There is a lot being written now (as always) about how humans should eat and what is the proper diet for our maximum health.  Nowadays all that is also being tied into what is good for the environment and the planet, since animal farming and agribusiness (read: corn) is such a big deal as well and all the topics are tied together.

I have read Michael Pollan’s books among others (including the Paleo Diet and Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human), but I haven’t read the book discussed in the video below.  I have never been a vegan, although I did try vegetarianism for a while years ago.

I must say that I didn’t thrive on plant foods alone, even with eggs and milk products added in.  I feel much better when I eat plenty of animal flesh along with my vegetables as long as I keep wheat, corn, sugar and milk products to a minimum.  That’s hard, since they are everywhere, in everything, and yummy to boot.  I don’t have a zero-tolerance for them, but I don’t eat them at every meal, either.  It takes vigilance however.  Having them even once or twice can start me down a slippery slope toward having nothing but cake and ice cream at every meal and feeling like total crap all the time.

Anyway, even though I haven’t read The Vegetarian Myth yet, I thought the information and interview were interesting and wanted to share it with all of you.

 

Written on March 28th, 2012 , Nature, Philosophy Tags: , , ,

When I start to feel down on myself, like I’m not doing enough or not doing anything well enough, I stop and evaluate what’s going on. Feeling bad about myself can lead to downward spirals of non-productive and unhappying depression, overeating, overdrinking, and general misery. I’ve been there and done that. It’s not a refreshing vacation and there are no t-shirts to collect. I don’t want to go back.

So I stop and think about everything I’m actually doing. I attend classes full-time at a 4-year university. I write, I paint, I read, I take photos, I hike, I watch birds and wildlife. That’s a lot of stuff already. And now, spring is the time of year that gardening, and my volunteer bird banding, and my intermittent job with the National Park Service, all swing back into action.

Ocean View

Nothing helps me regain my perspective on life quite like the ocean's horizon.

Plus I must take into account the time I need to eat, sleep, think, and daydream, all of which are required for my mental and physical health. Without those, nothing else can happen.

Something must be set aside, at least temporarily.

Usually the first thing to go is my painting and drawing. It always goes on hiatus when time is short. It’s not my primary form of expression – writing is. Painting is a wonderful hobby for me and I love it, but it doesn’t come easily and takes a lot of time. (Part of what I love IS the challenge, since I don’t have any natural talent for it, like I do for writing and music.)

The second thing to go is usually reading for pleasure. I have a pile of required reading for school, plus what’s necessary to put together my NPS programs and keep current on news, so it’s not like I won’t be reading anything. Except for listening to my audiobooks in the car, I won’t be reading anything for fun for a while.

(But look forward to some novel reviews soon, since I’m almost finished listening to an entertaining trilogy I want to share with you.)

The last thing that I’m experimenting with cutting out this year is television. I like TV, although I think there’s far too much crap being broadcast. TV has great potential as an educational and informational tool, but it’s underutilized. There are a few programs I enjoy… Raising Hope, Modern Family, The Middle, Oddities, The Walking Dead, nature documentaries, and all the CSIs. I can either DVR those or watch them OnDemand (which also means I can skip the commercials). I’m not a slave to the networks’ schedules (nor their advertising). Nor am I a slave to these shows. If I miss one… oh well. There will be another soon.

And I really appreciate Netflix (despite the fact that most of the famous classic movies I’d like to watch never seem to be available for ‘instant streaming.’ And I don’t want to get the DVD subscription because that would be just one more thing to juggle.)

But the trick is not to get caught in the trap of sitting in front of the ‘boob tube’ for meaningless unproductive hours at a time watching shows that don’t contribute to my happiness. Or watching reruns. The TV has an on/off switch. So I turn it off.

Other things don’t get cut out completely, but get cut back or doubled-up. Like instead of having plain hikes sometimes, and hikes with the camera other times, and wildlife watching hikes other times, all hikes become photo-wildlife-hikes.

Or instead of trying to blog 5 times a week, I only blog 3 times. (Sorry.)

Even with all these changes, I’m still only human with a finite amount of energy and a finite number of waking hours in a day. Not everything is going to get done.

And I shouldn’t feel bad about that, or at least not bad about myself, as if I’m doing something wrong or like I’m inadequate somehow. I’m not. I’m fine.

Sometimes, however, I expect too much of myself. I forget that I’m fine and I forget that all that other stuff is extra. None of that is essential.

Except for the eating and sleeping. And hugging my loved ones.

 

Written on March 23rd, 2012 , Goals, Philosophy Tags: , , ,

My thoughts lately have been about Naturalism and what it means, both generally and to me personally.

Gull on a Rail

You never know what you'll see.

Naturalism in American Literature focuses on the tension between humans and the impersonal forces that act on our lives, such as heredity, environment, our passions and instincts, etc.

Naturalism in Painting involves merely depicting subjects realistically in a natural setting.

Naturalism in Philosophy is related to both of these, but seems to be much more broad.  It can include everything from a simple rejection of supernatural cause and effects to specific ontological or methodological doctrines, some of which are better labeled as scientism.

Meanwhile, a naturalist is a student of natural history and nature, and a naturist is a nudist.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with nudism…. but I’m not a nudist.  At least, I have no desire to be nude in public for any reason.  I like a layer of protection between my skin and the brambles, concrete, and insects out in the world.

However, I am a student of natural history, nature, philosophy, art, and literature.  And I do reject all claims to supernatural causes or effects.  And in my most recent fiction writing, I do explore the tension between the human desire for meaning and impersonal, indifferent universe.

So, I am a naturalist in all senses of the world.  I believe in Naturalism as a valid worldview, and I enjoy pondering the irony that we humans craving meaning despite living in a meaningless universe.

I believe we are happiest and healthiest when we live as naturally as possible while not giving up the sanitation or medical advances that our naturally evolved reason and quest for improvements has provided over the centuries.  I believe we should act in ways that promote the well-being of ourselves, our families, our society, and our planet, which includes (but isn’t limited to) conserving our natural, wild places.

But as in all things, doing this consistently is difficult.  It is even more difficult in our modern world filled with thousands of artificial distractions, temptations, and luxuries.  Balance is key.  It’s a good idea to use technology to promote the best things about our culture (education, tolerance, assistance, etc) without wasting time on the crap (most reality TV, sensationalism, fear-mongering, etc), and using that freed-up time to go outside once in a while.  Not for exercise.  Just for the joy of being out in the open air, walking among grass and trees, seeing the sky,  hearing the birds, feeding the squirrels, smelling the flowers or a fresh-cut lawn.

And walking from one building to another doesn’t count.  Really stop.  Look.  Listen.  Inhale.

Wouldn’t it be marvelous around the water cooler at the office if, instead of talking about the latest catfight on some stupid TV show the previous night, we spoke together about which flowers were currently blooming, which migrating birds were back from South America, and which which type of clouds are those out the window?

Written on March 20th, 2012 , Nature, Philosophy Tags: ,

Always in a rush?  Never have time for your art, whatever form your art takes?

It’s try that the creative person needs long stretches of isolation to do his or her best work, but that doesn’t mean you that can’t do anything at all with just five minutes.  And it doesn’t have to be your best work.  Just do something.  Anything.  Or not.

Here’s a list of possiblities:

  1. Write something:  a quick blog, a status update, a shopping list, a journal entry, a list of random ideas, a poem, a postcard to a friend, a love letter.  If it’s Tuesday, try Five Minute Fiction.
  2. Sketch something: your pet, child, or spouse, a book on the table, your own hand or foot, the view from the window.  Read Robert Sloan’s advice on creating five-minute art.  Or this article by Courtney Jordan.
  3. Sing something:  sing along with your favorite CD, or sing a capella a beloved song from childood, or a silly song, or a love song.  Can’t sing?  Hum,then.  Or drum your hands on everything around you and listen to the different sounds.  And maybe dance.
  4. Got a bucket list (which you might share here or here)? Or a list of impossible things you’d like to do?  Use 5 minutes to research information about one of the activities on your list.  That’s the first step to getting it done.
  5. Take a photograph of something: your pet, child, or spouse, a row of books, DVDs, brushes, or drawing implements, your cup of tea or coffee, your work in progress, the dead bug on your desk.

    Dead Bug

    One of my Dead Bugs

  6. Read something: a news article, the sports page, the comics, a couple poems or pages of a novel, a blog, a new recipe, an instruction manual.
  7. Drink a glass of water.  Staying hydrated is important.
  8. Tidy your office or studio.  This is something we all put off, since we’d much rather be in the process of creating something rather than putting away our toys.  But it does need to be done sometimes, and it can prove cleansing or meditative.  And I almost always find something I thought I’d lost (or forgot I had) when I tidy up.  So it’s all good.
  9. Stretch.  Look out the window.  Stand outside, if the weather is suitable.  Take a deep breath.  Stretch again in a different direction.  Or two.  Look around from that stretch position and see the world from a different angle.
  10. Meditate.  Sometimes the best action is no action.

Don’t like any of my ideas?  Try these:

Things to do when you’re bored.

Five minutes in the kitchen.

 

Written on February 14th, 2012 , Art, Goals, How-To, Philosophy Tags: , , , ,

This new background photo was taken at Occoquan Bay NWR.  I actually take a lot of photos of tree branches against the blue sky.  I think it’s one of the prettiest combinations of colors there is.  Just like I love when the bright white moon is up during the day in front of a clear cerulean sky.  Gorgeous.

Bald Eagle in Tree

Sometime taking photos of tree branches includes Bald Eagles at Pohick Regional Park.

To me, beauty is meaningful.  As is the grotesque.  As is oddness.  And living things of all species.  So I am easily motivated to take photographs of things I find beautiful, grotesque, odd, or alive.  (Which encompasses almost everything, which accounts for the outrageous number of photos I take.)

Dead Fish

And the grotesque includes the dead fish that eagles leave uneaten on the shore.

Humans are hard-wired to find meaning.  It’s part of our nature to puzzle out why things are, to learn about them, to find (or invent) meaning for them.  This is part of the intelligence that evolved along with creativity, language, art- and tool-making, and everything else that sets up apart from other animals.  Our curiosity about the world, our ability to figure out patterns, discover their meaning, and plan for the future – all this has made extremely adaptable and therefore successful.

I don’t believe that the universe as a whole has any meaning.  There is no absolute, over-riding purpose to anything… at least, not one we can be privy to.  (Although that doesn’t stop people from inventing them and trying to impose their invented meanings on others.)  But we each have the ability to decide or discover for ourselves what is meaningful to us, and to pursue that meaning.

And it is pursuing what is meaning to us that keeps us motivated to get up in the morning, to go out in the cold or the heat or the rain or the snow, to take photos, or make art, or plan for the future.  If you don’t find what you’re doing meaningful, then why bother?  Why are you doing it?  What is motivating you?

When we lose sight of what is meaningful in our own lives, though, we lose motivation.  We’re simply going through the motions.  And sometimes that’s unavoidable.  We all have to do things from time to time that seem pointless, but are required to get to some other goal we’re trying to achieve. But no one should live their whole life in pointlessness.

It is your responsibility – your duty to yourself – to find something that gives your life meaning.  What motivates you?  What makes you feel good about yourself and the work you’re doing?  What are you holding on to?  What are you protecting?  What are you creating?

Written on February 9th, 2012 , Art, Goals, Nature, Philosophy, Photography Tags: , , , , , ,

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