“Nothing is more important than your health.” You hear this all the time. It’s a one-off, rhetorical statement that expects little in response. But what does health really mean? Does it mean watch your weight? Mind your blood pressure? Learn to meditate? Find a fitness program? Monitor your meds? Navigate the crazy reality and rough waters that is insurance?
Here at Paste’s new Health section, we’ll attempt to cover that entire spectrum of subjects and do so in a way that hopefully educates and inspires a new way of living … and in whatever way you feel is healthiest.
When we first started defining how a new Health section would play philosophically, the initial concept we leaned into was fitness. It is, after all, an obvious direction for any publication and provides guaranteed eye-catching articles. Many people—as logic would have it—are looking for easy ways to stay in shape. Most of us occupy a reality dominated by limited time. All of us are surrounded by unrealistic versions of the human form on magazine covers and advertisements, in TV shows and movies.
But when I started reading pitches from writers (we encourage pitches from experienced, freelance health writers, by the way), it became obvious that fitness was just a small percentage of what comes to mind when people think about health. In this first week alone, we will run stories about post-divorce trauma, nutrition, spirituality, how to balance a world of newly prescribed drugs, where to run on vacation, and how to mentally turn off and escape a society that demands you spend more and more time staring at the blue screen of one of your many devices.
It also became clear, through these story proposals, that everyone is an expert. And the truth is, they are … in their own way and for their own situation. The beauty of this personal and relatable confluence is that for every person dealing, coping, and enjoying their version of health, there are millions of people who can learn from such a reality and glean novel ways to rethink health.
Starting with this launch, Paste Health will meld the work of our talented writers, certified health experts, and fact-based substantiation to publish a continual flow of know-how with an empathetic voice to help folks find solace and become stronger. You, the reader, are the reason we are here. We’ll never lose sight of this. We wish you good reading and better health.
Image: David Gabriel Fischer, CC-BY
Alex Crevar is Paste’s Health editor.