It seems my daughter, V, also came to the conclusion she was better off vegan.  Interesting – without a word between us, she jumped into it on Friday.  And, so, the journey begins…Bi-coastal recipe swapping will follow.  We both feel better, btw.

If you plan to eat the vegan way- get your Vitamins D and B12 from a supplement and eat your Vitamin E (walnuts and flaxseed).  You get plenty of Calcium from dark greens, broccoli, etc..but I take a supplement for now.

Apples are arriving at farmstands and local farmer’s markets.  Tis the season to enjoy them.  Yesterday, I cut up three organic Gala apples(skins and all), placed 6oz each into small ceramic mini bun pans.  I sprinkled on some organic cinnamon, tossed in two tablespoons of organic raw walnuts (broken into pieces with my fingers) and added 3 ounces of water.  Then, I covered with foil and baked till the apples were tenderish at @ 400 degrees for @ 20 minutes.  I removed the foil and baked till golden, @ 10- 20 more minutes depending on your oven.  The exquisite juice became syrupy and no need for sugar.  It was like having an apple pie for only 175 calories and organically healthy.  Every bite had crunch, a toasted, nutty flavor as well as a tart and melt in your mouth feel full of apple filling.Before BakingSet in oven, covered, so juices release and steam the apple.Uncover about two thirds the way through.Voila.  Three desserts.

There are some truisms that are universal and then there are specific truths, identified as singular and distinct to each individual and unique person.

For example:

We all need to eat – but each body, temperament, circumstance or environment we find ourselves in will determine what’s healthiest, appropriate or advantageous for us to eat at that moment and at that moment in time of our lives.

What I ate as an active, playful, free-spirited child who didn’t know about calories, fat grams or taxes, is different than a menopausal woman diligently getting to the gym as a matter of discipline with joint pain, calcium, bone density and an enlarged middle to think about.

Which brings me to the next admission:

I continue to experiment with myself for I am not an expert but I do consider myself an experiencer.

Three days ago, I was eating all the fats and proteins I could handle.  For months this was working with a generous amount of vegetables, some fruit, and  here and there -a starchy carbohydrate; but I had begun to slide into a standstill.  I even amped up my exercise which only made my body feel like it required more food.

I pumped it up and got on the Wheat Belly diet or the 2013 version of Atkins.  Somehow, after a few days of no fruit, a wee amount of non-starchy vegetables and not even a mention of simple white carbohydrates or sugar on my lips, my digestive and expelling systems were not too keen on this new regime.  So, I switched it up.

I am now testing an eating practice I have navigated before with previous success.  I am having a go again at low fat, low carb vegan in order to lose a few stubborn pounds I am frustrated with.

What I noticed immediately was the return of my elimination patterns and rumbling in my tummy.  It’s amazing what some fiber, green material and fructose can accomplish in so little time, in one little person.

The other benefit is a complete clearing of my complexion.  For weeks, I have been struggling with flaky, red and blotchy skin around my nose and on my chin.  Within hours, my skin returned to an even tone with no dryness.

I gained two pounds, but I expected a re-adjustment to occur.

I may be romancing the meatless, veggie and fruit extravaganza, but I think I feel livelier, smarter and less anxious, too.

Time will tell and I will keep you posted.

I do not mind a breeze but I detest vehemently strong, unrelenting Santa Ana winds.  Today we are experiencing some extreme nature and it is not to my liking.  So I tell myself, “Go with the flow or you will need tranquilizers to endure life.”  and then I thought, ” Life is not to be endured.”  “Life is to be relished and feasted upon.”

In order to come out of my own discomfort, I reach for the phone and ask if I can do something for someone else.  There is always someone outside myself that may need a helping hand, voice or ear and it’s the only way I know how to get out of self, freeing me from my own internal negative dialogue.  There is an old saying, “I may not be much, but it’s all I think about.”

Today, the winds remind me I need to walk through the unpleasant, perturbing or stressful moments of life, not around them.  And that the solution is being of service to others and/or getting into action, going with the flow of life and releasing the need to swim upstream.

Now, the winds can just mean it’s going to be a bad hair day.

“The truth will set you free, 
but first it will make you miserable.”
 James A. Garfield 


Here’s an example of a saying I kept hearing for years and never knew where it came from originally.  Actually, I heard it as “the truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.”

I have decided that we each get to choose what works for us.  No book or diet or opinion can tell us what is right for us.

I don’t have to fix anything, anyone or any uncomfortable situation.  I don’t have to change my behavior because of someone else’s attitude towards me.  I don’t have to believe your opinion of me or give it power.

Know who you are.  To thine own self, be true.

“And that’s the truth.” As Edith Anne (Lily Tomlin) would say and immediately afterwards, stick her tongue out and blow a raspberry.

It is amazing how everyone is the same actually.  We all have personality quirks of some sort as well as useful qualities.  Like a puzzle piece, I fit into your need and you fit into mine.  Your strengths fit into my jigsaw puzzle cutout.  Your resources fill my vacant needs.  And sometimes, not always, it is vice versa.

Some of us have jagged edges or rounded circles that jut out like arms.  Most puzzle pieces are cut with both outward and inward perimeters.  Some protrusions look like they are going to fit and find a match but do not lock in.  Some knobs or indentations are small, some large.  Some pieces seem to fit but the illustration is not congruent with the big picture.  Sometimes the timing in our lives is all wrong or just right for the inclusion or exclusion of that person, place or thing.

It’s great when you can place together all the jigsaw pieces around a central one.  It’s exciting to find the corners and develop the frame.  The hardest part is filling up the middle just like filling up our own insides.

I can see how we are all jigsaw puzzle pieces; looking, searching, finding, rejecting and if lucky-clicking with other pieces (persons) that fit neatly into our lives.  Perhaps these are our soul mates and kindred spirits that help us along or help us achieve our position in the jigsaw puzzle of the world.

Every piece is necessary and has its place.

We are interdependent.  We support each other in order to feel whole, one with others and make sense of this life.  The pieces I fit into radiate away from me and fit into other pieces that connect me to them, not physically, yet importantly.  It is the Big Picture, the wide view, the totality of it all that overwhelms as it humbles.

I am Pausing today and remembering to be grateful for all the souls in my life, as well as yours.

Here’s a gem that Wayne Dyer shared with us last Wednesday night.  

The Cookie Thief
 by Valerie Cox

A woman was waiting at an airport one night,
With several long hours before her flight.
She hunted for a book in the airport shops.
Bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop.

She was engrossed in her book but happened to see,
That the man sitting beside her, as bold as could be.
Grabbed a cookie or two from the bag in between,
Which she tried to ignore to avoid a scene.

So she munched the cookies and watched the clock,
As the gutsy cookie thief diminished her stock.
She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by,
Thinking, “If I wasn’t so nice, I would blacken his eye.”

With each cookie she took, he took one too,
When only one was left, she wondered what he would do.
With a smile on his face, and a nervous laugh,
He took the last cookie and broke it in half.

He offered her half, as he ate the other,
She snatched it from him and thought… oooh, brother.
This guy has some nerve and he’s also rude,
Why he didn’t even show any gratitude!

She had never known when she had been so galled,
And sighed with relief when her flight was called.
She gathered her belongings and headed to the gate,
Refusing to look back at the thieving ingrate.

She boarded the plane, and sank in her seat,
Then she sought her book, which was almost complete.
As she reached in her baggage, she gasped with surprise,
There was her bag of cookies, in front of her eyes.

If mine are here, she moaned in despair,
The others were his, and he tried to share.
Too late to apologize, she realized with grief,
That she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief.

This poem speaks to me about perception and how I can be soooooo wrong.  What did you glean from it?  The same?  Have you ever had a similar experience?  What are my judgments based on?  Is the basis of conflict always a misunderstanding?  Why am I so quick to make assumptions?  

Perhaps the reality and the truth lies in the bigger picture, the larger scale,  and on what really matters.  I also came away with the concept that what you see in others is a mirror of your own reflection.  

I only own nine of his forty books published but I am a big fan of Dr. Wayne W. Dyer’s.   The friend who took me both times to see him is a much bigger devotee than I.  Thank you, L, for inviting me to see such a wonderful speaker who walks the walk, not just talks the talk.

He spilled his life story in snippets on Wednesday night at a PBS taping in San Diego.  He has come to understand, with time and introspection, to see clearly how everything in his life has led him to this moment in time.  He encourages us to do the same.

In five acts, he describes how we need willingness, determination, fearlessness, compassion and love to observe positively how our choices in our circumstances throughout life have made us the people we are.  He assures us when we do, we will notice how there have been forces at work and a strong, loving guidance has always been there, by our side.

It was truly an inspirational evening.

Some of my favorite quotes from Wayne that evening:

“ Don’t conform, be transformed by the world.”

“When you connect with your excitement, you will always be supported and things will align.”

“Don’t let anything interfere with your passion.  It becomes what you are.”

“Success is when you advance confidently and endeavor in direct relationship to your dreams to live the life you have imagined.”

“Under struggle and pain, empathy and compassion arises.”

“True nobility is about being better than you used to be.”

By the way, he mentioned many influential authors he has studied and one of them was (you guessed it) – Viktor Frankl, and his life changing view of the world book – A Man’s Search for Meaning which I just ordered after someone else went on and on about it: see previous post.  You know that is not just a coincidence.

The set

Someone AGAIN brought up a certain author and book to me and I said, “That’s that, I gotta get it.” I went right to Amazon and pressed click.  What hooked me was when she said the author spoke to her when he wrote, “It’s not why we live, it’s how we live.”  The book is Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl.

Meanwhile, I am coursing beautifully through Daphne du Maurier’s, Mary Anne.  It is an historical novel based on her great-great grandmother.  Riveting and risqué.  Although this book is rather long and I am a slow reader, I cannot wait to read it each evening and lose myself in the story instead of trying to admire or decipher her writing.

“Today is going to be a good day because I said so.”  My friend T. says.

The choice is ours to be happy.

The choice is ours to be ok with any circumstances.

The choice is ours to be in acceptance.

The choice is ours to be compassionate.

The choice is ours to be in love with all of life.

Something to think about all day:

In every situation or interaction with others, pause and choose your attitude.  Respond rather than react.