WELLNESS

Terry Whitehead Member, Wellness Committee ARTA

You can find pill cameras that transmit data from your intestines, a single-dose drug to wipe out cancer, mini livers injected into lymph nodes, nanomaterial to melt fat in targeted areas, and pacemakers smaller than a grain of rice. After a moment of excitement comes the realization that some of these are AI-generated, some are dreams that are too expensive to be viable, and some may happen but not in my lifetime. I am glad we have people inspired enough to imagine all these wonderful innovations and bring them to life.

I also loved reading about Jeanne Calment, the oldest woman in France, who was believed to be 122 years old when she passed away. She never had to work but led a leisurely yet healthy lifestyle, including fencing, cycling, tennis, swimming, roller-skating, hunting, and playing the piano. Since she outlived her family,

she signed a contract with her lawyer to receive a monthly income in exchange for her spacious apartment after her death. In her nineties, she was still biking in Paris, outlived her lawyer, and when she died, his family discovered they had paid triple what her apartment was worth!

My parents spent the first ten years of their marriage in a granary converted to resemble a home. They had four children during this time with no electricity or running water and only an outhouse. They hauled in drinking water from the Peace River. Since we did not have electricity or heat, we left every winter to stay with my grandmother in Vancouver or rented a small house in town. I was even blessed to spend half of my Grade 1 year in Sacramento, California.

We were very healthy, playing all day, building forts with bales of hay, walking, biking, and eating basic healthy meals. Even when we moved into the family farmhouse, we maintained this healthy lifestyle. When I left home, I continued eating healthy foods, like homemade yogurt and rice with sardines. I put myself through university with student loans and waitressing for $ 1.25 per hour. When I found out my parents paid for my sister’ s college education, I mentioned there were times when I did not have enough money for food. My mother’ s response was“ Maybe that was a good thing— at least you stayed skinny!”

42 | arta. net STAY IMAGINE HEALTHY