A
natural burial is the act of returning a body as naturally as possible
to the earth. To achieve this, it is recommend that the body not be
embalmed or cremated, but instead buried in a simple casket or shroud,
in a protected green space.

This tummy blanket for trees is called a komomaki
(written as 薦巻 or こも巻き). It’s an old Edo period method to control pine
moths. The insects feed on pine leaves, but when it gets cold in winter,
they crawl down the tree to spend the winter in the dead leaves on the
ground. The mat serves as a trap: it’s loosely tied at the top but
tightly fastened at the bottom. The insects crawl into the mat, where
it’s snug and warm, and then in spring you remove the mat and burn it
with all its inhabitants. 

She sleeps all day,
dreams of you in both worlds,
tills the blood in and out of uterus,
wakes up smelling of zinc.

Grief sedated by orgasm,
orgasm heightened by grief.

God was in the room
when the man said to the woman
I love you so
much wrap your legs around
me pull me in pull me in pull
me in pullme in pull mein
pullmein

Sometimes when he had her
nipple in his mouth she’d whisper
                Allah-
this too is a form of worship.

It smelt like flowers the last time she
buried the friend with the kind eyes.
The last time she buried her face
into his mattress, frangipani.

Her hips grind,
pestle and mortar,
cinnamon and cloves.
Whenever he pulls out:
                  loss.

Grief Has Its Blue Hands in Her Hair by Warsan Shire

What I remember most about emotional abuse is that it’s like being put in a box. How you end up in there is the biggest trick – I never managed to work that one out. Maybe you think it’s a treasure box at first: you’re in there because you’re special. Soon the box starts to shrink. Every time you touch the edges there is an “argument”. So you try to make yourself fit. You curl up, become smaller, quieter, remove the excessive, offensive parts of your personality – you begin to notice lots of these. You eliminate people and interests, change your behaviour. But still the box gets smaller. You think it’s your fault. The terrible, unforgivable too-muchness of you is to blame. You don’t realise that the box is shrinking, or who is making it smaller. You don’t yet understand that you will never, ever be tiny enough to fit, or silent enough to avoid a row

It’s time to make emotional abuse a crime, Lauren Laverne

Greenness around homes linked to lower mortality



Women live longer in areas with more green vegetation, according to
new research funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health. Women with
the highest levels of vegetation, or greenness, near their homes had a
12 percent lower death rate compared to women with the lowest levels of
vegetation near their homes. The results were published Apr. 14, 2016 in
the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

The researchers found the biggest differences in death rates from
kidney disease, respiratory disease, and cancer. The researchers also
explored how an environment with trees, shrubs, and plants might lower
mortality rates. They showed that improved mental health and social
engagement are the strongest factors, while increased physical activity
and reduced air pollution also contribute.

“It is important to know that trees and plants provide health
benefits in our communities, as well as beauty,” said NIEHS director
Linda Birnbaum, Ph.D. “The finding of reduced mortality suggests that
vegetation may be important to health in a broad range of ways.”

Reference: James P, Hart JE, Banay RF, Laden F. Exposure to
greenness and mortality in a nationwide prospective cohort study of
women. Environmental Health Perspectives; doi:10.1289/ehp.1510363
[Online 14 Apr 2016].

Image: TreeHouse Point, Issaquah, WA

The Bajau
of southeast Asia are a nomadic, Indigenous population of people who
are primarily seaborne – meaning that they live their entire lives, from
birth to death, on the open water, venturing onto land only rarely to
sell or trade their wares. Traditionally from the Philippines, they see
themselves as a non-aggressive people, and keep close to the water by
building their houses on stilts and traveling mainly by boat. Bajau are
particularly noted for their skill in free-diving, which can be in
excess of five hours per day while they hunt for fish and valuables like
pearls and coins. A small minority of Bajau even choose to
intentionally puncture their eardrums at a young age in order to
facilitate diving.

Unlike many of the neighboring populations, Bajau are egalitarian, highly individualistic, and do not practice a caste system. (Source)