Ok, your resident hippie here with more hippie stuffs. And I had a huge decaf americano. Decaf still has a little caffeine in it and I'm off caffeine enough that it is making me chattery. sorry. Here is a little background from the NY Times on it. Here's a book that was just released too. I want to go pick it up.

I've been kicking around these same ideas for a while. I'm cutting processed foods out of our diet and doing pretty well with it. Sadly, the latest victim has been mcdonald's bbq sauce. I was craving chicken mcnuggets a couple weeks ago and ate them and was so ewwwww after. I used to LOVE the bbq sauce with the chicken nuggets. When I tasted it the other day, it had such a bad mouth feel and taste. /cry So... I'm a little in mourning for it.

So processed foods are out. I'm feeling better, looking better- my hair is so shiny and growing so fast! Unfortunately, my eye brows and lip fur are also connected to the hair growing extravaganza so I'm totally rocking my Frida Kahlo thang. :( I'm going to have to up my waxing appointment to every 10 days instead of every 2 weeks. :(

The idea really appeals to me. I'm a little conflicted because I love the rumble and bustle and culture of the city, but I love clean open spaces. I'd also love to know my food was clean and safe. And the animals that I get my food from are well treated- even if they do become food eventually. I think that if chickens eat chicken food- bugs and plants, not chicken shit and if cows eat grass, not corn or chicken shit, they'll be healthier and in turn, we'll be healthier and the planet will be healthier.

The idea of eating a chicken and knowing it had a name seems a little hard to get over, but to treat meat like what it is- meat, another animal- seems more respectful to animals than the processed nastiness that is a chicken mcnugget.

I love technology and I love the advances we've made as humans, but I think we need to look at the costs and decide if it is a price we are willing to pay. I'm definitely not saying technology is bad, but a lot of it is just excess. I mean, does my shiny tv really contribute to the quality of my life? When it comes to Lost and football, I would say yes, but the rest of the time... not really. I sit and veg out when I could be drawing or walking or pondering or baking or creating. It sucks energy- literal electronic energy, my creative energy, everything. I love the medical advances we've made. Diseases that would cripple and kill us can now be effectively treated. Our quality of life should be going up, but it seems like it's stagnating.

Where do modern humans fit in to the ecosystem? How unsustainable is our current lifestyle? Mostly, at least as far as moe mumbles go, am I tough enough to follow this path?

New Career is Calling to Me

And I am following the call.

A few years ago, while watching TLC and their never ending baby marathon of Bringing Home Baby and A Baby Story, I was introduced to Doulas. Doulas are women who support women in the process of either becoming mothers or making as smooth a transition as possible to being mothers. Doulas help coach women in breathing techniques and relaxation during labor, then can also help women make the transition to having a new baby in the home. Doulas will do light cleaning and cook dinner, help the mothers understand the changes going on in their bodies and also look for sign of post-partum depression.

In short, doulas help women through a difficult, confusing, emotional and exhausting time.

Part of me wonders if I am acting in a very masochistic way. We have been trying to start a family for over a year now. Part of me wonders if being around pregnant women and babies is going to be the best thing for my emotional and mental well-being. But part of me, the hopeful, irrepressible optimistic part, is saying helping other women in vulnerable, emotional moments will be so fulfilling.

I'm so excited. This is something I can see myself doing. I'm glad I was quiet and listened. And now that I've listened, I'm following the path.