As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, I took a minute to assess what my contribution is to keeping the earth green and being kind to our Mother Earth. I think that of all the ways I work toward being supportive of the earth–conserving water, driving a very fuel efficient vehicle and limiting my trips, conserving electricity and teaching my children to recycle by using cloth bags instead of plastic, cloth napkins in place of paper towels, etc. Despite these practices that I think most people are already doing, it is my belief that being a vegetarian is my most important contribution to the health of this planet.

I found this lovely quote about becoming a vegetarian by Paul McCartney,

“If anyone wants to save the planet, all they have to do is just stop eating meat. That’s the single most important thing you can do.”

Almost 15 years ago I became a vegetarian purely for health reasons. It started as a 30-day experiment, which after I felt so much better in the first ten days I decided to make the change permanent before the 30 days was up. When I stopped eating meat I felt so much clarity. I got this burst of energy, I felt vibrant and more alive if that makes any sense. I lost about ten pounds in that first month effortlessly and I slept better than I ever had.

I understand that God has given each of us free will. We each get to choose our path and live with the consequences of our choices, so I resist the urge to evangelize about vegetarianism. I just tell people how good it has been for me, and I let them make their own choices. Even my own children have chosen to not be vegetarian, and that is fine with me. Living in my household, they eat a largely vegetarian diet by default because I will not buy or cook any raw meat in my house. I don’t even like to walk by the meat counter in the grocery store.

All I want to do here is present the facts about my experience with becoming a veg, and the damage that meat production is doing to this planet, and what a massive, earth-changing decision it is to become a vegetarian.

What are the benefits of being a vegetarian?

Save the earth
Since it’s earth day I’ll start with saving the earth. “More than half of the water used in the United States today goes to animal agriculture, and since farmed animals produce 130 times more excrement than the human population, the run-off from their waste is fouling our waterways.” -goveg.com

-Animal waste poisons air, land and water and the gases from animal excrement is one of the largest contributors to global warming.

-70 percent of the grain (corn, wheat, etc.) grown in the U.S. goes to feed meat producing animals

-It takes eight times as much water to produce a pound of beef than it takes to produce a loaf of bread (Wall Street Journal)

Save your health

A plant-based diet is the healthiest diet for humans. The big three ‘lifestyle diseases,’ diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease are caused by too much saturated fat and cholesterol in our arteries from eating animals. The fastest way to reverse these diseases is to put the person on a vegetarian diet.

Meat eaters are at increased risk for several diseases such as obesity, strokes, arthritis, Alzheimers and others.

Save the animals

Animals were not created simply to fill our pots and our bellies. I firmly believe that if more Americans were responsible for killing and preparing the meat that they eat, they would eat less of it if not become vegetarian. Most people do not want to know how their meat arrives at their table. They close their eyes to the slaughter of millions of chickens, cows, pigs, and turkeys as they bite down on their juicy hamburgers, or fried chicken legs.

Each person who becomes a vegetarian will on average save 100 animals per year from slaughter.

So, when you get down to it, it’s pretty simple. Just stop eating meat. I know that there are people who take too much pleasure in eating meat to stop altogether, so maybe try going a whole week without eating meat, and then a whole month and see how it feels.

Eating a plant-based diet is good for you, it’s good for the earth and it saves the lives of animals. It’s a win-win-win!

If you want to give the vegetarian lifestyle a try even for a single day, here are some resources for you:

Recommended Reading:

http://www.goveg.com/vegetarian101.asp

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/

http://www.vegsoc.org/

I’m thrilled to call myself a professional writer. I am also thrilled to be finally earning my keep by the written word. For years when I worked another ‘day job’ in order to pay the bills my heart was not really in it. I yearned for a way to make my living through expressing myself and sharing my writing with the world.

My first step was this blog–actually an earlier version of this blog that I started in the fall of 1998, which was before the term ‘blog’ had even come into existence. That blog became a fabulous creative outlet for me and it allowed me to create a bit of a community with other writers and my visitors.

Now that writing for clients is my livelihood, I don’t want to lose that love and passion for it. I still keep a hand written journal, and I keep this blog to write about my take on the world, share my insights and musings and sound off when I need to. But sometimes I notice that when I write a lot on this blog or on Facebook and Twitter, it steals some of the passion from my personal journal practice.

I was listening to on of my favorite podcasts, Tranquility du Jour, and the hostess, Kimberly Wilson was discussing this phenomenon with her guest, Samara O’Shea, who is also a writer. Ms. O’Shea has written books about journaling and letter writing–two of my great loves. Listening to this episode was a gentle reminder that the hand written word should never get lost in the shuffle of iPhones, Twitter and Facebook. We should remember to take some time for quiet solitude where we can ‘unplug’ and write longhand in a journal and enjoy life as it is in each moment.

I love social media because I believe that it fulfills the promise of the Internet’s potential to bring people together, but I also closely guard my journal writing time, and taking the time to hand write letters to the people that I love.

So, don’t let email and Facebook messages take the place of writing letters and keeping a journal. Writing letters is a wonderful way to keep in touch with those you love in a very personal, intimate way. Keeping a journal is a way to keep in touch with yourself as you are right in this moment. I have 2 boxes of journals that I have kept since I was 14 years old. Every now and then I enjoy cracking one open and stepping into the life I was leading when I wrote that entry.

Life is short, but your life is precious and worth recording. Take a moment and write it down.

Yesterday, I attended the Baltimore Natural Hair Care Expo in Baltimore with a friend who also wears her hair natural. For my non-Black peeps, ‘natural’ for Black folk, refers to those of us who choose to not use chemicals to alter the natural texture of our hair. We let the natural texture that God blessed us with shine forth proudly.

The show took place at the Pikesville Hilton, and it looked like they got a nice crowd. There were so many people moving through that show that in places it was difficult to move around. But it was just lovely to be in the presence of so many other people who are embracing natural hair styles. I don’t think I’ve ever been in the same room with so many other people who had dreadlocs!

I collected a bunch of business cards, got some free samples of products I’d like to try and Rae and I both got a hand treatment using Ginger & Brown Sugar polish by Adiva. It felt just blissful on my hands as the sugar crystals gently exfoliated the dead skin from my hands and left them feeling silky smooth and moisturized. I will be snagging a jar of that stuff.

I met Pam, from Koils by Nature in person and thanked her for her lovely skin and hair care products that I ordered online from her. I found her on Facebook, and what drew me to her was her goal of getting on the Oprah Winfrey show. I recommend the Sweet Almond Joy body butter. It smells great, and leaves your skin feeling nourished and moist without feeling greasy.

We met authors, travel agents and natural/wellness providers as well. There is a similar event coming up in DC in April, so all of my local, natural peeps might want to check it out:http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=262414266330&index=1

I awakened this morning to the sounds of the National Anthem being played over a P.A. system coming through my open window. I live a block form the course of the National Marathon that is going on today. While I love a good Marathon, it’s a bummer because I get trapped in my neighborhood–at least trapped from going into downtown–until about 2pm. And then when they re-open the streets, it’s absolute bedlam. Oy!

But maybe this year I will walk down to the course and cheer them on. These are people who are undertaking a great challenge and I wish that all of them could win. They’ve got picture perfect weather this year. It’s a nice and cool 47 degrees this morning and this afternoon’s high will be 74. By the time the majority of the runners reach the finish line it will be close to 60 degrees.

I’ve had a good week this week. I interviewed a promising new client, and made some good progress working on my own sites. On Thursday, I attended a local small business networking lunch where I made some good contacts and possibly got some good leads. I plan to attend more of their events because I really need to get out of the house more and interact with other human beings. Working from home has made me a bit of a hermit and I’m not liking it.

So, this spring my goal is to find at least one networking event each week to attend, which will give me some good local exposure and the chance to get out and talk to people and find out what’s on their minds.

While I have not been getting out of the house a lot, I do spend a good deal of time on Facebook. I use it for myself and for my clients, so I’m there a couple of times a day. I met this great guy named Avram Gonzales, who lives in Colorado and has embarked on this campaign that he is calling ‘Inspiraction,’ where he does something different each day and films it on his little camera. This is the video that drew me to him:

I just love his ebullient energy and his passion for living. At my age, I’m not going to be engaging in some of the activities that he does, but he is inspiring me nonetheless to not fall into becoming a stodgy old woman at the age of 42. He is inspiring me to get out there and do something different.

Have a fabulous week and figure out a way to do something different that shakes you out of your rut and shows you something that you’ve never seen about yourself before.

Knitting is one of my favorite passions in life. A few weeks ago, I was interviewed by Synolve Craft, the editor of the fabulous new online publication called, Infinite Field Magazine, about my passion for knitting. Take a look at the February edition, which is absolutely lovely. My interview is the last story in that issue.

I’d like to thank Synolve for the interview. It made me feel proud to be able to share about my love of knitting and the natural fibers I work with.

Enjoy!
http://theinfinitefieldmagazine.com/current-issue/

Today I attended my first completely secular funeral service. It was for the son of a close friend who is an atheist. Instead of being held in a church or even a funeral home, the service was held in the community room of the apartment complex where the young man lived and had many friendships.

There was an informal service where his mom spoke and then several people came up and said a few words about how this wonderful young man had touched their lives. It was lovely and moving and I felt a strong sense of community around the fact that we all loved and cared for this many who had passed away.

But as a Christian woman who is deeply spiritual, it was challenging for me to sit there through this whole program where there was not a single mention of God, not a scripture was read, and there was no mention of how Jamaal’s eternal soul is now resting in the arms of Jesus and that the suffering that wracked his body in his final days was now over and he was finally free.

But I prayed for Jamaal in my heart, and I prayed for his family who will miss his sunny spirit and the special spark of life that he brought to this world. They will now carry that spark with them in their hearts forever.

I tried to comfort my friend, but the words I offered about Jamaal now being happy and free in heaven rang hollow for him because as an atheist, he does not believe in the soul, or God or any continuation of life after the body dies. He believes that death is the end of everything–that the body is it. This philosophy absolutely boggles my mind, but I respect his freedom to have those beliefs.

For so long I have taken my faith for granted. I have taken the comfort it gives me, and the peace if fills my heart and mind with completely for granted. I am so confident in the knowledge that I am a spirit, a spark from the Divine, that has come to inhabit this human form for a certain number of days and then I will lay it down. When this body dies, as the hymn says, “I’ll fly away.” My spirit will go into the light from whence it came and I will be at peace with God for all eternity.

To some degree I inherited my beliefs because I was blessed to be born into a family that loved God and brought me up in the church. But when I grew up I had a crisis of faith and set those beliefs aside to embark on my own search for meaning and significance. I guess you could say that I took a long journey only to arrive back at the place where I began. When I came back to the faith I was born into it was because no matter where I searched I could not find the unspeakable joy and peace I had found from my faith in and love for God.

But my heart is open and wide and I have plenty of room to love those who do not share my exact views. I figure that if God really wanted everyone to be a robot and only believe in Him, he could have wired our brains that way. But he gave us all free will–that is the option to choose to love Him or to turn away from Him. It doesn’t seem to make sense to give someone the option to do something and them penalizing them for exercising that option.

While I may never understand my friend’s world view, I can love him just the same. He is bereft at the loss of his son, while I am filled with joy that he has graduated from this existence and now lives in the bliss of heavenly communion. I was also stricken with grief just a few months back when my daddy passed away quite suddenly in his sleep. But now my mourning has turned to rejoicing because I know that he is among the angels.

So, my heart is filled with gratitude for the faith I learned as a child that comforted me as I grew up and that gives me strength each day. I will pray for my friend and feel a bit sad that he doesn’t know the blissful comfort that comes from being sure of the love of God. I wish Jamaal Godspeed and ask that he hold a place for me in heaven because I know I’ll meet him there when my time here is finished.

I wanted to take a moment on this day that we celebrate love in all of its forms to tell you that I love you! Yes, I do. I love you and my heart is full of gratitude for you and I want you to know that.

I found this description of love from the movie, ‘Captain Corelli’s Mandolin,’ and I wanted to share it with you because it has been a favorite of mine:

“Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being “in love” which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two.” -St. Augustine

So, please enjoy this day of love, and be sure to express your love to everyone around you because, as we used to sing as children, “Love is the one thing that if you give it away, you end up having more.”

I have been overwhelmed with grief as all of you have at the devastation from last week’s earthquake in Haiti. There were so many lives lost and those who somehow survived are now homeless and injured. I guess I really don’t need to describe what you’ve already been seeing on the news coverage.

My heart is breaking for the Haitian people as we are all sisters and brothers. I just wanted to take a moment and express my grief and send my love to the people of Haiti.

I found this song by Kirk Franklin on youtube:

Watch it and be inspired. Give what you can and pray for God’s comfort and mercy and blessing on those who have survived. May this tragedy teach us all that we are indeed all connected, and that whatever we do for the least of our brothers and sisters, this we do unto our Lord.

Here is CNN’s handy list of ways to help Haiti now:
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/impact/

It's a Virtual Mary Kay Party!

I am thrilled to be hosting an Internet Mary Kay Skin Care Party right here online with my friend Sydney Chase, and you are invited. She is a Mary Kay Skin Care Consultant.

My party is starting this weekend January 16th at 12am Eastern and will continue until January 18th, 12am Eastern, at:

http://www.marykay.com/sydney4139

No order is too big or small but any of my friends who place orders during this time online of $40.00 or more will receive a free gift. And guess what? All orders include free shipping! While you are there, why not take Sydney up on a “Free Virtual Makeover” and sign up for a “Free Sample” so you can try Mary Kay’s delicious make-up before you buy. This is too easy! : ) http://www.marykay.com/sydney4139 Just visit the website and start shopping.

My friend Sydney is offering me some free fabulous gifts for hosting an online Mary Kay Party with my friends. She still has dates open for this month, if you are interested you could host one too. Send her a message right on her website. And she will send you the details. Let her know that I sent you. : )

And if you place an order at Syd’s party this weekend, I’ll put your name in the hopper for an *additional* special gift from me.

Happy 2010

Happy New Year to all of me online peeps! On this second day of the new year and new decade I’m still feeling giddy with the excitement of the newness of it all. I know that it’s really just another day, but I’m loving the good energy that I’m feeling in the air. It’s a time when I talk to my friends and loved ones and wish them a happy and prosperous new year. We had a nice, quiet celebration at home and I actually dozed off before midnight and my girls had to wake me up as the ball was dropping. We toasted with sparkling cider and hugs and kisses all around.

I’ve been feeling quite prolific lately writing up a bunch of blog posts for my other blogs and social networking sites. I’ve also been using Facebook a lot lately. It’s funny, but when I started using Facebook, I had mainly business contacts as friends because no one that I knew in ‘real life’ was on Facebook. Well, something happened towards the end of this year and it seems like *everyone* I know is now on Facebook. I mean, even my mommy has Facebook profile. (Although she still has not posted a photo yet.) I’ve created a Fan Page for my Freelance writing business and I’m trying to think of a diplomatic way to ‘un-friend’ my business and random friends and encourage them to follow my Fan Page.

So, what are your exciting 2010 plans? I’ve got a bunch of exciting plans for my business that I’m cooking up. I feel so incredibly blessed to have been able to experience so much positive growth in my business over the past year that saw a lot of businesses fold due to the ‘down’ economy. By the grace of God I created my own economic stimulus package and bailed myself out after I experienced a lay-off at the end of 2008. God is good and He has blessed me with the energy and strength to persevere and to work every day on my business so that now I have something that I can be proud of and that will glorify Him.

I’ll end by encouraging you to pick a challenge and go for it in 2010. Do something that will stretch you and inspire you and those around you. But also do something that you will enjoy. Find a way to factor more fun into your life and it will feel more rewarding.