Today we revive our occasional “Thankful Thursday” feature to give thanks for a special Internet destination: Twitter.com. We’re sure a number of you who may be unfamiliar with Twitter may be asking, “What in the world does this have to do with raw foods?”

In fact, there’s quite a bit of raw foods “activity” on that site! But first, let’s take a look at what Twitter is. Basically, it’s a web site where you sign up with a username, and then you answer the question, “What are you doing?” in 140 characters or less.

So, for example, you might write something like, “Enjoying a smoothie!”

Okay, so who reads this?  Well, basically, you need to build up a list of “followers.” Most of the time, you would do this by browsing around until you find people who seem interesting to you, and then engage them in a mini-conversation. You should probably start by “following” them. (Just click on the “follow” button on their page.) This means that every time they post (or “tweet”), it’ll show up on your Twitter home page — known as your “feed.” Quite often, those you follow will follow you back.

Another way to make friends is to tweet at people. You can do this directly by starting your update with the @ sign, followed by their username. So, to say good morning to Wendi, you would just type in something like, “@WendiDee  Good Morning!! .”  Or you can click on the reply icon next to any post to automatically start a reply directed at an individual user.  The best way to learn is to simply do. Go there and hang out for a while … develop a feel for it! 

Some people make fun of Twitter, feeling as though it’s nothing more than a giant chat room in which millions of people announce mundane personal activities to the world. Other people feel it’s simply “yet another social networking platform” for marketing or being marketed to.  And yes, there is a lot of that going on. But it’s also a fun way to interact in more or less “real time” with other people — and, if you focus in primarily on other raw foodies, it’s a great way to participate and be connected to other like-minded people.

So how do you find the raw foodies already on Twitter?  Great question!  (See, we knew you were interested!) Well, we’ll tell you right now that there are two you can start with: Just get on Twitter and send a quick hello to @WendiDee (Wendi’s Twitter name) and/or @Rawdiant (Jim’s). From there, you can do two things: (1) Check out our personal lists of followers and followees, and (2) Visit the All Raw Directory’s social networking page, here, where there are approximately a few hundred raw foodie Twitter feeds listed! (And, if you’re new to Twitter and/or haven’t yet put your own name on that list, please feel free to do so. The All Raw Directory is easy to use and is there for that purpose!)

If you’re on Twitter, feel free to drop your username in the comments section! We love to connect with our Pure Jeevan family in any way possible!

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Today we’re running another installment of our “Thankful Thursday” series. This time, we’re especially thankful … for YOU, the Pure Jeevan family! Who’d have thought, less than two years ago when launching this blog, that we’d make thousands of connections with others looking for inspiration on their raw food journey?!!  It’s simply astounding — and we’re still actually “just getting started.”

As always, we’re thrilled to provide information and inspiration. It’s counter-intuitive, when you really consider it; “raw foods” may be just two simple words, yet there always seems to be more and more to talk about, more people to interview, more success stories to highlight, more recipes to contribute, more tips and tricks to share, more personal reflections to offer.

While we would love to develop a more interactive experience (and we’re working on some things!), the format here on the blog is pretty much the same as it is for all blogs; we present information for others to read. It’s kind of an outward-facing act, when you consider it. However, today we’re turning that around 180-degrees. Today, we need to leverage the cumulative knowledge of the Pure Jeevan family. We desperately need your help! And it might just be SO easy for you to help us!

You see, we’re researching. Since we had to postpone our U.S. RV tour, we can no longer wait until we’re on the road to discover our own Utopia (which was part of our original plans). We figured that during our cross-country tour we’d visit someplace and just *know* we found our new home. Now finding the ideal location to relocate has become a bit more difficult. We’re currently seeking the ultimate place to live (for us) and want your suggestions! Below is a list of qualities we’re seeking in a new home. We’re asking everyone we know (and even people we don’t) to take a look at the following list and offer us any suggestions for further research. So, please, if you know of a city that potentially fits our needs (or at least fits many of them), then please let us know. It could be a simple comment like “Santa Rosa, CA” or as long of a recommendation as you care to offer!  Here’s our criteria:

	Sunshine.  We’ve discussed this periodically before. This and the next item were what prompted the move in the first place. While Pittsburgh is certainly a beautiful city, it ranks very low on this criterion. In fact, it’s less sunny here than Seattle! (We have 45% sunny days here; Seattle has 47%.) We’ve also likely discussed some related factors here — e.g., how sunshine affects mood, how Vitamin D deficiency is linked to disease, how raw foodies tend to feel cold more often, etc. So, sun is important to us! We need a minimum of 250 days of sunshine per year, but we’d prefer more.
	Fresh air.  Again, while Pittsburgh is a fine city, it also happens to be among the top-most areas for air pollution. Year after year, the American Lung Association publishes its list of the worst places to live in terms of air quality. Unfortunately, Pittsburgh is always near the top. Since we have a chance to design our lives, we want to breathe the freshest air possible! In fact, we want to live in a place where the air quality is valued and safeguarded. Wendi has strugged with the poor air quality before eating raw foods, but now she’s even more sensitive to air pollution (we all are, actually). So, no more industrialized areas for us!
	Proximity to a progressive / artsy city with lots of unschoolers and activities for teens.  As we stated in a prior post, we’re also doing this for our daughter. While it may be fun to live in an extremely remote area, she really needs to be somewhere where she can make good, solid friendships. As she’s a highly artistic, creative person, it would be best to find like-minded people her age. We’ve found some amazing locales based on all of the other criteria here, but this one’s definitely a deal-breaker. (Sorry Redding, CA. You almost made it, but just weren’t perfect for us in this area!)
	Affordable land.  After living for more than a decade on a postage-stamp-sized lot, it’s time we stretched out a bit and acquired some land. We’d like 20+ acres (though a lot more if the price is right–we’ll be needing a lot of land for a future project). Ideally, it would have hills, trees, rocks, streams, wildlife, and privacy … and yet be close enough to civilization or a city so that our daughter could have many friends. A tall order, yes, but we’re sure it exists somewhere.
	Long growing season.  Aha, and here’s another reason we want land — the ability to grow most (if not all) of our own food! The longer the growing season, the better, in fact. We suppose this is another way of saying that we want a “warm” climate. However, we’re also not opposed to a little bit of winter. Perhaps one of those areas where it might snow just a little bit. But, we’re through with these “cold from November through March” scenarios! Fort Colins, CO, was very high on our list two years ago, but we’ve since decided that we need a warmer year-round temperature and longer growing season.

So, as you can see we need some help, since we haven’t traveled all over the US. We’re open to any and all suggestions. Surely such a place exists. We’re simply searching for it at the moment! So please think on it and let us know any suggestions you might have. We really appreciate your help! If you’d rather drop us a direct email, you can reach Wendi at WendiDee [at] PureJeevan.com or Jim at Rawdiant [at] Gmail.com.

Thanks so much!

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Jim here…Well, something awful happened today at Pure Jeevan, something utterly shocking to any raw foodie on the planet — our Vitamix container broke!  I know, I know… breathe with me: Deep breath in… deep breath out. There, that’s better.  It’s going to be okay, I just know it!

Here’s what happened:  The agitator assembly (the metal part at the bottom that connects to the blades inside the container) wore out. It blew some kind of bearing or something, lost its internal oil, and started making an infernal noise when we blended our morning smoothie.  It was pretty clear we’d blended up our last elixir in that container.

So, you might be wondering why in the world I would preserve such an event for posterity under the heading “Thankful Thursday.” After all, if our Vitamix blender container broke, doesn’t that cast the Vitamix company in a rather unfavorable light?

The answer:  Not at all!

People (esp. those new to raw foods) ask us all the time what kind of blender to purchase. I always say, “Get a high-quality high-speed blender!” Yes, they cost an arm and a leg, but they’re real workhorses. For example, you can’t blend yourself up a thick concoction of fresh coconut, frozen berries, dates, and nuts using a $35 Wal-Mart special.  (Or, rather, you could probably get away with that for a month or so, if you don’t use it every day. But, you’re going to burn up the motor in no time, and have to pony up another $35 quickly.) Plus, you won’t enjoy the same level of blending you get with a high-speed blender.

Wendi called the Vitamix company to make some inquiries about a replacement.  Guess what she learned?  We purchased our Vitamix in 1999. It’s lasted a decade! And the expensive part — the motor — is still going strong. We did a little math to help show you just how amazing this machine is:  From 1999 to about 2006, we figure we used the Vitamix at least once per day — for everything from making smoothies and ice creams to making nut butters and (before we went raw) milling our own wheat. Since getting into raw foods, we figure we’ve averaged at least twice per day. In all, that’s upwards of 5,000 uses without a hitch!

So, it’s actually not a mar on Vitamix’s name to report our first equipment failure; in fact, it’s a bragging right. Show me another blender that can withstand that kind of rigorous use! So, thank you, Vitamix Company, for providing raw foodies with a means to produce the foods we love so much.

Finally, I want to add one final thing (and, honestly, this was not the reason I wrote this article). For a number of products, we’re registered an affiliate. This means that, by clicking on some equipment ads and links on our site, you’re helping to support Pure Jeevan’s efforts to serve the raw and living foods community. We’re an affiliate with Vitamix — and very proud to be one. So, if you know you’d like to purchase a Vitamix, consider clicking on the graphic here to do so. But, where ever you purchase it from, know that we’re enthusiastic supporters of this fine company. Aside from our chef’s knives and cutting board, it’s the most used piece of equipment in our kitchen.

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As some of you already know, along with regaining my physical health I’ve also been working on every other aspect of my overall health and being. I don’t just want a healthy body—I want the whole package (vibrancy and bliss inside and out, in every way possible).

One area of my mental health that has been slow to heal is my self confidence. I continue to work on it in many ways and have made some tremendous progress over the past year, or so. I feel worthy of so much more than I ever did before. Many people never doubt their self worth—they have a good sense of who they are and assume that others see them as they are, as well.

For many reasons I didn’t reach adulthood with much self confidence. I faked it pretty well, as I did many things, so that others wouldn’t focus attention on me. All of this physical healing on raw, however, gave me the courage and energy to go even deeper within and nourish the dormant seed of self that was always there, waiting to blossom. If you’ve been following me from the beginning of my journey, you’ve been witnessing the unfoldment of the beautiful being I’ve always been (we are all beautiful in every way!).

My journey is still long and my unfoldment is still happening. Sometimes I get a flush of happiness, seeing into the future. I know that one day I’m going to be strong, confident, and more beautiful in every way that I can’t even imagine right now. It’s exciting to be on this journey of self discovery, to be witnessing my own growth while also helping others as they begin their own journeys.

I’ve found that the more I allow my true self to emerge, the more I share who I truly am with others, the more my life moves along in a smooth and positive direction. Each time I share more about myself, hesitating before doing so, I am overjoyed to be viewed in positive ways by others. I do know that one day I’ll be confident enough to no longer require outside validation to feel good about who I am. For now, however, that’s the stage I’m in—and it’s a much better place than where I used to be (any compliment used to make me extremely uncomfortable).

Today I am thankful for all of the recognition and appreciation of who I am and what I’m doing. There are many people who have been encouraging me in my personal growth and I am thankful to each and every one of them. Today, however, I want to specifically thank Dhrumil Purohit and his We Like It Raw blog.

Recently Dhrumil, who created the amazingly popular and helpful Give It To Me Raw online community, created Masala, a list of the hottest raw food blogs online. On that list of amazing bloggers you’ll find this blog you are reading right now: Pure Jeevan! What an absolute honor and a tremendous confidence booster! In addition to that, Dhrumil recently asked me to consider writing an article to be featured in his “My Way” series on the We Like It Raw blog. Wow! Someone wants me to share a story about a week of my life, and then wants to share that story with his readers? (Here’s a link to the My Way article I wrote. It’s about my week away in Florida.) I am thankful that Dhrumil and We Like It Raw recognized me and what I’m doing!

I’ll let you in on something. I was thrilled more than I let on, not wanting to let my lack of self confidence be so obvious. But, here I am spilling it all out, anyway. It’s okay that I’m sharing it, though. I’ve realized more and more that my sharing has been helping and inspiring others. We’re all on our own paths, either at the bottom of a mountain looking up, finding a path and slowly climbing, or sitting at the summit. By sharing my own path with all of you, I hope to continually inspire those of you who sometimes feel it’s too difficult to make changes. Just Go For It! It’s your life, your adventure, so why not live it? The most beautiful journey awaits you; it’s a journey I’ll never regret taking! 

What are you thankful for today?

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I want to admit something to all of you: Sometimes I still cry because of how people treated me when I was obese. Because I stuffed all of my “negative” emotions deep inside my entire life, it’s going to take some time to fully release them. I’m working on it, however, and making tremendous progress with healing myself on all levels. I’m not telling you these things so you’ll feel sorry for me, however. I’m telling you because I am thankful for all the pain I endured. It shaped me (in more ways than just my physical appearance) into the person I am today.

Even though it sounds strange, and somehow wrong to feel this way, I’m thankful that I was obese. I’m thankful for all of the experiences during my life, even the extremely painful, traumatic ones. Maybe if I was a different kind of person I would wish that those things didn’t happen to me. However, I am using those experiences in positive ways. They’ve helped me understand people even better, and to understand myself on a deeper level, as well. When people reach out to me it’s not only because I’m an approachable person, it’s because they sense that I understand them–and they’re right. I DO understand them. I understand you. My experiences, coupled with my gift of empathy, help me relate to you in a way that maybe not everyone else is able to do.

When you share your sorrows with me, I feel them, too. When you ask for help, I feel your desperate desire to find a thread of hope to keep you from falling into the deep pit that you feel will swallow you up. When you ask for advice, I know you are trying to help yourself and you are searching for knowledge to be shared that you can possibly use for yourself. When you tell me you don’t know why you have contacted me and shared so much about yourself, I feel your depression and loneliness. And when you share your triumphs, both small and large, I am overjoyed with you! That’s the beauty of being an empath: I can feel not only your pain and suffering, I can share in your joy as well!

I love being the person I am. I love that I can relate to and understand so many of you on different levels. I love that you share yourselves with me, as much as I do myself with you. I am thankful for all that I’ve been through and I’m thankful that you have found me, have reached out and connected with me. Together we can grow stronger–and in doing so we can help even more individuals who haven’t even started their search for something better, yet.

Today, and every other day, I am filled with gratitude for so very much. Thank you for being here with me on my journey, and for inviting me to share some of your journey with you.

I love all of you,

Wendi
XOXOXO

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This weekend is Mother’s Day, so today’s Thankful Thursday is dedicated to the memory of my own mother, Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was born into a very large, but also very poor, family. Her childhood wasn’t exactly ideal, especially with an abusive father who tended to switch from loving to nasty faster than anyone could hide. Her life was very controlled. Her father’s temper was so fierce that even neighbors stayed away from him. He ruled the house by instilling fear into those he loved. I tell you all of this, because it shaped who my mother was as an adult.

My mother gave birth to four children (I was the second one born). When I was about four years old, she and my father divorced. He was never in our lives after that, so she was our sole caretaker. She explained to me when I was older that he was mentally abusive to her; he was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia (he suffered from a very tragic childhood event, so who knows if he was truly schizophrenic or if he suffered from something related to that event). Anyway, she divorced him because she couldn’t mentally handle his abuse any longer, especially while she had four very young children who needed her care.

I am thankful for her strong will. I can only imagine what my childhood would have been like if she wasn’t strong enough to leave him at that time. Today, it is somewhat common to be a single mother—but, over 35 years ago it wasn’t so common. She was an incredibly protective mother, which I think gave her the strength to make such a drastic decision in her life. I am thankful for her strength.

Read the rest of this entry »

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On this beautiful May Day, I am thankful for creativity. We all have a creative ability within ourselves to imagine all kinds of things. In yesterday’s post, about asking myself questions in order to make changes in my life, I talked about having an image in my mind of how I wanted my life to be in the near future. I was using my creative abilities to see my future as happy, vibrant, and healthy.

We are all tremendously creative beings. However, if we don’t channel our creativity in a positive direction, we can easily find ourselves in a dark pit of despair.  Many times, we use our creativity in a negative way. Some of us may see ourselves failing at whatever we want to accomplish, see others harming us in some way, see ourselves as lonely with no one around who cares. We can see our illnesses as life-long barriers from living a healthy life. With our creative gifts, we can imagine and see unlimited amounts of negative things happening in and around us. 

Deep inside us, however, there is also a world of positive creativity waiting to be embraced. Not so long ago, when I sat contemplating my life, I was able to see all of the unhappy and negative things in and around me. It didn’t take a lot of creativity to see those things, since to me they were factual and part of my reality at that time. What I chose to do with that reality, however, was important. I chose to alter it through my creative abilities. I was able to use my imagination to see a different reality, one in which I saw myself as fit, vibrant, happy, and so much more. Without that ability to creatively imagine a different, more positive, future I would probably still be in that darkness that was consuming me. 

May Day was traditionally a time of celebrating intimacy and creating new life. This year I am thankful for the time I took in getting to intimately know who I am, who I truly want to be. What can be more intimate than truly getting to know yourself, right? Out of that intimacy, coupled with my creative abilities, I was able to give birth to a new self. On this May Day, I am extremely thankful for the creative gift we are all given.

Have you thought about your own creative abilities, and how you can shape your future in any way you desire? If you don’t believe it’s possible, I’d like to recommend a book that I fell in love with when I was a teenager: Creative Visualization, by Shakti Gawain. It’s a life-changing book, if you’ve never before experienced the power of your own creativity!

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We now have two more raw food snack companies sharing some of their goodies for the retreat gift baskets! A special thank you go out to:

 
Living Intentions

and

If you have the time, stop by their Web sites to see what they have to offer for raw foodists! Living Intentions has some amazing nut snacks, and NaturalZing is a health store that offers a large variety of raw food snacks and supplies.

I am thankful for the generosity of the many companies who will be stuffing the retreat gift baskets with tasty raw treats. It overwhelms me, in a good way, that there are genuinely kind and giving people in this world. I’ve met a lot of nice people, but I truly believe that those involved with a raw food lifestyle are some of the nicest. I am thankful to be on this raw food journey, for it brings me in touch with more and more genuinely caring and loving individuals.  

I am so very thankful to all of the companies who are generously supplying those at the 3-Day Raw Food Spiritual Ashram Retreat with delicious, healthy raw food snacks!

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This Thursday I want to give a special “Thank You” to Kevin Gianni.  He was on my list for a Take the Time Tuesday introduction, but I didn’t want to wait until then to tell you about him. I’ve been following Kevin’s work on the Internet since he hosted The Raw Food World Summit last year. You can tell when you hear him speak that he’s a genuinely nice, intelligent, caring person. He’s honestly listening to what people are saying, trying to absorb the plethora of health information that’s available. He asks a lot of interesting questions, too. He then takes what he has learned, condenses it, and shares the knowledge with the rest of the world. He does all of the hard work for us! For this, I wanted to give a special thanks to him. 

On a more personal note, I want to thank Kevin for reaching out and offering support and inspiration to me, personally, through one of his information-filled, fun, inspiring videos. In many of his blog posts and videos, he poses questions to his audience. When I have the time, I like to respond. One day he was asking for opinions on charging for health information. I responded that I enjoy paying for help that I receive, but I feel uncomfortable receiving pay for helping others.

Well, at the beginning of one of his recent exercise videos, Kevin took some time to respond to comments he has received. One of his responses was to my comment about discomfort with receiving pay, and what he said was very inspirational and filled with genuine care for me (even though we have never met in person). He’s an honestly open, loving person (and so is his lovely wife, Annmarie, who does fun food prep videos with Kevin).

Here’s the video where Kevin responds to my comment. Thanks, again, Kevin! I’ll be sure to let my inner superhero begin to show herself more and more.

If you have some time, why not check out the work that Kevin has done? You can find him all over the place: on Renegade Health, YouTube, FaceBook,  and my recent favorite fun spot: Twitter. Be sure to drop him a line if you like his work, too. He loves hearing from his audience!

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This is separate from Thankful Thursday. There’s less than one week left to receive the lowest possible price for the upcoming 3-Day Raw Food Spiritual Ashram Retreat taking place at the end of May! So, if you are thinking of coming, now’s the time to make your reservations and save $100!

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I am extremely thankful for sleep. I can’t imagine striving to sleep only four hours a night. Jim always says he wishes he didn’t have to sleep, that he’s wasting his life when he sleeps. For me, I’ve always loved sleeping. I feel so great after I wake up. Not only that, I thoroughly enjoy dreaming. I wouldn’t want to miss out on the amazing dream life I’ve been able to enjoy while I sleep.

Last night I went to bed early, since I had a headache. I’m so thankful for sleep because it allowed my body to work through the detox I was experiencing on this mono meal eating. I woke feeling well and it was a great day today!

Following is my next update on my 9-days of mono meal eating for Navratri. I have been putting these updates behind a “read more” cut because they tend to be long and I don’t want them to overwhelm anyone who’s used to my shorter blog entries, or not interested in following the mono meal eating.

So, here’s the next update…

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Sharing is lovely, don’t you think? When I decided I was going to “go raw” and not consume cooked foods anymore, it was a huge life-changing decision. Even though there was no one standing next to me, telling me what to do and not do as I was changing my eating habits, I was still supported in my efforts. My support system was made up of copious amounts of experience and advice that was openly shared by experienced raw foodists. Even though many times I felt like I was alone, the path I was walking was etched with loving words left by caring people who wanted to encourage others who were yet to come down the same raw food path.

Today, and always, I am thankful for all that has been openly shared by other raw foodists. With their generous words of advice and experience, I have been able to regain my health and so much more, they have made my path an easy one. Even though I am still making my way on this raw food journey, I, too, am stopping from time to time to etch loving words of encouragement for those who are new to the path. I love sharing my raw food experiences, because I want to help others as I’ve been helped.

————

KDcat says I should write something else here, in addition to words about raw food. So, I sat and thought about the word sharing. I instantly wanted to write about what I love to share with others as often as I can. When you have more than enough of something, it feels good to share it with those around you, doesn’t it? Well, I have always had an abundance of love in my heart and have openly shared it with others. Love is magical—the more you spread to others, the more you seem to have. It never fades away.

What do you like to share with others? What have others shared with you that you are thankful for today? I’d love to read your comments.

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