voting for, not against

            On the day before this historic election I'd like to make the case for the difference between voting for, as opposed to voting against, or not voting at all. 

            When you vote against, as in "I don't like green tomatoes," you have not yet defined what you actually like.  You might like red tomatoes, you might not like tomatoes at all, you might like green beans best, but deciding not to buy green tomatoes still does not put dinner on the table.. 

            When you go to the store and buy battery cage chicken eggs you vote for that type of agriculture and for cheap eggs with your money because you are putting money towards that end.  When you vote for anything you clearly state "This is what I want." 

            When you abstain from voting you avoid making a decision.  Say you need a dress for an event and find several that you like and that are suitable, but can't make up your mind and leave the store empty handed.  On the day of the event you still need to wear something, so you end up wearing something you had in your closet but that you don't really feel good about.

            It is true that in life you can't always get what you want.  In the wintertime there are no strawberries.  Instead of being mad that you can't find good strawberries, find the best pomegranates or tangerines you can and leave it at that.

            It's better to vote for something with full conviction of voting for, than not voting or voting against.  When you don't vote you leave the decision to others.

soaking nuts, seeds and grains

           Oh no, you are going to think, she is going to propose to add yet another gimmick to my already full and crazy life.  Granted, soaking or sprouting adds a layer to food preparation, requires a bit of organization and thinking ahead.  But deep living is about going deeper, getting away from coasting and skimming the surface. 

            Shifting towards a more plant based diet is ultimately healthier (for us as well as the environment), and it's good to become aware of deeper nutritional connections.  Moreover, we live in times when we are bombarded with environmental pollutants and it's so important to consume the very best foods and beverages we can in order to boost our immune system and cleanse out toxins that have accumulated in our bodies over the years.

            Soaking nuts, seeds and grains increases their digestibility and permits the body to absorb their nutrients more easily.  The process takes a load off your body so to speak.  Nuts, seeds and grains all contain phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors - also called antinutrients - that prevent them from sprouting prematurely.  While not exactly harmful - don't be alarmed if you never soaked your nuts before now -  they are not exactly great either.  As said before, these antinutients cause a lesser availability of nutrients and possibly digestive troubles.

            Whether preparing nuts for snacks, making nut milk, requiring legumes for soup or chili or refried beans, even baking with whole grain flour, simply soak them all in fresh water - see chart for length of time - and be sure to throw away the soaking water and rinsing well. 

            You can go a step further and sprout seeds, which takes another day or two.  Now you're talking, because sprouts are some of the most nutrient rich foods we have, chockfull of antioxidants.  I recently started to make broccoli sprouts, from tiny broccoli seeds bought in a big 1lb bag.  What a superfood.   You can now find tofu made from sprouted soy beans, tortillas and bread made from sprouted grains, and you can sprout wheat berries to make the fermented drink called rejuvelac, which tastes almost like a light lemonade.

            This is one more way to support our bodies in staying healthy.

beauty everywhere

             The other night I cut up some red cabbage to make a salad for dinner ..........and  stopped in my tracks.   I simply was struck by the beauty not only of the vivid purple-white color combination, but especially by the intricate patterns that revealed themselves under my knife as I kept cutting through the cabbage wedges.  I just had to stop, pull out the camera, and take a few pictures.   The swirley thin red lines, embedded in larger swaths of white, look like art to me, like purple switch backs, or a brainy kind of a pattern.  They alternate with straighter white and purple shapes, and the color combination is just gorgeous. 

            You can find beauty anywhere and in the most unexpected places.  Just stop in your tracks and look around.  Did you see something beautiful today?

letting go

             Maybe fall is a good time to let things go, the way trees let go of their leaves before going into hibernation, a period of rest and internal renewal (that pregant pause full of potential), before starting fresh again in the spring.   I saw this beautiful quote by an unknown author the other day:  "Autumn shows us how beautiful it is to let things go."

            I love the fall for many reasons - the change of seasons and that getting-back-to-cozy feeling (just put on the flannel sheets), the fantastic colors, those delicious fall spice combinations, and the wonderful festivities, but also the blusteriness of the weather, which feels like a giant sweep-up and cleansing.  The song Letting Go, featured in the animated movie Frozen, became a huge hit a few years ago.  Letting go of fears is liberating and makes you feel lighter.  Fears cause us to put up barriers, put on figurative masks, hide our true feelings, and conceal who we really are.  They also cause us to hold on to things that are not useful any longer, like grudges, ill will, and all that pettiness that weighs us down.

            Consider fall's metaphor of the beauty of lettings things go, letting it drain out of you, giving it up if it no longer serves or weights you down with emotional ballast - no need to hold on.  Here also a previous post on forgiveness.

seeking meaning

             British author Karen Armstrong said about mankind that "we are meaning seeking creatures." My cats live day to day without that ongoing quest for a deeper meaning.  Sure, sometimes they are happier than other times.  But all in all their life is just peachy, without worry or concern, but also without deeper meaning.

            As to us, we thrive on meaning.  We want to know "why?"  We invent creation stories to imbue our culture with root beliefs, we create special festivities and attach symbols and customs to them to create significance, we create culture as backdrop for life, and as a basis for shared experience, which creates meaning in and of itself.   Consider the two sides of our ongoing search for meaning.  We become depressed when we see no meaning, and we thrive when we can glean a deeper significance to what we do.  On the one hand it gives us a sense of purpose, and it can propel us,  inspire us, on the other hand itcan also torture us.   

            In yoga they say "there is no place to go, you are already here," meaning there is no need to struggle towards some goal we create for ourselves based on some narrative. My cats are already there - right here - they don't look further.  We are different, I guess, until we become enlightened, then we're like my cats.  Content to be right where they are, which is here.  Buddhists say that all suffering comes from having desires, and when there are no desires there is no suffering.  What do you think?

too acidic?

             Our body chemistry is healthiest at a pH of about 7.3, so slightly alkaline.  If it becomes too acidic we become ill (when my daughter was diagnosed with Diabetes 1 last year her body pH was at 6.8).   Overacidification makes us prone to cancer (tumors feed on sugar), diabetes, heart disease and all inflammatory conditions (overacidification causes inflammation).

            The mainstream Western diet is too high in acidifying and too low in alkalizing foods and it's easy to become imbalanced.  So let food be thy medicine to stay healthy or heal yourself - low tech, low cost.   Food comes in all colors of the pH spectrum - it is simply a matter of awareness in order to eat more of the beneficial ones.  In broad strokes the foods that acidify the body chemistry are sugar (as a culture we are literally addicted to sugar and meat!), meat (the redder the more acidifying) and refined carbs (as they transform immediately into sugar).  Ha - you'll say.  Exactly. 

               The foods that alkalize our body chemistry are most fruits and vegetables (not potatoes, and not bananas as they are both highly starchy - starch also turns immediately into sugar).  The most alkalizing vegetables are all the greens.  Since we thrive with a slightly alkaline chemistry we need to not only balance acidifying and alkalizing foods, but eat slightly more alkalizing than acidifying foods - hence the recent push for a more plant based diet.  Of course each person is unique and you need to test for yourself which foods work better for you and which don't.  Some people are better with breads and cheeses, others not so much.  Some people are ok with reasonable amounts of pastured meats, others less so.  Your digestive system and constitution are unique, and also tied to your geocultural and genetic heritage.

            The main message is to increase the amount of vegetables (you heard that one before), especially the greenies, cut out the sugar (no news, really), and drastically reduce your meat (go meatless every few days, switch to fish, do poultry instead of red or pork) and refined carb intake (less bread, pizza, pasta, waffles, bagels, and baked goods).  Instead, increase the amounts of healthy fats, nuts and legumes in your diet to meet your long-term energy needs (sugar is a false energy booster without nutritional value).

            See here earlier posts on the gluten-free craze, and the paleo diet, as well as links to food pH charts, and here that are very helpful.  Is your body chemistry balanced?

going high

              I am so tired of this election campaign, and being surrounded by all the vitriol that's being spewed by both parties, the media, and perpetuated on social media.  Why not express what you want, instead of what you don't want?  Stick your political sign on the lawn if you wish, but don't remove your neighbor's.  In conversation with others talk about what you are looking for: maybe fair wages, job security, fair and accessible health insurance, whatever the case may be.   But all that screaming, yelling and anger just lacks civility. 

            We are social beings meant to live in groups.  Courtesy, manners, etiquette and niceties were invented to make living together more pleasant and promote positive energy.  But it requires putting the harmony of togetherness ahead of the short-term satisfaction of self-centered vengeful anger for the greater benefit of all.  Anger, profanities and cursing poison the ambiance and propagate negative energy.

            We need more positive energy, and we can't change others, we can only change our own attitude.  A little light chases away a lot of darkness.  You always have a choice between dark and light.

ready for candles

            I'm ready for fall.  I just replenished my candle supply, lots and lots of tea lights, and lots of tapers.  When the temperatures drop fast during the magic hour and it gets dark earlier and earlier the fall air heralds indoor candle time.   I always light candles when we entertain, adding sparkle and fire to the ambiance.  The warm glow of candles softens the electric light and basks the room in festiveness and shimmer.  If you have a fireplace it's time to inaugurate it for the season and enjoy the mesmerizing flickering of wood fire flames you can meditatively stare into forever (gas fire places are just not the same with their tamed almost predictable flame pattern).

            A note on wax.  Most candles nowadays are made from paraffin wax, an odorless petroleum product.  In the past candles were made from tallow (if you're into experimenting give it a try making them yourself, but their smell is not so pleasant).  The other traditional candle material is bees' wax which has a beautiful scent.  You can still get bees' wax candles, but they are quite expensive.  The best renewable candle material is soy wax made from soy bean oil.

Read here a previous post on candles.

too cheap?

             A few days ago I saw a similar sign on the side of the road.  What came to mind was "Ok, so it's cheap.  But how would they actually treat my dog or my cat?  How carefully and compassionately is the procedure done?  If it's so cheap, which aspect of the experience suffers to make it so?   How well are the technicians trained?"  The reflections that ran through my mind had to do with quality.  Many things boil down to "how much" in our culture.  We tend to quantify, and we want it cheap. 

            But what about the quality aspect?  Fast food may be (relatively) cheap, but we all know about its quality - in the long run and in large quantities the stuff makes you sick.  Cheap clothes are exactly that - they won't last as long as a higher quality item, they couldn't possibly.   I could go on with more examples - cheap furniture, cheap kitchen gadgets, cheap tires.  They all don't last long.  It's not possible to make high quality items, or to provide a superior experience for cheap.  We need to weigh quality versus price when purchasing an item or a service.

            A summer or two ago my daughter wanted to get a manicure and we walked into a small salon on the way somewhere.  The advertised manicure was cheap.  We looked around.  The place was in a strip mall, the smells were overpowering and toxic, the furniture looked institutional, and the atmosphere was, well, cheap.  The whole thing about getting a manicure, at least to me, is to feel pampered, to experience a half hour of relaxation in a pleasant atmosphere.  This place did not provide any of those experiences.  We walked right back out and went elsewhere.  Sometimes too cheap is too cheap.

social transformation how-to

            Do you take for granted how our culture does things and thinks about things?  In other cultures things are done differently.  Twenty-six countries worldwide have banned GMOs, the US has not.  The US is the only Western country with capital punishment.  Do you wonder?  Are you curious why values differ from one country to the next?  Maybe you have wondered about the process to change such fundamental beliefs?

            Believe it or not, it boils down to this:  it all begins with you.  Change usually does not trickle down to us mere mortals because the government changes its policies in anticipation of your desires. The other way 'round:  the government changes its policies because of pressure from somewhere, whether consumers and voters, organizations, lobbyists, or corporate donors.  Whoever screams loudest and longest gets heard.  It's a critical mass thing.

            When you want change, the first thing to do is to look at your own actions and beliefs to make sure they are aligned with the change you wish to see.  Create the change in your mind and see how affiliations around you will shift.   The organic movement for example has grown exponentially in the past twenty years because individual food awareness has grown within so many of us.  That's why such change is called grassroots.  It begins at the bottom and grows up and unfolds from there.  Fracking was banned last year in New York State because of such from-the-bottom-up momentum.    What is your vision?