The Selfish and Selfless Reasons Why I Decided to Stop Eating Meat

Some of us don't think about what we are eating, and simply go through our daily lives without paying any attention. Some of us perhaps pay too much attention. One thing I'm sure about is that all of us start our life not thinking about what we put in our bodies. We take what is given to us by our parents or caregivers. Eventually we learn, not only through reading but listening and paying attention to the way our own body reacts to certain things. It has been almost one year since I stopped eating meat and here are the two main reasons why I do not eat meat.

I am Grateful for the Morning

She woke to the sound of the metro tooting,

letting everyone know it's coming through.

Another day, another toot.
She stretches, yawns and
folds her arms under her head.

I am grateful.
I can hear the morning sounds.
A rooster crows in the near distance—in someone’s backyard.
A dog’s collar jingles as it walks by. 

I am grateful.
I can see the morning light.
A deep breath and she looks towards the window.
Sunlight comes in through the sheer-like curtains. 

I am grateful.
I can smell the morning scents.
Another deep breath.
She draws in the remnants of last night’s rain.
A slow breath in, and she counts to eight,
inhaling the scent of wet earth. 

I am grateful.
I can feel the morning’s touch.
A gentle wind from the open window and
the curtain lightly waves.
Toes and feet caress the gray linen,
they curl and grab the sheet, pinching it, pulling it down.
The cold sheet slowly slides down the body,
like a cool intentional breeze
softly sweeping over her. 

I am grateful

(November was gratitude month and so I wanted to end it with this)

What are you grateful for today?

Let's Cut Our Unmindful and Unappreciative Way

Have you ever felt like you are not here? 

Lately I've been finding myself multi-tasking in a very unmindful and unappreciative way. As I talk to someone on the phone, listen to a podcast or even when I'm food prepping or cooking, I have been scrolling through Instagram or watching something on YouTube.

It's like I'm not fully there. I don't like it it because I'm not even enjoying the activity. I'm enjoying neither of the activities! Even worse, I am not giving my attention to the person on the phone, who takes time to make the phone call or seems to look forward to talking to me. 

Looking for "home"

"Your body is your first home. Breathing in, I arrive in my body. Breathing out, I am home."

-Thich Nhat Hanh

I've been thinking about what "Home" is. Which was one of the day's word prompt last week for the gratitude challenge. 

Optimism

November is gratitude month and I am doing an Instagram challenge where I post everyday (based on the daily word prompt) what I am grateful for. One of the words was OPTIMISM.

I'm not a very optimistic person, but I know that what helps me look at the brighter side is making the effort to think of the positive and reciting that over and over in my head. Like a mantra. I'm thankful for those conscious times when I do decide to make that choice.

It's also important to not forget those days when you hung in there to be where you are now.

I don't necessarily mean career wise, it could be not struggling financially where you are counting those quarters to see if you need to walk or if you can take the bus. It could mean not struggling mentally and emotionally when going through, or after some traumatic event.

Thinking about how far we've come can keep us optimistic. 

With the pandemic going on right now, it has been difficult for many of us. I'm thinking of the silver lining. For me, it would be the time I've had to reflect on my growth, and how much I need to keep growing. I am grateful for this time to reflect, learn, and the small rays of optimism that flicker behind the clouds, and make it through the breaks. Make it through just enough to make me optimistic and realize that I CAN DO THIS.

What helps keep you optimistic?

2 Life Analogies- When You Feel Stuck/Trapped

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay 

I was listening to the poet Mark Nepo in an interview with Oprah. He gave two analogies about what we go through in life that I thought were great.

I really wanted to share them. 

Trouble Writing

I've been having a difficult time writing. I'd like to write in here every four days. When I don't it's because I'm having a big block. 

I don't want this blog to be a diary. I want it to be more of a journal of stories, or articles on reflections. Personal stories that I've reflected on. I guess that would be considered a diary, but to me a journal is not as personal and more of a record. At least for me I'm attempting to record and process what I've learned through events or experiences that have happened, or books/stories I've heard and read. 

I also started this blog because I wanted to work on my writing. I enjoy it and want to improve it. I can't improve it if I'm not practicing!

I should organize myself more. 

I've been feeling a bit self-conscious, and worrying more this past couple of weeks about what other people will say or think. I've always been like that but over the course of the past few years I've been getting better. However, I get these periods where I can't help it. My mind starts cluttering up and making up stories, and no matter how much I attempt to be present I can't. So, I let it and end up dwelling in it. In turn that prevents me from using my mind, and instead it's using me. If that makes sense. 

For the most part it's related to the pandemic. Social distancing and family/friend gatherings are difficult because not everybody feels the same way. I'm a worrier and pretty cautious. That sometimes can be taken a different way.

Okay, this was a diary post. Yikes. I'll probably delete this sometime when I get back to my regular post.
Thanks for reading if you did. 

A Mother-Son Bond Through Books

When my son was very young I would talk to him and read his books in Spanish because I wanted him to be bilingual. I still talk to him in Spanish, but not as much as I use to. 

This is how it started: 

4 Books For a Better Person

There are so many books out there that we can read to help us become a better person. I think most of us are always trying to better ourselves—internally.  We want to learn how to get rid of that hate, we want to heal from that trauma, we want to live joyfully, we want to be more compassionate and loving to ourselves and others. I think that is the best thing we can do in order for us to move forward. It really all starts with ourselves.

To be a better mother (or father) we must take care of ourselves. Nourish ourselves mentally and physically so that we can be better equipped to help our children. Help them deal with whatever emotional thing they are dealing with, and by modeling love and compassion towards others.

This is the same as a being a teacher. I remember one of the classes I took emphasized taking care of ourselves as teachers so that we can be suited to care for our students (meditation was one of the practices that was recommended). Being a preschool teacher can be very taxing, especially on our mental being, as we could have a troubled student that needs a lot of love, and/or a lot of attention, in addition to having to be there for the rest of the students. 

We must learn how to care for ourselves in order to be able to care for others. 

So, if we need to take care of ourselves first of all (both as parents and as teacher), then to be a better friend, or a better person and a better human being of this world, why shouldn’t we need to take care of ourselves first?

The Surrender Experiment

Would you be willing to try an experiment? An experiment that will have you accept everything that comes your way? Everything that life presents in front of you. Would you say yes? Michael A. Singer, the author of The Surrender Experiment, did just that. 

Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay

I just finished reading his book and it was very interesting. I did have some reservations though about the ways he went about certain things, but the overall concept is what I liked. After having a deep spiritual awakening, Singer decided to let life happen no matter what his mind thought. He wanted to see what would happen if he surrendered and accepted everything that life put in front of him.

Spilling the Coffee Beans...

I have a love-hate relationship with coffee. I really don't like using the words love and hate just like that, but coffee is a big thing for me. When I was young it was always coffee flavored water you used to dip your Pan Dulce in, or your Maria brand crackers. (The way you would dunk your cookies in milk). We were a family of bread dunkers. If there was no bread then there was no coffee. 

So, the thing about coffee...

The One Thing You Must Do For Yourself Now

Spend time WITH yourself not just BY yourself. 

There is a difference. BY yourself means doing things on your own; independently. WITH yourself would mean that you are actually WITH yourself. You are getting to know yourself and understanding yourself. 

A Reasons To Smile

Smiling when you aren't feeling well is difficult. Most of us are pretty good at hiding our feelings and emotions even when we are feeling down. 

You might fool someone when you talk to them. You nod while you listen to them talk about their day. You answer some questions or input a thought in between the breaks. You grin, showing your beautiful teeth, and produce lines at the corner of your eyes. If we don't know how to read you because either a) we don't know how to read anyone, or b) don't know you enough to be able to read you, then we might miss how you are truly feeling. We might miss the unsettledness in your eyes, and the distress in the depths of them. 

Image by Giulia Marotta from Pixabay 

You might be the other person. The one that talks and asks questions, and perhaps smiles. You might not know this but sometimes that is what we need. You might be someone who can read us and know the questions to ask. You smile at us and lightly touch our arm. When you do we'll feel the warmth of that touch, and then perhaps be able to smile; a genuine smile from a genuine caring touch. 

Perhaps you walk by a stranger, a stranger with somber eyes. You smile and say hello. You might not know this but sometimes that is what someone needs. A friendly hello. Why? That stranger could be feeling lonely, or has been let down by someone. What if you go above that smile and compliment them? "I like your shoes" or "that shade of orange looks great with your skin tone." It might seem superficial, but perhaps the stranger has been lacking confidence and need a tiny boost to their self-esteem, at least for that moment. 

Smile. We all need more of it.
We need to give a compassionate smile as much as we need to receive it.
It's a small thing we can do.

Have you smiled at anyone today?

You Are Not Alone

The mornings from last week were lit up with an orange glow. It was as if someone decided to turn off the sunlight and instead replaced it with a light bulb. It felt artificial. 

Also, the whole street and cars were covered in white specks. It must have snowed ash while we were all asleep. They probably fell gently and lightly. But instead of them being cool and evaporating into the air, they’re warm and dusty. 

Now, this whole week we wake up and step out of our home to the slight smell of burn, and the air a smoky haze.  

Break the Fast With Breakfast

Image by Lukas Bieri from Pixabay

I think a lot of people enjoy having a good breakfast. Why not, after waking up from an eight to twelve hour fast (or maybe more), we’re bound to be hungry! I don’t usually get hungry when I wake up, unless I had a light dinner. It takes a while for my stomach to catch up to me.

My fast is usually about twelve hours, which I don't think it's bad. It is also not intentional, like I said it takes a while for me to begin to feel like having something to eat. There are people however who go through a sixteen hour fast.

I've heard of the benefits of fasting, which includes: increasing the body's resistance to stress, and decreasing your risk of cancer and other diseases. The main reason why people do fasts though is to loose weight. That is far from my case. I don't need to loose weight, I just want to reap the other benefits. It would be difficult for me to do a sixteen hour fast because I'll have to make sure I eat enough, and my stomach is not big enough. That is why I'm not too inclined to do the sixteen hour one. Here is a short article that quickly talks about and lists the benefits: UCI Health Article. If you'd like a more in depth article with links to even more in depth info from studies: Harvard Health Article

Back to breakfast...

The Book Thief- A Read I Couldn't Put Down

I spent most of my Saturday and Sunday finishing up the last 250 pages of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I wasn't going to post so soon, but it was a good book I had to write a bit about it.

The novel is about a girl name Liesel who is being cared for by foster parents in Germany during World War II. A few month’s after the girl’s arrival they take a young Jew in and hide him in the basement. The girl develops a special bond with all of them. “Papa” is a gentle and patient man who teaches her the alphabet and how to read. She discovers that “Mama” has a soft side, and even with her tendency to swear so much, she is motherly. The young Jew becomes a very close friend and someone she cares deeply about. Everyday she gives him a weather report, and every Thursday a discarded newspaper with a sometimes blank crossword puzzle. When he got very ill and fell into a deep sleep for over two weeks, she brought him gifts from the outside every day (they are extremely poor, so the gifts would be trinkets and things she’d find discarded on the ground). The bond they share is due to what they have in common: they wake up almost every night from nightmares—nightmares of the family they lost. Through him Liesel learns that words are powerful and they can help to heal or to hurt. 

Living Without Cable or Streaming Services

Growing up my family never had cable television or internet.

Image by Andrés Rodríguez from Pixabay 

Now as an adult I still don’t have cable (or a subscription to Netflix, or Hulu. I do have Amazon Prime however but only because it came free with my phone plan. I rarely watch anything on there), and I don’t have home internet either. Is anybody shocked?

A couple of years ago I was asked if I watched a really popular show (I can’t remember the name). I told the lady that I didn’t have cable or Netflix or anything. 

Her response: “How do you live?” 

Mindful Morning

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay 

I open and close my eyes as I stir in bed listening to a gentle tone of dings that progress loudly as seconds pass. It’s a tone I chose because it was a change from that original sharp shriek-like tone—if it could even be called a tone, that startles me from sleep.

A yawn ensues as I sit up, my feet on the cold floor, and take a few steps to the other side of the room. I press DISMISS on my phone, glad to have thought of placing it atop my bureau as it encourages me to get up from bed and stay up. 

After a few gentle stretches, I fold my legs and sit on a folded towel—hoping they can keep from falling asleep.

I settle into the towel placing my hands on my lap. My earphones are in and I begin to pay attention to my breathing as the meditation guide suggest.

How Reading Develops Empathy

 “So Matilda’s strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea. These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone.” 

-Roald Dahl

Image by Pexels from Pixabay 

As a young girl I was constantly reading whatever I could. I learned to read English when I was nine. My mom would go to night school and bring back her Side-by-Side Workbooks, I'd open them and devour each word I learned. I was excited every time she came back with a new workbook, and would right away sprawl out on the floor to explore it. I was not a great reader, in fact I was slow and by 9^th grade I was reading at a 5^th grade level. However, I loved stories, and still do.

Doing Laundry can Bring a Meditative State

Image by Alison Krejci from Pixabay 

You step into the laundromat and the smell of detergent tickles your nose. The heat generated from the machines warms your skin. You gently throw dirty clothes into the good washing machines. The one that cost a dollar more because that washes your clothes twice, and with a boy who doesn’t mind sitting or rolling around in the dirt, its the best choice. You have no quarters so you walk over to the change machine and insert your ten dollars. The quarters fall, each dropping with a clink into the metal bowl. You deposit your quarters one by one and watch as the money amount drops until it displays “press start.” You like that you can see your clothes spinning, submerged in bubbly water.

The Energy in Our Hands- Stillness

Image by skeeze from Pixabay 

Do you feel the energy in your hands? If you sit still with your hands on your lap and pay attention to them, you can feel the sensation of your blood flowing through your arm, your palms, your fingers. 

It's a reminder that you are alive. That you have these hands and arms to hold your loved ones, to transmit your love and energy. To receive their love and energy.

A Summer Nature Walk

In Los Angeles it hardly rains, so mostly everything is dry with very little plants. Especially in the summer time. Going for a nature walk is not bad though, I enjoy always the peacefulness of a nature walk and how connected it makes me feel to the earth.

Imagine walking on a dirt path, you look to your right and your left and see the tree tops on one side and large rocks on the other. Walk along the sides of the large rock, the mountain wall and you will see a small lizard scurrying between the patches of green, or stop if it feels your presence. You might have to look closely as it camouflages itself to the dirt and rocks. It's quiet if it's early morning and no people close by. You will hear bird chirping here and there. Or see a coyote or two coming down the little mountain. 

Why you should spend time with yourself

"Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I am committed to cultivating good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family, and my society by practicing mindful eating, drinking, and consuming" 

- Thich Nhat Hanh on The Nourishment and Healing Path

Image by MabelAmber from Pixabay

Is it really necessary to live in over indulgence?

These past five years I have come to understand how living simply is one of the keys to happiness within yourself and a joyful life.

The above quote comes from Hanh's book The Art of Living, and it is one of his Five Mindfulness Trainings. These five trainings are paths. Not paths TO happiness and freedom, but paths OF happiness and freedom. The paths should help bring us happiness while we are on it, but I do think that it is a process. As I am currently going through it, I can attest to this. 

Why Mornings Are So Important

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay 

I love mornings.

You know that feeling when you get your new pen, or notebook, or new shoes? The way it feels when you first start using it? You can’t stop admiring it and you vow to take care of it and never get that pen chewed up, or that notebook bent, or those new shoes too dirty.

Mornings are like that to me. I especially love cool mornings. They feel crisp, fresh, and best of all they’re quiet.

Each morning is the beginning of a new day, and I don’t want to ruin it. Mornings determine (for me) how the day will be, and if I start off early with something I enjoy then the rest of the day will be delightful.

Addicted to Excessive Thinking

Image by Ryan McGuire from Pixabay

You're having a difficult time being in the moment. 

You want to be able to shower and remember whether you shampooed your hair yet.

You want to be able to enjoy making your iced coffee without thinking of everything you have to do.

You know that you think too much and that you are addicted to excessive thinking. 

There are times you get so overwhelmed with your thoughts that you break down and cry.

You have realized that it is who you are, and you just need to accept it. 

Yes, it is difficult to accept something you don't like about yourself, especially something that makes you feel so emotionally drained. But you know that once you accept it, you will be better suited to work on it and pay better attention to the moment. 

Realizing that this is who you are would be the first step. Now what? 

Love and Take Care of the Child in You.

“When you are no longer caught in specific images or appearances, you can see things more clearly. You can see that the little child is still alive in every cell of your body. It is possible to listen to and take care of the little boy or little girl in you at any time. You can invite that child to breath with you, walk with you, and enjoy nature with you.”

-Thich Nhat Hanh in The Art of Living.

I’m currently reading The Art of Living and I’ve come to a part that reminded me of what a very close friend of mine once told me “take care of the little girl down deep inside you. Not just accept her. Love her. She needs your love as you needed your moms love.” I grew up with a very critical and judgmental mother, and even though I am not living with her now as an adult I still receive that from my self. I learned to criticize and judge myself. Where is the self-love?

Let’s bring out the little child in us, the scared child, the criticized child. Let the child talk to you, what is he or she saying? Listen. 

Accept without criticism, tell the child “you are good enough.” 

Genetically, and in the way we grew up, we carry our parents in us. We are our parents. Talk to the child as your parents, through you your parents speak.

Enjoy the Present Moment

Dreams can often times serve as reminders of what we need to pay attention in our lives.

The other night I dreamed of my son. He was about 2 years old, and he came running to me with his arms open. I can still feel the way his little arms wrapped around my neck, the warmth of his tiny body, and his soft cheek against mine. Sweet baby. When I awoke I let that image and feeling linger in my mind.

We must remind ourselves in the midst of our busy schedules, and even now during this pandemic, to enjoy the moment we have with our children, because we won't get it back. Being in the moment and enjoying it, is something I am currently working on.

Many of us are living either in the past or in the future.

To quote Eckhart Tolle in The Power Of Now:

“Time isn’t precious at all, because it is an illusion. What you perceive as precious is not time but the one point that is out of time: the Now. That is precious indeed. The more you are focused on time—past and future—the more you miss the Now, the most precious thing there is.”

This moment is what we have. Let's immerse ourselves in it.