http://ethosmethod.ning.com . addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.maryamwebster.com%2Fin-defense-o f-moms-stock-farmers%2F'; addthis_title = 'In+Defense+of+Moms+%26%23038%3B+Stock+Farmers'; addthis_pub = 'maryamwebster';
This is syndicated from Everyday Bliss For Women In Leadership, and written by Maryam Webster.
April Unplugged
4:07 PM PDT, March 30, 2009
One of the things that I’ve truly “gotten” on my hiatus is that I have not allowed myself enough down-time and really need some quality unplugging. No computer, no tv, getting back to a spare, but rich, non-tech lifestyle. Accordingly, for the entire month of April, but for the master class in ETHOS I’m doing for Adela Rubio: http://selfcaremastery.com/maryam and a radio interview I’m doing for Connecting Women, I will be completely offline AND off email - our offices, help desk and all connection outlets will be closed. I’d like to share a lesson from this that I have learned as it will be beneficial for anyone to think about. That is, we have many yardsticks in our lives - many ways of measuring the shoulds and musts. And though we may have come to the point of removing the words “should” and “must” from our vocabulary, those very ideas exist in our molecular structure as strong encodings. In my case, the coding was around “I *should* be able to rest from a week of work in the two days of the weekend and be okay” and “I *should* be able to work during the day from 9-5 as others do”. But my system is not set up that way - it never has been. I’m an owl, not a lark. A small percentage of the extremely creative (some call them “renaissance people”) have biorhythms that predispose them to work at their best, and to high proficiency on a variety of topics, later in the day. Voltaire, DaVinci, Michelangelo, Tesla and Bill Clinton are among those whose bodies also favored a night-owl lifestyle. I work best in the late afternoon and evening, sleep around 6 - 7 hours at most (7 is almost too much and 8 is definitely oversleeping) and usually work on several projects at once by preference. And I need more than two days to be “off” on the weekend. My long-suffering workhorse parents despaired of me ever being respectable in the sleep department. I happily created in the wee hours, even as a child. Well-meaning though it was, they used every moral imperative to suggest that I was not a righteous person for being a night-owl and if I kept up “these shenanigans” I would not mature into a good upstanding citizen. Mother consulted Reverend Pegues when I was seven over this perceived fault, with the result that I was awakened every morning at 6am without fail to pray and read the Bible before school in the hopes of rehabilitating my wayward biorhythms. It didn’t work. I slept through third period in school, refusing to be rousted, and stayed up at night until my body told me it was time to sleep. It exasperated Mother no end, but she finally gave up and when she saw that I was doing cool things - nature photography and essays in philosophy at that point. She even briefly catered to my 10pm dinner habit and harbored hopes that I might turn into Imogen Cunningham. No such luck though. In the intervening years, I’ve found it’s always best to do what my body tells me it needs. When I do that, I am never sick or tired, and am always at my best and sharpest. Late last year however, though it was a relatively minor thing, I fell prey again to the moralizing of others around my natural biorhythms and tried to be early-to-bed-early-to-rise to join with a group of yoga friends who were all early risers and determined to make me one as well. And I mean, sunrise type early, greeting the day with Surya Namaskar as the sun crested the local Diablo hills. The result was that I became out of sorts and was tired quite a lot which is very unusual for me. And even though I love writing more than life itself sometimes, computers, Twitter and email began to irritate me severely. These were cardinal signs to me that I was not honoring my body’s needs and was one of the ingredients in my decision to take a hiatus from business in January. I naievely thought that my break would begin in January, but no, tying up ends so I actually could take a break took well into February. Then a conference came in March with heavy email, Twitter involvement and text messaging before and after, pushing things even further out. So drop-dead earnest here, April is my month off. Completely away from the computer. Even cellphone. Don’t send me an EM, IM, DM, TxT or Skypee because I’m nailing the keyboard to the desk upside down and locking the mouse in a drawer. Not kidding. I’m taking this unplugged break both for my own self-care and health, as well as research for an interesting article, or it might even be a book that I am writing. It keeps extending itself so it could well be the next book. <grin> More much later about that though. The Moral of the Story Is… that there is no moral imperative around what the body needs. Each of us is wonderfully diverse in our unique makeup. We all have slightly to profoundly different needs for food, water, sunshine or darkness, sleep or waking, downtime, romance-time, exercise and alone-time. That old biblical verse about the plank in your own eye comes to bear here. If someone in your life isn’t configured the same way you are don’t bring your judgements against them. Take care of your own needs and support each other to extreme and joyous acts of self-care, no matter what the hands on the clock say, no matter how different you might be to each others. Diversity is what makes the world go ’round, be interesting and create genius. Meanwhile, have a *beautiful* and *joyous* spring! With Love,
This is syndicated from Everyday Bliss For Women In Leadership, and written by Maryam Webster.
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-03-29
4:07 PM PDT, March 30, 2009
This is syndicated from Everyday Bliss For Women In Leadership, and written by Maryam Webster.
What is Genius?
3:23 AM PDT, March 28, 2009
Posted via web from maryamwebster’s posterous addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.maryamwebster.com%2Fwhat-is-geni us-2%2F'; addthis_title = 'What+is+Genius%3F'; addthis_pub = 'maryamwebster';
This is syndicated from Everyday Bliss For Women In Leadership, and written by Maryam Webster.
What is Genius?
3:23 AM PDT, March 28, 2009
Posted via web from maryamwebster’s posterous addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.maryamwebster.com%2Fwhat-is-geni us%2F'; addthis_title = 'What+is+Genius%3F'; addthis_pub = 'maryamwebster';
This is syndicated from Everyday Bliss For Women In Leadership, and written by Maryam Webster.
|
Bio
After twenty years as a psychotherapist, I found energy therapies were more powerful than the standard techniques I had been practicing. Seeking a way to help people transform their lives both quickly and permanently, I merged psychotherapy, coaching and bioenergetic modification methods into a new form that did just that: Energy Coaching.
My agenda is to spread these amazingly powerful healing methods worldwide. To teach the new paradigm to executives, managers and human service professionals, I created and direct The Certified Energy Coach Program (certifiedenergycoach.org) at The Energy Coach Institute (www.energycoachinstitute.com). I am proof positive that ETHOS Method, ZPoint Process, EFT and related energy therapies work. Many years ago I was hit by a drunk driver which left me with a broken back, partially paralyzed from the waist down. With a combination of yoga, TFH and EFT, I got my mobility back, and made it past the excruciating pain to an active, pain-free life. With these methods, every time any pain or dysfunction crops up, I simply tap, run meridians or use clearing statements to put myself right again in minutes. Energy therapies are powerful- they can clear blockages to having more money/time/love/friends, eliminate difficulties speaking up for oneself, banish fears and old angers - in short, turn people's lives around. There is a great short tutorial of some of the fastest energy tips on my website to help get you going: http://maryamwebster.com/stressrelief Personally speaking, I am a voracious reader and writer. Writing is my favorite pastime, hiking our local redwoods is my favorite activity. I play the Celtic lowhead harp, sing folk, jazz and soul music and carve in both wood and stone. I have 2 cats, one partner, am independant, and love my job. Without energy work, things would be dull indeed. Life is good!
Scaled by popularity
Topics
Books
Entertainment
Film
Food & Cooking
Home and Family
Insider
Music
Technology
Video Games
|
|
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
This story begins with a sleepy if fascinating conversation with my late night study-buddy, Jan. We’re both night owls working on decoding certain levels of human experience that we wish to be able to change, enhance or amplify. Among my peers, he’s one of only a handful who really gets the more arcane things I’m into. And like few others, he always tells me something I never knew before which sparks intense debate, discussion, learning and more research.
Crazy? No. While this may all sound like science fiction, it is most assuredly science fact. Though the woman herself perished, 
I’m not talking cellular immortality (which includes having children) but other ways. What will you leave behind you that will go on after your macrobody ceases to exist?
I’m now getting this on a regular basis from coaching clients who just can’t see their way clear to making time for themselves. “What are you, meshugginah? Crazy? I got stuff to do and people to see. It would hurt my business if they thought I was being a slacker or a flake by taking time off for myself. That’s nuts!” Sometimes it takes a doctor telling them to chill out or face a double bypass. Or we could all try to just listen to our bodies.
Ted:
But before you jump on your keys to write a retort, I must correct the worst misperceptions you list: the job of “mom to toddlers” and also that of raising farm animals are two of the most time-consuming and stressful on the planet. Both require early hours until way late at night and in the middle of the night when a child or animal is ill or a large animal is giving birth. (woman and farmer? 
