Feeling Just Fabulous
I spend as much time as I can on the streets, looking for my friends who are homeless. I wonder if they are hungry or out of water or maybe they just need a friend. So, I go out and try to find them.
Some days, it’s tough finding anybody around unless I’m willing to go around tough places. I’m often feeding on the streets alone, so I don’t put myself in mortal danger; at least, not on purpose, if I can help it. Still, I’ve managed to get punched; pounded to the ground; threatened with a shotgun; and bonked on the head from behind. And I keep on searching for my friends, sometimes in places I have no business being. I can’t help it; I do it because I get high.
We do things, and continue to do those same things whether it’s good for us or not, because doing those things gets us high. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that opiate-like drugs are naturally released in our brains when we do something, learn something, or achieve something that brings us pleasure; being a neuroscientist helps.
Recently, neuroscientists from the University of Southern California have proposed a simple theory that the ‘click’ of comprehension triggers the release of natural opiate-like substances in the brain. The concept is the brain is getting its fix every time we ‘get it’.
“While you're trying to understand a difficult theorem, it's not fun," says Irving Biederman, professor of neuroscience in the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
"But once you get it, you just feel fabulous."
You can read all about it here; 'Thirst for knowledge' may be opium craving. But I hope you 'get it' in your everyday life.
We all know that homelessness is a problem in society. We understand that there is a lack of affordable housing and chronic unemployment. Everyday, we see addiction and mental illness and handicaps that cause untold suffering and sickness. Most of us really do want to help ease pain and misery when we see it happening to the poor and the vulnerable.
For me, the plight of the homeless is a ‘difficult theorem’, a challenging truth. It’s a complicated problem, but it has a simple answer. It’s all about loving our neighbors as we love ourselves.
Granted, I don’t practice that truth perfectly. And often, its no fun. But I get it ... and I feel just fabulous.
Some days, it’s tough finding anybody around unless I’m willing to go around tough places. I’m often feeding on the streets alone, so I don’t put myself in mortal danger; at least, not on purpose, if I can help it. Still, I’ve managed to get punched; pounded to the ground; threatened with a shotgun; and bonked on the head from behind. And I keep on searching for my friends, sometimes in places I have no business being. I can’t help it; I do it because I get high.
We do things, and continue to do those same things whether it’s good for us or not, because doing those things gets us high. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that opiate-like drugs are naturally released in our brains when we do something, learn something, or achieve something that brings us pleasure; being a neuroscientist helps.
Recently, neuroscientists from the University of Southern California have proposed a simple theory that the ‘click’ of comprehension triggers the release of natural opiate-like substances in the brain. The concept is the brain is getting its fix every time we ‘get it’.
“While you're trying to understand a difficult theorem, it's not fun," says Irving Biederman, professor of neuroscience in the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
"But once you get it, you just feel fabulous."
You can read all about it here; 'Thirst for knowledge' may be opium craving. But I hope you 'get it' in your everyday life.
We all know that homelessness is a problem in society. We understand that there is a lack of affordable housing and chronic unemployment. Everyday, we see addiction and mental illness and handicaps that cause untold suffering and sickness. Most of us really do want to help ease pain and misery when we see it happening to the poor and the vulnerable.
For me, the plight of the homeless is a ‘difficult theorem’, a challenging truth. It’s a complicated problem, but it has a simple answer. It’s all about loving our neighbors as we love ourselves.
Granted, I don’t practice that truth perfectly. And often, its no fun. But I get it ... and I feel just fabulous.
posted by Kelly at 9:00 PM
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