Something as simple as breathing properly helps my stress.

I got some upsetting news today and was shaking. Instead of reacting, I acted by taking some deep, cleansing breaths, diffusing some lavender oil, and listening to calming music. It's helped tremendously.

Moderation in all things. - Aristotle

The road to excess leads to the palace of wisdom. - William Blake

So who has it right?

Can we be excessively moderate and gain something more than mediocrity?

Can we be moderately excessive and still find that palace of wisdom?

Or do we need to be destroyed by excess before finding the wisdom to see?

Up until recently I never bothered to think about a bucket list. It probably has something to do with the fact that I never thought of the future because the present was a large enough task on its own. Now that I'm a place that's stable enough, I ought to work toward some pleasurable goals!

Here's what I have so far:

- Go on a tropical vacation
- Go white water rafting
- Attend a traditional aboriginal sweat
- Run a marathon
- Start my own business
- Learn to walk in stilettos

Amy Winehouse's death is bothering me. I never listened to her music until she passed away and barely ever heard of her, but I think people are being cruel. They're judging her as stupid trash because she apparently had addiction problems and died of an overdose.

My "friends" on facebook are making a big deal about it, all denouncing her and making jokes about the situation. I don't think anything is funny about it. "She should have said yes, yes, yes to rehab!" wrote one of my friends. Since when has society expected people in a self-destructive, sick state of mind to make healthy decisions?! Worse - what did my friends think of me a few years ago when I struggled through my own self-destructive path?

Amy's death isn't just about a drug addict dying of an overdose, it's about how an entire network of family and friends can ignore a loved one's misery so blatantly that the person ends up killing themself. Where were they with tough love, with interventions, with public pleas for her to get help? I never once read about or seen any such thing in the media. I did hear, however, people salivating when they talked about how drunk she was during her concerts and how troubled she must be. Disgusting.

So - if you're reading this - you have two things to think about. One is that you're constantly being judged by others because pathetic people talk about other people instead of thoughts, and the other being that you might have such a friend in your life who needs help right now, too. Ask them how you can help - you'd be surprised at how little people think to ask that. It can make all the difference.