"The flow of creativity feels like an avalanche of joy and wonder. Being open to that possibility creates connections with everything." - Feline Dreamers

Friday, April 18, 2008

It's a Bird, It's a Plant...No, it's a Faerie!

I've felt unsettled this week. Sort of uncomfortable, emotionally and physically, without any real reason behind it. My chiropractor noticed I've got issues. "Lots of movement in the area of changing roles, huh?" "Yeah, just a bit..." I have 10 days of work left, and then I'm free! Free to unschool and write and garden and sleep in and hang out and whatever else I feel like doing. Don't get me wrong, I'm VERY excited and joyful about this change.

It's just that I'm in transition. And for an earth sign who is comfortable with routine, to a certain degree anyway, it's weird to be in limbo. I've come up with a bunch of metaphors to explain it to myself and various friends. I'm the seedling just before it breaks the surface of the soil. The cliched butterfly in the chrysalis. I'm the caged bird who, the door now open, steps out and looks around at how darn BIG the sky really is.

Then my physical aches and pains kept manifesting in a familiar area. I first felt it in my neck, but when BlackLion gave me a massage, I felt the roots of it in my shoulders. Yep, right under the shoulder blades - my faerie wings! I've grown them now, and I'm about ready to unfurl them! It's all making much more sense now.

Let's see, as I remember, the first step is to relax and let those ephemeral new wings dry in the sunshine... I'm glad the weekend is here.

By the way, Happy Birthday to my brother! Not that he would actually read my blog or anything. But I did call him today, and he was at the Red Sox game tonight in Boston. I hope he had an awesome time!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Thinking About Food Again

I guess I write a lot about food in this blog (side note: I should figure out how to put my posts into categories like some bloggers do, so I can see exactly how much I focus on particular topics). This year in particular, my coven is exploring food and spirituality. One of the e-mail lists I belong to was recently having a very thought-provoking discussion about this, too.

Basically, the idea that I identify with the most is that *what we believe* about the foods we eat is as important as the food itself. Since everything is made up of energy, one of my questions as I explore being vegan, and the concept of eating raw foods, is why it matters what I eat. If everything is ultimately made of energy, so what if I’m vegan or my friend is a raw foodist or my parents eat a standard American diet? Well, it all comes down to the beliefs we each have about what we consume.

Last week, I went 10 days without eating refined sugars. My belief has been that my body feels better when I avoid sugar or moderate my intake. I felt great. I started thinking about some of the posts on the e-mail list, where people were saying that they mostly ate what is normally considered healthy food, but that they were going to indulge their occasional craving for candy or potato chips with as much joy as they did when they ate a big salad. So this week, I basically ate whatever I felt like.

I still feel great. I enjoy the freedom to enjoy sugars without guilt. I do have some issues around food still, which relate to the beliefs I have, and how my body currently resonates with various types of foods. And I admit that overall, I’m still eating what most people would consider a healthy and nutritional diet.

I guess what I’m finding is that I really resist when someone tells me that I “must” do something, or that the “objective truth” is such-and-such. I hear that a lot from raw food enthusiasts. I like to make my own decisions, and I want others to make their own decisions, too. What is right for me will look different from what is right for you. So that’s what I’m doing, continuing to mindfully explore what food and spirituality mean to me as an individual. All is well.

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Honeyed Blessings

"This earth is honey for all beings, and all beings are honey for this earth. The intelligent, immortal being, the soul of the earth, and the intelligent, immortal being, the soul in the individual being -- each is honey to the other." - Brihadaranyaka Upanishad