“Habits are more about who you’re being than what you’re doing,” says NY Times bestselling author of the Badass Series, Jen Sincero in her just released Badass Habits. If that doesn’t feel like cold water thrown in your face, I don’t know what does. It’s the New Year and no resolution or goal can be met without identifying the habits that are keeping you from achieving your wants, needs and desires. In the last year, we all have developed a backbone strong enough to get real with ourselves. You can’t change your behavior to aspire to new goals if you don’t change your habits—the pesky routines on autopilot that may be holding you back from reaching your full potential. You don’t mean to be working against yourself, but your bad habits sure do.

Like a grand marshal waving in the first float of the parade, a grand lunar trine kicks off this month on a high note with expectations of ascending tones. A procession of ever-more impressive happenings is on display for anyone inclined to give them attention. Mars will change signs and people begin to relate differently, seeking a connection between their experience and the experience of others.

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January can get you down with more than the blues. It’s the month down South when the cold really kicks in, and brings with it common winter illnesses such as cold, flu and respiratory infections. Ugh! These winter woes can make you feel terrible. That’s why it’s important to know as much as you can about how to avoid and rapidly cure these sneezing, coughing, stuffy, achy, miserable ailments.

Q: We have a 10-year-old daughter who runs our family. We allowed her to begin dictating to us when she began talking and it’s just gone slowly downhill ever since. She manipulates us with shrieking tantrums, disrespect, and downright refusal to do what we tell her to do. We must have done something right, however, because she gets nothing but praise and compliments from teachers, coaches, and her peers’ parents. We can hardly believe they are describing the same child. Is it too late to turn this around? If not, what should we do? We’re desperate.

#MotivateMe is Paisley’s first 2021 theme of the New Year, and we have gleaned some stories to get you motivated for the New Year. Meet Cherise, Tammy, Meghan, and Stephanie—women wisely using self-motivation to make changes in their lives and in our community.

The sun is in its send-off phase of the wild ride of 2020. Dec. 10 brings the final solar trine of the year, and the sun has chosen Mars, the warrior, in fully armored Aries. It’s a bright push of aggressive energy, like the charge of battle or a surge of war cries, each led by its own conquering spirit. Now, where should this mighty power be directed? The enemy is our own resistance to evolving.

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Non-invasive is all the buzz in the world of cosmetic procedures that can help restore a more youthful appearance almost anywhere on your body. However, in talking with a surgeon who is board certified in plastic surgery, we found out that some elective surgeries are still the only way to achieve certain results. The great news is when you combine surgery with some of today’s non-invasive, state-of-the-art technology, which is a true art in plastic surgery, your results can be exactly what you wanted. We asked about some of the most popular plastic surgery procedures, and here’s what we learned.

Q: We sent our daughter a recent article of yours hoping it might cause her to rethink her approach to raising our grandson. It was not well-received and she is no longer speaking to us. The child, age four, is quite ill-behaved. Our daughter makes one excuse after another for him: he was premature, he was hospitalized at age three and now has PTSD, he might have a biochemical imbalance, and so on. We feel that his real and only problem is lack of discipline. For example, when he’s with us, he’s perfectly well behaved. We love our grandson, but don’t like being around him when his parents are running the show. What should we do now?

Holiday greetings from all of us at Paisley Magazine! Once again, I get to pose “by and on” Market on Newcastle’s big Christmas tree decorated by their staff! Thank you, Melissa Bagby Ramsey.

Welcome to December’s magazine, themed #BeTheDifference. This holiday issue is full of encouragement and inspiration. We are featuring four dedicated local women in service to others: Dr. Michelle Johnston, Tres Hamilton, Dr. Shirley Wilson and Judy Wolfe. Plus, our special salute to The Brunswick Christmas Parade—the absolute best hometown holiday event—is on page 8. Mathew Hill and all the Christmas Elves at the City of Brunswick DDA are in preparation. I hope to see you at the parade on Dec 5th!

Like the large diamond found glistening on the ground in a state park, this month brings cosmic treasures we won’t have to dig for. Mercury returns to Scorpio promoting blunt honesty, then Jupiter and Pluto come together in an embrace of abundance. There is no need to go back in history or seek esoteric knowledge. Solutions are simple instead of profound and will be found through practical communications that go the usual depths.

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If something is named heartburn, reflux or GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease), it can’t be good. While usually not life-threatening, acid reflux, and all it’s monikers, definitely can threaten your quality of life. GERD has no respect for decadence on the dinner table, and no one wants to enjoy a delicious filet minion paired with a big,
full-bodied glass of cabernet only to have to follow it up with plop, plop fizz, fizz as dessert. So what is GERD and how can you manage it? Read on to comfortably digest what our local medical experts have to say about this
uncomfortable condition.

As just about everyone who has lived with a child for more than two years knows, the most potentially dangerous thing one can say to a toddler is “no.” That single syllable strikes deep into the core of the reptilian portion of the toddler brain, arousing a reaction that dwarfs Godzilla’s most destructive rampage.

“Should I simply ignore my two-year-old’s tantrums?” a young mother asks.

 “Can you?”

She ponders that for a moment or two. “Not really.”

Ignoring is about as over-rated as it gets, especially when it comes to toddler tantrums. Nothing brings out a toddler’s inner Godzilla like being ignored. That same mother, for example, reported that when she ignored a tantrum, it quickly escalated into hitting, biting, and head-banging. If she began walking away, her live-in maniac would wrap himself around her leg, shrieking like a banshee.

Welcome to our November issue, also known as Paisley’s 150th! Thanks to you, our magazine’s trusted editorial record in extraordinarily empowering and positive stories of phenomenal women continues.

November 11th commemorates Veterans Day. We met with Kelly Lynn McCook (pictured right), Staff Sergeant, Marine Corps, Retired (2018) at Glynn County Veterans Memorial Park for photos. But there’s more.

It’s pretty easy to have a stellar attitude when you know your purpose and you have what you need to execute it. But if you don’t have what you need, the purpose alone could still be enough. The trouble comes when people are mistaken about or don’t know what is their purpose. Better to just to name one and go after it than to stress over which one to claim. Clarity of purpose will be the saving grace to this Mercury retrograde.

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There is no doubt almost everyone in the world has had a brush with stress this year. For many, daily living routines have become overwhelming, sparking a growing trend of sadness, anxiety and depression. In our modern-day world, where we flit here and there, overload our to-do lists, argue over every little thing and rarely relax without some type of electronic device, the rat-race now sets the pace many follow. That combined with Covid-19, elections, violence and social distancing—it’s no wonder feelings of panic and hopelessness are at an all-time high. However, there is help. We asked our local health professionals to weigh-in on anxiety and depression to help us understand what it is, how it affects us and what we can do about it.

A mother in California seeks her pastor’s opinion on allowing her 15-year-old son to have a smart phone. The boy claims that if he can’t use social media, he will have no friends. Mom is skeptical concerning the claim and afraid of other Internet experiences the youngster might be drawn to if he has a smart phone.

The pastor tells Mom that her son needs to learn to navigate the realities of the Internet and learn to use a smart phone responsibly before he goes off to college. Three years! The Doomsday Clock is ticking!

“Help me out here,” Mom asks me.

Inspired by the Langston Hughes poetic quote, “Gather out of stardust earth dust, cloud dust, and splinters of hail—one handful of dream dust—not for sale”, this mural by Cullen Peck can be found at the corner of Egmont and Howe Streets in downtown Brunswick. Part of the Community of Hope project sponsored by Glynn Visual Arts, “Dream Dust” brings to life the connection of childhood memories and dreamscapes. (More artworks by Cullen Peck at the Ritz Theatre Oct 2-Nov 20)

The reversal of Jupiter and other planetary liberations will fly a permission slip into the month. Do your feelings. Emote. If happy, then feel the joy and dance on. Talking about why and trying to sort out the recipe diminishes the good feeling. The same goes for negative feelings. When you’re sad, angry, ashamed, just call it that, feel it and work it through. Don’t muddle things up by intellectualizing with a story or an explanation.

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Really? Do I still need the sex talk?

Of course you do! Sex isn’t a one-and-done when it comes to talking and learning about your sexual needs, desires and health. Our bodies change as the decades go by, which impacts your sexual health with new issues always arising. To achieve your best sexual health—and keep your intimacy in shape—be sure to talk to your doctor regularly about any concerns, strange sensations, or noticeable changes you may be experiencing. Don’t be afraid to ask any question, even if you find it embarrassing. Remember, sex is a science that your doctor has studied for years. One last thing: Tell all! You have to be 100 percent honest and detailed with your physician if you want the best solution. Rest assured, doctors really have heard it all!

Our 10-month-old son has recently discovered the joys of throwing finger food on the floor at mealtimes. He doesn’t seem to care if I feed it to him myself, one piece at a time, but isn't it important that he start feeding himself?

Not to worry. The emergence of “throwing food on the floor behavior” at this age, especially if a dog is waiting below, is indisputable indication that the child’s development, not to mention sense of humor, is proceeding according to plan.

Years ago, my mother taught me an easy embroidery stitch to create one-of-a-kind card stock tiny houses. Designed as gift boxes, I stuff socks, winter gloves, or chocolates in them to create smiles. I use my Nana Millen’s postcards from the early twentieth century of which I have hundreds. She was the one who taught my mom. How do you like this one?

Countdown to Uranus Retrograde In these final days of Uranus direct, it is prudent to note the many ways in which our lives are enchanted by all that was built before we got here. Usually, what seems like immediate magic is actually the result of a long stretch of work that included hits, failed experiments and predictable wins. Keep this in mind as you go forward creating what someone in the future is likely to experience as immediate magic.

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Is the constant desire to eat and a love of food considered addictive? How do people get relief from their obsessive food thoughts, which can lead to dangerous weight gain? What types of treatment are available?   

Although unlisted in the manual of psychiatric diagnoses, the concept of food addiction has gained a toehold in medical literature according to WebMD.

In 1972, a Stanford University psychologist conducted a study in which young children, individually, were offered either a small but immediate reward (a marshmallow or a pretzel) or a doubled reward if they were able to wait for fifteen minutes. In follow-up studies, researchers found that children who were able to postpone gratification experienced better life outcomes as measured by such things as SAT scores, academic achievement, and body mass index.

I have long maintained that well-done research in the so-called social sciences does nothing but confirm common sense, and it certainly seems commonsensical that impulsivity and difficulty delaying gratification have a negative impact on life outcomes. The Stanford Marshmallow Experiment, as it is known, bears significantly on childrearing attitudes and approaches. Simply, teaching a naturally impulse-driven child to exercise restraint greatly increases the child’s chances of success.