This is a great article from the New York Times about the realities of delicious, healthful food that is, oh, yeah, vegan!
“Many vegan dishes… are already beloved: we eat fruit salad, peanut butter and jelly, beans and rice, eggplant in garlic sauce. The problem faced by many of us — brought up as we were with plates whose center was filled with a piece of an animal — is in imagining less-traditional vegan dishes that are creative, filling, interesting and not especially challenging to either put together or enjoy.”
Here is a direct link to their recipes to help you go “semi-vegan” for your health, the planet, and the animals.
Thanksgiving
Fourteen years ago today, the best event in my life happened - Emma appeared. I will confidently say that this is the best thing that will ever happen to me as well. I say “is” because she quickly became a part of me (perhaps she already was?), and that has not changed since her passing. Her impact on my life’s journey was wide-stretched, certainly, and one I’ve written about before - and it continues. She is part of my life not merely because I think about her every day, or sense her nearby; not because she appears in my dreams, or sneaks by in a shadow; not because of the nonprofit that bears her name, nor the tattoo on my arm.
Emma transfigured me. She taught me, she cracked me open, she slowed me down, she sped me up - yes, yes, yes, and yes but that does not begin to describe accurately what she did, what she has done, what she continues to do. Emma loved me, yes, but she loves me now, too, and I love her eternally, beyond the bounds of space and time, in a way I hadn’t known was possible.
Her greatest lesson to me, I believe, has been to try to feel that same love, that eternal love, for myself. I am a slow learner, but this holiday is about gratitude, so on our anniversary, that is always where my focus remains: I am supremely grateful for my Emma. Happy Thanksgiving!
Emma
Still movin’, baby, still movin’.
On Fire
I’ve had a rough time sleeping the last several weeks, and not just because I tweaked my neck. More and more frequently, I wake up in the middle of the night, my hands, feet and head on fire with hibiki - the sensation of Reiki. Sometimes I know who’s waking me up, asking for a session from a far; sometimes I’m sure it’s someone I’ve never met. Usually, it’s an animal making the request.
When I first started my practice, I didn’t connect these events. I would wake up, my feet tingling and warm, and just think it was a regular case of bad shoes. As my personal practice developed, it became clear to me that wasn’t what was going on. The degree of heat I feel, and the localization aspect of it, make it impossible to go back to sleep without engaging for at least a while. Now it’s happening at least once a week.
Besides, how can you say no? Maybe I can figure out a way to set better business hours…
