Give A Man A Fish

If you decide to become a vegetarian, I implore you to include fish in your diet or, at least, dairy and eggs. Should these exceptions prove unacceptable to you, then please learn all you can about protein—alternate sources, that is. Protein deficiency can cause severe health problems, and many people tend to transform themselves too quickly thinking only of the health benefits. Someone I care about did this exact thing, and she ended up putting her health at risk.

Ideally before any major dietary change, you should consult a nutritionist or a healthy practitioner as well as doing your own research. When my parents discovered they both had cancer, I became more concerned with nutrition. I have begun my own campaign to learn about what we eat and how that effects us. Personally, I prefer to be a pescetarian (pesco-vegetarian). A pescetarian's diet includes fish, mollusks, and crustaceans in addition to fruits, vegetables, plants, legumes, nuts, and grains. It may or may not include eggs and dairy. To be clear, I am advocating neither for  nor against vegetarianism. My main focus is the importance of protein. It helps us grow, heal and monitor our blood sugar.

One of my favorite examples of vegetarianism is the story of Bill Pearl. He is a legendary bodybuilder, who for twenty years had the "perfect" physique. During his fifty year career, he morphed from a meat eater to a lacto-ovo vegetarian. At seventy-nine, Bill Pearl is still teaching people about health and nutrition. He maintains a 30-40-30 diet (30% protein-40%carbs-30%fat). Percentages are part of his teachings. It says that out of 100% of your diet devote a third of it to protein.

In the future, for your own health, I ask that you think before you eat. Whether you are a vegan, a vegetarian or a carnivore, I hope you will watch your percentages. And, finally, strive not for the "perfect" body, but for "perfect" health.

Know Your Neighbor

The beauty of community is it can be any where. Often, though, we look beyond our local one to the more elusive and exotic ones. We sojourners often travel six thousand miles to help people of alien culture, language and modes of thinking. When we return, we are proud and feel accomplished. We find it quite compelling to give to children in Africa or to adopt children from China. But what of next door? We look at our homeless friend and feel sorry for him, but do we help? "No," is the usual honest response. We find thousands of impediments as to why we cannot or will not. How is it we can find compassion abroad but not at home? If this is a fair question, you might reply with, "compassion abroad is impersonal." To help the persons I see everyday or know live in my city is grossly personal. This manner of helping requires love. The depth of suffering we endure emotionally, in our society, has hardened our altruism toward the others of us. Worse still is a rising hatred or demarcation between what one believes and what another believes. Right "wing" vs Left "wing". Muslim "terrorist" vs Christian "fundamentalist". Buddhist vs Communist. Gay vs Straight. We forget each human being is us and we are them. By reading articles on Obamahate and passive Elderlyabuse, we have examples of how easy we find it to arouse animosity toward another person or kind.

What then is the criteria for love? Perhaps the better question is what obstructs our path to love? Selfishness perhaps. That, of course, cannot be all. Is it some force which interferes with our connectivity? How often do we want to do thing "A", but in fact do thing "B". What makes us do thing "B"? Is it the mere move toward modernity. Jacques Ellul suggests technology will rise to tyranny over humankind (if it hasn't already). You might see from this an argument toward a new tension within ourselves. We struggle—but with what? The improbable conquering of our technology returning it to a subset of human living. Is it too big? Are we instead struggling to be apart of it? You could say by addressing ourselves in the light of new communication standards, we are creating pockets of protection. We speak with many, but love none. I can satisfy my need for human contact while, simultaneously, blocking their ability to harm me. I need only turn to my new socially mediated "friend". "I will hurt no more," we say.

Our lives have become unbalanced. We have no room for love because we have no room. We choose that which is safe for us. The psychology of our imbalance overwhelms our sense of the other. This statement precludes our ability to love—or not—ourselves first. We are personally overwhelmed, so we invent new satisfaction separate from what is true. Truth here is love. Love of my fellowbeing. A respect for life and the betterment of you. If I watch out for you as much or more than myself, then I open a window into what is transcendental about life. How real is that statement? Let us accept we cannot be God. Let us suppose we can, however, reach an individual divinity. What use is it  if we arrive there alone? Only when we are at peace can we truly began to love ourselves and others. It is at such a time when we can build new communities (even if idealist in nature), new relationships, new love.

Namaste.

The Complexity of Depression

Here is an exert from Dr. Weil's blog post of October 2, 2009.

"Depression can be devastating. Its worst form, major depressive disorder, is marked by all-encompassing low mood, thoughts of worthlessness, isolation, and loss of interest or pleasure in most or all activities. But this clinical description misses the deep, experiential horror of the condition; the suffocating sense of despair that can make life seem too arduous to bear.

Here's something else we can say confidently about depression: it is complex. The cause is often a mix of factors including genetic brain abnormalities, sunlight deprivation, poor nutrition, lack of exercise, and social issues including homelessness and poverty. Also, cause and effect can be hard to tease apart -- is social isolation a cause or an effect of depression?" Continue...

Depression's characteristics are prevalent throughout our lives whether from our own experience or through someone's for whom we care. It is often happening to them without our knowledge of it. I believe Dr. Weil's insights along with our constantly renewed understanding of it will help us manage and overcome it.


Additional Reading: You can also follow up with an article from the BBC and Dr. Weil's new post from today, "Integrative Mental Health: A New Model For Depression Relief".  If you are unfamiliar with him, I highly remcommend you read more about him through his books or his website www.drweil.com.

Grace to you and Peace.

Namaste,

Simon