let’s start a collective

freewheelin' farm

re: this post about starting a commune that has over 1,000 notes in 5 hours. 

i have been thinking about starting a collective for a while.  lately i’ve been writing in my notebook late at night some outlines for my ideas. 

the collective is called pinecones in my head. this is a sample script for a crowd funding campaign to spread the word, gather support, and get monies:

»we are pinecones.

»we seed resilient communities by creating environments that nurture cohesion and bonding. 

»we practice compassion, self -love, yoga, instruments, tending the land, and more.

»we transform culture from chaos into balance and equilibrium.

»we believe our locality is our bridge between self and world. 

»we need your energy.  

»we need affirmative connections that nourish our creative process. 

»we need your good vibes, hands, hearts, minds, and pockets. 

»if you feel inspired, we need you to follow that impulse.  

»we are pinecones, and we are the future, now. 

~~~~

what needs to happen:

1. circle of people form and resolve to make this happen. 

2. agree upon a direction (create a plan).

3. pretty sure the plan needs to  acquire land. 

4. go go go - maintain this vision and input energy daily to achieve. this means love, labor, money, hands, and seeds. 

~~~

stuff pinecones do:

**superuse of industrial and not-so-unity minded designs 

**bicycle energy cyclers and transforms, ie bicycle blenders and petal powered music festivals

**natural built amphitheater for shows and open mics and theater and

**BEES - honey, medicine balls, salve made with wax O.O

**constant art exhibition

**stone ground, raw, dehydrated, sprouted, & fire cooked food from the local tierra

**medicinal herbal teas lounge from “weeds” and local plants

**dancing dancing dancing

**community board

**natural dye lab

**upcycled art center 

**papermaking

**treehouses

**woodcarving

**pottery

**natural building 

**permaculture and natural farming land stewardship

**basket weaving, knitting, sewing, crocheting

**cob oven

**free community gathering space

**seed bank

**shrine/altar/temple

**free store

**free school

**all our dreams ever

~~ 

other notes: this can spread seeds like a dandelion across the land. this could become a network of homestead/tribes/communities that function like a occupy, except we own (or maybe not) the land and instead of getting torn down every day, it builds over time, growing like the forest. people can travel and live and stay and move and follow where they are called.  all it needs is the people willing to put in the work and the determination to make it happen.

 ~

(photo cred: me, taken two years ago at freewheelin’ farm just north of santa cruz, california.)

so…is it vegan to use plastic? #kiddingbutnotreally

i guess the answer is: using tons of plastic is technically vegan (unless you count old dinosaurs drilled up and transformed an animal product), but it is animal cruelty. 

(via chelsahhdelic)

Source: underthevastblueseas

everything is aware

soycrates:

cranberrycapers:

misunderstood-again:

I’ve always wondered if there would be activists for plants if they were able to voice their complaints like animals. If we could hear their pain would people be morally objected towards eating them? If so, what would vegans do with themselves? Photosynthesize? 

If plants could feel pain, I would stand up for them.
But plants do not have nerves.

If plants could feel emotions or think or love or learn or play, I would stand up for them.
But plants do not have brains.

If plants could look me in the eye and express their wish to live, damn right I would stand up for them.
But plants don’t have faces, they don’t have desires, and they are incapable of understanding the concept of being alive - because they not sentient.

Why does nobody realize how ignorant the “plant activist” argument is? It’s akin to saying, what would vegans do if pencils started screaming every time you tried to write with them? Hmmm? What if you could hear THEIR pain?

We can assume with an extremely small margin of error, based on scientific studies concerning plant biology, that they do not experience emotions, thought, or pain. Reaction to sensory stimuli is not pain, because most other non-sentient biological organisms we are aware of also react to stimuli: when you use disinfectant, when you receive chemotherapy,when you exfoliate. 

everything in the entire universe is alive. my computer is alive. my window and the ivy on my neighbors hedge—that car and the driver in it, too. we’re all connected, we’re all part of this gigantic brain of gaia which is just one microcosm of the brain of the universe. 

the biological and mineral (so, everything) on this earth have been evolving for who-knows how long, together. animal turning plant waste into plant food, or vise versa.  everything has a role to play, a rhythm to play in the great one song (the uni verse), and when one harmony, one beat, gets off, the whole song is off.  when we are on beat, the whole can become harmonically balanced again.

so in response to these posts above—the plants wouldn’t exist without us. but—together, we have to let the balance come back (you see, it’s really very easy, it’s just that the current momentum is in the wrong direction so it appears difficult, but once we can turn it around, we’ll find the flow, the beat, and beauty will emerge with the harmonious melodies). we have to stop these secluded breeding grounds of pervertedness—be it cows, chickens and pigs or white supremacy, child molestation, and depression.  when things are cut off from their natural form, their natural bridges and connections that make them part of the song, part of the whole, then we all become healthy again. but, when we allow for parts of ourselves to separate and divide, well, that’s cancer! we need to look to nature’s mind, to the intelligent design of fractal harmonic inclusiveness that you can feel when you sit under a tree and look up at the branches reaching into infinity—when we all feel that all the time, then no more cancer, no more concentrated animal feeding operations, no more prisons, no more violence. we have to connect as one, remember ourselves as self-aware parts of an intelligent whole. 

(via knowledgeandlove)

Source: misunderstood-again

thatvegancosplayer: veganistheway: racercaricon: I don’t think you get it whole foods. damn that’s some grade A stupidity right there^^ God damnit Whole Foods stop it. Like you have so many awesome vegan food choices (be it raw, gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free, etc) and make so much vegan food. And then this happens. And I’m just like *facepalm*. okay….i love you vegans of tumblr…but you have to think about locality.  you have to place your beliefs in the context of your location.  if you lived on an island, you would eat fish or die.  if you lived in alaska, you would shoot a moose to get through the winter. you would also (hopefully) dance for the fish and moose gods to make them plentiful and send their souls around the cycle of birth and death peacefully.  so if you’re importing chia and cacao and spirulina and and ashwaganda and maca and coconuts and dates and cashews and mangoes and bananas and eating tomatoes in january, think about how you’re messing up the balance of the earth with  your eating habits.  just like the quarter pounder people are going against the flow of what’s natural, so is your super/raw/vegan diet.   i think what we forget is that health is our natural state. we’ve just gotten so out of balance and within our lifetimes there is no example really of a system that works in balance. so you get reactionary people trying to fix it, but they are jumping right over the center of balance and end up with a just as equally radical and unsustainable perspective.  why does everything have to be bad all the time? can’t we give whole foods credit for trying? and suggestions for being better?  same thing applies everywhere. 
Pop-upView Separately

thatvegancosplayer:

veganistheway:

racercaricon:

I don’t think you get it whole foods.

damn that’s some grade A stupidity right there^^

God damnit Whole Foods stop it.

Like you have so many awesome vegan food choices (be it raw, gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free, etc) and make so much vegan food.

And then this happens.

And I’m just like *facepalm*.

okay….i love you vegans of tumblr…but you have to think about locality.  you have to place your beliefs in the context of your location.  if you lived on an island, you would eat fish or die.  if you lived in alaska, you would shoot a moose to get through the winter. you would also (hopefully) dance for the fish and moose gods to make them plentiful and send their souls around the cycle of birth and death peacefully. 

so if you’re importing chia and cacao and spirulina and and ashwaganda and maca and coconuts and dates and cashews and mangoes and bananas and eating tomatoes in january, think about how you’re messing up the balance of the earth with  your eating habits.  just like the quarter pounder people are going against the flow of what’s natural, so is your super/raw/vegan diet.  

i think what we forget is that health is our natural state. we’ve just gotten so out of balance and within our lifetimes there is no example really of a system that works in balance. so you get reactionary people trying to fix it, but they are jumping right over the center of balance and end up with a just as equally radical and unsustainable perspective. 

why does everything have to be bad all the time? can’t we give whole foods credit for trying? and suggestions for being better? 

same thing applies everywhere. 

(via resident-tofu)

Source: racercaricon

think for yourself

there’s been a lot of vegan talk on my dash and at the same time, people keep reposting stuff i write about the failure of education to teach people how to think for themselves. 

people are very good at arguing why something is not vegan, but they’re not good at stepping outside the vegan program and seeing the whole picture. i know they can reprogram themselves to a certain degree, because vegans have stepped out of the program of the typical industrial diet. but, why stop at vegan?! i’m all for baby steps, but it just seems like people have decided to sit down and not try to see where they’re going anymore when they declare they are vegan. just as long as the toffuti ice cream sandwiches and dayia don’t get too expensive, they’re happy. 

how about eating naturally? we’ve destroyed the genetics of so many animals and plants on earth through human interaction.  check out botany of desire by michael pollen, which is on hulu and it’s a book. it’s about how none of the stuff we eat anymore is natural. and i don’t need to tell the vegans of tumblr what human interaction has done to animal populations…

we need to try and find the balance! go with the flow of equilibrium! eating mass amounts of soy is not natural. eating protein powder is not natural. eating processed oil is not natural. 

growing your own food, getting food from the farmer’s market, buying locally and organically is as close to natural as we have in today’s society.

here’s my advice for everyone: get rid of mine, get rid of yours. get rid of right, get rid of wrong. open pollinate your plants. let nature run it’s course. i planted some wild lettuce mix in a plot 3 years ago and didn’t touch it very much…now i have some vigorous self-seeded greens that are BEAUTIFUL and something completely new. what if we pushed over all the fences in the world and let all the breeds cross their genes? we’d have some crazy cool diversity and the ones we’ve created with factories would fall to natural selection.  

i’m gonna plant 3 kinds of corn right next to each other when the frost date passes. and i don’t give a fuck that everyone tells me not to. i want to create a new kind of corn that is right for my exact microclimate! because honestly, it’s the do as your told mentality that got is into our current mess.

so i’m gonna do what i want. i’m not going to let the vegan box dictate my life. or the society box. the only box i live in is the lily box—the box i created, the box i create every second with my thoughts and perceptions of the world. and i’m gonna fill the lily box with so much love that everyone will see my box and start creating their own boxes with all their love. and then all of a sudden the entire universe is just a bright shining box of love.

yeah. 

what are we going to do: Not afraid to admit anymore: I'm a vegan who loves raw honey.

knowledgeandlove:

pipperipembo:

knowledgeandlove:

havocados:

knowledgeandlove:

knowledgeandlove:

Because one thing I’ve discovered is being vegan means different things based on our own personal beliefs, morals, ethics, and depth of research . I don’t think the term vegan will ever be able to be properly defined because of this, and I don’t think vegans should hate on other vegans because of this.


…There’s actually a really clear definition of vegan, and it does not include the consumption of honey. In fact, not only does it exclude honey (raw or otherwise), but it also excludes any other animal products. HONEY=/= VEGAN. There is no debate about that. The best you can call yourself is a melletarian, or a person who consumes no animal products except those which come from bees.


And, as a by the way, very often vegans aren’t “hating” on other vegans about this. They are informing non-vegans who falsely call themselves vegan about this. This is because it often confuses meat-eaters about what veganism actually is, and how it is carried out in daily life. Why do you think so many vegans get the “Do you eat fish?” question—because similar people are saying that they are vegan when they are pescetarians.

If you want to get into depth of veganism, such as what is in tires, or medication, etc., there are stipulations in modern society as to “how” vegan you can be. However, if you live in a westernized country, it is very easy to be vegan, even if you are homeless or have no money, or are boycotting capitalism. That means that not being vegan is a conscious choice.

While you are right, that veganism is based on personal beliefs, morals, ethics, I think what you have said about depth of research is most important in this case. Because you have taken the time to read this, here are some resources:

Why honey is not vegan

Why Honey REALLY Isn’t Vegan

There was a really grand infographic that I can’t seem to find, however, it came down to this: the queen is artificially inseminated using syringes (which, if you believe that forceful artificial insemination of cows on the “rape rack” is rape, then this is a similar process), to get the semen, male bees’s heads are smashed—direct killing for honey, the queen’s wings are clipped so that she cannot leave the hive, and many larger farms actually torch the hives during winter because they are too expensive to keep up. I know that there was more, but that was all I could remember from that one. And, even if for some reason you don’t believe that bees can feel pain (like from having their wings clipped off, or a needle shoved up the who-ha or their heads smashed in and killed), you still have to ask, is it right? Is it right that I take their food that they have worked, spent their lives, collected away from them?

I had a boyfriend who made this joke:
How would you feel if someone gassed your home, then came in and took all of your food?

Listen, I don’t hate you. I don’t think anyone but the bees right now could hate you, but they are too good for that. I don’t mean to sound mean in this post and I’m sorry if it comes out that way. I just think you’re uninformed.

I’m interested in why you think it’s wrong to use other animals for your whims but not bees and why you think that is still vegan. Because, by definition, it’s not. Get your terminology right. You’re a melletarian, not vegan. But there’s no reason that you couldn’t be. Honey is such a small thing to give up. Other animals lives and work mean as much to them as ours do to us. If the facts about honey, and the ethics behind not using it alone are not enough, then think about the golden rule. Empathize. How would you feel if someone did just even one of those things to you?

THANK YOU finally a respectful response. I literally loved everything you had to say. You eloquently did get through to me that I was in fact misinformed. I’ve never heard of the term melletarian and this is why I love Tumblr. 

However I already am aware about the harmful practices of conventional bee farming. My honey is not from anywhere like that. We have a family friend who supplies our honey for us, and if I can’t get that the honey my local co-op provides is on-par with my family friend. They do not harm their bees or take on any of those awful practices, the honey is just produced and when there’s an excess, they collect it. They let the bees be bees and do their job, and I just have a difficult time in seeing the harm in that. 

Although your boyfriend did put that nicely, too. But because I know for a fact that my family friend only takes the excess and not their entire stock, still I can’t see the harm. I would do further research on my co-op’s, though.

We don’t need honey at all. Bees don’t produce enough of an excess to make a marketable product.

It’s exploitation. Plain and simple.

Why go through all the trouble for something that is completely unnecessary?

Honey is no more vegan than cows milk or eggs that were taken from a friends “pet”.

I’m really tired of people punching holes in the belt to make it fit.

HONEY IS NOT VEGAN.

But … milk and eggs have been proven to be detrimental to us, while honey is beneficial. Another reason I haven’t given up honey - a honey/cinnamon combination is what kicks my cold every single time. I haven’t been able to find anything else that works :( maybe some suggestions? You might have an idea I’ve never tried before. 

I guess I should look into the impossibility of an excess/over production. I don’t think anyone understands what my family friend does. It’s a tiny little bee-keep set up. For himself. *edit* do not automatically apply the practices of conventional bee-keeping (smoking, etc.) to what this guy does, because he doesn’t do any of that crap.* If he notices there’s extra honey, he asks his friends if they want any. If they don’t, he has a little stand at the edge of his driveway where he just leaves the honey with a price list and a jar to collect the money in. Nobody has ever screwed this guy over or stolen from him - isn’t that amazing? I kinda think it is.

Anyways. Thank you for giving me something to further research on the topic, I really do appreciate it. 

i’ve been waiting for the day the people identifying as vegan on tumblr talk about honey. let me explain…

food is meant to unite us—it is tangible energy in the third dimension that we all share. when we label ourselves, we accentuate duality instead of uniting in one existence. i hope that whatever you eat, it makes you happy. 

that being said, i have never understood why bee pollen is vegan but honey is not. so using animals as slaves for plant products is okay. from what i understand, bees do produce more than they need, and if everyone had their own hive and responsibly harvested, wouldn’t that be much better for earth because it’s a renewable source of sugar that isn’t shipped and refined? and everyone would have a connection with bees, and i’m sure we’d be much happier. 

and…i am going to say why i object to veganism. not using animals for human profit is a great thing, but when you have to replace products of human-animal relationships with synthetic or processed man-made crap, then i object. for example, i love leather. it lasts, it’s natural, and it’s versatile. i object to the chemicals used in processing and the torture currently taking place for global leather demand. 

however, in california, native peoples did not have fiber from animals, so they made everything from hides. they honored the life of the animal and understood that living together with respect for each other is the only way that both can survive. 

so is it better to buy a shoe made from chemicals and rubber that was shipped all across the world and releases crap into the environment with every step you take, or is it better to buy chemically treated leather that has an angry spirit? one is vegan, one is not. but that’s not the point.

the point is: we need to all live together as one if we want peace, respecting all life. being vegan and pretending that humans can exist without animals is a step in a better direction than where most of humanity is headed, but without seeing the bigger picture and aiming to live at the harmonic center of nature, there can not be peace for animals, humans, plants, fungus, bacteria and every other part of nature. 

so eat your goddamn honey if it makes you happy. 

Ahhh there’s so much to say to this. I don’t even know where to begin. Thank you first and foremost. Second, I love what you have to say about peace and being in harmony with everything. It’s something I’m only in my infancy stages of developing and I work hard at it every day. 

shoes made of chemicals and stuff - aren’t there vegan shoes out there? Vegan alternatives to leather that are just as good and not harmful in any way? To be honest I’ve never liked leather so it’s something I’ve never had to research. I’ve never had anything leather that would be difficult to give up which also means I don’t really know if I have a right to compare it’s strength to anything else, but I think you made some good points there. Even though we aren’t at the need to survive point anymore that your California natives, nor are all the leather producing factories in such a state. I’d say they’re more brutal and immoral but maybe if you can find a native type thing that you’d personally be ok with? That’s where I’m always at. What are we each personally ok with? What changes is the information we are provided with that gives us the opportunity to make a proper decision - one reason why my views on certain aspects of life are still constantly changing. 

pollen vs honey. I don’t know what to say there. I have no idea why there’s a difference, either. 

“What are we each personally ok with?” **applause**

yes. i’m personally okay with (in fact, i’m in love with) my vintage leather coach fanny pack.  i oil it and love it and i know i will be able to pass it down to posterity.

there’s already so much material goods out there—do we even need factories anymore? we need people to start repairing and maintaining what we already have.

also…i wonder if there’s some all-natural shoe company out there making wooden/woven shoes or something. because that would be awesome. almost all my shoes have rubber bottoms. i can’t connect to the earth and ground myself with that under my toes. i try to walk barefoot when i go hiking.  

which is something not everyone is okay with. but i am! wow. i really love that statement. 

do what you love, people. the rest will follow. 

what are we going to do: Not afraid to admit anymore: I'm a vegan who loves raw honey.

knowledgeandlove:

havocados:

knowledgeandlove:

knowledgeandlove:

Because one thing I’ve discovered is being vegan means different things based on our own personal beliefs, morals, ethics, and depth of research . I don’t think the term vegan will ever be able to be properly defined because of this, and I don’t think vegans should hate on other vegans because of this.


…There’s actually a really clear definition of vegan, and it does not include the consumption of honey. In fact, not only does it exclude honey (raw or otherwise), but it also excludes any other animal products. HONEY=/= VEGAN. There is no debate about that. The best you can call yourself is a melletarian, or a person who consumes no animal products except those which come from bees.


And, as a by the way, very often vegans aren’t “hating” on other vegans about this. They are informing non-vegans who falsely call themselves vegan about this. This is because it often confuses meat-eaters about what veganism actually is, and how it is carried out in daily life. Why do you think so many vegans get the “Do you eat fish?” question—because similar people are saying that they are vegan when they are pescetarians.

If you want to get into depth of veganism, such as what is in tires, or medication, etc., there are stipulations in modern society as to “how” vegan you can be. However, if you live in a westernized country, it is very easy to be vegan, even if you are homeless or have no money, or are boycotting capitalism. That means that not being vegan is a conscious choice.

While you are right, that veganism is based on personal beliefs, morals, ethics, I think what you have said about depth of research is most important in this case. Because you have taken the time to read this, here are some resources:

Why honey is not vegan

Why Honey REALLY Isn’t Vegan

There was a really grand infographic that I can’t seem to find, however, it came down to this: the queen is artificially inseminated using syringes (which, if you believe that forceful artificial insemination of cows on the “rape rack” is rape, then this is a similar process), to get the semen, male bees’s heads are smashed—direct killing for honey, the queen’s wings are clipped so that she cannot leave the hive, and many larger farms actually torch the hives during winter because they are too expensive to keep up. I know that there was more, but that was all I could remember from that one. And, even if for some reason you don’t believe that bees can feel pain (like from having their wings clipped off, or a needle shoved up the who-ha or their heads smashed in and killed), you still have to ask, is it right? Is it right that I take their food that they have worked, spent their lives, collected away from them?

I had a boyfriend who made this joke:
How would you feel if someone gassed your home, then came in and took all of your food?

Listen, I don’t hate you. I don’t think anyone but the bees right now could hate you, but they are too good for that. I don’t mean to sound mean in this post and I’m sorry if it comes out that way. I just think you’re uninformed.

I’m interested in why you think it’s wrong to use other animals for your whims but not bees and why you think that is still vegan. Because, by definition, it’s not. Get your terminology right. You’re a melletarian, not vegan. But there’s no reason that you couldn’t be. Honey is such a small thing to give up. Other animals lives and work mean as much to them as ours do to us. If the facts about honey, and the ethics behind not using it alone are not enough, then think about the golden rule. Empathize. How would you feel if someone did just even one of those things to you?

THANK YOU finally a respectful response. I literally loved everything you had to say. You eloquently did get through to me that I was in fact misinformed. I’ve never heard of the term melletarian and this is why I love Tumblr. 

However I already am aware about the harmful practices of conventional bee farming. My honey is not from anywhere like that. We have a family friend who supplies our honey for us, and if I can’t get that the honey my local co-op provides is on-par with my family friend. They do not harm their bees or take on any of those awful practices, the honey is just produced and when there’s an excess, they collect it. They let the bees be bees and do their job, and I just have a difficult time in seeing the harm in that. 

Although your boyfriend did put that nicely, too. But because I know for a fact that my family friend only takes the excess and not their entire stock, still I can’t see the harm. I would do further research on my co-op’s, though.

We don’t need honey at all. Bees don’t produce enough of an excess to make a marketable product.

It’s exploitation. Plain and simple.

Why go through all the trouble for something that is completely unnecessary?

Honey is no more vegan than cows milk or eggs that were taken from a friends “pet”.

I’m really tired of people punching holes in the belt to make it fit.

HONEY IS NOT VEGAN.

But … milk and eggs have been proven to be detrimental to us, while honey is beneficial. Another reason I haven’t given up honey - a honey/cinnamon combination is what kicks my cold every single time. I haven’t been able to find anything else that works :( maybe some suggestions? You might have an idea I’ve never tried before. 

I guess I should look into the impossibility of an excess/over production. I don’t think anyone understands what my family friend does. It’s a tiny little bee-keep set up. For himself. *edit* do not automatically apply the practices of conventional bee-keeping (smoking, etc.) to what this guy does, because he doesn’t do any of that crap.* If he notices there’s extra honey, he asks his friends if they want any. If they don’t, he has a little stand at the edge of his driveway where he just leaves the honey with a price list and a jar to collect the money in. Nobody has ever screwed this guy over or stolen from him - isn’t that amazing? I kinda think it is.

Anyways. Thank you for giving me something to further research on the topic, I really do appreciate it. 

i’ve been waiting for the day the people identifying as vegan on tumblr talk about honey. let me explain…

food is meant to unite us—it is tangible energy in the third dimension that we all share. when we label ourselves, we accentuate duality instead of uniting in one existence. i hope that whatever you eat, it makes you happy. 

that being said, i have never understood why bee pollen is vegan but honey is not. so using animals as slaves for plant products is okay. from what i understand, bees do produce more than they need, and if everyone had their own hive and responsibly harvested, wouldn’t that be much better for earth because it’s a renewable source of sugar that isn’t shipped and refined? and everyone would have a connection with bees, and i’m sure we’d be much happier. 

and…i am going to say why i object to veganism. not using animals for human profit is a great thing, but when you have to replace products of human-animal relationships with synthetic or processed man-made crap, then i object. for example, i love leather. it lasts, it’s natural, and it’s versatile. i object to the chemicals used in processing and the torture currently taking place for global leather demand. 

however, in california, native peoples did not have fiber from animals, so they made everything from hides. they honored the life of the animal and understood that living together with respect for each other is the only way that both can survive. 

so is it better to buy a shoe made from chemicals and rubber that was shipped all across the world and releases crap into the environment with every step you take, or is it better to buy chemically treated leather that has an angry spirit? one is vegan, one is not. but that’s not the point.

the point is: we need to all live together as one if we want peace, respecting all life. being vegan and pretending that humans can exist without animals is a step in a better direction than where most of humanity is headed, but without seeing the bigger picture and aiming to live at the harmonic center of nature, there can not be peace for animals, humans, plants, fungus, bacteria and every other part of nature. 

so eat your goddamn honey if it makes you happy. 

feeling stuck? grow a large aura.

“The ancient knowledge I discovered many years ago resembles recent theories in quantum physics research – that everything in our Universe originates from energy, from the vast spiraling galaxies down to the molecules in our cells. Our physical world of matter is a result of interfering energy waves, vibrating at certain frequencies (hertz). The Egyptians called matter ‘frozen music’!

If we find ourselves locked in limitation, we need accelerated momentum to increase our vibration frequency range and shift the stuck energy. All physical matter materializes from the angular momentum of swirling energy. Time and space is experienced in linear sequence by the left brain, so we need to activate our right brain to expand beyond the 3D material world.

So how do we do this? The Quantum Vortex is the universal technology that provides the mechanics to accelerate and bend space/time… which opens our awareness beyond our physical world and unlocks us from the limitations of linear time and stuck energy. The ancient mystery we are remembering involves the holy grail of sacred geometry and universal harmonics, and the perfect combination that shape-shifts energy. The transformative spin of the Quantum Vortex is constructed from a series of harmonics with wavelengths that comply with the Golden Mean (Sacred Geometry of Phi) version of the Fibonacci sequenceand the sacred geometry of Metatron’s Cube. This sacred geometry can be found engraved in ancient temples all around the world.

Only one particular frequency signature (Golden MeanSymmetry) will activate an eternal circular motion in energy as self-organizing, nourishing and alive – as the fountain of Creation! When you experience that perfect connectivity of electrical waves flow through you in the Phi Harmonic Spiral of the Quantum Vortex – you have achieved Bliss! This is the alchemy of our Universe!”

how i survive in the city: going to the farmer’s market!

have you heard? according to mayor kevin johnson, sacramento is the nation’s farm to fork capital.  whatever that means. they want 500 people to dine on the tower bridge. but, as stuart leavenworth wrote today in the sacramento bee, we need to do more than just “promoting our celebrity chefs” and start “a food revolution — or more precisely, a counterrevolution — against all the bad habits that we’ve developed.”

what’s he talking about? the fact that “according to the SACOG, only 2 percent of the food grown locally is consumed locally. farmers generally grow for national and international markets.” in other words, as i learned from soil born farm’s food access coordinator randy stannard at a recent harvest sacramento gleaning event where we harvested backyard fruit, 98% of the food we grow is shipped off, while 98% of the food we eat is imported to the sacramento valley. 

and we’re lucky! we live in one of the most abundant places on earth thanks to our mediterranean climate. california as a whole was considered paradise by white explorers. but back then, they failed to learn the ways of tending the wild, of living in harmony, as demonstrated by the native peoples. so now, instead of fields of medicinal and edible wildflowers and native plants, we have strip malls and car dealerships booming in the valley. and sometimes they bust—anyone remember the chevron incident last spring? we must become better at taking care of our home, our earth. and fast. 

stop moaning. i know you know that the earth is important, but i hear you moaning because you think it’s so difficult, the system is so entrenched, and i’m going to ask you to change. well, i am going to ask you to change, but, i think you’re going to like the change. i think all your senses, especially your taste buds, your mind and your spirit are all going to be giddy over what i want you to do. 

it’s simple: go to the farmer’s market. i swear, i would not survive in a city if it weren’t for these sanctuaries of vibrant energy. my favorite farmer’s market of all time, and one of the biggest in california, happens to be a ten minute bike ride from my house. every sunday morning from 8 to noon, it ironically sprouts up underneath the freeway at x and 8th, next to southside park.  there’s ample parking, but i much prefer to ride my bike, as it can get a little crazy. they take food stamps too! and it’s not frosty freeing outside in the morning anymore, so you really don’t have any excuses not to go. 

me at the market

i love to get dressed up for the market. today, a man stopped me to tell me how he’s been seeing women in skirts lately and he LOVES it. he was so nice, i gave him a hug. that’s a great thing about going to farmer’s markets: you connect with people in your community. something about shopping under flourecent lights picking up chlorine washed and waxed fruits imported from chile disconnects people from their emotions, from their human spirit.  at the farmer’s market, the spirit is glowing. i always see farmers smiling. i feel their joy of selling healthy food they coaxed from the earth with their hands. 

frank of quail ridge natural reserve

take frank, for example. he is an incredible human being who runs quail ridge nature reserve. he has raised millions for preserving wild land and practices sustainable land management on his properties.  i was drawn to his booth last week and ended up going to his property to help harvest pussy willow before it all bolted. he sells pussy willow to local florists and even to the co-op, but you can’t give him a hug at those shops. only at the farmer’s market can you put a face to the product and develop connections in one’s community.  i’m so happy to have this inspirational person in my life and look forward to working with him in the future. 

plant lady.

i’d like to share some of my favorite booths at the market, just in case you aren’t convinced yet. pictured above is the “plant lady,” as my friends and i say. her selection is always astounding, even in the dead of winter. i can’t wait for her vegetable and herb plants to come out in a month or so. 

there’s also genelle of all things wild, who sells native plants. she’s another soul i could talk to for hours. she’s enthusiastic about her work and it is infectious.  today i bought mugwort, which is like nature’s advil, lamb’s ear, or “poor man’s toilet paper,” and a succulent that sprawls out over the ground.  compared with what you’ll find at the home depot’s garden center, her booth is a garden of eden. 

the BEST place for apples. hands down.

after you eat some of the apples from patrick’s garden, you won’t be able to go back to the perfectly round and shining apples from regular grocery stores. sure, they look nice, but they they taste as sterile as latex. these apples taste like love. they won’t win any beauty pageants, but they have what matters most: flavor! from tart and crunchy granny smiths to seductively sweet fujis with a hint of wild bitterness. and, the humans who sell these apples are some of the sweetest in the bunch, just like the apples.  

angel or batman kiwi :)

right across from loving nature farm, which is my favorite for fresh greens, you can find the most amazing kiwis on the planet (seriously). ruth, of shared abundance organic farm, puts so much love into these babies.  and they reward her by becoming works of art, like the angel batman kiwi you see above. she sprouts all sorts of yumminess as well.  she’s another woman i could talk to for days. 

shared abundance is my favorite

are you convinced yet? are you going to go to the next farmer’s market in your area? think about it next time you go to a box chain store. do you feel any connection with the earth or with your community there? how does the store environment make you feel? 

then go to a farmer’s market, and mentally check in with yourself. i always catch myself smiling for no apparent reason.  then i notice everyone around me is smiling. and i think, wow, we’re all connected. this feeling in me is infectious, spreading all around my community and even the world. i can feel it. people are sick of being sick and alone. at the farmer’s market, i’m able to connect, to become part of the vibrant community that is sacramento’s true nature.  this is where the farm gets to my fork, and this is how i am part of the 2%, part of the food counterrevolution. 

so join the movement and go to the farmer’s market! 

Food Unites, Diets Divide

pipperipembo:

image

So, you’re a veganvegetarian/raw/pescatarian/kosher/carnivore/freegan/natural eater. Or, maybe you aren’t doing any diet right now, but you’ve declared one of these labels as “you” in the past. Did you ever hear this:

            “But, you’re a [insert label here], so, you can’t have this, right?”

What about:

“They’re not a [insert label here]. They ate [whatever] for lunch. They’re faking it.”

Maybe you didn’t hear this one, but thought your friends were saying it behind your back (or maybe you said it behind the backs of others). 

 Why all the hoop-lah over what goes in your body?  Why does everyone seem to care as soon as you, for whatever reason, come to the conclusion that your diet needs to change, and adopt one of these labels as your new dietary regime?

 I, for one, believe that what you choose to put into your body is quite important. Food is energy, connecting us to our own bodies, to our communities, and to our sacred home, Earth.  I believe that one’s own body is the only entity that can decide what is good and what is not-so-good for one’s body to consume. It is important to cultivate a loving relationship with your body if you wish to be able to listen to your body when it’s trying to tell you something.

 I object to the idea that there is one dietary regime that is right for everyone; just like most people object the idea that one government regime should rule the world. I reject the strict rules of say, a vegan diet, that people feel the need to adhere to due to societal pressure.  Instead of recognizing food as a basic necessity for all life that connects everything and everyone, we get lost in the labels, arguing with one another. There are entire tumblrs dedicated to hating on vegans, just as there are entire tumblrs dedicated to praising a vegan lifestyle.  Just like there are entire armies of people fighting and entire armies to fight against them. We all get lost in all the hoop-lah behind labels. 

 We need to get out of the regime and start becoming free thinkers and self-aware eaters.  No diet can tell you what’s ethical or moral or not. Palm oil is not an animal product, but the demand destroys the habitat of this poor orangutan.  Just like the paper for KFC’s cardboard was destroying tiger territory. We have a duty to educate ourselves and make our own decisions, to listen to the mind as well as the body when it comes to eating. 

 Just as listening to the mind and body are important, so is tuning into the spirit.  My resilient spirit, which never gives up hope on peace and unity, yearns to dig my hands in the soil and reap the fruit of my labor.  My spirit searches for purpose and meaning in the current tides of change, remembering another time, a time when pleasure and doing what needed to be done were married as one.  A time in no time where and when eating is a joyous act of creation and celebration of nature.

“To the extent that people separate themselves from nature, they spin out further and further from the center.  At the same time, a centripetal effect asserts itself and the desire to return to nature arises.  But if people merely become caught up in reacting, moving to the left or to the right, depending on conditions, the result is only more activity.  The nonmoving point of origin, which lies outside the realm of relativity, is passed over, unnoticed.” (The One Straw Revolution, Masanobu Fukuoka)

 Our bodies are a part of nature, trying to achieve equilibrium.  When we over acidify ourselves with sugar, meat, and dairy, our bodies have to work hard, trying to restore balance. On the other hand, eating living food helps support the bodies natural systems for health. After, it’s natural to be healthy.  Disease and disorder rates haven’t always been this high—in fact, I’m sure at some point they were nonexistent.  

Now that we have achieved abundance as humanity, let us work on cultivating our own health so we can prosper together.  To me, this means propagating love and generosity with gardens and farms.  Collectively acting to co-create a blossoming future, we can remember how to take care of ourselves, each other, and our home, Earth.

shamelesslyselfreblogging. 

Food Unites, Diets Divide

image

So, you’re a veganvegetarian/raw/pescatarian/kosher/carnivore/freegan/natural eater. Or, maybe you aren’t doing any diet right now, but you’ve declared one of these labels as “you” in the past. Did you ever hear this:

            “But, you’re a [insert label here], so, you can’t have this, right?”

What about:

“They’re not a [insert label here]. They ate [whatever] for lunch. They’re faking it.”

Maybe you didn’t hear this one, but thought your friends were saying it behind your back (or maybe you said it behind the backs of others). 

 Why all the hoop-lah over what goes in your body?  Why does everyone seem to care as soon as you, for whatever reason, come to the conclusion that your diet needs to change, and adopt one of these labels as your new dietary regime?

 I, for one, believe that what you choose to put into your body is quite important. Food is energy, connecting us to our own bodies, to our communities, and to our sacred home, Earth.  I believe that one’s own body is the only entity that can decide what is good and what is not-so-good for one’s body to consume. It is important to cultivate a loving relationship with your body if you wish to be able to listen to your body when it’s trying to tell you something.

 I object to the idea that there is one dietary regime that is right for everyone; just like most people object the idea that one government regime should rule the world. I reject the strict rules of say, a vegan diet, that people feel the need to adhere to due to societal pressure.  Instead of recognizing food as a basic necessity for all life that connects everything and everyone, we get lost in the labels, arguing with one another. There are entire tumblrs dedicated to hating on vegans, just as there are entire tumblrs dedicated to praising a vegan lifestyle.  Just like there are entire armies of people fighting and entire armies to fight against them. We all get lost in all the hoop-lah behind labels. 

 We need to get out of the regime and start becoming free thinkers and self-aware eaters.  No diet can tell you what’s ethical or moral or not. Palm oil is not an animal product, but the demand destroys the habitat of this poor orangutan.  Just like how the paper for KFC’s cardboard was destroying tiger territory. We have a duty to educate ourselves and make our own decisions, to listen to the mind as well as the body when it comes to eating. 

 Just as listening to the mind and body are important, so is tuning into the spirit.  My resilient spirit, which never gives up hope on peace and unity, yearns to dig my hands in the soil and reap the fruit of my labor.  My spirit searches for purpose and meaning in the current tides of change, remembering another time, a time when pleasure and doing what needed to be done were married as one.  A time in no time where and when eating is a joyous act of creation and celebration of nature.

“To the extent that people separate themselves from nature, they spin out further and further from the center.  At the same time, a centripetal effect asserts itself and the desire to return to nature arises.  But if people merely become caught up in reacting, moving to the left or to the right, depending on conditions, the result is only more activity.  The nonmoving point of origin, which lies outside the realm of relativity, is passed over, unnoticed.” (The One Straw Revolution, Masanobu Fukuoka)

 Our bodies are a part of nature, trying to achieve equilibrium.  When we over acidify ourselves with sugar, meat, and dairy, our bodies have to work hard, trying to restore balance. On the other hand, eating living food helps support the body’s natural systems for health. After all, it’s natural to be healthy.  Disease and disorder rates haven’t always been this high—in fact, I’m sure at some point they were nonexistent.  

Now that we have achieved abundance as humanity, let us work on cultivating our own health so we can prosper together.  To me, this means propagating love and generosity with gardens and farms.  Collectively acting to co-create a blossoming future, we can remember how to take care of ourselves, each other, and our home, Earth.

To eat or not to eat: Raw nuts.

therawveganproject:

My love affair with nuts and seeds started long ago. When my sister & I asked for cookies, our mother would wisk and mix and eventually present us with giant, crunchy things. These things were made up of every nut, seed and dried piece of fruit she could manage to squeeze in. They were’t anything that resembled prepackaged biscuits or cookies; those words paint too nice of a picture in ones mind. But we loved these homemade baked goods none the less. As I grew older and started appreciating the science that was nutrition, my love for bird food only grew stronger. To this day I devour alot more than I should. However, the difference is, these days when I reach for some almonds, they are always soaked. Why?

Well, thinking about it logically, raw nuts & seeds are meant to produce plants. In nature, they germinate when there is enough moisture/when rained on. Nature is clever & protects her children. Nuts and seeds are coated with enzyme inhibitors, which protect the nuts/seeds until they gets what they need to germinate. These enzyme inhibitors also prevent our body from absorbing any nutrients.
This is when soaking comes it. Soaking neutralises the enzyme inhibitors allowing your body to absorb more nutrients. It also means the digestion process is easier as the gluten is broken down.

Soaking times for household nuts
Almonds 8-12 hours
Cashews 2-3 hours
Flax 6 hours
Pumpkin 6 hours
Walnuts 4 hours

Wash nuts & place in glass container. Fill 2 times amount of nuts. Let soak. Thoroughly rise prior to eating. Notice the murky water? That’s full of enzyme inhibitors! Enjoy!
 

SO SIMPLE i swear the raw diet has this chick on another frequency—this has been in my head but not as clear for days. now it’s clear—i’m on her level. 

(via whatlucyate-deactivated20130414)