Peaceful Surroundings

Because 85% of the average person's time is spent indoors, how that space is arranged is important. Does the space - its decor, organization, colors, and arrangement - have a positive effect or a negative effect? Does it encourage feelings of peace and serenity or tension and stress?

By surrounding yourself with things you use and love, you are creating a nurturing environment. By learning and applying little tips and tricks of what encourages a peaceful environment - including the principles of feng shui - you can increase your enjoyment of everyday living.

Another key to creating a peaceful space is effective organization. The average person spends 55 minutes a day looking for things! By implementing an organizational system that works for you, you can eliminate that wasted time. What's more, you can eliminate the inner stress that outer clutter causes.

Most people know life flows better when things have a home and are put away. However, either they have never learned how to organize or to use the principles of feng shui, or they are so busy with family, jobs, and other responsibilities that they need some assistance. This is where a professional can help. Their knowledgeable and objective assistance can lay the foundation for the years ahead - a neat, peaceful, and nurturing environment.

[This information thanks to professional organizer and certified feng shui practitioner Laura Magnussen of Organomix. For more information on Laura's services, visit Organomix.com.]

Local Event to Highlight Domestic Abuse, & Journeys toward Healing

by Julie Buchanan

Victims of domestic and sexual abuse come from every part of our society. They can be black, white, Asian or Latino; wealthy or poor; gay or straight; female or male.

On October 4, a series of monologues at the Swift Creek Mill Theatre will illustrate this fact. The Heart of the Matter: A Journey toward Healing is based on the real experiences of a diverse set of victims from Central Virginia. Their stories were adapted for the stage by Patricia Jones-Turner, coordinator of the Chesterfield County Domestic and Sexual Violence Resource Center.

The production is presented by the center, the Chesterfield Domestic Violence Task Force and the YWCA of Richmond to raise awareness about the issues of domestic and sexual abuse. Victims who are portrayed come from various backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses. Some of the victims are men.

“It gives a well-rounded perspective on domestic and sexual violence and how widespread it is,” said Patricia Jones-Turner, who has spent decades working with victims. “And because the performances are going to be intense, I think the public will take it seriously.”

Cast members for the monologues, directed by Craig Suiter, were selected after a call for auditions.

“It’s something important that the community needs to know about,” said Nikki Walsh, 21, a student at Longwood University who portrays a young victim of Russian descent. “A lot of people don’t think it will ever happen to them.”

Theresa Jones, 33, is an understudy for one of the roles. A survivor of sexual violence herself, she can identify with what her character is going through.
“I think it’ll have a big impact on the audience,” she said.

Recent numbers shed light on the effects of domestic and sexual violence locally.
The Virginia Department of Health reported in July that nearly one-third of all the state’s homicides in 2005 were family or intimate partner related. Almost 14 percent of all homicide victims were killed by an intimate partner.

Chesterfield County police responded to 1,663 calls for domestic violence in 2006. That same year, the county served 267 victims of sexual assault, most of whom were children. Since 2000, 20 adults and 15 children in the county have lost their lives as a result of domestic violence.

With the monologues, organizers hope to put a human face on such grim statistics. Donations for area programs that help victims also will be collected during both performances.

“It’s not going to be a feel-good thing,” said Becky Lee, chief program officer for the YWCA of Richmond. “But it’s absolutely educational and it’s to help. Without putting on the real faces of the victims, it’s about giving a voice to their stories. And I really believe it’s giving people something to connect to. Some people may come to see it who are victims but never said anything to anyone. In some ways, it may give them a voice, too.”

The Heart of the Matter: A Journey Toward Healing will be presented on October 4 at 8pm. Tickets are $22 and include a buffet before the show. Swift Creek Mill Theatre is at 17401 Jefferson Davis Highway, Colonial Heights. Tickets can be purchased by calling 804-748-5203.

For more information, call Patricia Jones-Turner at 804-706-1272.

15 Uses for Aluminum Foil

It's even more useful than I knew! Thank you, Reynolds!

Check out a list of 15 hints for making use of this versatile product at DIY Life online.

A Kiss Is Still a Kiss - Or Is It?

The Psychobiology of Romantic Kissing:
UAlbany study suggests that men and women's views diverge widely
on the significance of the kiss

Albany , N.Y. (September 13, 2007) - Research by the University at Albany shows that information conveyed by a kiss can have profound consequences for romantic relationships, and can even be a major factor in ending one. In results published in the August 2007 issue of the online journal Evolutionary Psychology [Volume 5(3) 2007], Susan M. Hughes, Marissa A. Harrison, and Gordon G. Gallup, Jr. reveal that many college students have found themselves attracted to someone, only to discover after they kissed them for the first time that they were no longer interested. “In other words,” said Gallup, an evolutionary psychologist, “While many forces lead two people to connect romantically, the kiss, particularly the first kiss, can be a deal breaker.”

The UAlbany study also found sex differences in the importance and type of kissing. Males tended to kiss as a means to an end—to gain sexual favors or to reconcile. In contrast, females kiss to establish and monitor the status of their relationship, and to assess and periodically update the level of commitment on the part of a partner.

In a sample of 1,041 college students, researchers found only five who had never experienced romantic kissing and more than 200 who estimated having kissed more than 20 partners.

According to the study, kissing between sexual or romantic partners occurs in more than 90 percent of human cultures. Some non-human animals, such as common chimpanzees and bonobos, appear to engage in kissing-like behaviors as well. Although kissing is a widespread practice among humans, few scientists have attempted to assess the adaptive significance of kissing behavior.

According to the researchers, not only do females place more emphasis on kissing, but most would never engage in sex without kissing. Females were more likely than males to insist on kissing before a sexual encounter, and more likely to emphasize the importance of kissing during and after sexual encounters as well. By comparison, males said they would be happy to have sex without kissing, and far more males than females expressed a willingness to have sex with someone who was not a “good” kisser.

The authors conclude that the study provides evidence that romantic kissing evolved as an adaptive courtship strategy that functions as a mate-assessment technique, a means of initiating sexual arousal and receptivity, and a way of maintaining a bonded relationship.

For the full study, visit http://www.epjournal.net/filestore/EP05612631.pdf.

The Beauty of Women - Vibrant Update #1

Welcome to Vibrant Updates, a diVersity of tidbits for the diVersity of women!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Domestic Violence Awareness Month. But it’s also the time for harvest, sweaters and chilly fall evenings, and Halloween. Our October Vibrant Updates will reflect all of these—and more. And first, V presents...

The Beauty of Women

View the Women in Art video.

What feature do these beautiful women share? A smile!

A Tribute to Breasts

Welcome to our Vibrant Updates. They're always new, sometimes funny, and sometimes challenging. We hope they make your life better in some way, whether through opening doors, cracking smiles, or shaking away the cobwebs.

Our first V Update is a tribute to the miracle of breast-feeding. I remember the rush I felt each time my breasts produced new food for my hungry babies! Opinions vary as to the proper time and place for these feedings, but every mother knows the joy of providing what her baby needs - in whatever manner and place those provisions are made. This video pays tribute to that great miracle of motherhood!

Check out A Tribute to Breasts for yourself.

David and Two Goliaths

For nearly three years, V has been able to grow at our own pace, concerned about our readers and our advertisers, but striving only to better ourselves each month. Such an simple ride was bound to end in a society as complex and competitive as 21st century America! Not only has Style introduced a women’s bimonthly magazine, Belle, but Media General / Richmond Times-Dispatch is introducing Skirt into the area this fall.

Belle has the financial backing and history not only of Style, but of Landmark Communications, Inc., a diversified holding company whose flagship subsidiary is The Weather Channel Companies. Skirt, of course, has its own history and the support of Media General. We’re not so fortunate—but we have our own strengths, and our own hopes.

Our hope is that Central Virginia is big enough for all of us. After all, there’s the RT-D, and Style; and Style and Brick; and MIX 103.7 and Light 98; and NBC12, CBS6, Channel 8, Fox, and PBS.

I appreciated a recent quote in the RT-D recently. Responding to increased grocer competition in the area, Robert Ukrop said, “We’re just going to stick to our knitting.”

Well, V is going to do the same. We’ve found a formula that a huge number of local women have embraced. We’ve filled a need—a different need and approach than most other women’s magazines. We have our mission, to celebrate and support the best in local women. We believe in our mission, and we hope to keep pursuing it.

In fact, our response is a lot like last month’s issue of V: “Life’s Good, Make It Better!” Our magazine’s good, and it can be better. Our recent survey revealed that self-improvement was readers’ number one topic of interest, which demonstrates that our readership wants to grow, to learn, to improve. V does, too. We want to keep hearing what readers like and don’t like, to fine tune what’s successful and improve or discard the duds. We deserve your support only if we continue to earn it.

Competition is healthy. It reminds us how important it is to focus and to be at the top of our game. We're searching for what we can do better, what we can begin. We won't try to beat others at their game, but to be the best in ours.

No one can serve their customers quite like Ukrop’s. Kroger’s, Food Lion, and Wal-Mart will continue to capture a share of the market, but Ukrop’s will undoubtedly hold onto their niche. I hope the same can be said for V. I hope that we can get the loyal local fans that our local friendly grocer has. I hope that our readers keep supporting us and our advertisers (our life blood). I hope that our advertisers recognize that we are part of a smart overall marketing plan, one of Richmond’s many great advertising options—and a worthwhile option at that.

I wish the best for the new magazines, that they find their own niche. I hope that David and both Goliaths can coexist peaceably.

We’re young and we’re small, but we’re learning and we’re listening. We’re big enough to make a difference, but small enough to hear your voice.

Annie Tobey, Editor

To give us your input on this or any other issue, please e-mail us at TalkToUs@VMagazineForWomen.com.