News!

Hello everyone!

For the last few weeks I have been struggling with the idea of whether or not I should move my blog to a different blogging platform or not, and I have finally decided that it is the right move for my blog. 

In the coming weeks, I will link to my new blog and begin posting exclusively on there, while keeping this one alive for all of the previous content that I have produced. 

Make today great!


xXx

New Perspectives

Greetings! It has indeed been a long time since I last posted a blog. I haven't been blogging consistently this summer, which is a shame really because I meant to become a more consistent poster. At any rate changes are still occurring in my life, its all been very positive.  I have been kind of taking a little hiatus from writing in general, not just on this blog.

I figure I should take some time, step away, and find my writing voice, but I am not sure if it will ever be found/developed.  Growth as a writer is often a constant endeavor -- no one (at least not me!) ever wakes up thinking, 'Golly, I just found how I am going to write from now on!'

Growing and changing as a writer really is no different than growing and changing as a person. The process is still the same: falter, observe, adjust, repeat. I falter in some way, make an observation, make whatever  adjustment I deem necessary, and then repeat the process and the story to other people. The only difference is that writer know how to express their experiences, turning them into wonderful stories.

I guess if you were to ask me right now where I am in the process, I guess I would be on one of the first three.  It is difficult to pinpoint where I am on the growth spectrum because I have had a growth spurt over the last month and I have been changing every single day.

Although I do have to say this situation in the Gulf has got me really miffed!  I can't stand to think of the colossal impact to the environment that it will have. 

As far as idealogically, I really haven't changed much.  I still believe in the dietary guidelines that Weston A. Price put forth, I still believe that Rx drugs are not good for people in general, and I still believe very strongly in sustainable agriculture.  I have been philosophically been changing my tune, learning more about Gnostic Christianity, Native American spiritualism, Hindu and Chinese Beliefs and many other ancient belief systems.

Today, it seems the world is trapped in this Matrix of unimportant things that have no real affect on every day life.  People seem so materialistic these days (I choose not to incriminate myself!  Talk to my lawyer if you want to know if I am materialistic or not).  Society as a whole seems so off base.  Complete strangers don't smile or greet each other fanymore, they just pass by on the street, fully equipped with a scowl.  And what is buried in their ears?  Some semblance of what might be considered music is blasting in their head, drowning them to reality and their surroundings.  Maybe it is a bit harsh, maybe this assesment is totally off base.

Hell, maybe I need to move to a new area!

The way that most people live their lives today is all about encircling themselves in a bubble -- their circle of friends, their favorite music/movies/television -- living this artificial life where oil spills happen over there, where food comes from the supermarket, and where success and financial gain replace kidness and compassion.  Everyone is out there chasing luxuries like a dog chasing endlessly after a bone (or like my cat who endlessly chases his tail ;)  )

Well, I took the red pill

I reject this culture of consumerism (**hides ipad) and I embrace the older ways of life where people would just be people.  An oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is still my oil spill. Yes, those who committed the infraction where suits and ties and are probably the biggest luxury chasers around, but it is still my oil spill.

I like the Native American philosophy that we don't own the land, but are benefactors of it.  I haven't quite gotten the concept all down, but I understood it to mean that we are all living here by the grace of Mother Earth. So this earth, it is mine and yours, but in the sense that we live here and it was here before us so we should respect it and our fellow tenants (i.e. plants, animals, etc.) 

New perspective needs to be adopted, based upon an older way of life. Stop texting and start talking, add something new to your usual daily routine, strive for growth instead of a G6, and most importantly, relish in the little moments.  These little nothings make up the whole of life, so whether it is laughing at nothing with an old friend or stealing glances of a great lover, bask in these times, and strive to remember each moment.  These transient, fleeting moments are all we have, so guard them, appreciate them and never take them for granted.

I leave you with this beautiful quote from Gandhi: 

Keep your thoughts positive,
because your thoughts become your words.
Keep your words positive,
because your words become your behaviours.
Keep your behaviours positive,
because your behaviours become your habits.
Keep your habits positive,
because your habits become your values.
Keep your values positive,
because your values become your destiny.

May the Sun always be at your face, and the wind to your back!

Updates, Cholesterol and Saturated Fat and other news.

Since my last post, I have made a few changes in my life.  First, I have decided to take some time off from school and explore more of my options, and I moved in with my sister who I hadn't seen for eight years.  It has all been so wonderful, and I feel good about my decision and I think it was a really smart move for me. We get along really well (disregarding the usual sister-sister, "but I want to wear that!" spats) and I have been able to share and talk about nutrition with her and talk all about my philosophies on life and child rearing.

Now, I don't have any children of my own, but I just love to read about baby/child care.  It is one of those things that I just love to do, I can't explain it. At my sister's apartment, we bet baby magazines for some reason -- neither of us know why they are being sent -- and just reading through them is horrifying!  This is what these magazines think parenting is all about?!

 I am really trying to be fair, but I find it really difficult to find anything of substance.  I like the stories that the mom's tell, and the adorable baby pictures, but other than that, its nothing more than pure propaganda. How?-- the countless pictures and adds for baby formula or baby foods, the ridiculous materialism that saturates each page, the shallow nutrition advice.  Do you really need a $500 crib, or a pacifier, or the latest baby-genius concoction?  How about something organic. No, I don't mean the label that means virtually nothing now.  I am speaking of something real.  How about stories about mothers who garden and produce their own food.  Maybe some anecdotes about how a mother, instead of getting the latest stroller, buying a sling. 

I just want stories of that show mothers getting in touch with their feminine essence.  I want to read about a woman who rejected pain-meds during her child birth because she knew what she could do and she knew what was best for her. I want to hear stories about how father's masculine essence was tapped to aid him in being a father.  I want stories about the best stroller or the best car for a growing family, and read stories about people doing different things. 

And the nutrition advice. I think that was a typo actually, because their "advice" on nutrition is really a recipe for cavities and poor development.

Healing our Children, this is an absolutely wonderful book!  It ties in enlightening insights on our world and our reality with the wonderful work of Weston A. Price, forming a beautifully informative and enjoyable reading experience. I don't want this to sound like an ad for the book, but I am really impressed with it.  It has parenting advice that works, and that is a breath of fresh air.

I usually read bits of this book at a time, picking and choosing different sections I think are really good and important.  I love how this is a real book about real nutrition, not the politically correct, saturated-fat-is-bad vitriol that permeates other books and magazines. 

Which brings me to my next topic.  While searching through my email, I came across an article from Everyday Health about saturated fats.  I perused it, and I have since made plans to cancel my subscription.  The regurgitated propaganda information was just more of the same, "don't eat eggs, don't eat liver." The article actually starts off with "According to the American Heart Association..." that is the first clue that we should just close the browser and tab.  I, unfortunately, continued forward, and I was just disgusted. 

I know, this is how the world works.  The guys with the most money get to put out whatever garbage they want, wrap it in a pretty package, and sell it to the public. I haven't forgotten that we are a money driven society where the only thing that matters are how many Ben-Franklins you can pile up, but sometimes I hold out hope that maybe there will be a glimmer of truth that shines forth so that the majority can learn about true nutrition, and what life is all about: family, love, and good health.

I guess I shouldn't hold my breath.

Personal confessions

Sorry it has been so long. I often think about this blog, what to write about, different experiences I've had, etc., but it is just so hard for me to get on and publish anything. It has a lot to do with the fact that I am currently working two jobs in order to meet my school bills, all the while trying to live as naturally and environmentally as possible. Add on top of that, trying to do homework!

Another thing that has kept me away are personal issues that have been plaguing me. A few months back, I had denounced the practice of circumcision as a brutal practice that needs to be immediately stopped. Well, I have also since lost my faith in the God I was taught to believe in. I am also dealing with bits of depression about my current circumstances, and how I often feel powerless, and not in control of my life.

I feel as though I have been on auto-pilot since I was sixteen, doing and saying all the right things just to make those around me happy, often telling myself that it is okay that I am so miserable because everyone else is happy. Well, since then, I am now a twenty year old college student who feels her life is not her own, and that she has no say in what she wants.

At any rate, I think I am going to slow down a bit after this semester, and take a year off, just to live. Universities can be empowering and stifling at the same time. I feel as though I haven't lived. I don't have a lot of experiences, and I just want to live. A lot of people around me just want me to go to school, not spend time with my friends, get a degree and begin work. How sad that is?--just trudging through life, doing what every one else wants you to do.

In recent months, I have come to realize just how sad I was, and that I was leading such a complacent life, with very limited experiences. I am desperately trying to change that, and I am contemplating taking up farm internship positions so I can travel, meet new people, and enjoy new surroundings. I want to just break out and do something. Anything.

I mean, those who say they know best for me would have me waste my youth, trapped in a tv-induced trance on a beautiful Sunday, instead of interacting with outsiders or experiencing anything. That is not a life, that is a disgrace.

I feel like I am surrounded by stifling people who want me to be nothing more than their trophy and prize. I am not a 16", bronze decoration, meant to sit on a mantle. I am a person, with thoughts, feelings, hopes and dreams. I have a mind, my own mind, and that is what they want to strip away from me. They told me that I don't have my own mind, and that I should have the mind of Christ, which is to obey and honor your parents. Please, pardon my french but Fuck that! I will not be a drone. I will not just relive the lives of those before me. This is my journey through life, and I intend on experiencing it.

I started trying to lead a more happy life by attending an event for Local Farmers and food producers in the Western Pennsylvania area yesterday. I had a lot of fun. I was able to talk with a few of the local food producers in my area, and gain some insight into farming in Pennsylvania. I was happy to see a lot of people in attendance, and that a lot of people were wanting to buy more local foods.

I talked to a representative of the Food bank, who shed some insight on the growing number of families in the Western Pennsylvania-area who need assistance buying food. I had volunteered a couple times for the food bank, and it was really true what she said--in one night, we served food to 700 families! So many people in need, it just makes me even more passionate to learn about sustainable food systems and spreading the word. Luckily, people are beginning to realize just how important sustainable, compassionate and environmentally-friendly food is to all of us.

That's it for now, folks. Thanks for listening to my rant, and allowing me to shed some emotional baggage that has been weighing me down for years. It is not all off, but I am starting to become a better person.

Circumcision: a complete 180

Okay, so after doing a lot of research, I have become passionately anti-circumcision, in all its forms. I know a year or so earlier, I caused a small stir on my blog because of my espousal of so-called "holistic" circumcision. I have since reversed my position, and I am now patently against circumcision, no matter the "reasons" people give for mutilating their sons.

Having said that, I have found a wonderful website that dispels the propaganda of this victorian practice, called Circumstitions. It is a wonderful site that gives a heavy dose of reality.

When you really think about it, all of those arguments that pro-circumcision people use don't really make any sense. I mean, if a foreskin was a harmful thing to have that should be removed--very painfully I might add-- in infancy, then why are men born with one? How can it be cleaner to remove an organ that nature has bestowed upon males (and females really, since the clitoral hood is very similar to the male foreskin). And really, what is cleaner? Is it supposedly less bacteria? With all the new information that has been discovered about bacteria and how people actually need bacteria to survive, I don't even think that argument relevant. Because there is less bacteria, does not mean that it is cleaner. We need to get away from this idea--an idea that is a result from our modernized society that demonizes anything natural, including organs-- that our bodies are somehow dangerous for us that we need the good ol' doctor to come and take away the "useless" parts. Everything on our bodies has a purpose, and if we let nature take its course, that purpose will be fulfilled.

Like all other unnecessary surgical procedures such as apendectomies, tosillectomies, and what ever other organs people these days desire to remove, this must be stopped! I mean, not too long ago, it wasn't considered ludicrous to remove part of people's brains through lobotomies in order to "cure" their mental problems--the medical knowledge we have gained has somehow given us this idea that we to start removing organs because we are supposedly more enlightened now.

One poster, correctly, criticized my support for so-called holistic circumcision. I am glad that poster criticized me as they did, because it prompted me to seek out the real truth behind this procedure: it lit a fire under me, and forced me not to complacently and blindly accept the falsehoods that purported by the American Medical Machine.

I feel like boys today are being attack from all sides: vaccines that predominantly affect them, plastic products that will affect their fertility, and a general attitude that being a boy is some how bad. That is not to say that girls are treated with the utmost respect, but the environmental changes that we see today are affecting boys in a very profound and dangerous way, and, in effect, our future. Now, I am not saying that pollution does not effect girls negatively, in fact I think it is effecting girls in a way that has not been reported on yet (and I have my suspicions that all of these feminizing hormones work to contribute to estrogen dominance in girls).

It seems like in society today, men are portrayed like sex-hungry, dumb, and abusive creatures, without souls and hearts. There are so many negative attitudes towards boys in movies, television, and music that I think we are conditioning a whole new generation to just value the opposite sex for nothing more than mere satisfaction of primal urges.

Like I said before, it is time to resurrect the image of males in general, and to stop casting them into categories. I think we can start that by stopping circumcision. I mean, in the website, some women even described the natural male penis as gross looking and disgusting! Any way, I know that when I have children, my sons will most certainly NOT be circumcised. I will leave them as nature has intended them to be. I know beforehand, when I was on the dark side (pro-circumcision), I cited religious arguments to sustain my position. I can no longer use that as a reason to destroy my future son's body, and I won't use that as a reason. After watching an actual circumcision I cannot reconcile within my heart to do something so dastardly to a newborn, and I cannot conceive how any one else can do that to their kids. Even then, my heart was torn apart by this commandment and by the prospects of having to do this. But I won't. It is not my son's choice to do this to himself, so I won't start off his life on such a bad foot!

We are in the 21st century, it is time to move on from this truly barbaric practice.

G-20 protest post

Okay, in Pittsburgh, the City where I live, the G-20 summit was held last week. It was a very interesting experience. There were so many police officers. . . Now, I am a student at the University of Pittsburgh, but I do not live on campus, so I did not witness the protests and riots on Thursday and Friday nights. I have heard from friends who live on campus what happened. In short, police were tear gassing students and were shooting them with rubber bullets. I watched youtube videos of the event and was really upset at what I saw. Here are some videos,








Truly disturbing! I usually try and stay away from political posts, but since this happened in my hometown, I feel the urge to represent what I saw happen.

Swine Flu scare

I have been watching these videos on youtube about how ridiculous this whole 'swine flu' thing. Here are some of the interesting videos:


and this one:



Very interesting stuff.