My passion is nature. I love how it makes me feel connected and at peace. When I listen to the sounds of early morning in my garden, I am reminded of the infinite possibilities that come with each new day. Loving nature is not the norm for everyone. Many like to think they are connecting with the outdoors, but some rarely make time for it. Our lives are busy and the world of espresso, business meetings, traffic and deadlines consumes us. Still, I believe that people want that connection, they want to be healthy and they want to be ecologically conscious. But when given a choice in life, often what is fast and convenient, what supports our finances, outweigh what is soothing, and nurturing to our souls. What I propose is that our connection to nature can come through what we eat and makes our inevitable stresses more easy to deal with. Food is the first step to becoming more healthy and environmental.
Everyone can agree that to show up in the world calmly connected and present is a great way to live. The outcome is well-being and energy. How can this be done? Start by looking at what you eat. Start by understanding that what you eat has everything to do with how you feel energetically therefore informing how you show up in the world. Who am I at work, as a mother, a husband, a worker or student? I want to show up present, making ritual and quality food that is as important as the work I do. It is an invitation to care for myself deeply.
Try to slow down, choose foods that come from close to where you live... support local farmers and cut down on your carbon footprint. The beautiful outcome of a life well eaten is that the environment is benefited by conscious choices. When you begin to see seasonal, local and organic food as a pathway to green it becomes easier to choose it, because you begin to feel better inside. When you make choices at the dinner table the choices you make in your environment naturally become more important to you. By eating clean, your body responds by giving you more energy. When you choose simple real food the benefit to the way you feel is profound. Your body can be the temperature gauge to how your life looks and feels. When you nourish yourself well, the end result is that you are connecting to nature and to your environment. It sounds incredibly simplistic but living well in your being guides a person to living well and caring for their outer world. When the temple of your body is held in awareness by filling yourself with pure food then it is natural to want to find a deeper connection with nature, which is the source of your nourishment and a pivotal key to your peace.
My ritual of sitting in the garden in the morning and listening to the birds on call and feeling a breeze against my skin and smelling strawberries that I planted myself is how the infinite possibilities of my life become clear to me. Knowing that I grow some of my food and that I will soon eat a breakfast that is connected to the earth, makes me feel good inside and I know that at some level I am doing a service to my planet while nourishing myself. Simplistic yes, but important too. So slow down, make time to eat with a sense of awareness that food is your pathway to energy, health and the environment.
My latest book is called Mariel's Kitchen: Simple Ingredients to a Delicious and Satisfying Life and although a fabulous cookbook it is also a guide to becoming more green in your kitchen and connecting with food from a place of peace. It is the sister book to Mariel Hemingway's Healthy Living from the Inside Out, which is the lifestyle philosophy behind Mariel's Kitchen.
One should eat slowly, quietly, humbly, aware of the surroundings. The idea is to avoid engaging the predators' mind. Learn to use a knife in the left hand for Pete's sake. Never leave a mess behind at the table or in the washroom.. This includes when you are dining out.
Impeccable manners activate currents of energy affecting everything else in one's life.
There are so many things wrong with our planet that I'm completely convinced that my regularity is not going to improve it.
On the other hand, I bet my irregularity doesn't damage it further ... so that, at least, is comforting.
There is an intelligence in nature beyond what can be described with words. In planting a garden, you become a part of co-creation with nature and awaken dormant faculties within. Get started growing your garden today - it's never too late. Come visit us at www.onemilliongardens.com and join in our free online gardening class and also get yourself some organic heirloom seeds...
to a different point. Those who say they cannot are making excuses and need to learn
and practice living outside the box. I am busy and I am not rich, but I choose to live much
more simply than most, and have gradually disentangled myself from "the matrix' of
the mainstream fast lane keep of w/ jones life. I am so glad, and I have lived in many
types of places (urban, rural, different regions) with different incomes and I know
change can be chosen.
I avoid using electricity, keeping lights off or dimmed unless reading; I avoid heating if I know the sun will warm my space by the afternoon. I wash clothes in extrator washers using cold water setting, I bring recyclable bags to the grocery & annoy the staff by bagging my own. I never waste water.
I'd like to be vegen, intellectually, but having lived in France I know good food & sometimes it comes off a hoof, or had feathers, scales. I don't rely so much on those foods to feed myself. More vegies, whole grains, fruits and less rich food. It can be done but you cannot keep a corporate fulltime schedule and see to all these things, and have a life. CEDobson makes a good point.
I certainly understand why CEDobson may think that s/her knows Mariel...but I encourage us all to wonder how much we project assumptions onto people we don't know.
Humility is a worthwhile attribute. As for me, one of my lens is rose-colored and one is scratched and a third is the one with which I try to see.
By comparison, Mariel does indeed have a beautiful life. She has time for yoga and other things that do not factor in well when one is either looking for work or working hard for little because the market will tolerate this, and at the end of a hard, unpleasant day, sleep is all that often matters.
Maybe she could get involved with a local church and start a community garden, but that too will take time, effort and money.
No, going green is not always easy, in fact it is hardest for the majority of people as the majority of people are not rich, or even well off.
On top of all this, remember we are still in a society that values purchasing over reusing in any way.
The rose-colored glasses I was referring to were my own that at this point in my life I am only able to don now and then. I do not want to come off as being a pessimistic, sour individual, only a realistic individual. I eat healthy, exercise, meditate often and promote the same things for my children. I do not, however, have the luxury of hours per day to nurture myself and to become one with nature.
It is my observation that it is much easier to live a beautiful life if money is not an issue. Having money certainly is not the end all of a happy life, but it certainly puts one in a position of nonchalant privilege, where saying "just do this" feels like pompousness rather than guidance.
If I had all of the knowledge Mariel has, my book would appeal to the masses to show that on any budget, Zen is attainable - and here is how you do it.
Again, Mariel, I am sincerely apologetic. I am sure you are a wonderful person.
http://www.iplanretirement.com/retirementblog/save-planet-save-money/
Reducing your spending reduces your consumption, enabling you to save your retirement and the planet, so that you can live a life "nonchalant privilege."
No offense intended at all, but being "slow" is a luxury of the rich. We are not all rich.
I get so much satisfaction from baking my own bread. It doesn't take a lot of time and it is definitely not expensive. Mix it up. Put in an episode of "The Wire", sit down and stir. set aside, let rest, knead, set aside. Finish The Wire while cuddling your cat. Check your email. Read a little HuffPo. Type a comment. Talk with your son. Check the dough. Punch it down. Go to the basement, put in a load of laundry, clean up the catboxes, take out the trash, fold a few clothes. Turn on the oven. Roll out the little loaves. Pop each one in the oven for 3 minutes. Get out that file you brought home from work. Go out on the porch. Turn the sprinkler on your plants. Nibble warm pita bread with olive oil. Read your files.
No one is yelling faster. Life is good.