seasonally unadapted

We have been without air conditioning for a bit over a week and it may be another week until the replacement part makes its appearance.  Besides slower thinking, general sluggishness, clumpy salt and chewy crackers, the heat has had an immediate effect on my cooking, or rather lack thereof.  

Summer is always the season of lighter meals, but air conditioning permitted me to still do a fair amount of cooking - just because I could.  Not now!  Raw food diet - salads and more salads, some precooked legumes from the freezer for protein, an egg here and there (doesn't heat up the kitchen too much to cook an egg), a lot of Caprese (mozzarella/tomato) and lots of fresh fruit. And my endless thirst for hot tea all day long has given way to glasses and glasses of cold water.  Perhaps I should have tried out that raw food diet I experimented with in February of all months, when I was looking to reboot my system rather - see a post on it.  But with the heat I just don't have the energy to experiment wildly, and my cooking adventurousness and eagerness to try out new recipes has slowed with rising temperatures. 

It's amazing how quickly we lose touch with the connection to nature when we live in an artificial environment.  The effect and character of the seasons flattens out.  Diet and cooking flatten out, the biggest contrasts between summer and winter cooking diminish.  On the other hand, my connection to these last few hot days of late summer has increased. 

Unfortunately, our business oriented culture is relentless and does not permit us a slower paced summer. Business must go on.  Yes, we are gaining comfort with air conditioning, we are gaining the ability to conduct business no matter what it's like outside, but we are also losing connection to nature and the seasonal differences, and the starker contrasts that come with it.  

as above, so below

The other day I was newly setting up my calendar on my cellphone, having previously only managed appointments and events on an agenda book that's sitting in the middle of the house where I walk by many a times a day and peek into it.  What struck me as I was setting up the virtual calendar was that it automatically pulled up event locations as I typed them in, which then automatically would enable me to obtain directions, call the place up, email it, or look at their website for more information.  Many of you are already operating like this, but I was struck and realized something else. 

We may not all fully accept a collective subconscious or the interconnectedness of all beings on the non-physical plane yet, although scientists are coming around to that - see Robin Wall Kimmerer's book Braiding Sweetgrass and similar botanical research I covered in another post. This complete interconnectedness with via the cloud or the interweb is intertwining us via technology and informs how we interact and organize in our physical environment.  

From there it is just one step to fully realize, "As above, so below." "As above, so below" is a spiritual tenet that originates in the hermetic tradition and says that what's happening on a micro level is also happening on a macro level. The technological interconnectedness seems to me like a mirror reflection of this other interconnectedness, the one Larry Dossey, internationally known physician, author and speaker, refers to in his latest book One Mind, the universal consciousness that ancient and newly revived or developed healing modalities also tap into.

The complete interconnectedness of almost the entire human population now through cloud computing and the internet/interweb physically mirrors the complete interconnectedness we have with all of life on a consciousness level.  As above, so below.

new right-brain culture

I so love the new values.  I can feel it in my bones that a more meaningful culture is lurking underneath all this mess and morass.  Already in 2005 Daniel Pink wrote in his insightful and very readable A Whole New Mind:  Why Right Brainers Will Rule The Future,  "We've moved from an economy built on people's backs to an economy built on people's left brains to what is emerging today: an economy and society built more and more on people's right brains."

The Age of Creativity!  You probably remember, at least by title, the book Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain, that taught drawing intuitively rather than intellectually.  The right side of the brain governs our creative-emotional aspect, the left our rational-analytical.  Neither can function without the other, or rather both sides inform each other to make us human, although we're not necessarily perfectly balanced. In general terms many really creative people lack a bit of rational-analytical, and many sciency, techy or businessy people lack some creative-emotional.  Others seem perfectly balanced (my daughter can navigate both complicated scientific details and concepts, and she is very creative at the same time).  In addition, more women are slightly right brain heavy, while more guys are a bit left brain heavy (that's what that other fun book, Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus was all about).  Here a link to a good article that compares the two sides of the brain.

Pink is saying that we're moving towards a more creative, empathic cultural and economic model.  That is also the reason why the humanities are on the rise again. Corporations are finally understanding that people who have learned to think, to look at broad cultural patterns and ideas, and who are creative, will do well in many different business environments because they think laterally and out-of-the box, instead of linearly within their field.  Right-brainers can make connections between seemingly unrelated fields. Waldorf Education has always taught to make such lateral connections, and speaks to this cultural shift (Rudolf Steiner, its founder and a brilliant visionary, was way ahead of his times.  We're only now catching up to his many ideas.).  

So, are you well balanced between both sides of the brain?  More left brain?  Or more right brain?

your body, your creation

"Your body is your creation......it exists solely to serve you."  What a cool and empowering quote from Mike Dooley's inspirational book Infinite Possibilities.  I know from experience how you can sort of feel stuck in your body.  

If you reflect on how you dress it's easy to see how your clothes and accessories are an expression of who you are and how you think about yourself.  You want your style to reflect who you are.  It's not that different with your body.  Your body is also an expression of who you are.  But in contrast to the clothes you step into and out of, you can't extricate yourself from your body, at least not until you leave this lifetime. 

From a spiritual perspective your body is not you, you merely inhabit it for the duration of your stay here on Earth to enjoy and experience your time here in the physical.  But realizing that your body is an expression of you over which you have a lot of control is a freeing realization.   Your body clearly reacts to what you put into it, what you're exposed to environmentally, how and if you move, and what thoughts you feed it. And just like your style changes over the years, your body changes over the years too.

If you modify the way you nourish yourself your body will change - think weight change and better or worse general physical health. If you decrease or increase your physical activity level, or change the type of physical activity you do (say body building versus dancing), your body changes -  think toned muscles, increased energy, flexibility and endurance versus loss of muscle mass, energy and stamina.  Changes in your exposure to environmental toxins influence your body - think better physical health versus respiratory ailments, nausea, headaches or perhaps even cancer.   Your body even changes if you change your thoughts - think more exuberance, charisma and positivity, which will make you look younger or more  radiant versus depression or anxiety, which will show up in your physical demeanor. 

You and your body are a team that's joined at the hip so to speak.  The closer you work together towards a mutual goal the more your body will reflect who you want to be.

so much more fabulous

It's alive!  Nature, I mean.  You may have known it all along, or perhaps you're stumped when I say that. The rock under your feet may seem inert and dead.  Crystals are pretty and that's just that.  The trees are doing their growing thing and that's nice because we love shade and timber.   Or you may be on a different path.  If you have animals you know that they have a soul, feelings, character, and you love your pet as if it were your child.   Perhaps you've experienced crystal healing, or you talk to your plants and nurture your garden.

For several hundred years scientists could not have ventured to say something about Nature's inherent intelligence without being discredited.  We deemed indigenous people, who always believed in Nature's sacredness and aliveness, beneath our scientifically oriented "enlightened" mind. 

But science is only true science if we ask all questions and leave the answers to our inquiries open instead of trying to prove what we want confirmed because it conveniently fits within our thinking.  Things shifted a bit with James Lovelock's Gaia Theory in the 1970s, but now the tides are really turning.  "We are transitioning into the reality where everything's alive," author Charles Eisenstein noted.   When your houseplants thrive because you talk to them, maybe it's not an accident that they look beautiful and lush.  When you harvest steadily, Nature picks up on it and produces more, summarizing the gist of Robin Wall Kimmerer's scientific research in her book Braiding Sweetgrass.  Trees are not only connected under the earth via the mycorrhizal mushroom network, something of a botanical nutrient and information internet, they also nurture, help, send information, cooperate, and protect each other, as  Smithsonian Magazine explains in an article about the work of tree researcher Peter Wohlleben.

Nature's intelligence imbues everything, is all pervasive, and we're part of it, not apart from it, as Fritjof Capra and the Francesco Varela/Humberto Maturana team have maintained for years.  Recognition of this intelligence that's all around us and in us, is us, leads to a greater respect for nature, a spirit of cooperation with it, awe for its beauty and perfection, and openness to learning from it and being inspired.  We thought we knew (almost) everything.  But the more we open our mind to Nature's miraculousness and intelligence, the more we discover that we still know so little, that there is so much more to discover, and that life becomes more fabulous the more we pursue this direction.

value or not?

Yuval Noah Harari writes in Sapiens, "For decades, aluminum was much more expensive than gold.  In the 1860s, Emperor Napoleon III of France commissioned aluminum cutlery to be laid out for his most distinguished guests. Less important visitors had to make do with the gold knives and forks."

Value is not intrinsic to an item or a service. It's made up based on cultural beliefs we buy into together.  Think Netherlands tulip craze that imploded, think sugar price drop from the Middle Ages to now. In our culture we believe that time is precious, so precious that American employers give very little of it away for vacation and personal time off, while indigenous people, even though their lives are often shorter than ours, seem to have lots of it to sit around a campfire telling stories or making music together, and Europeans get six weeks vacation on top of all of their religious holidays.  We also believe that money is scarce since we love a good bargain and  try to pay as little as possible for our acquisitions.  

Now we laugh at Napoleon III's "precious" aluminum cutlery, but it goes to show how values come and go, and are based on scarcity, perceived or actual.  Value is really a made-up story.  Your values may be slightly different from mine, so that I might spend more money on things that you might not value the same way I do, and vice versa.  I think some luxury cars are cool looking, but would not spend the money on one.  I'm totally fine with a utilitarian car in which I can transport all of my recycling items to the various drop-off points, and my (sometimes) mud caked organic produce fresh from the farm to home, without fear of messing up my car.  I value my health first and foremost since my life depends on it, hence I value highest the best food and the best healing services I can pay for.

What do you spend your money on?  What do you value?  What do you not value?  What do you not spend your money on?

wow!

Sometimes the beauty and perfection in everything only appears to us while observing nature.   Whether sparkly sunshine, feathery clouds, fabulous color combinations of a cloudy sky or sunset, feeling the breeze in your hair, or smelling the freshness in your nose.  

Nothing manmade comes close in intricacy, detail and complexity to these fleeting moments or sights.  And "coming close" is a pun intended because some of the intricacies don't show up until you get real close.  

It doesn't take an effort to see the intricacy of this bird feather's different textures, the breathtaking beauty of the iridescent color play in the sunshine, or even the amazing color complexities in this tiny piece of nature.  All it takes is a willingness to slow down and take the time to go deep and actually look and see.

in awareness

·     Why can't we ever seem to eradicate all illnesses?

·     Why do some people lose weight on a diet that doesn't work for others at all?

·     Why are teachers paid such low salaries?

·     Why are insects dying in masses?

·     What's environmentally wrong with monocultures?

·     Why did we ever believe that formula was better for infants than breast milk?

·     Why is there good and bad in the world?  Can't we just have the good without the bad?

·     What's the purpose of life?

·     Why am I here on earth?

·     Is fat good or bad?  Why can't science give us a definite answer?

eat your vegetables, all of it

When people complain about the price of organic vegetables I mention the waste that comes from believing that certain parts of a vegetable are superior to others. Broccoli crowns, portabello mushroom caps, watermelon flesh, or asparagus tops come to mind.  What happens to the portabello stems, broccoli stalks, watermelon rind, or woody asparagus ends?  All in the trash?  This makes your vegetables a lot more expensive because someone has to discard half of it, either you or the grower. 

Making use of every bit of vegetable or animal instead of dividing it into desirable/edible versus undesirable/inedible parts also reflects a greater respect for nature.  I have previously written that Americans don't eat offal, the way other cultures do and the way I grew up, tagging it as undesirable - see here on nose to tail.  What happens to the rest of this precious animal that gave its life so we could live?  But why? These parts are not inedible!  

Not only do we have to overproduce vegetables when we use only half of them, we waste money, and we lose the nutrients from the other vegetable parts (think carrot root versus carrot top; radish or turnip root versus radish or turnip tops - please eat all these tops).  There is no inherent need to peel most of your organic vegetables, after all you don't peel your cherries or apricots either!  There are exceptions as some peels can indeed be coarse, such as on turnips, beets, or kohlrabi - your choice here; asparagus ends are too woody to eat, onion and garlic peel is papery, and peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant peel has those lectins in them - roast these nightshades and remove the peel if you're sensible to them.  Peeling is also a different story with conventional produce whose outer layer has come into contact with pesticides and has grown in contaminated soil.  But for heaven's sake eat the turnip/beet/carrot/radish/kohlrabi greens. 

Sweet potatoes roasted and eaten in their entirety are delicious and the peel adds much needed fiber to your diet.  When preparing stuffed portabello mushrooms I chop the stems and add them to the filling.  Woody asparagus ends get cooked and blended for a creamy soup (my Vitamix does wonders with the fibery ends).  Watermelon rind can be added to a smoothie, or makes for a delicious refreshing summer drink when juiced with a squeeze of lemon.  Peeled broccoli stems are delicious and tender - chop and add them right into whatever else you're making with the crowns, or make a raw broccoli slaw from the stems only.   All peels, including onion, sad looking greens tops past their prime, celery or carrot ends, broccoli stem peels, go into a pot of water and make a nutrient rich vegetable stock - perfect as a soup base (freeze the stock for later).

Lengthen your food dollars, honor all vegetable parts, and respect nature's bounty without wasting it.  Food is precious.

peace and quiet please

When life has been busy I need some quiet time, some solitude.  Just me-time without interruption from others, whether reading time, puttering-around time, or staring-into-nature time.  I can't keep going all the time.  Down time, time with a minimum of mental stimulus, helps to integrate experiences and impressions.  I need to catch up with myself.  When I go too fast and don't stop and ponder I sometimes even get a headache or feel slightly dizzy, which literally tells me that my head is bursting full of stuff. 

We feel cultural pressure to be on all the time, to go all the time, to be on and smiling all the time, to be busy all the time. But it's making us frazzled and stressed, especially if all this activity is coupled with noise.  I love socializing, I love being with people, but I am a better person when I get down time in between.  Peace and quiet are really important.  Constant noise affects our health just as much as constant busyness, as The Scientific American explains.   We need respite.  We need a sanctuary.  

Take some alone time, some bath time, some journaling time, some gardening time, some meditation time for yourself, take a personal day off, and make it a quiet time.  It's good for your sanity, it's good for your health, and it's good for those who live and work with you because you'll be nicer, more collected, and more relaxed.   Here a related post - a new time culture - on taking your time back.