3 things

there are so many things to be grateful for. here are 3

1. listening to an artist who really means it, gets it, feels it, lets it out, and lets the world witness it. (pictured- d'angelo. his voice and words and melodies mean so much to me it's almost pathetic.)

though we all have gifts and talents, how many of us can say we truly SEIZE THE POWER and allow ourselves to follow through with our true desires? it's not enough to dream (i have found). stepping out of the shadows, putting yourself out there, REACHING FOR THE STARS as they say is no easy task. it takes action and passion and holding your head high in adversity. i respect artists and activists, actors, originators and pioneers. they inspire me everyday and i want people to love me like that too one day, when i am worthy.

2. family and friends.

i hope i live a long and healthy life; the circle/cycle blows my mind. as human beings we are so gifted and yet cursed with the questionable "gift" of higher thinking. the knowledge of our own death, the hourglass, the slow-motion guillotine, is the only real truth in life, and with that comes the fear for our own livelihoods. but greater for me is the fear of losing those i love. as childish as it may be, i cling to my family and friends and rely on them daily. maybe one day i will be forced to face true solitude or walk a plank of some kind without a safety net or even be abandoned by somebody i "need". we never know what might happen, so i try and tell everyone with my words and actions and time whenever i can how much i cherish them in my life.
if you're reading this...THANK YOU!

3. the natural world.

whether we call it nature, nourishment, vitamins or fuel, i call it LIFE FORCE.
i'm grateful to my friend _______ for turning my whole life around 3 years ago. she had suffered from what i think is a normal state for most people living on earth- that is, they don't know they are suffering- her entire life. growing up on a dairy farm, eating animals and their by-products was all she knew. when she had stomach pains, bloating, a cold, skin disorders, or any other symptoms, the solution was shoveling more mucus and disease forming dairy on top of it. until her early 30s it was all she knew, and like most of us, she didn't question what she knew.

now, since being animal and dairy free for years, she is a new woman.
she was always tired. shadows under her eyes. long, drawn out colds year-round (i suffered the same. we chalked it up to stress, climate, city life, partying, germs. that was not the case). bloating all the time.

i used to fear for my life around her if she had pms. it was literally an evil aura that surrounded her. cramps, crying, backache, moods suited to an executioner, and crippling long periods.

fatigue
moodiness
pms
constant hunger
depression
stomach aches
overweight
bloating
acne
cravings
emptiness
sickness/colds/flus
addiction to sugar

THESE ARE ALL SYMPTOMS THAT WE AS A SOCIETY HAVE GROWN TO ACCEPT AS NORMAL

....except it is not normal. or necessary. or natural.
everything in life is diet and toxin related. we are what we eat.

everyone feels like shit! and i used to as well, though i didn't know it.
since giving up animals and dairy (i'm guilty of the occasional slip up but very rarely. a splash of milk, something made with butter, a piece of fish. i notice and feel weaker for it, but i let it pass. i do it mainly when i feel guilty for requesting someone else to change or make an exception for me. we all need to work on asking for what we need WITHOUT THE GUILT, especially when we know it's our higher being asking!) i live my life in a new way, looking at food and food addiction closely. we have been trained to think of garbage as a treat. it takes acknowledging and re-training of the mind and palate to recover from this lifelong conditioning. i think we all suffer from food addiction and no one really talks about it. they talk about drugs and cigarettes and sex but not food, the LIFE FORCE, the three squares a day, the fundamental fuel for our amazing bodies to run.

i'm grateful i live in a place where i have beautiful, healthy food readily available to me. i have the drive to take care of myself and others and though i can't control what anyone puts in their mouths, i can try and inspire them to make different choices. and keep motivating myself too! we never should settle- our bodies can be even better than they are today, even as we age year by year. the myth that with age comes disease, pain, cancer, and hopelessness must be proven as just that- a myth.

doctors, pharmaceuticals, psychics, counsellors, nutritionists, consensus- we can listen and moan and deny until we are blue in the face, but deep down we all know what we should be doing, and eating, to live a beautiful life.
 NO ONE KNOWS BETTER THAN MOTHER NATURE.

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