 I routinely remind my daughter, “You need to keep trying foods, even if you’ve tried them before, because your taste buds change.”
Sound familiar? Yes, of course, some tastes may never change. Personally, I’ve always loved strawberries and can’t imagine NOT loving them to my dying day. But my palette has expanded and I pray my daughter’s will too, so we don’t end up with mac-n-cheese as her wedding dinner. Here’s the thing… it's not just your taste buds that change. Your play buds change too.  I was recently interviewed for a podcast by a delightful woman (when it’s live I’ll be sure to post it). She began with one question she asks all of her guests, “Can you share a catalytic event in your life?”
While there have been oodles of “KAPOW!” events, one that was the most impactful – one that literally changed the trajectory of my life and how I share my gifts in the world – was at a week-long Art of Mentoring workshop back in 2003. After a day of sitting inside, talking about the outside, the facilitators sent us off for a sit spot: simply sitting in nature and paying attention to the world around us. I walked out of the building, headed in the opposite direction as everyone else, and ...
While still other benefits of a consistent nature practice science has named, but I’ve not yet tested them on myself, include a boosted immune system, increased pain threshold, and faster healing.
But one key feature that's caught me off guard is a feeling of time being elastic. My perception often morphing like a slow motion scene in a Rom-Com when two lovers are reuniting after a series of misunderstandings.  When people would just drop and lay on the ground wherever they were?
It was weird. But I'm bringing it back. This time, as a mental health tool. We’ve got a global pandemic, civil unrest to finally get justice for people of color, economic upheaval, and murder hornets. Sandwich these with not being able to go anywhere and iLearning, and it’s created absolute mayhem. With stress skyrocketing we could all use some brand new tools for calming the eff down. I’ve been practicing this new-old tool a few times a week and it’s made all the difference.  Before you even read this, let me just say… I love you. If you’ve done some or all of the things that I'm about to mention, I am not judging you! I’ve done these things myself. A delightful side effect of the Stay at Home Orders around the country has been people’s desire to reconnect with nature.
Mainly gardening- it’s super hot right now. The HUGE downside? Not all plants are created equal, and how are you supposed to know which are the good ones and bad ones!? Well, I’m going to tell you.  This is for the sensitive ones, the misfits, the black-sheep, the outsiders…
For every time you were laughed at, eye-rolled, “whatever’d,” belittled, ignored, or made to feel less-than, just because you felt deeply for a wild creature, wept at beauty, listened to your intuition, or expressed selfless compassion, I want you to know.. -> click to continue reading  Industrialized food is a commodity that functions on a tightly organized linear assembly line, sort of like the automotive industry. Take out one part and the whole kit and caboodle goes to hell.
But the food we eat is not a car! It’s part of a living breathing system that should involve love, relationship, and an ability to flexibly respond to emergent situations. The best way to achieve this is through re-localizing our food systems. I’ve been reading so many stories about...
 I was recently talking with a delightful woman about a challenge she overcame with a simple mindset tweak. She is a self-proclaimed “nature lover” and always wants to do right by the planet. But when her landlord told her they’d be testing an optional compost system for the building, she said “no thanks.”
Why would someone say “no” to an initiative that would save 103 pounds of food waste from the landfill each year? Because all the brain heard was “change” and change = hard. Then preprogrammed thoughts filled her head like…  The first memory of Earth Day is saved in vivid technicolor. I was 12 years old, and my aunt and her friends took me into NYC for the festivities. At the beginning, I felt pure joy at the idea that the thousands of people walking the streets were like me. They too loved the earth and wanted to take care of her. I was not alone!
But as the day wore on, I noticed a lot of garbage on the ground and got really confused. How could all these nature lovers get together and leave a mess? It was literally the opposite of the day’s intention! |
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