Hunger

When hunger takes you by surprise,

What are you truly hungry for?

Is it acceptance from your peers, your friends, your family?

To fill the void of loneliness?

To shake the constant anxiety?

To find a moment in time just for yourself?

When you are hungry, do you then eat? And eat. And eat. Or do you deny yourself such pleasures and engage in some other form of mind-altering or physical-consuming activity to flush out your fears?

We are all hungry for something. Whether we deny ourselves the food or overeat it, whether we try to escape what we know by running for miles or immerse ourselves in hours of meditation to discover that which is deep within us, let us give ourselves a time for reflection of what our true motivations are for any action. Let us not worry over the past, or fear the future, but truly live in the present. A breath, a sacred breath brought in with our whole being and then let out with a sigh of final relief. A moment of thanks to the universe. To those around you who have helped you on your life’s journey. Allow yourself such moments - for your body, but also your heart and soul to fill you so completely that you will never go hungry again.

'Making the Lasagna'

Here in our home, 'making the lasagna', holds special meaning. When my daughter Julia was born, I had no clue how to prepare meals in advance of dinner time. There simply weren't enough hours in the day to get all the house chores done and somehow also have a warm-cooked meal on the table ready for 6pm. My good neighbour then introduced me to the wonders of the crockpot. I soon realized however, that makng a slow-cooked meal required more than just tossing the ingredients into the pot and turning the switch to 'on'. In fact, all the slow-cooker really did, was help me be more prepared for the following meal by planning my meals and prepping them in advance. This meant that all my meals were now well thought out a week in advance when I did a big grocery shop. There was sushi or the first night (prepped at the store and bought by me), fresh fish with rice and bok choy a second night, vegetarian pizza another night, asian vegetable and tou stir-fry the next, and finally a toss between either veggie tacos or a vegetarian lasagna. Somehow, the lasagna would never get made right on the day I said it would. Either one or another of the ingredients would always go missing  (courtesy of residents of the household who are found of cheese products). Despite my best intentions, the lasagna would often be made 3 days after I had promised it would be on the table. Hence, this expression in our household, now equates with "I have the best of intentions to get this lasagna done, so hopefully you'll see it in 3 days". My husband and I can't help but chuckle these days when I say "I'll be making the lasagna for tonight, honey!" But what I have learned is that making the lasagna can apply to a whole range of works in the making. And I've learned that its not the end of the world either if you haven't done what you've said you'd do. Something else will take its place in the meantime. But rather, don't set too high expectations for yourself  (especially when you have young kids or are dealing with a host of other things in your life that you have little control over) that will be hard to live up to or give people hope before you can produce something concrete :).

Living the Life of a Sandwich Generation

Greetings! Welcome to the Veggie Sandwich: a gathering of of ideas regarding life and my version of living a whole life! In this blog I will feature topics related to my thoughts and experience dealing with both children, parents and partners in regards to holistic care of the body, mind and spirit. This includes but is not limited to topics such as:

-Attachment Parenting
-Elimination Communication
-Delayed/Selective Vaccinations
-Allopathic and Complementary Therapies for Cancer, and other chronic or age-related diseases
-Holistic care (e.g. Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture, Homeopathy, Naturopathic Medicine, Yoga, Tai Chi , Qi Gong)
-Biomedical Ethics

I will also provide you with recipes, diet and exercise tips, and links to recent and or noteworthy research, and other links of interest.


Cheers!
Mey