Know Any Literary Animal Lovers?
Hi there PureJeevan readers! We wanted to let you know that Jim's new novel CHROO is available on Amazon. It's a crazy adventure involving a billionaire heiress, her Chihuahua BFF ("Chroo") and a host of human and animal characters. Find out more on Amazon! Here are some links:
To help keep all of you inspired, we ve asked some
remarkable individuals to share their raw food stories with you. Enjoy!
My Story of Conquering the Myths of My 50+ Body
I ve been eating 100% live/raw food for a little over eight months now, and I believe it all started? well.... hmmmm? let s see. Last summer I was determined to do something once and for all about the weight that I put on since I turned 50, six years ago (well, almost seven years now ). It seemed that no matter how much I exercised or how much I ate ? or didn t eat ? nothing stopped the onslaught of impending bulk. Each year added a few more pounds until I hardly recognized myself! What happened? Who was I? Where did this strange body come from? I decided I needed to take this foreign body by the horns and wrangle it back into submission. Actually, I was gentler than that, but the determination was there.
Finally, some super news to share!? On Monday, after a l-o-n-g wait, Wendi finally had her appointment with a actual LLMD. (That stands for "Lyme Literate Medical Doctor."? If this and the news of Wendi's Lyme Disease is new to you, check out this post.)
I'll cut straight to the good part: Her prognosis is excellent! Yes, she's still in a world of pain and misery at the moment, but he believes (based on her blood work and her symptoms) that we've caught this early enought to fully eradicate the Lyme. (At least, that's how I understand it. I'm actually not clear on whether Lyme is ever 100% eradicated, or if it's just forced into dormancy or irrelevancy. Perhaps Wendi can clear that point up later.)
"... a warrior's life is not about imagined perfection or victory; it is about love. Love is a warrior's sword; wherever it cuts, it gives life, not death."
~ Dan Millman, The Way of the Peaceful Warrior
During some "highway philosophization" (my term for pondering everything and anything while driving) this afternoon, I eventually began to think rather deeply about human aggression, and specifically about how people hurt other people. Mainly, I was thinking about individual aggreession, although, as a group, humans are unfortunately rather prone to it.Wikipedia maintains a list of ongoing conflicts (i.e., wars), in fact. According to that page, there are seven major wars happenning right now and 15 additional significant ones. Of course, there are scores of unlisted ones ongoing as well, most of which the average person has never heard about.
Here's a letter from Wendi to the Pure Jeevan family. I prettied it up a little with some color and graphics. -Jim
Hi there, lovely Pure Jeevan family! I'll be away from the computer for a month, working on some deep healing. It's time to go within and really hear what my body and spirit are saying.
Read more: Wendi's Taking a Break... A Peek Into How She's Been
In some wonderfully literary sense, there must be some kind of unique metaphor that could be constructed around the process by which cabbage turns to kimchi. Personal growth is not always easy, as any success technologist will surely tell you; ?there's a lot of doubt and oozing and off-gassing involved -- and yet, the final product is surprisingly pleasing to the palate.
Yes, it's time for us to update you on our first-ever kimchi experiment. If you want the short version:? I believe we have been successful! For those of you with a few more minutes, I'll share some of the lurid details. Highlights of our experiment included:
All this week we're continuing to feature a variety of answers to the question "Are Raw Foodists Crazy " from various friends of Pure Jeevan. If you're just now tuning in, please read the back story and introduction to this, as posted on Monday.But, for now, let's continue with posting the rest of the excellent responses sent in! Enjoy!! :-)
There's SO much to celebrate lately! Check it out:
Our dear friend Robin (aka Rawbin) celebrates her birthday today. We created a fun video for Rawbin, who has the ability to make anyone laugh! Rawbin blogs here and you can read her "My Raw Story" installment here.She's also the east coast Raw Spirit Festival representative. (RSF east happens August 29-30, 2009 in Maryland. More info here.)
Greetings, everyone! ?We've been away from regular blogging for what seems an *eternity*. When we left the airwaves, the raw food world was at total peace with itself -- bliss, harmony, sister- and brotherhood. Aside from rare, gentle disagreements among raw vegans on issues such as whether raw chocolate was mineral-rich or potentially taxing to your body's store of minerals, things were pretty much business as usual.
And then we moved away and took a little time off to regroup .. ?and NOW look at the state of the raw food zeitgeist: (1) long-term raw foodists just about everyhwere are now "eating a little bit of cooked food," (2) an enormous schism has emerged after the seemingly improbable development of many long-term vegans returning to meat eating, (3) informational summits and online meetings have been replaced by debates, and (4) let's face it, the supplements being discussed and sold are getting, well, much *weirder* than ever!
If you've been following us for some time, you'll know that we are continually working on projects that will either serve our raw food community or educate others about the health benefits of a raw food lifestyle. If you are new here, or just getting to know us, you can read a summary of what we accomplished last year and a summary of the projects we're currently working on. We're serious about our goal to inspire others to learn about and embrace the raw food lifestyle and community. I've always been someone who helps others, who senses in what direction they are headed and then offers inspiration to keep them moving. I love the work we do as Pure Jeevan and it is extremely rewarding to receive so much gratitude from many of you. But, guess what? Sometimes I get tired!
Sure, some of you may be saying, "But, wait! People who eat raw foods are supposed to be power houses of energy -- able to continually keep active and never run out of steam." Well, that is very true. So, I take it back. I'm not really "tired" like I said -- my body is able to wake up in the morning, easily fall asleep in the evening, and go about its daily work without feeling like it's run down.However, I am feeling like I need a rest from all that I've been doing. Maybe I don't need to sleep hours and hours, because my body isn't truly tired. None of my being is truly tired -- my body, mind, spirit, and emotions are feeling great, actually.
However, I still feel like I need a break from my routine. On top of that, I've been feeling uncomfortable in the cold weather even more this year than I did last year. It hurts all the way down, deep inside my bones. I feel like it will take a lifetime to thaw from the cold I've been feeling here in Pittsburgh. The sun rarely shines, and the snow and ice are brutal on someone eating only raw foods. My instincts told me two years ago that it was time to move to a warmer, sunnier climate, but that hasn't happened yet (even though we are patiently working on it, as Jim pointed out in an earlier post).
EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT!
Kevin Gianni Wants to Meet
Pittsburgh Raw Foodists This Saturday!
UPDATE: Location is set for my home in the South Hills
Kevin and Annmarie Gianni will be in Pittsburgh for the Steeler's game on Sunday. They'd love to meet Pittsburgh raw foodies while they're here! So, if you can make it to meet up with them, let Wendi Dee know as soon as possible. We'll either be meeting at the East End Food Coop (if I can reserve the space at the last minute) or at my home (South Hills/Brentwood). Please respond by Friday at 5:00 p.m. about your availablity.
Hi everyone!? Sorry for the late post tonight. I had a busy day, and even met with a new realtor to help me sell The Luck House! (Wish us luck on that front -- but I have a super-great feeling that this new realtor is 10x more professional and knowledgeable than the previous one.)
Today I thought I'd give you a peek into Wendi's rather fascinating Inbox. While she's away, she asked me to monitor her Pure Jeevan mail box and field as many of the questions as possible. It's been ... interesting! :-)? I never realized the volume of email that she receives! It's almost a full-time job to keep on top of it (which I haven't been able to do as well as I'd hoped -- although I now have it down to just a ?hundred or so unanswered ones, so that's progress!).