Minimalism creates opportunity

In my last round of cleaning things out, one of the things I decided to get rid of was the bedroom television.  For one thing, it had a set-top box that cost us monthly.  For another, we only watched it twice a year--when one of us was sick.

In donating the television, I was left with a decision on what to do with the cabinet.  The lower half is useful storage for me and as a piece of furniture, it balances the room.

Several years ago when John's Aunt Willa died, she left me her prized Japanese doll.  Though precious to me, I was never really sure what to do with it since it doesn't fit my decor. For years it simply sat on top of this cabinet parked in the corner. An awkward add-on.

Letting go of the television allowed Willa's doll to move into the place the television had occupied.  It now looks featured in the room.  I love it that its position honors her. It now looks special, just like she was special.

Minimalism makes things possible that simply aren't when you are overflowing with stuff.

Random Updates

This is stream of thought...

- I am actively looking to purchase an affordable used scooter to put my new Class M to good use.

- As of this morning I am 8 lbs down from when I first posted "The Weight Game" post. (Why yes, posting your weight and unflattering photos of yourself on the world wide web IS motivating to stick to a 1200 calorie a day low carb vegan diet.) The Livestrong app is making a big difference in how I'm able to stay on target.

- I am reading a lot of really good books lately. I tracked down Indra Devi's book from 1950. (She was the first Westerner to study with Krishnamacharya and took yoga practice to California in the 1940's.)  I'm also reading Rod Stryker's "Four Desires." (More on that later.) Also in the middle of Jonah Lehrer's How We Decide.

- My mom is in a nursing home and it is looking to be much longer term than we'd originally hoped.  Diabetes has compromised her legs and she is in a wheelchair. I will get to see her on Friday to find out more.

- Have been spending a lot of time contemplating what minimalism looks like in a modern day life.  How do we let go of "things" and their related responsibilities and entanglements to make more room for what God actually wants to do in us?

Never say never...

This weekend, I did something I never thought I'd ever do.  Ride a motorcycle.

I enrolled in the cycle training course to learn to ride a scooter. (You know. Little things that go slow.  Like a slightly faster bicycle.)

But when there were no scooters available, I was given a Honda Rebel. And though I was super intimidated when I started the class, by the end I was having fun.

A LOT of fun.

And while I have no plans to run out and get a Harley, it is a cool skill to have. (And, as of 9:05 Monday morning my drivers licence class is now CM.)

The Cornell Herons

Watch live streaming video from cornellherons at livestream.com

I have become really enamored following the Great Blue Heron nest sponsored by Cornell University at livestream.

It is amazing how peaceful and joyful it is to watch the parents care for their babies and see them grow. I also like following the chat feed to see the questions people ask and the answers.

Getting this closeup view of something so beautiful is amazing.

Adventures in dehydrating food for travel

After reading  321 Stop: stop running and start living I did a massive clean out.  Yes, I know this is typical for me, but there was another layer of the onion to peel off.

In doing so, I listed my dehydrator on Craigslist.

Then Monday night at the library, I ran across another book. Another Fork in the Trail: Vegetarian and Vegan Recipes for the Backcountry.

The book covers dehydrating food and assembling into meals so that it can be easily packed and stored--which for a girl who just packed a whole weekend of food for a trip to New Mexico sounded amazing. Dehydrated food is lighter and doesn't need refrigeration, and the book has really amazing recipes that take it way beyond kale and banana chips.

I was inspired to test it out.  Over the weekend I made some particularly yummy chili beans--pinto beans with a bit of garlic and a sauce made of tomato and a ton of chile seco. I poured the mixture onto the dehydrator sheets which took about 12 - 18 hours to completely dry.  I then put the mixture into ziplock baggies with a note as to how much was there originally before I dehydrated.  (I put 1 cup chili beans on each tray, so I would know that.  When rehydrating, you don't want to add more water than was in the beans originally.)

And you know what? It worked!

If you've ever eaten a "cup-a-soup" you've experienced rehydrating a meal.

A friend of mine sent me some blogs and I read further. It seems like a really viable option when traveling--because almost every place I go has the ability to heat water. (Some of the recipes even rehydrate cold.)

So needless to say, I took the dehydrator off Craigslist. (And thanks to the 321 Stop-inspired clean-out, I now even have a completely empty cabinet so it has a place to live.)

Exploring minimalism

There was a time when I had closets full to bursting, drawers that wouldn't quite shut, hundreds of books for which I didn't have shelf space and furniture that was a little too big for our house.

I'm not sure when I was introduced to the idea that I didn't need it. That the world wouldn't stop--and in fact my life would get better--if I let it all go.

I just read Lorilee Lippincott's book 3-2-1-Stop which explores this idea. She takes it beyond the physical world of "stuff" and into time, money...and even yourself.  I wish I'd encountered this book 15 years ago.

If you've ever been interested in living a little bit freer, this book is for you.  It isn't a big complex read.  In fact, the style is as simple as Lippincott is encouraging you to live.

It is available on Kindle (the way I read it), in PDF, or paperback. Worth your time...and in fact, may result in freeing up more of it.

Imposter Syndrome

This week on ThisIsIndexed I saw a drawing I had to look up...

Wikipedia says..."The impostor syndrome is a psychological phenomenon in which people are unable to internalize their accomplishments. It is not an officially recognized psychological disorder, but it has been the subject of numerous books and articles by psychologists and educators. The term was coined by clinical psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes in 1978." (Note that the Dunning-Kruger effect is when you are blind to your own incompetence.)

It is interesting to me how often I feel I have to "wait for the grown ups."  Somehow this year it hit me that when you are in your forties "we are the ones we've been waiting for."

In what areas of your life do you need to get over the imposter syndrome and own what it is you are responsible for?

Even people who are really good sometimes fail.  But you have to actually be doing something to risk failure. 

On driving as a spiritual discipline...

I was coached by a "backseat driver" (no, it wasn't John) to "move up and close that gap or someone else will get in the line."

And I thought about that--the "us vs. them" factor. As it turns out, driving can become a spiritual discipline.

I remember being a teenager in a car with friends and making fun of someone's dilapidated hoopty as we drove down the road. Immediately, I felt bad about it. After all, the person who was driving the vehicle (if it could be called that) was probably doing so because they had to.  It wasn't a choice.  So, after that incident, each time I saw a vehicle like that I started praying for those drivers--that God would bless them with a better and more reliable car. (I still do this.)

What I didn't expect is that somehow, the act of praying for drivers over their vehicles bled into other areas of my driving.

There is something about thinking kind thoughts for the other drivers that removes the "us vs. them" context of a commute. Thinking thoughts like "may you be safe...may you be happy...may you be healthy..." for those outside of our car acknowledges that we are driving on the road with people who are just like us--each with their own time pressures and agenda that often conflict with our own.

Changing the way we see the other drivers can transform a commute. Not only making it less stressful but also making it more kind. (And I'm pretty sure most commutes could use a little more kindness.)

Of family reunions and stuff...

John and I spent the weekend at the Bonita Park Nazarene Camp in the mountains of New Mexico with his family. One of the things about family reunions is that they connect you to the larger part of who you are.

His dad (also John) is one of six siblings, and all of the aunts, uncles and cousins were there.  Ever since the kids were little we would make the trip and hang out for stories, food, music, coffee and playing 42 (a dominoes game).  This year was put on by the "next generation" and included cabins, zip lines, disc golf and a campfire complete with coat hangers and marshmellows along with the usual.

We are lucky to have Gary--John's cousin--as the local family historian.  He put together a slide show that covered about 100 years of Mack and Crystal (John's grandparents) and their descendants.  It was fun to watch from the homestead, to the forties, to the 60's, through the 80's until now covering weddings, births, funerals and just general silliness. It was a celebration of life.

Lexie Dell (who is normally just Lexie except when back home with family), and the twins (Brenda and Kenda) took me to Capitan for Smokey the Bear days where we shopped tents and watched the parade. This was the first time I'd ever gotten to hang out with them.  I've heard stories over the years about Lexie Dell's mom (also Lexie, Crystal and Mack's daughter).  She was the fun one--impish and full of life.  I learned this weekend it is something she passed on to her daughter and granddaughters.  They were fantastic!

Uncle George is the patriarch, and his children: Ron, Rick, Randy and Sandy were there. John and Randy hung out a lot through the weekend and John told me in the car as we drove back that one of the things he remembered most about Randy was that he was a really nice guy with a little bit of an inner "Bart Simpson." He said it was cool to him to see that even as a "grown up" he hasn't lost that mischievous streak.

Of course, it was also really great to hang out with our own family:  John's dad and Maidie, his sister, Cheryl, and Troy, Rhonda and the girls along with Bryn's husband, Jason. So rarely are we all together, and there doesn't even need to be anything special happening.  It just feels good to be in each other's presence.

The only thing missing from the weekend were Chase and Bethany (who got tied up with school/work conflicts).  One thing is for sure, we definitely plan to do it again.

On context

How we interpret scripture depends so much on how we view God.

If we believe He doesn't exist, then it is full of chaos and contradictions.
If we believe He is angry with us, then it is full of judgment and condemnation.

However, if we believe He is beautiful and that He truly and deeply loves us, then scripture becomes a story full of grace and God reaching out to man because he cares for us. It tells of what is honest and important in this world so that we won't be deceived by shiny trappings. And maybe most importantly, it tells us who we truly are to encourage us to walk in that way of being.

The Weight Game

I have a confession to make. 

I wish I were thin. 

For as much as everything inside me rejects the pressure of magazines and celebrities, deep inside I want to look like them. 

Weight has always been an issue for me. I dieted like crazy through high school. (Many times when I had no need to.) My mom encouraged this. (You see, she had weight issues of her own.) 

When Chase was born I dropped the weight immediately, but when Bethany was born I was older and it was harder. Then the extra 20 lbs I carried creeped up to 30.  To be fair, I was working full time, kept house and was trying to feed a family of four on a very low income and not a lot of cooking skills. (Hot dogs and boxed mac/cheese were staples.) 

When this photo was taken, I was at my heaviest. 182. And seeing it made me very sad.  So, I went to the bookstore to buy a calorie counter, but found a book by Marilu Henner instead. It changed my life.  So much so that within a year, I looked like this. 

The thing is that I so radically improved the quality of my food that my body stopped being hungry.  Since then I've maintained the principles I learned from Marilu with the exception of the total elimination of refined flours and sugars.  And that one single factor has been the source of a slow and steady creeping of the scale over the past 12 years.

Earlier this week, I got another photo-shock. Our church made sandwiches for the homeless and posted pictures on Facebook to celebrate everyone who took part. At first, I didn't even recognize myself. 

While I no longer weigh 182, I am at 164 and that is simply too much for me to carry on a 5'3" frame. I feel it in yoga class.  I feel it when I go shopping for clothes. (I feel it when a Victoria's Secret commercial comes on television...sigh).

Right after I saw the picture and was wondering what to do, I got a call from a friend (a healthy friend, not one who spends her whole life consumed with her waist size).  As our conversation went along, my friend mentioned she has lost 50 lbs. fairly effortlessly doing low carb.  

When most people think low carb, they tend to consider Atkins (all meat, all the time, yeah buddy) but it is actually possible for vegans to eat low carb as well. (Yes to avocados and cucumbers. No to sweet potatoes and pears.) And so, once again I find I'm regimenting my eating.  Maximizing the number of raw vegetables, eliminating sugar/white flour and severely restricting fruits and other grains. (Garbanzos...I will miss you the most.)  While it may seem hard to eat that way, it actually isn't.  The hard part is the tracking and counting.  Luckily Livestrong has an app for that. 

So, for the time being, I'm keeping the Livestrong widget on my blog. A subtle (or maybe not so) reminder that I have to set my intention on a daily basis. I'll let you know how it goes. 

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Looking for an update? See the "after shot" from July.