wombat_socho

New study: Viewing art in galleries 'immediately' reduces cortisol levels, boosts health

“Our unique and original study provides compelling evidence that viewing art in a gallery is ‘good for you’ and helps to further our understanding of its fundamental benefits,” Dr. Tony Woods, the study’s senior author, said.

“In essence, art doesn’t just move us emotionally — it calms the body too.”

More specifically, cortisol levels — a key stress hormone in the human body — fell by an average of 22% in the gallery group, compared to just 8% in the control group.

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Here is my card for the Fairy Tales and Fantasy Stories Bingo over in allbingo. The fest runs from November 1-30. (See all my 2025 bingo cards.)

If you'd like to sponsor a particular square, especially if you have an idea for what character, series, or situation it would fit -- talk to me and we'll work something out. I've had a few requests for this and the results have been awesome so far. This is a good opportunity for those of you with favorites that don't always mesh well with the themes of my monthly projects. I may still post some of the fills for free, because I'm using this to attract new readers; but if it brings in money, that means I can do more of it. That's part of why I'm crossing some of the bingo prompts with other projects, such as the Poetry Fishbowl.

Underlined prompts have been filled.


FAIRY TALES BINGO CARD

Pixie	The Nightingale	The deeds of ordinary folks keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.	Vision	Castle
Glory	Hero	Elves	Journey	Enchanted
Music	Very little worth knowing is taught by fear.	WILD CARD	Golden Hair	Fairies
Fairy Ring	Solitude	Shadow	The Dark Tower	Twilight
Golem	Trickster	Once Upon a Time	I didn't want power. All I wanted was control. Over my life.	Magical Power

Tonight we held our Samhain ritual, with a theme of Hekate.  It rained a few days ago so we were able to light the bonfire.  \o/  We had a really good time. 

Famous witch Patricia Crowther has crossed over.

And there is much rejoicing in the Summerland!

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I saw this line elsenet and thought it would be fun to share here:

What day does the Christmas season begin?

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libraries as resistance

In a system that wants to dismantle education and undermine critical thought, libraries become sanctuaries of truth, radical hope, and quiet rebellion.


Generously stocked, freely accessible, public libraries are ideal.

However, if the government destroys them, we have another option: private libraries run by actual bookworms. A library can be stocked quite cheaply with used books, hence the Little Free Library movement and swap shelves. But if you have or can afford to rent or buy space in a building, then you can provide a bigger collection. A private library is not at the mercy of the government, and you are free to do things like ban censorship.