face-to-face is best

                  Phone conversations and Go-To Meetings are one thing.  Sure, they save time, money and energy, and permit easy communication across long distances.  Facetime, Skype and other apps that permit you to see your communication partner are better.  But nothing beats an actual face-to-face, whether in a business or private situation. 

               Real people, deep communication.  There is simply no substitute for experiencing your partner's emotions, facial expressions, body language and, dare I say, vibes.  We pick up so much information subconsciously from eye expressions, gestures, body language and energetic qualities that simply gets lost otherwise.  Without face-to-face contact we easily misconstrue and misunderstand because we literally don't get the full picture.  When we are together face-to-face we experience the whole person, seen and unseen aspects, and get the complete picture.  Would you rather have dinner with a screen apparition of your friend or the real thing?  There is a reason for business lunches and dinners, for meetings, for business travel.  A virtual  experience will never be the same as the real thing and the cost savings may not always be worth it.

super superfoods

                      A lot has been written in the past two decades on the need to return to real food, which consists of one-ingredient foods from nature put together in a meal (i.e. fresh spinach sautéed with garlic and olive oil), as opposed to manufactured foods that come in boxes and packages (i.e. breakfast cereal or Western omelet mix).  But evolution is always about shifts and new developments in order to evolve to higher levels.  Going "back" to grandmother's foods is a good thing but not necessarily sufficient and the end-all.  Our soils, even organic soils, have been depleted of minerals and trace elements resulting in less nourishing produce, and our bodies are subject to more pollution than ever.

       superfood dried goji berries

              Superfoods to the rescue.  These are foods that are only now available to us outside their geographic growing area, both because enlightened interest and scientific research have brought them to our awareness, and because modern transportation logistics make them accessible.  Superfoods are foods with an incredible amount and array of nutritional components.  David Wolfe, Renaissance man and superfood guru, has been researching superfoods for over twenty year and has written many books on greater nutrional subjects.  I hadn't even heard of some of his superfoods such as maca, AFA blue-green algae, or marine phytoplankton.  The others on his list of 10 were more familiar to me: goji berries, cacao, all bee products, spirulina, aloe vera, hempseed and coconut.  From radiation protection to cleansing the body from toxins and metals, to immune system rebuilding and activating the body's own healing powers, these new and not-so-new foods are exciting to learn about and incorporate into your meals. 

superfood AFA algae

grasshopper or ant?

             You may remember LaFontaine's fable of the ant that strategically planned its food reserves during the summer in preparation for winter, and the playful grasshopper who ended up without food because it played all summer long. 

            Short-cuts don't always work, and it often takes hindsight to realize it.  We have taken many short-cuts on environmental and agricultural issues in favor of quick monetary gain.  Whether fracking, pesticides, factory farming or a host of other quagmires, the money comes quick, but then.....there is always always always an ugly hidden cost, and in the end it costs much more. 

            Take the recent dramatic drop in oil and gas prices, which almost immediately led to people buying fewer electric and fuel efficient cars.  While buying that less expensive vehicle right now, deferring getting those solar panels or better insulated windows, or delaying insulating your house, may indeed save you money this year, the long-term consequences are no savings.  Take the purchase of solar panels for example.  Payback is around 6-8 years.  That means that after 6 to 8 years your electricity will be free for the life of the panels, which is around 20 years or so.  So you get 12 years of free electricity!  And keep in mind that the cost of electricity keeps going up.  In addition you are helping to cut down on the pollution caused by burning fossil fuels, which contributes to the warming of our planet.  Win-win for all. 

            The hook?  It requires an investment and a short-term material sacrifice in favor of long-term environmental and monetary gain.   What's so bad about that?  You do the same for retirement.  You sacrifice something now for gain down the road. 

            Think like the ant, think long-term!

winter whites

Winter white is a soft white, a gentle, almost creamy white.  It is the white of snow glowing in the sunshine, a warm and friendly white.  You can wear winter white, you can decorate with winter white, you can get winter white flowers, and (most of the time) you see winter white when you look out of the window in our latitudes. 

Winter here in the northeast with its whites, dirty whites, browns and grays expresses an absence of vibrant colors.  Not only is winter a time of slowing down in general (see a previous post on hibernation), it also lets the eyes rest from the vivid colors we experience the rest of the year. Winter is a time to reboot your color sense, putting it back into neutral gear.

gluten or grain free?

                       "Being" gluten free is all the craze these days.  It seems almost chic, like belonging to an exclusive club.  "I'm gluten free, are you?"  On the one hand there is this aura around exploring different dietary constraints, on the other hand are some genuine health issues aggravated by grain and sugar.  Both have a high glycemic index and turn quickly into glucose.  Recreating all that wheaty stuff, especially baked goods, with other flours, like oat, brown rice, or tapioca may work for some.  But it is not sufficient for those with inflammatory conditions and conditions that become aggravated or are caused by an overacidification of the system, such as rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, lupus, or diabetes.   In broad strokes grains, dairy and sugar have an acidifying effect on the body, which worsens inflammation and promotes tumors, while fruits and vegetables alkalize it.  For people with such conditions grain free is the way to go (and sugar and dairy free).  Grainfree literally means no bread, no pasta, no pizza, no pastries, not even in a paleo diet version. 

beautiful things

Life is about experiences and enjoyment, and we all do it differently.

Even though Buddhism says that if we can learn to do away with desires we'll need less stuff and learn to appreciate experiences over material things, I still do like stuff, or rather beautiful things.  As a former interior designer with Libra rising beauty and aesthetics matter a great deal to me and I love surrounding myself with pretty objects.  Target is just a prettier store than Walmart and I mind, and every once in a while I get a stack of Martha Stewart magazines from the library to get my fill of eye candy.

            I appreciate the beauty, essence and craftsmanship of exquisite manmade things - as opposed to nature made things, although I appreciate those too.  Handmade things enhance the vibes of my home. I feel enjoyment when I see them, walk by them, or imagine getting a special item for a special place.  There is the pretty handmade Italian ceramic bowl, or my many cool little orchid pots with the holes that were handmade in Mexico, or this gorgeous turned wood bowl from a local woodworker that I have yet to get.  It's only here on earth that we get to experience stuff, appreciate things, feel them, see them, enjoy their color and texture, use them, once we're back up there we won't.  Enjoy!

let's hibernate a bit

                  Yesterday I was dragging a bit.  When I spoke to my husband he replied that he, too, was tired.  Then my daughter mentioned that she was a bit tired.    We spoke about wintertime, that it's very cold outside, that people usually feel like holing up this time of year.  Many mammals in our latitude go into full hibernation and just sleep the winter away; plants go dormant as well.   We obviously can't do that.  But maybe, just maybe, we can slow down a bit, curl up with a good book and a cup of tea, catch up on some sleep by going to bed earlier and spending more time under the warm and soft covers.  It get's dark so early and it feels so good to be in the warm house.  Soon enough, when the days become longer, we'll burst with energy and a zest for life and action.  But for now it's a good time to enjoy the slower pace of life.  Let's hibernate a bit.

octopus consciousness

       Many scientists still do not feel comfortable attributing some sort of cognition to animals.  But all of us dog and cat lovers simply know that our beloved pets have a consciousness, albeit different from our's.  They recognize different people, know our character (whether we are kind to them or not), can make themselves understood (being bored, being hungry, hurting), and exhibit feelings (mourning when a close mate has died, or exuberance when you take your dog out to run on a beautiful day).  My daughter says her Betta fish watches her as she moves about her room.

            Maybe Paul the Octopus, who supposedly predicted many 2010 FIFA World Cup outcomes correctly, was instrumental in spreading the idea of octopuses' intelligence to the wider public.  I am currently reading Sy Montgomery's delightful new book The Soul of an Octopus.  It is quite amazing to find out that these animals, whose beingness seems so  much further removed from our's than even cats or dogs, recognize their keepers and distinguish between people they like (reaching out and tasting their skin with their suction cups - yes, they taste with their suction cups, and who knows what they are able to taste, hormones? medication in the blood stream? feelings?) and dislike (water squirting).  Octopuses are enormously intelligent and inquisitive and have been known to exit their supposedly tightly secured tanks to go explore.  They can go through extreme appearance changes in a matter of seconds, not only to blend in to their environment as protect against predators, but also reflecting their disposition, such as white and smooth when calm, or red and bumpy when excited.  Each octopus has a distinct character.

            It seems to me that we are slowly entering a new and more inclusive era of understanding the nature that surrounds us  - my daughter is into crystals and swears she can feel them pulsating.  Please revisit an earlier blog post spiritual cats.

why not indulge?

             I admit that I easily feel guilty when I indulge myself.  Not so much on the food side - I did grow up in a food culture and don't feel particularly guilty about some wine and chocolate here and there.  But when it comes to massages, pedicures, meeting friends for drinks or lunch, an hour of slow yoga in the middle of the day, just treating myself in general, I tend to feel a bit guilty about spending money on "frivolous" things.  But it is the frivolity, that it is unnecessary and special, that makes such occasional treats so worthwhile. 

            Whether it's an hour of reflexology, paint night (one of those wine & art events), or anything else that let's you know how much you appreciate yourself, is good for you.  The pleasure of feeling good about yourself, about feeling pampered and taken care of, is very soothing.  You are totally worth it!

library of things

            Perhaps a better way to understand the new sharing economy than using Uber or Airbnb's services (after all these businesses are for-profit) is through a "library of things." I really like the idea.  A similar principle already exists in the form of seed banks, from which you can obtain seeds as long as you bring back seeds from your harvest at the end of the season to replenish the seed bank.

            Libraries of Things go beyond lending books, movies and magazines, as a recent NY Times article explained.  They lend tools, equipment or things to community members.  The benefits are multifold.  For one, you as an individual won't need to invest in the cost of say an expensive 3-D printer to experiment with, or buy a pair of snowshoes for that once-in-a-while winter hike.  The investment happens at the community level, for which we all chip in via our local taxes.  At the same time an economy in manufacturing develops because less stuff needs to get made.  Moreover, access to such a library reduces the stuff you need to store and upkeep.  It is likely that you only use your hedge clippers or power drill a few times a year.  Why not borrow one from a tool library instead of buying a brand new expensive tool that sits idle most of the time, collects dust and takes up real estate in your garage?

            Along similar lines there are hour exchanges, where you get time, help and experience from others for services you need against time for your expertise, as well as babysitting services.  All neat ideas to explore sharing and meeting new people.