It's that time of year that everyone is making lists, talking about who's who and sizing up everything that happened in 2008. At the end of a year, your mind can also feed you some pretty tough questions about yourself.

Why didn’t you lose the weight? Why did you not sell those stocks and get into cash? Why are you still single?   Read more...

Earth911.com writes, “Between 30 and 35 million real Christmas trees are sold in the U.S. each year.” They say that 93 percent of those trees are being recycled through more than 4,000 treecycling programs.

Treecycling is a simple way to put your tree (a renewable natural resource) back into the environment instead of in a landfill where decomposition rates are slow or burning your tree which can release harmful toxins into the air and creates fire hazards.   Read more...

Hope Milner, a mother of three teenagers, became exasperated watching her kids buy, wear and toss t-shirts with increasing frequency. The end result? ReTeez www.reteez.com was born. ReTeez is a green, eco-friendly and innovative company that creates bags, totes and accessories from old recycled t-shirts.

Using an unconventional material, the company is not only reducing waste but also creating one-of-a-kind treasures. Milner explains, “With three growing teenagers, at least twice a year I would pack up their t-shirts and send them to the local Salvation Army. They changed their t-shirts like most women change pantyhose. In general, people don’t hang onto tees for very long. I wanted to figure out a way to do something with these shirts.”   Read more...

Ferris embraced the principle that "fear is your friend" while overcoming his trepidation of swimming, dancing and learning new languages.   Read more...

If Santa brought your family the purrrfect pet this Christmas, we’re sure you want to give that pet the best care possible. One important thing to take into consideration is your new pet’s diet. What will your new puppy or kitty friend be eating this holiday season?

It seems organic pet food is the way to go. It’s better for your pet, better for you, and better for the environment. Organic pet food is produced without petroleum-based pesticides or fertilizers and uses meat from animals that are raised humanely and fed well.   Read more...

I receive the question quite often about meditation in my clinical practice. What is meditation? How do I do it? And what are the benefits? Quite simply, meditation is the intentional practice of experiencing life in the present moment. It's about realizing the power of now vs. the power of the past or future.

When we meditate, we can feel our breath trickle past our nose, tickle our throat, and expand our lungs and diaphragm. It is the moment when we lie down in bed after a long day, and luxuriate in the warmth and comfort of the sheets. And it is the sipping and enjoyment of a frosty mug of beer.   Read more...

Good news rarely makes the headlines... except in Ode. To celebrate 2008 - and anticipate more good news to come in 2009 - here are Ode's 10 most positive stories from the year that was.   Read more...

J. Craig Venter discusses his work with Synthetic Genomics, where he studied carbon feeding organisms in ocean sinks.   Read more...

Peter Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X Prize Foundation, speaks at the Long Now Foundation about the history of the X Prize. The X Prize Foundation bring about radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity by creating and managing prizes that drive innovators to solve some of the greatest challenges facing the world today.   Read more...

Intelligent optimists are generally health conscious people who know how to take care of themselves and their families. All of us probably realize that what you put IN your body is very important. So hopefully you are eating a clean diet. My favorite book on the subject is Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food". In it he encourages us to avoid "manufactured food-like substances" or processed foods.

One area of toxicity that often is overlooked though, is what you put in your ears, eyes and mind. I am talking about what you ingest mentally; the news, newspapers, movies, etc.   Read more...