OK... you've got to go read this post by Sarah, over at the Conservative Independent. She is a mental health care provider and shares some powerful and thought provoking information about the "love/hate" thing going on in our society.

The "walls" between us are growing higher and wider. Sarah gives us some heart information that is pretty sobering.

In my work as a mental health therapist I use biofeedback techniques one of which is heart rate variability training. In doing this training I have learned some fascinating things about the heart. Guess what it doesn't just pump blood.

The heart is also a gland. That means it produces hormones.

One of those is a hormone called Oxytocin. Oxytocin is nicknamed the "bonding hormone." It is the hormone that is present when we feel attached or bonded to people. For example, Oxytocin floods the body of a woman giving birth. That is part of the immediate connection a mother and her child have with one another. When the heart is messed up, so is the production of Oxytocin. Our connection with one another is damaged.

The heart has glia, which is neuronal material. That's right your heart has its own little brain. The heart has memory. The heart is the center for emotion. Also, the heart has an incredibly strong connection to the brain itself. In fact the communication between the heart and brain is dominated by the heart.

When the heart is healthy brain function improves. When the heart is in the middle of the stress response the brain has difficulty making rational decisions.

Why the heck am I blogging about this? The reason is I see the anger and the hate and the vitriol that seems to be infecting American society on every side. I am shocked by it.

I think one of the prime examples is looking at the treatment of Sarah Palin not just during the campaign but continuing. Here is a person who agree with her or not is a good and decent person. Yet, people either love her or hate her. Why the hate? I just don't get it....

Found Sarah via Rick