Laurel A. Rockefeller Books

This morning I found this article from Inc. about success.  The information is so good I have to share! “1. Successful people refuse to fit in a box. “Thinking outside the box” is a business cliché writ large. But truly successful people do more than that–they live outside the box. They don’t let other people define them, whether those other people are malicious or well-meaning. They don’t listen to the jealous boss who tells them that they’ll never be a leader. Perhaps more

This morning twitter gifted me with a fascinating study published this year in Nature magazine entitled, “The myopia boom: Short-sightedness is reaching epidemic proportions. Some scientists think they have found a reason why.” Intriguing in the analysis is the finding that time spent outside correlates with myopia with the highest risk for developing myopia among children and adolescents spending the greatest amount of time indoors and the lowest risk experienced by those sp

Hives are painful.  Hives are common.  Though sometimes they have a clear cause, often the real cause of hives cannot be tracked, even by painful allergy tests. Since August of this year I’ve been daily attacked by hives, especially at night when dozens of welts erupt all over my body.  At first I did nothing.  Then I tried cream after ointment after cream before going the classic route and picking up a bottle of plain calamine lotion from Rite Aid.  But that lotion is very r

Birds diversified in big bang after dinosaurs died out. Reposted from World Science. A ma­jor new study sheds new light on how and when birds evolved and ac­quired fea­tures such as feath­ers, flight and song, sci­en­tists say. The study charts a burst of ev­o­lu­tion that took place af­ter the di­no­saurs sud­denly died out, about 66 mil­lion years ago. Sci­en­tists say this burst oc­curr­ed as new forms exploited op­port­uni­ties left open by the absence of the din­o­saurs,

Here is Dharma Rose’s Advice on the matter: “Do you find it hard to say “no”? If so, you’re not alone. Many people find themselves saying “yes” to things they don’t really want to agree to out of fear they’ll appear selfish or rude… or in an effort to avoid conflict or hurting another person’s feelings. Saying “no” isn’t always easy, but it IS vital to your own self care. You see, healthy people have healthy boundaries, and part of being healthy is occasionally saying no to r

Today’s message from Abraham Hicks looks at health and healing. “All Ailments Resolve Themselves. All things do resolve themselves, if allowed. All things do. ALL things do resolve themselves — if allowed. You say, “Some things resolve themselves,” and you believe that. And when we say all things resolve themselves, you don’t really believe that. You want to, but you don’t have personal proof about it. There’s the belief that says, “Well, I really don’t believe all things res

Originally posted May 15th, 2012, this is a short introduction to chamomile and ginger, two herbs that are very powerful for healing and for coping with allergies in particular. Chamomile and Ginger: Two Herbs You Need to Consume More Of We all have herbs and spices in our cupboards. Whether it’s to season a favorite dish or to brew as our favorite tea, herbs and spices make our lives better. Two of the most common herbs in our pantries are also the most useful-particularly f

April 30th, 2012 I spend a lot of time at the computer. Odds are really good so do you. So it should not be shocking when the repetitive motions of clicking, typing, and texting takes a toll on our fingers, hands, wrists, arms, and backs. All of these are connected. We’ve been told for years that surgery is the only real way to correct the damage done by so much repetitive motion-but as I learned from a neighbor who has carpal tunnel surgery, such surgeries do not provide the

Written May 7th, 2012 after a rushed eye appointment led to an incorrect prescription for my eye glasses, this article is designed to help you get the most out of your next eye exam. Screening Optometry: Five Questions to Ask Before You Schedule Your Routine Eye Appointment How to Ensure You Receive a Quality Eye Exam Optometry is big business! Every year, the optical industry generates $14 billion (http://www.ibisworld.com/industry/default.aspx?indid=1560). That’s a lot of e

This article I wrote after becoming very ill from my west end Johnstown neighbor’s smoke which filtered into my apartment.  As I researched, a learned a great deal about how second and third hand smoke makes non smokers sick. Third-Hand Smoke: The Hidden Danger to Apartment Living Neighbors Smoking Tobacco, Drugs Literally Makes You Sick August 28th, 2013 Monday August 19th. An odd putrescence fills my bathroom and home office through the walls and ventilation system of my ap

May 16th, 2012 Heavily anorexic from prescription migraine therapy, this photo of me from September 11th, 2010 at Coney Island shows how unhealthy the American concept of beauty is. Summer is coming and with it, our thoughts turn to warmer days, picnics, and especially time by the pool or at the beach. Probably more than any other time of the year, women start measuring themselves, getting on the scales, and worrying about their weight, dress size, and measurements. It can be

This is one of the few pictures of me with a white cane taken in July 2010. I’m only a size 2 in this picture following three years at the time of taking a very strong prescription migraine medicine that nearly killed me (I weighed just 83 lbs at the time). My dear friend Alexandra Butcher interviewed me this weekend regarding the special challenges I face as a low vision author.  Since I don’t want to be typecast into people’s stereotypes of the differently-abled, I usually