Steven Pressfield writes a lot about Resistance, sometimes called procrastination.
When Pressfield got back from Israel after conducting interviews for the film The Lion’s Gate,
he had almost five hundred hours of tape from about eighty
interviewees—soldiers, tankers, and airmen who had fought in the Six Day
War of 1967.
He wanted to be accurate, he wanted to give justice to the men who fought. And he found he was loitering.
He said all he
saw was confusion. I kept waiting for the picture to come into focus. But it
never did. I could’ve spent a year transcribing interviews and been just as
uncertain as I was at the start.
Sometimes you have to fly straight into the chaos.
And as writers, sometimes you have to tell yourself, “Just write the damn
thing!”
“If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.”
― Albert Einstein
Well, I tried to explain to my
12-year-old grandson that his showers make him feel better because they
were giving off negative ions.
He thought that was the funniest thing
he had ever heard. That was until I pressed upon him that it was real
science, not some pie in the sky stuff.
Of course, I couldn’t explain ions
because I didn’t understand them. My physicist husband said something
about the rushing of water creates negative charges in the molecules of
water. That rather turned my grandson to my side, but understand it? I
still don’t.
To quote Einstein once again, “Never memorize something that you can look up.”
According to my grandson,
if the internet doesn’t confirm it, it can’t be valid. Lucky me.
Internet confirmed that, yes, running water somehow charges the charge
of an atom or molecule.
And those negative ions have a magical effect on our bodies.
Vitamins of the Air?
Generally speaking, negative ions
increase the flow of oxygen to the brain; resulting in higher alertness,
decreased drowsiness, and more mental energy,” says Pierce J. Howard,
Ph.D., author of The Owners Manual for the Brain: Everyday Applications
from Mind-Brain Research and director of research at the Center for
Applied Cognitive Sciences in Charlotte, N.C.
“They also may protect against germs in
the air, resulting in decreased irritation due to inhaling various
particles that make you sneeze, cough, or have a throat irritation.”
And for a whopping one in three
of us who are sensitive to their effects, negative ions can make us feel
like we are walking on air. You are one of them if you feel instantly
refreshed the moment you open a window and breathe in fresh, humid air.
(Shucks, I thought everyone could feel the effects.)
“You may be one of them if you feel
sleepy when you are around an air-conditioner, but feel immediately
refreshed and invigorated when you step outside or roll down the car
window,” Howard tells WebMD. “Air conditioning depletes the atmosphere
of negative ions, but an ion generator re-releases the ions that air
conditioners remove.”
There’s something in the air, and while it may not be love, some say it’s the next best thing.
Negative ions are odorless,
tasteless, and invisible molecules that we inhale in abundance in
specific environments. Think mountains, waterfalls, and beaches. Once
they reach our bloodstream, negative ions are believed to produce
biochemical reactions that increase the mood chemical serotonin level,
helping to alleviate depression, relieve stress, and boost our daytime
energy.
By Denise Mann Medically Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD From the WebMD Archives
Science 101
Ions are molecules that have gained or
lost an electrical charge. They are created in nature as air molecules
break apart due to sunlight, radiation,
moving air, and water. You may have experienced the power of negative
ions when you last set foot on the beach or walked beneath a waterfall.
While part of the euphoria is simply being around these wondrous
settings and away from the everyday pressures of home and work, the air
circulating in the mountains and the beach is said to contain tens of
thousands of negative ions — Much more than the average home or office
building, which contain dozens or hundreds, and many register a flat
zero.
“The action of the pounding surf creates
negative air ions, and we also see it immediately after spring
thunderstorms when people report lightened moods,” says ion researcher
Michael Terman, Ph.D. of Columbia University in New York.
Updated September 04, 2019
Generating Negative Ions: Every home has a built-in natural ionizer — the shower.
While we are on the subject of science, I would like to introduce my husband, Neil.
Here is his new website: If you are an inventor, a hobbyist, or a doodler, you might be interested.
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