On this page, I will archive various articles I have had published in my Go in Good Health Column for the Weekly Observer. I will simply cut and paste them into this page, and when this page gets large enough, organize it according to title of article so that you can more easily find past columns that may be of interest to you. Some are on herbs and natural healing, and others are holistic advice on life issues.

First up is my column which appeared this past week, the first week of October, 2000. The article is on Spirituality. Enjoy.

SPIRITUALITY

This time I want to talk about spirituality. I will get back to the subject of Chinese herbal medicine next time. Spirituality is a way of connecting to the Divine in our lives, in whatever way we perceive that to be. If you are Christian, then you can connect to God and Jesus through the Church and the Christian Bible, but that is religion. Spirituality is not the dogma of the Church, but the personal connection with God that makes your path meaningful in life. For a spiritual christian, their faith in God and Christ is a personal communion and not dependent on attendance in Church or obeying the tenets of the Church, be it Catholic or Protestant. For some of us, remaining in the Christian Church is hard when we comes to terms with being Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual. Too often the church we grew up in is not comfortable with the Gay lifestyle. I have heard from far too many people who had the church turn it's back on them, or have those they were once close to them turn away in fear and hatred when they realize that we are Gay. Coming out to those who follow a fundamentalist religion can be very hard. Being spiritual has nothing to do with rigid adherence to the rules of others, and if those around us who claim a religious path are truly spiritual, they would be more loving, more compasionate to those around them, whether or not they followed the rules of their chosen religion. Some churches have overcome homophobia and prejudice, and are known as reconciling congregations, and welcome Gays into their congregations.

In Tucson, we find that liberal progressive churches like St Francis in the Foothills have become a haven for Gays and Lesbians, because they are a Gay-friendly, spiritual community. There are those who find their spirituality strengthened through communion with like-minded individuals, and when they find progressive churches or synagogues that welcome Gays, then they find their spiritual home. Such places should be supported and commended for embracing Gays as part of their membership.

For me, my spiritual path is paganism. We find that men and women, all forms of life, are sacred and holy. We believe that the Goddess is the mother of all life, and that Gays, Lesbians, and Bisexuals are as sacred and as welcome as any others into our midst. For those who are curious about paganism, there is some information on it on my homepage, go to http://geocities.datacellar.net/Westhollywood/Park/2165 and there are also many websites on this subject. Paganism is one spiritual path among many that has meaning for many people in this modern world, which has become too devoid of any spiritual elements whatsoever.

When I first came to the pagan path as a teenager, I was also coming out as a Gay man, though I also felt somewhat sexually attracted to women. I found that, whether I was Gay or Bi, that I could find solace and a place to feel comfortable in the pagan religion. My spirituality, my faith, was renewed when I came to see God as immanent and within all life, not in some distant Heaven I would only see if I was able to be good enough in my life. As the years went by, my faith in the sacredness of life was strengthened despite the trials and setbacks of living. When we find our spiritual center, we can weather life's storms. We realize there is a purpose to our lives, and a higher power that can guide us along the way. We can grow and learn and accept the challenges of life with courage and strength, rather than with fear and trepidation. Instead of running from reality and hiding in whatever we try to cling to comfort us in our more stressed-out moments, we can face the future, and deal with life with strength, focus and clarity. Knowing our spiritual center and living a life centered on our spirituality and the strength it provides us can be a valuable asset in life. It's definitely something to ponder. Goddess bless. Til next time, Go in Good Health. This article appeared on the Observer for the week of Halloween 2000. Here it is:

GO IN GOOD HEALTH Well, my dear Gay/Lesbian Bi family, another OUToberFEST has come and gone, and Halloween is almost upon us. For us Pagans, it is a time to honor our ancestors, and those who have died that we love. We have all lost loved ones In the community, due to AIDS, cancer, or for many other reasons. To most of the world, this time of year is just a great night to party. Please do so safely, and don't drink and drive! When you are out partying the night away over the coming holidays, such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas, be safe and be well! I saw a wonderful concert on Lifetime devoted to raising money and awareness for the cause of breast cancer, and it starred our very own Lesbian sister Melissa Etheridge, Anne and Nancy Wilson of Heart, Amy Grant, Destiny's Child, Wynona Judd, Cheryl Crow, and my all time favorite, Cyndi Lauper. They sang their hearts out for a very good cause, and I was impressed. Breast cancer is a serious concern. As it AIDS. A lot of our local queens perform a lot of benefit shows for a lot of good causes. Even the local Bears of the Old Pueblo did a drag show some time back to raise money for a good cause! Bears moonlighting as queens, oh my! As a community, there are so many good causes to support, that we can get lost in the shuffle. There are so many good people doing good work in this town. Let's think about that for a minute. I know a local bear, Alan who does good work in the community as an educator working towards AIDS prevention. Kudos to you my dear bear brother. There are a lot of wonderful men and women in our local Gay community who do so much good, and we should thank them for all the good that they do behind the scenes. To each and every drag queen, female impersonator/performer, what have you, who has given their time, talent and effort to a benefit show, thank you! To all the volunteers who devote time at Wingspan, or at SAAF, or who do good in this community, it is appreciated. We need you, and we thank you for your work. A lot of people put time and effort into making OUToberFEST a roaring success this year, in a new part of Reid Park, and it went off rather well. Every one of us can do so much good in our own community. The problems and the challenges can seem huge, but we can conquer them one small step at a time. We can reach out and do something that makes a difference. Every dollar you donate to the condom brigade, every time you drop some change in a box somewhere to fund research to combat cerebral palsy or some other serious illness, does some good. This is an election year, and I will admit, I am not the most political person. Dear Endora is more busy reading herb books and tending my little herb garden to listen to political speeches, but we have a lot of power when we vote. I went out and re-registered to vote this year, and my vote is my way of making my voice heard. We need to fight for Gay rights, for laws against discrimination, to include sexual orientation as a clause in anti-hate crime legislation, and so much more. Some of us debate whether we want to legalize Gay marriage, but for some of us, that is important. We vote every time we spend money at a Gay or Lesbian owned establishment, or by choosing to boycott a business that is anti-Gay in it's corporate policies. As a Gay man, I am aware that we still need more legal rights in America. Holland just legalized Gay marriage, and I know a nice bear couple, one who is American, and the other Dutch, who will now be legally married in that country. What a victory. And now the state of Vermont legalized civil unions for Gays and Lesbians. I read a big article on that subject in Genre magazine. Wow! It is time we stood up and were counted and voted as one to change the oppressive laws of the land that hold us back. Yes, we have come a long way, and we can be more open about being Gay and Lesbian now in America than we could before the Stonewall riots. But we still need to fight the good fight and push for repeal of the old anti-sodomy laws which can be used against Gay men in particular, fight for the right for Gay and Lesbian couples to adopt children, and for our relationships to have the same protection under the law that heterosexual marriage does. Sure I know it's easy to just ignore society and not think about political causes, and go on living our queer, wonderful lives. But it took a group of queens in New York who had had enough of oppression and being forced to go to illegal underground bars where police harassment was the norm to stand up and fight back to really launch the Gay Rights movement in America. Our forebears fought hard so we could be where we are today. Could you imagine an America where you couldn't go to a Gay bar, could be arrested for admitting you were Gay, in a time when being homosexual was listed as a mental illness? It happened in our own century. Yet now we have the freedom to be who we are and to say "I AM Gay" on national television without fear of arrest or being institutionalized. Wow! Those who went before us did a lot to bring us to where we are now! I for one am eternally grateful. I am a Bear, and thanks to the Bear movement, I have found a Gay subculture where being a big, burly guy is a good thing! I can hardly imagine having to live a guarded, secret life where I would have to hide being Gay, could never openly proclaim my sexuality, and had to clandestinely seek out other Gay men in constant fear of being incarcerated just for expressing my sexual attraction to another man! I am glad those days are mostly behind us. Some day, and I hope I live to see it, Gay marriage will be legal, and Gays and Lesbians and Bisexuals can openly live and love and raise children with all the legal rights and privileges of any heterosexual married couple. And what a wonderful day that will be! And it will happen if enough of us fight for it to become a reality. We can win, if we are willing to do it, together. That is something to think about, don't you agree? Goddess bless. Happy Halloween, and enjoy the holiday season, my dears, safely. Be well, be strong, be healthy! I send my love and blessings to you all. And to all those who we have loved and lost, we remember you! As we say, Blessed be! Until next time, Go in Good Health. HOLIDAY AND FLU SEASON HERBAL HEALTH TIPS

GO IN GOOD HEALTH Well, it's nearly Christmas again. And Hanukkah and Yule also. Wow. So much holiday shopping to do. Even the holy month of Ramadan is going on right now for Moslems. So many gifts to buy, so much to do, my queer family. I am sure Gay.com and Tzabaco are gearing up to sell everything in sight for that perfect gift for your Lesbian, Gay, or Bisexual celebration of the holidays. Well, don't forget the gift of good health. It's flu season right now.

I was just now watching the CBS nightly news, and there is fear about adverse, even fatal reactions to the anti-flu drug Relenza. People, it's time to realize the drug companies aggressively market every drug they make that can just 'zap" away every health woe and these wonder drugs might be the cure for everything from migraines to hemorrhoids. Just look at how aggressively women's hygiene and health products are marketed. But do we need all of them? And as often as they say that we do? No, not really. Think about it. There are reasons you are getting a headache. Stress, tension, constricted blood flow, tiredness, too muc alcohol at the bar last night, whatever. It is easy to grab your Excedrin or Motrin or whatever. They do help, for a while.

However, in the case of pain killers and "NSAIDS" - Non Steroidal Anti-Inflammatories, they are trying to block the production of inflammatory agents in the body. Ibuprofen, if taken long enough, can cause liver dysfunction and also anemic conditions in the blood. And the flu drugs have killed people. What they are doing with flu vaccines is injecting you with a weakened form of the same illness that is floating around, and for those with weaker immune systems, it can attack you hard, and do the opposite to what you expect. Flu shots are not the panacea they want you to think they are. So reconsider running down to get one. Instead, take Echinacea, Vitamin C and Zinc. What Echinacea, either Angustifolia or Purpurea, is help to purify your body, to help it to remove cellular wastes more efficiently. In your blood are millions of microbes, germs, viruses, etc. and your body sends macrophages, cellular soldiers, if you will, to attack invading pathogens.

We need to boost our immune systems. There is so much pollution in the air, the water, and the land, that our bodies are feeling the stress. Anyone with asthma can tell you that all the chimney smoke at night will set off an attack. Pollution sickness is not unheard of in Tucson, and is definitely out there in Phoenix!! No, you don't need a designer gas mask in pretty hot pink for Christmas just yet, but you might reconsider going into the mall with all that miasma of flu germs percolating in the air, without boosting your immune system. Goldenseal, Olive Leaf Extract and Myrrh are wonderful immune boosters. Myrrh, given to the baby Jesus, is a sacred herb, used in ancient times to banish evil. That wasn't such a superstitious notion, as myrrh contains myricitrin, which helps banish sickness, and acts as an antimicrobial. It fights dental infections, and is sometimes combined with Goldenseal. In Frankincense is a medicinal herb also, I found it in herbal male, a liquid tincture to boost the male system (including sex drive and improve erectile duration and libido) at New Life health.

Olive Leaf inhibits the growth of all viruses, such as herpes, Epstein-barr and even HIV. Not a cure for AIDS, unfortunately, but it helps fight the virus from taking over. This applies to many viruses, and cannot hurt in flu season either. There are many mutations of viruses, and "new" viruses like Hanta and Nile virus are in this country now also. However, herbs are powerful healers and can and will help you feel better. If you are worried about overusing immune boosting herbs, don't fret. Take normal dosages, and supplement with acidophilus and yogurt to fight off candida when taking any antibiotic, either herbal or standards like tetracycline and penicillin. Echinacea should be used for about two weeks, then take a break. Myrrh can be used whenever needed, as can Suma, another powerful immune booster. Astragalus, a Chinese herb, helps the immune system too, but don't take it when you have a fever. If all that rich holiday food is upsetting your stomach, get pineapple-papaya enzymes. Trader Joes' has them for a low price, and also get some peppermint oil capsules. This will help digestion, and peppermint soothes the stomach. It is good for diarrhea and acidic stomach upset. That is why peppermint chocolate candies are so readily available at most restaurants. Papaya also contains bromelain, which is a natural supplement that is very healing also. There are of course peppermint teas, tummy mint tea, and spearmint tea. All kinds of mint are healing, but peppermint is a bit stronger. There are many kinds of mint, I grow several in my garden, including apple and pineapple and chocolate mint. They are flavored mints, and can heal also. As for aroma therapy, burning a bit of eucalyptus or red or white thyme oil on an oil ring on your lamp will kill the germs in the air. The oil may be a bit strong for some, but it is proven that essential oils, breathed in, have a healing and anti-germ effect. There are also incenses that heal. Frankincense and Myrrh incense is a nice holiday fragrance, and healing also. Pine is another healing scent. Use real oils, not synthetic oils, as they have no healing powers at all, they just smell nice. White pine is a healing agent derived from pine bark, and pine bark tea, from certain types of trees, has a powerful healing effect. I have used it. You will find pine in some herbal blends. It's not just the tree of choice for Christmas! Pine oil is very soothing and refreshing, and has a nice woodsy aroma. I recommend it. Happy holidays, my Gay and Lesbian and Bisexual and Transgender family. Goddess bless. May the rebirth of Light kindle the light of joy and love and hope and peace in your heart, no matter what your religious path may be. [Andrew Brooks - paganbear30@hotmail.com. P.S. Please e-mail me with your health questions. I will answer them in upcoming columns. Thank you so much. I want your feedback!] GO IN GOOD HEALTH This week, my Gay family, I will just share some nice insights with you about surviving the cold winter without getting sick. Lately, everywhere I go, someone is sniffling, sneezing or coughing, and all those germs in the air are going to make there way over to me sooner or later. Well, more than once, I have started to feel sick, but I rushed to my cupboard right away and downed some Cat's Claw and some Vitamin C. Sometimes, if I need an extra boost, I take some Vitamin B complex and some Green Tea capsules also. If ou are at all like me, some days you are just plain tired. Well, to get through my days, I have been relying on the extra energy that Green Tea provides me. It's wonderful! Green Tea is a nice beverage that the Chinese have been drinking for many centuries, and it is time-honored and now we have research to back up some of it's health benefits. A good multiple vitamin cannot hurt either. Echinacea and Goldenseal and Suma are popular immune boosters, but the Cat's Claw is a miracle herb too, believe me!

Green Tea can give you a strong boost of energy, and is good for you as well. There are many kinds available on the market, in tea form, and now as capsules as well. I got mine at Vitamin World, and there is one in Park Place and another way up on the northwest side of town in the Foothills Mall. Green Tea is a powerhouse for energy.

Cat's Claw, or "Una de Gato" is an herb from South American rainforests with powerful immune boosting qualities. It's been used for AIDS and HIV, and can indeed improve the immune system greatly. It is also good for fighting off all kinds of infections, since a fortified immune system can more easily fight off invading germs, viruses, and microbes. Another wonderful herb is Olive Leaf extract, which fights off germs, viruses, and pathogens as well. I recommend it.

Also in the cold season, a lot of us have problems with allergies. I always reach for my Nettles, an herb that helps fight off pain, allergy attacks, and sinus congestion and sinus headaches. It helps me every time. Some people are skeptical of herbs, and wonder if they really do work. Well, I have seen them work on me, and for others who I have given them to as well. The "proof is in the pudding", the old saying goes, and when I take them, I notice an improvement, believe me. When I don't take them, I wish I had, as the best time to fight off any illness is right at the beginning, before it really takes hold of you.

We were so lucky to have a mild December, but now, our January is looking fairly cold and wet. It actually snowed a little this past week. The weather is definitely getting more cold and wintry, so take care of yourselves. Being sick isn't fun at all. Give yourself a healthy start to the new year, you're worth it aren't you?

Goddess bless. Til next Time, Go in Good Health. [Andrew Brooks - paganbear30@hotmail.com.] GO IN GOOD HEALTH This week, my dear queer family, I want to talk about owning your own life. By that, I mean taking full responsibility for your life, and not playing the blame game. I was reading another Gay publication, during a recent trip to Phoenix, and read a query from a fellow Gay man who was aghast when he discovered, after having unsafe sex with a man, that the man was poz. Well, that certainly would be an unpleasant surprise, but I got to thinking. How often do we take full responsibility for our lives?

When you have sex with someone else, you need to be up front, even when the sex is getting hot and intense, and insist on safe sex. If you don't care about HIV, and are willing to play Russian roulette by engaging in sexual acts that could lead to transmission of a life-threatening disease, just know this. It's not up to the other person to police your actions, it's up to you! No matter what you do in bed, and there are many wonderful aspects to sex, you need to remember to take charge of the situation and respect your own limits. This goes way beyond sex. It's about your own life, and what you decide, for yourself, what is acceptable, and what isn't. This applies to abusive relationships also. It's futile and destructive to try to convince yourself that it's your fault your partner is beating you up, lying to you, and abusing you. No, they aren't likely to change. You need to leave that situation. Staying powerless and blaming yourself is the ultimate act of self-sabotage.

Likewise, projecting blame onto others for all your mistakes, and blaming them for every failure or mistake you make is also futile. Simply admit when you do something wrong, apologize, sincerely, and make the necessary effort to rectify the situation and make it better. There are some people who are very good at shifting the blame to others. It's not someone else's fault when you are two hours late for an appointment because you just couldn't turn off that television show and get out the door, it's yours. Projection is a mental trick to avoid responsibility. We cannot go through our lives as victims and expect to have meaningful, productive lives. When you are constantly searching for others to blame for your mistakes, that is simply a way to sidestep taking responsibility for your actions. We are the masters of our own lives. It's not up to our friends, spouses, or family to tell us how to live our lives.

We need to look at ourselves honestly, and see what we are doing right, and where we are going wrong in life. If you don't like your career, don't sit there whining about it day after day, change jobs! If you are in a relationship that has died, don't torture each other and cling to the shadow of something that is gone. Let it go, and move on. That might be hard to do, at first, but you need to be honest and see where your life has become stagnant sometimes and make the necessary changes.

If you are the kind of person who needs a lot of sex with various people be honest about that. Don't pretend to commit to a monogamous relationship if that's not in your nature. Tell your partner, up front, what you want. If you find yourself with a jealous, overly possessive partner who is highly suspicious and fears you will leave them, that's their insecurity. Don't let it ruin your life. Maybe they had a history of unfaithful lovers, or aren't happy within themselves, and cling to you because they fear being alone. Such people usually don't love themselves enough, and are terrified you are going to find someone better. I know about such people. I dated one. He was constantly trying to smother me, and worried excessively that I was going to leave him. The sad thing is, his own behavior drove me away. I would have made a go of it, and tried to make it work, if only that had been the right thing to do. I had to be honest, however, and see him as is, aside from the flowery promises he kept making, and never fulfilled. Reality is often far removed from the fantasy. If it doesn't work between you and another person, realize that. Owning your own life means doing what is for your highest good, and also not harming others. It's not a license to be selfish and take what you need from people and dumping them when they no longer suit your purpose. It simply means not allowing other people to control you, or wasting your time and energy blaming everyone around you for what's not right with your life. You have the power to change anything you want to change. You can make your life anything you want it to be. All you have to do is try. It's as simple as that. If you have a bad habit, such as a drinking or drug problem, and finally decide it's time to quit, then do it. If you can't face it alone, don't feel like a failure. Such things can have a powerful grip on you, physically and psychologically. Get the necessary help, and turn your life around. Aren't you worth it? Just think of how wonderful your life can be, when you take charge and aren't a slave to your addictions. Life is to be enjoyed. Taking responsibility for your own actions, and plotting your course and life, and living life for your highest good, is always the best way to go. Anything less would be at the most settling for second best, and aren't you worth more than that? It's something to think about. Goddess bless. Til next time, Go in Good Health. This column was on honesty in relationships, and ran May 9th, 2001.

GO IN GOOD HEALTH This week, my Gay family, I want to talk about honesty in relationships. I recently talked with someone who thought he had found the man of his dreams, and they settled down together, and even got married, exchanged vows, etc. Then, to his dismay, this man was telling everyone else that he wanted to break up with him and end the relationship. He had already been talking with someone else, and forming a relationship, planning to move away.

It saddens me that people just don't see the harm they are doing when they aren't open and honest about their feelings. We all know that sometimes relationships do not work out, but this person certainly should have been talking with his spouse first about his feelings, not sneaking off to start a new life with someone else while he was still living with a man who thought they were happily married!

I have seen this happen time and again. I have seen it in the Lesbian world, too. People have their failings, and no one is perfect. However, a relationship is based on mutual communication. If you are starting to seriously have doubts about a relationship, it might be easy to hide them and pretend all is well. For a while, it might be. Maybe in time the concerns will be resolved, and the two of you (or three of you, since we in the Gay world sometimes try variations on the couples lifestyle) will work everything out. However, if you aren't talking, you are beginning to separate emotionally.

If the sex has ended, and the romance is gone, then you are roommates, not lovers. While it is true that we have different sex drives, and one partner may need a lot more sex than the other one, sex is about what both people need. More important than the lovemaking, as wonderful and as passionate as it can be, is the communications.

If you are already seeing someone else and thinking about leaving, instead of sneaking out the door when they are at work and leaving them high and dry, or forcing your partner to leave you suddenly because they are so hurt by the disintegrating relationship, take the time to talk. Honestly, openly, lay your cards on the table. Don't place blame or try to prolong the suffering with endless arguments.

If the two of you aren't getting along, and all you do is fight, or avoid each other, then you aren't happy. In time, the best thing to do is to separate, or try to work it out if you can. If you need counseling, and both agree to it, then do so. If that isn't an option, and you know in your heart that it's over, don't cling to this relationship. Just let it go and move on.

When you get into a new relationship, you are bound to still think of the past and what you had. Allow yourself time to heal. Talk about your feelings. But don't get stuck in the past and ruin the next relationship by obsessing over your ex lover or spending all your time plotting revenge on them.

The people that hurt us so badly without a backward glance often don't even see the damage they are doing, and won't admit to it even if confronted. They honestly think it's all right to act the way they are, and aren't likely to change any time soon. Let them go. Manipulative people are all about getting what they want from others, never mind the consequences.

We don't have the time to waste on such types. Or for the bitter ones who have lost their joy of living and just want to bring you down with all their nastiness. They don't really want your help, they just want to endlessly complain about all that they hate about life. That isn't a friendship. They latch onto anyone they can who will listen, and won't let up.

My advice is plain and simple. Cut them loose. Let them be miserable in some other company. We all have our challenges in life, but when someone's negative behavior, attitude etc is making you stressed out and depressed, it's not good for you to be around. We have the power to get out from under, we only have to take action. And move forward and find better things to do with our time and with our lives.

It's something to think about. Goddess bless. Til next time, Go in Good Health. [Andrew Brooks - paganbear30@hotmail.com.] Top