What would be the positive changes to one's body, mind and spirit if "living" food were substituted for the standard American diet (the SAD diet). Does eating fresh, natural foods in abundance -- UNCOOKED -- bring new-found energy and stamina and joy and zest for life? Or is it all hype? What really happens when we let go of processed, refined and animal foods? Do cells really rejuvenate themselves through food that has its life force intact? And how does it change us?
Karen Knowler, The Raw Food Coach publishes "Successfully Raw" - a free weekly eZine for raw food lovers everywhere. If you're ready to look good, feel great and create a raw life you love, get your FREE tips, tools and recipes now at The Raw Food Coach Central: www.TheRawFoodCoach.com. This article is definitely worth a read ... she has a great section on vision boards ... fun and inspirational to make.
A good place we could start to make changes . . . shift from plastic bags to something reusable. What a novel idea. It's taken me a long time to realize the damage that waste causes, but I'm finally on board. I don't buy plastic baggies anymore. Glass, non-leaching plastic containers I already bought, and produce bags I already have are what I use now. I bring cloth when I go to the market now. I finally see that little changes can go a long way.
There's a year-long backlog, beyond the usual 8 to 10 months, before I'm granted citizenship -- according to the Irish Consulate's latest word. (I think it's because New York has the most Irish Americans in the country; Boston is second.) Ugh. But when I'm granted the official status of Irish citizen, it's off to Castlebar ... County Mayo here I come!
I haven't a clue who the guy is in this next video, but I fell in love with the woman's voice who opens the video (part of an all-female group "Liadan"). The Gaelic is beautiful. Listening to her voice I have the same sense I had when my grandfather would recite Irish poetry to me and sing his songs w/ tears in his eyes. The rest of the video is a mish-mosh but with some nice tin whistle and guitar.
And this is probably as close as I'll get to it for a while ... :-( I had the pleasure of living here for six years of my life and made some beautiful friends who are like family to me still. God is very good to me!
Well ... I'm humming along nicely on my raw adventure ... and I'm looking forward to having my very own kitchen soon (not having to share one stealthily so as to avoid running into housemates!) Having my own kitchen will be a turning point in terms of being much more versatile in what I can "uncook" for myself. I'll be making many more lunches to bring to work and saving a ton of $$ doing so ... that's one great benefit. Also, I'll be much more inspired to try new things because the cleanup will be so handy ... as opposed to schlepping up a huge flight of steps to get to a sink (as is the case in the place I'm in the process of moving out of).
So ... good things on the horizon with regard to not only food prep ... but having a bike handy and room for my mini-tramp right outside my door on the patio! I'm in training for a big hiking trip I'll be making in the early Summer of '09. It'll be the biggest physical challenge I've ever taken on -- but it'll probably be one of the best adventures I'll ever experience. I haven't decided yet, but the hike is a toss-up between biking (and hiking) in Ireland (County Mayo, of course) . . .
With Lough Nafooey (Loch na Fuaiche) in the background. (On the borders of counties Galway & Mayo)
. . . or hiking across three English National Parks for a total of about 190 miles from the Irish to the North Sea North of St. Bees on day 1 of the walk . . . Coast-to-Coast Walk Across England . . . St. Bees to Robin Hood's Bay
Of course, the perks of this hike would be getting to meet new foks in pubs and B&B's each night! Not to mention some very firmed-up quadriceps! Both adventures are a far cry from Lanikai ... but just for today, I'm ever so thankful I had the chance to live at that beautiful beach town for so many years.
The best news I have on the personal home front is that I'm in the process of moving into my very own apartment ... after sharing living space for five years! I cannot tell you how happy I am to have found a lovely little place (living room, bedroom, dining room, kitchen, full bath, a personal storage room and a washer and dryer just steps from my door) at a price I can afford, utilities included! It also has a huge back patio and beautiful yard ... just several minutes' walk to a fresh-water lake and stream! Who's got it better than me?! Added perk: it's just a mile from my good friend's home and the place I lived for the last five years. I got everything I'd prayed for w/ the exception of lots and lots of light. This has some good natural light ... but not LOTS ... Hey, it'll keep me outdoors more this way! The guy who owns the place -- a single dad who lives in the other half of the house -- told me that deer, rabbit, chipmunk and other happy critters love to come visit in the yard. Fine by me.
This weekend is promising to be quite an interesting one I think. I'll be one of about 45 former "Our Lady of Victory" students gathering together after 40 years (!) for our grammar school reunion ... in Mount Vernon, New York. We're actually going to meet at the church for a 5:00 o'clock mass and then hit a restaurant in the next town over and have fun catching up on our lives. My closest cousin, Bernadette, will join me, as she knows a lot of the same people due to our both being in the CYO together. I noticed that about five boys that I had mad crushes on will all be there ... all of us looking quite a bit different, to say the least! :-) We wanted to track down and invite Sr. Mary Godfrey and Father Smith (real names withheld!), two "religious" who left their respective orders and married one another way back when it was even more scandalous that it might be today, but alas, we learned they have divorced. We did, however, invite the present head of the school, who eagerly accepted . . . and is hoping for large donations from us all, no doubt. (The school is in dire straits we hear. Too bad ... I have many fond memories of that place.)
Someone sent me a photo of our Fourth Grade class ... and I actually remembered the full names of about 98 percent of the folks in the photo (a shot taken 44 years ago! Amazing.)
Wainwright's "Coast-to-Coast Walk" across England, a 290 mile walk across some of the most beautiful land on earth in Merrie Ole England -- one of my favorite places to be. This is a 3-part series with lovely music and soothing narration. It's a toss up whether I'll be walking this in Spring of 2009 OR biking in Ireland and then exploring my grandparents' roots in County Mayo and Longford. Note: the 1st video is mislabled "2nd" in error.
Coast-to-Coast Walk - Part I * Coast-to-Coast Walk - Part II * Coast-to-Coast Walk - Part III *
"People ask me what's the best exercise and I tell them 'it's the one that you're willing to do' ... because otherwise you're not going to do it anyway." Dr. Douglas Graham
Peace cannot be achieved through violence ... but only through understanding. (R.W. Emerson)
Understanding begins when one risks speaking from the heart to another. One of the greatest thinkers ever was quoted as saying, "Don't let your brain interfere with your heart" (Einsten). I think he was on to something.
In the words of psychologist Abraham Maslowe . . .
for "persons to achieve total wellness and self-actualization, we need to develop comfortably, calmly, and with a beautiful ease, all four aspects of our being (physical, spiritual, emotional and intellectual) " Most "holistic healing," as regards nutrition and wellness, deals almost entirely with the specific vitamins, minerals and enzymes the "healer" determines a body needs in order to be "well". In contrast, we passionately believe that all human sickness - all illness, be it physical, emotional, spiritual, or intellectual - does not stem from what we lack, but rather from that which remains trapped in the body.
We can't get rid of it all. Beef, pork, lamb, veal, fish, eggs, milk, cheese, white flour, white rice, cookies, confectionary foods, drugs, alcohol, pharmaceuticals -- as the years pass, a person's large intestine collects residue from all this stuff. The human body (having a great desire to keep it's pipes open and free of what becomes solid, gooey, poisonous, and putrefied) will periodically "melt" this toxic matter down, thereby allowing it to pass back into the bloodstream. These toxins then have free reign throughout the body, where they proceed to collect in organs and other areas, wreaking systemic havoc. The years continue to pass, the person continues to eat poorly, to live under emotional stress and in spiritual vacuity, and the body gradually becomes overwhelmed by toxicity. Inevitably, this build-up of unreleased toxins leads to disease and death.
The reason medical professionals find nutritional deficiencies is not because the individual in question consumes too little of a given substance, but rather because these substances (which may have been in our cells at birth) have been eradicated over time by all the poison we've put in. This poison is like acid eating away all the microminerals and vitamins the human being was born with. This is why malnutrition often takes time to show up.
The key to health lies not in learning about folic acid, riboflavin, glutothiamine, the role of B6, or whatever mixes best with Vitamin E. These details do not address the problem, but rather treat only one of the many specific symptoms. It's not about what we put in - health is about how completely and efficiently we move it all out.
