For thousands of centuries, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been treating illness and misalignments using many of the common everyday spices found in most common kitchens. This healing art uses different modalities to treat the body, such as acupuncture, acupressure, and herbs. Some medicinal uses of common spices include using cinnamon as a blood circulation stimulater, cloves to increase sexual potency, turmeric to help dissolve tumors, and ginger to calm indigestion. Within the last decade, acupuncture has become a booming business. With 3.1 million adults and 150,000 children choosing acupuncture as a form of treatment for illness or prevention, it has become more acceptable in medical practices.

I broke the cardinal rule: I had a one-night stand with a married man. Thing is, there weren’t really any rules to break. Side note–I have no doubt that this piece will rub some people the wrong way, that they will be unable to see the why or the how, instead only seeing the what. I understand this perspective. But while there are parts that are very personal, this is about something much bigger than me, and in a way, is a question we all must face at some point in our lives–End note. So yes, I had a one-night stand with a married man. But it wasn’t a one-night stand in the traditional sense.

We have an opportunity here to not only lengthen our lives and save money, but also to live better lives. Having health coverage does not mean the government can, or will, control our daily decisions, that people can be or will be lazy in taking care of their health, or that the country will go bankrupt and the terrorists will take over. Having health coverage simply means no one will lose their home because they got into an accident, it will keep people from waiting until they are really sick to see a doctor (which can help keep long-term health costs down), and that a country which prides itself on taking care of the world in need will actually be taking care of its own people in the process.