Moderation

Over the past few weeks, I have decided that while eating local is a wonderful thing, and that I will do it as often as possible, I'm not going to be a complete locavore. The simple fact is that I love things like oranges, bananas, mangos, and avacados. Right now, California strawberries are ripe and delicious. When I walk through the produce aisle, I can't resist the smell of ripe strawberries. My new rule of thumb is that if something is available locally, I will always choose it over something from out of state. If it's not available locally, I will buy it if it is from California or Oregon, but not if it is from Florida (or other distant states over on the other side of the country). In the case of bananas, I won't buy them from further south than Mexico. In fact, the only reason I am willing to buy them from Mexico at all is that a portion of the profits from all of the organic bananas that Ballard Market (one of my local grocery stores) carries go to a charity that promotes sustainable agriculture and good working conditions in Mexico. I can get behind that.

I still strongly believe that it's necessary to support the local economy and buy organic, sustainable food. I just can't limit myself as much as I have been when the limits feel like punishment. I didn't get into this to feel bad, but to help my planet and my health. Of course, when local products are available, I'll eat those. I can't wait for local Rainier cherries (quite possibly the most delicious fruit on the planet), and local berries. But until the local produce is ripe and ready for consumption, I'll celebrate the wonderful produce that is available from a little further away.

How Does My Garden Grow?

My garden is growing a little bit at a time, and it makes me very happy. I have basil, oregano, cilantro, peppermint, catnip, lavender, rosemary, cherry tomatoes, and strawberries. I have also planted the seeds of zucchini, carrots, broccoli, and sugar snap peas. The peas have begun to sprout (which makes sense, since they were the first seeds I planted). Soon I will have to get some sort of support structure for them to climb up, unless I want my deck to be taken over by vines.

I'm quite amazed at how well the plants are doing given how little sun my deck gets, and especially given that it had been overcast for weeks. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they continue to do well, and that I will have a bountiful harvest this year.

Community Day

It is an annual tradition at my school to cancel classes one day in April for Community Day. Ostensibly it's a day when students, faculty, and staff come together to have fun. This year, they are having Rock Band, and volley ball, among other things. While I appreciate the idea of trying to create community at school, I have opted out of attending. I feel that I already have a strong group of friends among my classmates, and our friendships get stronger daily.

Instead of using up gas to drive 32 miles round trip, I am taking the day to nurture myself. I savored the opportunity to begin a book by my favorite author that I hadn't yet read. I sat in a patch of sunshine on the floor, with my Mico kitty in my lap, stroking his sun-warmed fur, and listening to him purr. I will work on my garden, which is doing remarkably well so far. I will clean my tub and clean out my refrigerator (not fun, but certainly necessary). I will go for a walk in Discovery Park when it gets warmer, enjoying the return of the sun after what seems like an eternity of rain. I will spend the evening with close friends, being nerds and playing D&D. And I will gleefully anticipate the arrival of Atropa Belladonna whom I will see tomorrow.

I can't think of a better way to spend my day, and I am filled with a sense of contentment.

Living Inside Hope

"...the very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof. What I want is so simple I almost can't say it: elementary kindness. Enough to eat, enough to go around. The possibility that kids might one day grow up to be neither the destroyers nor the destroyed. That's about it. Right now I'm living in that hope, running down its hallway and touching the walls on both sides."

-Barbara Kingsolver from Animal Dreams


When I made the decision to become an acupuncturist, I honestly didn't spend a lot of time thinking about it. When I knew it was right, I knew it was right; it came to me in a flash of inspiration from my Goddess, and I had no need to question it. I did come up with a list of reasons why I wanted to go into the field, mostly to placate my parental units rather than to make sense of it to myself. Chinese Medicine is my calling - no other word encompasses the full meaning of my experience. Job, career, vocation... these are all too small to describe how I can no longer see myself doing anything else. From the first day of school orientation until now, every day that I get to learn about Eastern medicine, every needle that I put into a classmate, every patient I see, my soul sings in ecstasy.

I used to think that in order to be happy with my life, I would have to do something epic and bold that would capture the attention of the planet and hopefully save Earth and humanity from all its trials. Naturally, I became discouraged. Talk about setting myself up to fail! Thankfully, I've recently had something of an epiphany. Not too long ago, I commented on a blog that, "The purpose of healing, in my opinion, is not to prolong life indefinitely, but to improve quality of life so that everyone has the chance to live up to their full potential." Imagine that. Imagine being able to truly help the people you meet, giving them the foundation and the tools they need to fulfill their divine purpose. It isn't change on a massive scale - it's not a cataclysmic flood that garners attention, awe, and fear, and leaves chaos in its wake. It's the expectation of spring, nurturing a seed into a sprout, encouraging a bud to blossom. It's bringing hope where there was despair and joy where there was pain. It's healing the world one person at a time and having faith that they will each make contributions of their own. It's living inside hope.

My First Clinic Shift

I had my first clinic observation shift this morning, and it was amazing. I had been thinking that it would profoundly suck to have to be at clinic by 8:45AM on Saturdays, but if today is any indication, it's not going to be a problem at all.

As an observer, or secondary, my job is to assist the primary (the student who is doing the intake and inserting the needles). My tasks today included changing the linens in the room, filling out the superbills (a form used for insurance billing), doing moxa, getting supplies for the room, and swabbing points with alcohol. While the tasks themselves weren't very exciting, getting to have contact with patients was fantastic. I truly wanted to help the patients with their problems, and it was wonderful being part of their healing process. Being in clinic today made it 100% clear that I'm going into the right profession.

Everything I've learned until today has been theory. Today, I got to see acupuncture in action, and I got to be part of figuring out a treatment plan for the patients (albeit a small one. I've only been at this for 6 months). My primary seems like he's going to be great to work with. He's very helpful and understanding of the fact that this is all new to me, he's open to things that I have to contribute, and he's got a good sense of humor. My supervisor (the licensed acupuncturist who, well... supervises us) also seems great, and I've only heard positive things about her.

Basically, I think that I would be content doing this all day every day. I know I'm extra enthusiastic because it's shiny and new, but frankly, today didn't feel like work.

Putting It Out There

The following is a post that I had written for another blog:

When CJ came to me a while ago and asked me to write a guest post about my religion for her blog, my initial reaction was that it was quite an honor. My next reaction was, "Oh no, what should I write????" I am Pagan and have been for almost 11 years. My religion has a bad reputation and is widely misunderstood, so having the opportunity to explain things is both exciting and daunting.

I'll start off by clearing up a few common misconceptions. Pagans do not worship Satan. Pagans do not eat babies. Pagans do not sacrifice people or animals. Pagans are not interested in converting you, your children, or anyone else to our religion. If you've seen the movie, "The Craft," then you've seen a perfect example of what we are not.

Talking about what Paganism is, well, that's a lot more challenging. Paganism is an umbrella term that covers a wide range of belief systems. At the core of all of them is the concept that God/Goddess/Deity/Universal Spirit (or whatever you want to call him/her/it/them) is imminent. Divinity is present in the earth and in all living and natural things. That means that god is within me, within you, within my cat, within the trees, within the soil, within butterflies, within spiders, within the food we eat, even within the mountains and stones. God is not to be found, however, in man-made creations such as plastic, vinyl, or polyester, etc. Because of this belief, you'll find that most Pagans have a very strong sense of environmentalism, social justice, and a reverence for life and nature.

From there, it branches into multitudes of sub-religions. Paganism is an non-illuminated religion; there are no holy texts or prophets. It's about your personal experience with the divine, so there are almost as many variations as there are Pagans. It's common to find Pagans who are polytheistic - ranging from as few as 2 deities to as many as thousands. Some believe in only one god or universal spirit, and some believe that all gods are facets of one overarching power. Most of us believe in reincarnation, and few, if any, of us believe in eternal damnation. Some believe that they are practicing truly ancient traditions that have been handed down from generation to generation, dating back to pre-Christian times. Others have done their best to reconstruct what they think was practiced in ancient times based on archaeological evidence and texts. Still others, myself included, think that we are worshipping ancient gods in a completely new way that is pertinent to modern life. Some of the more common Pagan traditions are Wicca, Druidism (or neo-Druidism), Asatru, Witchcraft, Shamanism, and Order of the Golden Dawn.

One of the most controversial practices common in Paganism is the use of magic. The word conjures images of wart-faced hags chanting evil things over a massive cauldron filled with vile substances like eye of newt and tongue of bat. The reality is much less dramatic, and much less scary. At its core, magic is putting your will into the universe in order to affect change. Many Pagans ask for their spells to be blessed by a deity or deities. In fact, prayer is one very potent form of magic. Making a wish and blowing out the candles on a birthday cake is another somewhat less potent form of magic. At its core, magic is not evil or good. It is a tool, and just as a chainsaw can be used constructively, it can also be used for nefarious purposes. Fortunately, Pagans have very strict ethical codes regarding magic. The most common rule boils down to: do what you want, as long as it doesn't harm anyone. This means that curses and hexes (spells intended to hurt someone), and even most love spells are forbidden. The most common spells are those of healing, good luck, and in today's economy, help finding a job. The second most common rule is that you may never cast a spell on someone or for someone without their knowledge and consent. Another is the "rule of three," which states that whatever you do comes back to you three times. It's basically karma - if you do something good, good things will happen to you, but if you do something bad, bad things happen to you. It's a very strong motivator to only cast benevolent spells!

Obviously, this post only touches on the smallest fraction of what Paganism is. www.witchvox.com is a great online resource for additional information if you're interested.

I Belong in a Field

I started reading Neil Gaiman's blog this morning. He's one of my favorite authors of all time, and his blog is wonderful to read. I was tickled pink when I read the post he wrote on my birthday. Halfway down the post he answers a letter from someone asking him about his garden. Part of his reply was, "...American Supermarket vegetables and fruit don't tend to taste like very much. They're grown for looks and for hardiness in transportation, I tend to think, not for taste." He also buys local. I think it's safe to say that a lot more people read his blog than mine, and it makes me happy that he put in a little plug for eating locally grown food.

On a related topic, lately I've been feeling more and more like I need to get out of the city and into the country. I have begun my small balcony garden, but I long to have my own land to sink my fingers into. Not only that, but I want to be able to look at the sky at night and see multitudes of stars. Last night, I went up to Anacortes for my friends' engagement party. Anacortes isn't my favorite town, but it's right near La Conner and Mount Vernon, two absolutely charming towns in Skagit Valley. There are probably many more adorable towns there as well. Skagit Valley is a fertile valley on the Skagit River in Western Washington. Multitudes of tulips and daffodils are grown there, and they have an annual tulip festival. I feel at home there, and it doesn't seem unreasonable that I could live in La Conner and have a practice in Mount Vernon. Of course, it doesn't have to be there. I need to explore more. I need to find the place that feels most like home. Home isn't, and has never been, Seattle. Don't get me wrong, Seattle is a great city, and I have come to love it. But it is a city. A single family home in a good neighborhood costs more than I could ever hope to make in a lifetime, and a home with land... well, that would require that I win the lottery or find a very rich sugar daddy to marry. I've never been a fan of suburbs, with the exception of places like in New England where the suburb is a town in its own right and not just a series of strip malls and tract housing.

I'm not entirely sure what happened to make me want to leave the city life for the small town life. A year or two ago, I would happily and loudly tell anyone who asked that I planned on living in cities for the rest of my life. I even said that Seattle is too small. Now... well, now I just want a quiet, simple life. I'd like to live close enough to the city for the occasional day trip, but the urban life isn't for me. A Strokes song sums up my feelings quite well: "I'm stuck in a city, but I belong in a field."

I'm not planning on moving anywhere for a while, and I probably won't even switch apartments until I'm done with school. But nature and small town living are calling my name. It's only a matter of time.