Have Stuff On Hand

Oh, 'tis the season, eh?

My housemate is making 500 (or so) cookies for her clients in the next two weeks and although it makes the house warmer and more X-mas-y, it's hard to resist the cookies...so I made some raw ones yesterday (tried very hard not to eat them all last night) so that if I ever craved one of hers, I could eat one of mine.

I had all the things I needed on hand, so it was easy to have them available. One thing that several folks are stressing this holiday season (or any, for that matter) is to have raw alternatives or raw ingredients in your house. Keep your shelves and cupboards stocked of your fav. sweetener, cacao, coconut oil, nut butters, nuts, fruit, smoothie ingredients, and greens in case you get a craving.

Often my (lame) excuse for not eating raw is that it takes too long to make something just as satisfying. But those cookies took about 10 minutes and a few hours in the dehydrator and voila! SO GOOD.

I'm going to try these cookies tonight because I also have these ingredients on hand.

There are SO many raw blogs out there...I don't always feel supported by folks in my life, but getting to read about all the raw experiences of other people makes me really happy. I am inspired and excited when I see AMAZING raw recipes. I'm excited to conceive our baby while on the raw food program, and I can't wait to have a raw baby!

From this month on, it's about a year until we plan to start trying (I'm a virgo, we like to plan). Since there is a lot of transition right now, knowing that a year from now we can let loose and focus on growing our family gives us a whole cycle to really ground into our lives. Buying a house, growing a small production garden, starting a business, transitioning away from office life, and simply getting into a groove will help with the major life change.

Being raw is REALLY important to me in that regard. I see Jinjee Talifero (go here for her info-packed site) and I feel good about being pregnant and raw. There is so much to deal with when pregnant, that I don't want to have to deal with excess weight or other things that I have control over. I'll just let my body do what it needs to do without the extra struggles of digesting cooked food. Fine by me. So lots of people say that the year prior to conception can affect the baby and this is why I started raw foods a year ago. I knew that I didn't want to be overweight and additionally (after I went raw), I don't want to have to deal with my crazy digestion, so it just made sense to start off as raw as possible.

I Gotta Have Faith

One thing that I struggle with off and on is having enough faith in the Universe. Raw food can't solve everything, unfortunately, so this is all about me and my emotions/thought patterns. Eating raw helps, but I still need to explore the lack of faith moments.

I'm interested in leaving my current job, but I am really attached to the security of it. Unfortunately, that is a bit of an illusion because "security" is completely relative.

Security of what?

-Insurance -->which I rarely use because it ends up costing me almost the same amount had I paid for it out of pocket. Insurance is good for catastrophes but the best insurance I have outside of that is taking care of myself. I don't pay for my insurance through work, luckily, but I have only used it three times in one year and frankly, I was doing okay without it.

-Regular income -->this is a conundrum. My regular income is not that high. But with this job, staying in the status quo, I cannot make MORE than that. Granted, I am trying, with blogs, Reiki, etc. but the time it takes me to travel to and be at my job is roughly 8 hours. I get paid for about 5 of those hours.

Okay, I'm stumped now. Those are the two things. Insurance and regularity. Hmm.

Everything else about the job is not really that beneficial. I DO get to be online as much as I want, in between tasks, but I could cut out the tasks and then get OFF the computer if I were at home.

The flip side (if I said goodbye to this job):

-Accountability --> I would have to take myself more seriously and pursue the things that I WANT in my life. Namely, doing work that heals the planet and getting paid for it.

-More time --> I would have more time to seek out ways to live my passions. At this point I think I am stuck at the tough parts (marketing myself, talking to people, being patient)

-Creativity -->Quitting this job would force me to be more creative. If I don't have Reiki clients, or writing gigs, then how will I make money? I might have to sew something, bake something, offer something, seek guidance from guides, ask for help, live in the moment, trust or simply be patient.

-More money --> Opening up to more jobs, different jobs, varied work, higher pay, less commuting, etc.

-Less Stress --> Working on doing Divine Work can keep me from stressing out about what I "should" do and help me focus on what I am guided to do in the present moment. I rarely live like that.

It goes on and on. More sleep, more time at home, more time to see friends, more time to read/learn, less desire to eat poorly (this is actually a big deal!), more intention about how I want to be/do in the world, etc.

I've decided to do a trial period of not working at the office. I will take the first week of February and work toward that time by scheduling Reiki clients, writing, do raw food presentations, making stuff for the farmer's market, computer tutoring, sewing, etc. I can work with a plan. I can sew one thing a million times. I can make one type of raw food. I can work on setting 3 Reiki appts. a week. I can also see what the Universe has in mind/heart...

Yes, the Universe. A far more adept entity that can help me increase my abundance. I am limited in my scope, but the Universe sees all...and has a better idea of the big picture...

So trust...Faith and trust go hand in hand. Trust is more active, maybe. Until next time...this is a juicy conversation...