Dream of things, natural, wild & free

I found the quote that is the title of this post on a stone bench near the middle school of my current town. The bench was in what used to be an "outdoor classroom." There was a man who used to be the science teacher there who created an magical outdoor area for kids to learn from nature. He grew wild flowers, prairie grasses, created a pond, put up bird's nests to encourage wildlife to make it a home, and then wove trails throughout the area. I never got to see it with my own eyes, but have heard wonderful stories about it. After he left, it was uncared for, and eventually got destroyed and plowed through. But, the pond and the bench remain.

I wanted to blog about this, because the quote on the bench is something I wish more people would grasp. Lately, I've been having a hard time even pulling 'weeds' from my garden because I love the idea of giving wild plants a chance! I have a little flower bed area and at first, my parents wanted me to lay down a certain chemical to get rid of the weeds. My flower bed is very near my garden, so I chose not to because I didn't want to risk my garden being contaminated. What has happened as a result is sooooo cool. I have harvested a little bit of wild lambs quarters for use in my green smoothies (very healthy wild edible!) Also-some wild flowers have sprang up and are absolutely gorgeous! Its amazing that when a flower bed, garden, and even a lawn are left untreated, it becomes a classroom for learning about wild plants. I also had a mulberry tree begin growing a couple years ago. My parents also thought that should come down immediately, but this year is its first year it is producing berries and the are DELICIOUS! What I love is that when the earth is left in its natural, organic state, species of plants I unfamiliar with begin to grow and I'm enjoying trying to discover what they are and if they have any health benefits.

I'm going to be going on a trip to Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon next month and I'm so excited to check out the native growing things! I can't wait to someday live somewhere that feels like its right in the middle of nature. When I'm in nature, I personally feel so connected to God. So, I dream on things, natural, wild & free! =)

Takin' the Plunge

So...I've been vegetarian since July 5th 2008. Quick story of how that came to be:
My dad was diagnosed with multiple myeloma (cancer of the bone marrow...kind of like a blood cancer) back in 2006. Because my mom has always been interested in nutrition and alternative medicines, she immediately began researching alternate therapies that could help him. She read the book, "The China Study" by T. Colin Campbell (I highly recommend it to anyone, but especially to those with cancer), and discovered that people who adopted strict vegan diets not only had high success rates of slowing or stopping cancer growth...some even completely reversed the cancer and were CURED. So, she left my dad no choice, and promptly began ridding the kitchen of all animal products. (On a side note...The China Study provides evidence that consuming animal products and cancer initiation and growth are directly related...check it out). My dad did some alternative treatments, but also continued the mainstream treatments and did rounds of chemo, radiation and even did a bone marrow transplant. Its four years later and he is still in remission. But I remember at the time feeling so bad that my meat-loving father had to watch the rest of the family munch away at steaks and burgers while he heated up a veggie patty. But...I took notice of his healthy appearance and positive results with the diet. I made a vow to my dad one day that some how, some way, some day I would go vegetarian in his honor. And I did. July 4th, 2008 was the last time I ate meat (knowingly...I say that because there have been three times that I unknowingly ingested meat products...and let me tell you, after you've gone without meat for so long, your body takes notice of when it's ingested and it DOES NOT like it...I won't go into detail of how it protests...).



So what does this have to do with the 'vegan' logo at the top? I have been flirting with the idea of becoming a full on vegan for over a year now. Being vegan means ingesting no animal products (no meat, dairy, cheese, yogurt, etc.). Some vegans even decide not to wear or use products that contain animal products, such as leather shoes or fur coats. I've flirted with the idea of being a vegan, but have been hesitant to "take the plunge" for several reasons. First--I LOOOOOVVVVVE cheese. Like seriously love cheese. Second--Being a vegan requires even more thought, preparation and creativity than being a vegetarian does. Social situations, going out to eat, etc. all are obstacles that aren't so tough when you're vegetarian...but when you're vegan, your choices are quite limited...at least here in the middle of Nebraska (this would not be true of bigger cities). Third--well...I don't really think there is a third. But I said several, not a couple, so felt the need to put a hypothetical third.

Anyway, I've read numerous books on vegetarianism, veganism, and even raw-foodism (more on this later...it's my ultimate diet goal!), and I've just decided that now is time for me to go full on vegan. I've had a muse slash partner-in-crime throughout this health journey...my soul-sister, Heeney (aka Teeney, or Teen, or Heen, or Green Teen, the list goes on). She and I have been in complete agreement on all things health. We both went vegetarian about the same time. We've both read a lot of the same books and have watched a lot of the same documentaries. We've both been flirting with the idea of going vegan for quite some time now. About a week ago, she took the plunge and went vegan. We're both reading the book, "The Sunfood Diet Success System" by David Wolfe right now, and it got me real jazzed and pumped about not only going vegan, but to start taking steps in the raw-foodist direction as well. So I was texting and talking to Heen today and was trying to explain my hopes, goals, and dreams for this veg journey, and she said that she shoots to be at least 98% vegan everyday. Because let's face it, here in the mid-west, being full on vegan all the time is quite an undertaking. But shooting for 98% seems not so daunting for some reason! So I totally decided to adopt her philosophy on that. Shoot for 98% vegan, 70-80% of the veggies/fruits eaten in their raw state (not heated above 104 degrees).

So today, June 1st 2010, I am celebrating my official first day of "going vegan". And it feels FABULOUS!!!!


Happy Vegan Birthday to me. ;)