The New Age Health Promise

Everyone's experience is unique.  Everyone's body is unique.

New Agers cannot admit this.

They're as dogmatic as any other religion that way.  Any evidence that you "Just weren't praying with a pure heart," or "Not focusing with pure intent," or that your karma is bad (and how can any human being judge another human's FREAKING KARMA?!) means that the promise that Anything is possible! still follows, as long as you are doing it right.  It's a lot like women who believe diets will make them beautiful.  Diets can make one downright ugly-but don't tell the dieter that.  She's in pursuit of her dream.  She doesn't want to hear that starvation will not pay off with a Cinderella moment.  It's another one of those Satanic contracts, those promises that everyone is in love with.

I've talked to two people this week who saw documentaries and decided they knew stuff.  One guy had seen "Food, Inc" and now believes that everything is about cleansing, and that no man should ever need Viagra if he's healthy enough.  I told him about my vegan, mega-yoga practitioner ex who couldn't do without it.  He was flummoxed, offended, and doubtful.  Why trust the word of someone who had seen The Promise fail?

Another guy was telling me that my migraines just needed a chiropractor.  I told him about sinus migraines.  He was flummoxed, offended, and of course, directly after, doubtful.  Then he segued directly to, "But how is your diet?"  Oh, BOY do people say this delicately when you're overweight, but when you are it's a license to take that tack because you clearly deserve it.  Your weight is your fault.  You got yourself into this.

Illness is unique and often mysterious.  In EMT class I remember talking to a number of paramedics who would witness that fact with story after story. Healthy people die for no discernible reason.  Obese chain-smokers often live deep into their 80's, and that's the worst thing of all to a New Ager-how dare people who live wrong live well?

New Agers frequently are rude, unsupportive and unkind to sick people because they've got a lot to lose if they are wrong about The Promise.  But in the Universe I dwell in, there are no easy answers and most importantly, there are no promises kept.