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inspiration


Live as Your Heart Lives


by Lyric Benson Fergusson W


here your mind wavers, your heart overcomes.


Your heart can tame any monster, your heart can devour any fear.


Your heart’s chivalry is incomparable. Your heart’s genius


outsmarts what’s written on parchment or etched on stone tablets.


Your heart sees an ogre as an angel,


Just waiting to be born… (with a soft kiss).


Are you brave enough to pucker up?


Your mind would rather run from sleeping tigers that had,


several decades ago, promised to eat you, than face the unknowns of life.


Your heart knows that


overwhelming darkness is a miracle


waiting to happen.


Which lens do you choose to see this world through? Your heart or your mind? Baby,


it’s all about perspective.


Source: French Kissing God, a collection of poems by Lyric Benson Fergusson (FrenchKissingGod.com).


32 Long Island Edition


He who has not Christmas in his


heart will never find it under a tree.


~Roy L. Smith www.NaturalAwakeningsLI.com


ecotip


Eco-Toy Story Safe, Fun Gifts for Kids


During the holiday gift buy- ing season, it’s good to recall the days of old-fashioned toys. Simple, wooden toys made with non-toxic paints are far safer than those sprayed with varnishes and paints containing lead and volatile organic compounds. Plastics can emit unhealthy chemicals used during


manufacturing, which also produces environmental pollu- tion. Pieces can break off, possibly injuring soft skin, or be consumed by toddlers with dangerous results. A recent re- port by Environment California, a research and policy center, found that products designed for babies and young children, such as soft plastic teethers, bath accessories and others, con- tain phthalates. Many toys require batteries containing heavy metals like mercury and cadmium. ChasingGreen.org recommends eco-conscious makers


of toys available at GreatGreenBaby.com, including organic cotton stuffed animals; BabyBunz.com, featuring sustainably harvested cherry wood rattles and organic Egyptian cotton animals; and GreenToys.com, with play meal cookware and serving pieces made from bioplastic, consisting of a corn and starch resin. Here are other factors to consider. Educational toys can “enhance language, conceptual understanding and numerical and spatial cognition,” ac- cording to a study in the journal Mind, Brain and Education. Six-to-8-year-olds can gain an appreciation for archaeology playing with Smithsonian toys available at Barnes & Noble and BarnesAndNoble.com. PristinePlanet.com sells wood puzzles, solar-powered robots and board games from the Golden Gate National Park Conservancy. The Discovery Channel Store has safe toys and books for kids. Follow age guidelines in choosing gifts, advises Steve


Pasierb, president and CEO of the Toy Industry Association. “Age-grading has nothing to do with how smart a child is— it’s based on the developmental skills and abilities at a given age and the specific features of a toy.” Practice conservation while saving money by canvass- ing thrift and consignment shops for classic card and board games.


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