Widow's Voice

Optimizing

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A photo of the shadow of a person on a sandy path with tall beach grass

I’m kind of the polar opposite to my departed spouse when it comes to health. Oh sure, I had some “party years” back when I was younger, but by the time I hit 30, I was pretty much over all of that. Looking back, I honestly think that was a healthy approach to do all that when I was young and “invincible”. I had a lot of fun and experiences that would just hit really different if I’d done it all after 30. I think the only reason why I made it through that era and can look back on it in that way is because I always knew my limits. I never wanted to be totally out of control. I also never had a problem with depression. Mario was the opposite of all of that. I guess opposites really do attract.

Anyway, by the time I was getting close to 30, lifestyle choices were catching up with me. Luckily, I’m a bit of a hypochondriac too, so that tendency kicked in around that time and on a very conscious level I knew I needed to pay more attention to both my physical and mental health.

Luckily for me, one of my uncles, who taught Psychology and was super into martial arts and didn’t live too far away from me at the time, introduced me to some different modalities, some different ways of thinking, and to Traditional Chinese Medicine. That was kind of the start down a new path for me.

Well before the term “bio-hacking” became a thing, I was doing some wild experimentation into a wide variety of modalities, supplements, products, and even plenty of “woo-woo” stuff. I’ve been at this for a little over two decades now. Here’s just an off-the-top-of-my-head list of things I’ve tried over the years:

  • Karate
  • Yoga
  • Reiki
  • Traditional Chinese Medicine
  • Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP)
  • Psychokinesiology (PK)
  • Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)
  • Shamanism
  • Qi Gong
  • Sauna (traditional and infrared)
  • Pilates
  • Massage Therapy
  • Supplements (too many over the years to list)
  • Red Light Therapy
  • Biofield Tuning
  • Hypnotherapy
  • Law of Attraction
  • Going to hot springs
  • Dynamic Manual Interface
  • Personal Trainers
  • Magic
  • Eden Energy Medicine
  • Matrix Reimprinting
  • Wearable tech
  • Full genome sequencing
  • Nutritionists
  • Tons of blood tests for various bio markers
  • Breema
  • The Silva Method
  • Sound Therapy
  • Earthing
  • Meditation
  • Isolation Floats
  • Intermitent Fasting
  • 10x Fitness
  • Feng Shui
  • Breathwork
  • Shamanic Journeying
  • Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT)

This isn’t even a complete list. Believe me, I’ve tried A LOT. You may think I’m crazy, but remember, this is over the course of 20+ years of time too. I also move pretty quickly on from something I’ve tried that I don’t really experience a positive reaction to or “vibe with”, for lack of a better word. Some things have worked really well, while others did absolutely nothing.

I feel like in one way, I consider myself kind of an expert in the pursuit of health and longevity (at least on a personal level), but I also consider myself an explorer. I’m always looking for new things. I’m the kind of nerd where I find this sort of stuff fun and when I find something that actually works for me, it’s still exciting and wondrous to me.

So here I am on December 1st, 2023 and I’ve been thinking a lot about all of this because my intention for this year was to learn as much as I could on topics related to health and longevity and really optimize myself.

Mario always said he’d never make it to 50. He was a sad, self-fulfilling prophecy there. It sucks that he’s not physically here to see some of the successes of my optimizing this year. He always got a kick out of me trying different modalities (especially the weirder or more esoteric ones) and things.

Perhaps because he made an early exit, it has motivated me even more to ramp up my optimizing for health and longevity in year two post-Mario (year one was spent fulling giving into grief and wallowing if I’m being honest). But there’s something else that’s bubbled up from my subconscious recently–I don’t have someone to grow old with and look out for me as I age and walk down this path of life (nor do I have any kids). It’s not just a desire to be healthy and to have fun exploring ways to “hack” longevity that motivates me, but a real need to do so, so that I continue creating, caring for those in my life (both people and pets), helping others, experiencing life, traveling, learning, being physically fit enough to do the things I want, and everything else that comes with the passage of time and a life well lived.

About Sherry Holub

I met my spouse, Mario, at UCLA School of Art in 1993. After graduating in 1995, I founded a small agency specializing in web and graphic design. Mario became my partner in the company in 1999. In 2002, we were married at the Costa Mesa, CA court house because neither of us wanted a big wedding ceremony (after already being together since 1995).

Mario was a highly talented artist, musician, illustrator and 3D Designer, but a tortured one. He was one of those gentle, creative souls who ended up burning twice as bright for half as long. Mario lost the battle with liver disease induced by alcoholism (almost exactly 6 months after he became sober) on 2/10/21.

I’m a long-time artist and writer with a background in photography who enjoys cooking, getting outdoors, staying young at heart, and sharing experiences to potentially help others. When it comes to writing, I’ve written both for fun and professionally over the years. Writing is also sometimes therapy for me and I don’t mind sharing my personal experiences with a wider audience.