Research and Ramblings

Okay, I decided I would try eating vegan from May 8 to May 26, 2023. I have eaten vegan meals and for awhile back in 1997-1998 I was eating vegetarian for a time in an attempt to work on my health issues. This time, it was again for health issues. I have done so many different kinds of diets or eating plans in an attempt to feel better in my body and reduce inflammation. One of my 23 in 23 was to ADD IN VEGGIES and what better way to do that than try going all out vegan.  Week 1 - felt pretty good. Some of my meals included   - pasta with tomatoes, basil, olives, and spinach  - broccoli with rice and coconut aminos  - Fruit salad  - baked oatmeal with nut butter on top  - kale, sweet potato, mushroom saute over rice  - Impossible whopper (but I forgot to ask for no mayo - rookie mistake) Week 2 - felt pretty good but my body was a little more cantankerous. My meals included  - Butternut squash and cauliflower blended soup  - we went camp...

 I'm fairly good at making time to write, as long as I am writing with others. I am not so good about showing up for myself. I am still juggling projects, trying to clear them from my To Do list so I can make time for things I want to do. I have a history of doing this. I will do (fill-in the blank) once I complete this or that. The truth is, I continue to have things and find things to do. This time I am working with a local historical society. Processing their papers, giving a talk, and acting as their treasurer for the time being. This takes time. I wanted to help out. This is how a lot of my projects or duties begin. I am trying to help someone out and then, I bypass the things I really want to do. Or do I? I think my artful procrastination is a technique of fear. All of the what ifs and feelings of not enough. My goal behind the blog was to make myself accountable to myself. Still haven't quite figured out how to do it. I meet with groups throughout the week. If I time it ...

I don't know about you, but when May comes, I start to feel FINALLY like I am shedding my winter self and donning my spring self for real. Yes, spring has already arrived and the evidence of it is all around here in the Pacific Northwest but I think we start to get sunnier days and the days are noticeably longer. I spent April writing poetry like I usually do for National Poetry Month. I am part of a group on Facebook that gets a prompt each day and everyone writes a poem to the prompt. It is fun to read others' poetry and hear what resonates with others about mine. More on this in another post. Four days ago I received the SPARK - that one Liz Gilbert talks about in her book Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear. It is a nudge that seems to come out of nowhere and all of a sudden that is all you can think about, it sparks interest and joy, it makes you want to cancel all of your plans and do this thing above all else. I think I have my book. More on that later. I am going to ...

 I have been writing. Going into groups and writing with prompts. Forgetting about blogging. Thinking about things that I am missing. Thinking about my health. Mourning my existence on some days and rejoicing that the sun rose in others. I cannot decide how best to share my writing. I struggle with deciding what is worth sharing. In my writing groups I have the permission to share the worst crap in America - even the world and there is no judgement. On the web, the internet with all of its fun and games, there is a darker side. A place where people believe that the worst things can be said. It is easy to say the worst things from your computer in your bathrobe. What if that person is in front of you? Would you say it then? I am horrified at what just seems normal to say to someone if you are not face to face. Am I concerned about judgement? Maybe not, but my heart is tender. I am tired of shoving down my feelings of not enoughness every time I encounter someone else who is wounded,...

 I am trying again. Each time I start a new blog I wonder what I am doing. Do I have the ability to show up for myself? Can I really put content out there knowing it is really just for me? I would love it if someone would read and follow...but in the end I am showing up for myself, honing my craft. I fancy myself a writer. I have always wanted to write. When I was young it was journalling (very intermittently), plays, and character development. I did some poetry in my moody teens and early twenties. I loved to research topics. I found my profession at age 7. I knew I wanted to be a librarian. I thought writing and librarianship to be the magical partnership that would sustain me until I passed from this world and onto the next. Life has different plans of course. I left high school thinking I would never enter another classroom again. Ten years later, I entered my undergrad at University of Cincinnati in History and graduated in 2002. I took a year off to figure out what to do next...