Quote of the Day

"To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive".  Robert Louis Stevenson

Worm Party

Last night was a full Worm Moon.  I don't really know what a Worm Moon is, but the worms in my yard apparently do.  There were some strange worm happenings going on at my house the last two days, so I guess the moon is appropriately named.

First there was the worm pool party in my back alley.  I live in pothole city, so when it rains there are a ton of places for worms to go swimming.  Almost every pothole in my alley had a worm in it.  This is no small feat, as there are a lot of potholes.

The next day the party had moved to my front steps.  Actually, party is probably the wrong word.  These worms didn't look very happy, and some had lost body parts.  Or whatever you call worm body parts.  It was more like a mass suicide, a worm Jonestown if you wish.  I felt bad for the worms, but the robins thought they had died and gone to birdie heaven.

I have been paying more attention to the moon and it's phases lately.  I don't know much about it yet, but I do know I find it very peaceful to just sit and look at the moon.  I watched it come up last night, and I was up early enough to watch it the whole way to Chicago this morning.  At least I enjoyed it more than the worms did.  But maybe not as much as the robins.

Rant Alert

Oh what I wouldn't give for a giant chocolate bar.  Or a glass of wine.  Anything other than this cardboard tasteless junk I've been eating for the last week and a half.  Look at the bright side.  Only 2 1/2 weeks left to go.  Oh joy. 

So what, exactly, is someone in my position supposed to do to relieve the stress of an absolutely shitty day.  Well, to be honest, it wasn't that shitty.  Just a huge waste of time.  The food I spent all day yesterday preparing, was left in not one, but two different places.  First, I left my nice green smoothie in the bathroom at the airport yesterday.  Then this morning, I forgot half of my food in the ice bucket in the hotel.  I've yet to see an airport sell rice cakes or quinoa or millet, or any of the other crap I'm eating, so this is a small problem.  Then, to top it all off, I spent an hour composing an email to a successful blogger to ask for advice.  I have now tried to send the email to two different websites about 8 different times, and nothing is working.  I've learned from previous experience that it's just not meant to be sent today, but it is soooooooooooooooooooooooo frustrating.  Yes, it's THAT frustrating.  Maybe even more, but I don't have time to write any more oooo's.

So what do I do to calm down?  My normal consolation of food is not available and I can't work out because I will start coughing my head off.  I'm at work and not into extramarital affairs, so that won't work either, if you catch my drift.  I've already beaten the pillows on the bed, and I will stop telling my son it's a good way to take out frustration.  It really doesn't do anything, except make the people in the next hotel room think you're having a much better time than you actually are.

Don't mind me, I'm just releasing toxins.  This is actually a symptom of the detox, and I guess it shows it's working.  I sure can't wait to get back to my happy, perky self.  Neither can my husband and son.  They've seen me cry over nothing twice in the past two days.  I haven't had this many mood swings since I was pregnant.

Ok, so I promised a more coherent, intelligent blog today.  Well, you'll have to wait til tomorrow for that, or go read another blog.  Actually, can't promise any better for tomorrow, as it will be a short night at home.  At least I'll be in a better mood.  If not, I promise not to touch the keyboard.

For the Ladies

I know, it's a cop-out.  But I haven't slept all week because of this crazy cough that I can't take anything to stop.  And I spent all morning cooking food for this 3 day trip, so I didn't have time to write earlier.  And I have to be up at 4 am.  And I can't bear to break the posting every day streak, even though I promised I wouldn't post just to see myself post.  So here's a funny little message from a friend.  I have no idea where it came from.  Good night.

And when someone breaks our wings………….

We simply continue to fly……………….on a broomstick…………….

  

We are flexible like that….

I Say I Want A Revolution

I have an idea that would save millions on healthcare.  Unfortunately, no one has asked my opinion.  It's a shame too, because it's a fairly simple idea.  It doesn't cost a lot of money, and it makes common sense.  I guess that means it wouldn't be approved anyway.

Whenever we have a medical issue, we rush to the doctor for a prescription to cure our ills.  The body knows when something is starting to go haywire, and it desperately tries to tell us.  An ache or pain is the first warning sign that something isn't right, and it is the bodies way of saying, "pay attention".  But instead of paying attention to these signs and seeking out their source, we want something to make the pain/boil/headache/rash go away.  Since we mask the first warning signs, whatever the condition is continues to fester until we have a major problem.

Many of these problems could be corrected with diet and nutrition.  I have a friend that complains of stomach problems quite often.  She doesn't seem to equate the fact that she always has a glass of Coke sitting next to her to her stomach problems.  What we need in this country is education about food.  Our children are the first generation that is not expected to outlive their parents.  The obesity rate in the country is skyrocketing.  But everyone acts like there is no correlation between what they put in their mouth and their health.

I'm going to talk about another tv show here, which is highly unlike me.  I am a huge fan of Jamie Oliver, also known as "The Naked Chef".  He has a new show on ABC called "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution."  If you missed it last week you should really check it out.  Jamie is from England, and he has worked in his own country to get people to eat healthier.  He managed to change the school lunch program over there, and is trying to help us do the same thing here.  Unfortunately, he is meeting some resistance.

I don't know if it's ignorance or arrogance, but some of the people he is trying to help act like there is nothing wrong with the way they eat.  Pizza for breakfast, chicken nuggets for lunch and dinner, what's the problem?  Their attitude is, "How dare this foreigner come here and say there's something wrong with me and the way I do things".  We always think our way is better, and everyone else should conform to our way of thinking.  Maybe if we closed our mouths and opened our ears (and minds) more often, we might learn something that would benefit us.

I'm certainly not saying it's easy to eat fresh and healthy.  I have been cooking 3 meals a day for about 3 weeks now.  And when I say cooking, I mean from scratch.  No cans, no cereal boxes, actual on the stove cooking.  I'm sick of doing it, and I'm especially sick of doing dishes.  I don't think I could keep up at this rate for good, but it certainly makes me realize the value of a home cooked meal.  What's more important than my health or the health of my family?

What really concerns me is the food we are feeding our kids in school.  I can do my best to give my son healthy choices at home, but I will lose the battle when he gets to school.  What kid do you know that would pick white milk over chocolate (or worse yet pink.  Have you ever thought about what it takes to make milk pink?)  What kid chooses fruit over candy or ice cream?  These things concern Jamie Oliver too.  He is gathering signatures on a petition, so that when he attempts to change things in our schools he can show he has considerable public support behind him.  Please consider signing it.

Come on, let's start a revolution.

Link to food revolution petition

I Like to Talk, But Not to Speak

Public speaking strikes fear into the hearts of many, myself included.  I don't remember having this fear all of my life, although maybe I have.  It has become fairly acute in the last few years, but that could be because I'm doing more public speaking.

I volunteer with an organization that encourages 4th to 6th graders to overcome the obstacles in their life by setting goals and having a "never give up" attitude.  Since I've started volunteering, I have had to do several public speaking events.  The smallest was a group of about 50 adults that work for one of our corporate sponsors.  The largest was almost 2000 kids at an assembly.  Both times my hands shook, my voice cracked, and I was pretty much a basket case until the event was over.

My fear is kind of strange, considering I speak on the PA to the passengers all of the time.  I realized why that doesn't bother me last week.  For one thing, everyone knows passengers hardly ever pay attention to anything said over the loud speaker.  That could be because everything said over the PA sounds like the teacher from "Peanuts".  I also realized that I'm not afraid of speaking on the airplane because of a little thing called the cockpit door.

We were sitting at the gate last week, and I was trying to make a joke to the passengers on the PA.  Normally the cockpit door is closed, or even if it isn't I just look straight ahead out of the window and speak.  This time, I decided to turn around and make eye contact while I delivered the punch line.  As soon as I saw all the passengers leaning out in the aisle looking at me, my voice started shaking uncontrollably.  Even after I turned around and looked out the front again I couldn't get it to stop.  I hoped it just sounded like static and a bad speaker, but I doubt it.  How embarrassing.

I've started reading a new book,  "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron.  It is a twelve week course designed to help artists recover their creativity.  It helps the artist deal with limiting beliefs, self-sabotage, fear, jealousy and anything else that might inhibit the creative process.  I started reading it because I thought it might be helpful for writing the blog.  As I was working through the exercises, an amazing thing happened.  I found what I consider to be the root of my public speaking problem.  I won't bore you with the details, but it all stems back to a college communications class and a misunderstanding with my teacher.

I've learned a lot from this book already, and I'm still on week one.  I don't expect it to turn me into John Grisham, but it will be interesting to see if the blog is any better 12 weeks from now.  I'm really interested to see if this helps me with my public speaking, and it won't take me long to find out.  I'm speaking to another humongous group of kids in May.  Maybe I can get through it this time without my voice cracking.

The Artist's Way

Free Your Mind, And the Rest Will Follow

Meditation.  To many people that is a scary word.  To some, it is scary because they can't imagine calming the chatter in their minds.  To others, it is almost blasphemous.

I have a young friend that is a senior in high school and lives in North Carolina.  He was having a bad day one day, and I inquired if he had ever tried meditation.  He said no, because people had told him he shouldn't do it.  When I asked why, he gave the very vague reply that it was "against God or something".

I can assure you that many people that believe in God meditate.  Many people that don't believe in God meditate.  Meditating doesn't have to have anything to do with religion, but for me it is a deeply spiritual practice.  I find that when I meditate I can more clearly hear and follow my internal wisdom, or what I consider to be God's plan for me.

There are a thousand different ways to meditate.  A simple way to start is to find a quiet place to sit or lie down comfortably.  Start focusing on your breath.  Follow the inhalation, feeling the air go through your nose all the way down to your stomach.  Now follow the exhalation the other direction.  Breathe normally, and just stay focused on the inhalation and exhalation.

You don't have to be able to completely shut your mind off to everything.  That is the goal, but it takes practice.  Your mind can only truly focus on one thing at a time, so if you are paying enough attention to your breathing, you won't be able to focus on much else.  If a thought comes to you, or you start replaying your day over in your mind, don't beat yourself up.  Just gently release the thought and go back to focusing on your breath. 

Most of us have the answers to our questions or problems inside of us, but our lives are filled with so much white noise that we can't access it.  By taking a few minutes each day to connect with ourselves, God, a higher power, or whatever you choose to call it, you are becoming more in tune with the knowledge that we all inherently possess.  Meditation is not something to be intimidated by, or afraid of. It is the simple act of quieting your mind to let your internal wisdom shine through.

Meditation in a New York Minute - Mark Thornton