The Dancer or The Dance: Illness as Art: The Journey by Mary Oliver

The Dancer or The Dance: Illness as Art: The Journey by Mary Oliver

Scratching My Head...

I just don't get it. 

This may sound silly, but why is there a book on "getting to unknow", which is about emptiness, right? Which is about how to get your meditations to be clear, and this book is 600 pages long...

600 pages long to talk about emptiness.

It just seems silly. We want to talk about getting to the core of our being, the centeral of what makes us, "US" that can be inclusive of our lives, yet, we need a 600 page book that explains how to get out of our heads and knowing...

It seems like the truth is simple, and in simplicity, takes DOing, not thinking.

Okay, enough of that!

Striping off all this other stuff, what we add on from others (Including folks like Oprah), requires finding your bones. Who are you? What is important in your life? Why? What can you live with? What can't you live without? Why? Get simple and basic.

Start with the big things and move down;  why are families are important, what roles do they play and why.
Friends in our lives, what do they add?
All this stuff, in the center is us.

It Ain't Easy Being Fat! (or Green!)

Royalty free photo of a happy frog!

I love it, someone who's comfortable in their skins. LOL.  I was watching TV today, as I am apt to do, esp early morning, unless prodded out of bed, I don't "do" mornings... I have coffee veins, and mornings are to be under the sheets in a warm bed, enjoyed; not scampering around outside in the rain, or on the phone, unless necessary!

Anyway, back to the TV...Dr Oz was on. I usually find myself turning his show on to anything, simply that I don't find him that nice (and I could be wrong), or that accepting of his fellow people (again, ibid, he could be), but I was mesmerized by his promise that anyone over 40 (hey! That's me) could loose weight "effortlessly" with taking five magic ingredients that will drop the fat, add energy (anyone with CFS and Fibro can tell you how we will almost kill for energy), and lower your cholesterol...wow. amazing. Five magic ingredients.

So I took notes, sort of: I can't find my note book! LOL, again symptomatic of anyone with Fibro...we loose things: a lot! So I began with the ingredient I couldn't forget: Raspberries. 

I'll get back to Dr Oz...I have to tell you about Raspberries!

Mom, her best friend Erma Mae (no not southern, but a fellow Norski), her daughter, Megan and I would go every year to Knot's Farm (no not in CA), outside of Carnation, WA, and pick berries. Not a small couple of boxes, but each of us with a flat. Picture this: warm misty mornings, listening to the bugs waking up, trodding down sandy soiled lanes, with raspberry branches scraping your arms, legs and reaching for the sky. The berries would be warm. Sunkissed ripe, slightly firm to touch, ruby red and sweet on your tongue with a slight green taste from the brush of the leaves still on them.

Okay fade to today: raining outside, cold as hell: we're only 47 degrees today, after 65 mile an hour winds last night howling through, wondering if the roof would hold. I am ridiculously tired, and not so nice today.
He's talking about raspberry ketones. HUH???

Yep, something exists that is a boiled down/powdered substance now being toted as the latest, greatest fat reducer...this was just one of the magic bean items.  I took notes, like I said, wanting to know what on Earth raspberries had to do with weight.  So I got online later, Googling this idea.

Well come to find out 1 (one) journal ran an article on using raspberry ketones (still don't know what "ketones" they are referring to, as naturally raspberries are a fruit/herb, not a protein), as a way to skinny 10 rats. Okay, no follow up, but now I am finding people in "Ripped" magazines talking about taking this as a supplement (not a good sign, really). One guy complains he 'sweating all the time' since he started taking this as a supplement that reminds him of "cotton candy"...LOL. Well, I couldn't help it!

HMMM sweating all the time; let me remind myself of mother's use of Raspberry Leaf tea...yes, it has hormones in it folks! It's for women, esp around "that time of the month" to help with cramping, PMS symptoms and the crazies. One small problem: don't take it if you're pregnant, or you won't be much longer! Rasberry Leaf tea is high in estrogen! Uh huh!

I sweat all the time, but then again, it's not Thermalgenic, it's hormonal!

It's okay to laugh. We get all kinds of crazy ideas that we think are going to be "magic pills" to stop us from liking food, to mimic starches (um hum, another one), to stop us from eating bacon (turfuky!), and all that stuff.  I can only speak from experience here:  I did use to weigh 280 lbs, back in 1998 at my heaviest.  I was on enough medication to sink a battle ship, I was far unhealthy, and  I didn't like myself then.

What did I do? Well, I stopped every drug  I could, responsibly (meaning not by myself, and properly). I found an eating plan that worked for me (later discussion),  I found herbs and supplements that were healthy (hey, just because it's an herb, doesn't make it safe/healthy!) for ME, and started working on ME as what was "not working" in my life.  I also had to safely decide what I could live with being overweight, I knew I would never be thin, and why faking foods rarely works. Again, another discussion. Being authentic, is being okay with You, however you are, changing what isn't you (labels other's give us, what we 'should' be like, what we 'should' be saying, etc) and stop it. Just do something every day about one thing. One idea, and change it.

The key: do it. I still to this day will ramble on about what I have yet to do, but by and large, if it is feasible to do it, do it....Don't like your job; do something about why you don't like it, or quit. Don't like your husband/Wife/lover? Find out why...is it them or you? If it doesn't work, fix it. You'll never fix "them" whomever "they" are (bad bosses, mother in law issues, family members who make you go AGGGH), finding out what triggers in you this response goes a long way in the Karma game to not have it happen again, and for the rest of your life...back to raspberries, enough sermon...

Raspberries as a rule, are amazing delicious fruit. Relatively low in carbohydrates, high in vitamin c, a and so many other luscious reasons to eat them. Hard to find ripe anymore. My suggestion: come Late July, find an excuse to find a local berry patch...or better yet, get some canes now at your local stores...their in. Plant the canes in the ground, with LOTS of room, because they are aggressive and will go wild. Wait a year, and harvest with your wonderful birds, and friends, who will thank you.

Easy recipe using raspberries: huh! raspberries with whipped cream (or cream, or ice cream, or frozen almond milk...anything creamy!) they rarely need sugar, and let their jewel taste swirl in your mouth; tangy and sweet, seedy and green all mixed together. Do this with a friend.

A little this, A little that!

Taken a little while ago, but this is all this site is about: getting to laugh, getting to where you know what you believe in, advocating for your rights to be/live/eat what you believe in.


There is no judgement here: either you like you, peccadillo's and all, or you don't with all the range in between. I will be posting what I've found; public media stuff as well, because like it or not we are public media inundated. I will let you know what I believe in, you don't have to agree, but if someone comments here, no flaming is allowed of what they believe, as long as they state it is THEIR truth and not trying to push anything on anyone (I am very opposed to that), there is room enough for everyone to speak. SO BE IT! (To quote a damn good movie!)

I want to hear your truths, what you find good in your life and the bad. Why? Because this big blue marble that we live in is full of all of us, living our lives, trying to do what's 'right' and being good people, right? Knowing you are not alone is part of this business of living.

I will post some personal stuff, it's impossible not to. Things piss me off that I feel need to be aired, that many think but few will put their John Doe on, simply because of being concerned about what other's think, their bosses think, or if they are in business for themselves, what their industry will say; I did that. I am done.

So let's dish, let's talk good stuff, let's talk food, let's talk politics and religion (mommy said it wasn't nice; I stopped being nice). Let's talk about what works towards being real with yourself, let's talk about what doesn't.  This ain't Oprah, it's not always going to be touchy feely nice, but it will be real.

Some FAQ's:
1. What do you believe in?   I believe in the freedom of speech. I believe in the right for every person to be treated as a human being, without harm. I believe in God/dess as I have come to understand from almost dying under a solid concrete dock, I don't need any help in understand that one! God/dess in my OBE was genderless, energy without form or boundries, that was me; and I it. Enough said, but I will discuss it from time to time.

2. Are you realized? (read Enlightened), I had a week that I experience total and complete bliss without end, and life returned. It's good enough for me. I learned and believe "that if you are still here on Earth, you're not done".

3. Well, do you believe in Jesus/Buddha (name your teacher): at age 6 I understood that Jesus/Buddha/etc were all the same. It was a level of enlightenment they understood, no one is a saviour; we all need teachers, even Jesus.

4. Are you married to the man in the picture? Nope that was a client at a fair, when we worked and before we became retired.  Nice guy, but not my husband. I have plenty to say about what we did for work, so if you're curious, stay tuned!

5. If you are so (fill in the blank) why are you fat? I am fat because my ancestors from Norway/Sweden/Germany were. I like food, food likes me. I stopped fighting it, but I haven't stopped watching the food wars. I try to eat as healthy as I can, and also understand Clime's Rule (northern climate far from the equator= short fat people, because it couldn't be refuted, it is called a rule). PS I was brought up by my wonderful mother, who was a cook by scratch lady, I will include food as comment and ideas in here; that's part of socializing.

6. Am I always happy? No. But I get on.

7. Are you in perfect Health? (or why are there days you can't write?) I have cerebral palsy, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and quite a bit of ABC's. I came into the world with this, trying to fight it is nuts. Working with it and finding a balance, works. This includes a diet that actually does work, herbs/supplements that keep me vertical (and sometimes horizontal). I will talk about this for all those of you fighting CFS/ME, Fibro, and insomnia. I don't have all the answers, but that's what this is for, right? a think tank where we can discuss what works!

I will actually take your posts and make full entries out of them, discussing what you have found, what works, what doesn't, what makes you happy, what pisses you off...why? because while facebook is fun, it limits the discussion with a whole hosts of comments, not entries. Ning is fine if you want to pay out Gazillion dollars to keep it up. So this is free, I want it interactive (If I find I am just shouting in the wind, I will close it down), and I want it controversial.  Talk about what's real in your life: including death.

Be not afraid.