February: Chopping wood and carrying water.:

Have you ever seen the Morgan Spurlock TV show 30 days?  The basic premise of the show is that it puts two people in the same house for 30 days.  Usually one person moves in with another person (and usually with his/her family).  The interesting part is that the two people have completely different views on a particular topic.  A few of Nicki and I's favorites were the border patrol guy who was blatantly opposed to illegal immigrants who lived with a family of illegal immigrants and when Morgan and his wife lived on minimum wage for 30 days.  It sparked a lot of cool conversations and really made me think about how fortunate my family and I are.  It also made me realize that everyone on every episode was just trying to be happy and do what they felt was the best for their family.  It was around that time when I started to think more about our community in Lexington and how I could get more involved. 

It was also around this time I started reading more about Buddhism and found it very interesting.  What I really enjoyed about Buddhism was the simplicity of it all, and what really drew me to actually practicing the teachings was the try-it-for-yourself approach to becoming a better person.  The Buddha essentially taught to investigate everything, even his own teachings.  If it feels good and helps people without harming anyone else...keep it up.  If for some reason suffering is an outcome...stop doing it.  The more I read, the more interest I had in other religions.  I always felt there was something greater than us, but went through many phases on how to make it "fit" to my liking.  I read the New Testament and shocked myself when I really enjoyed it.  I have come to believe that love and compassion is "it", "the truth", or whatever else you want to call it.  You may call it God, Allah, Nature, the Holy Spirit, mindfulness, common sense, non-sense, but none of it matters without love and compassion.  I believe all religions point to it, but in different ways, and with different traditions.

I started to put my beliefs into practice and started to spend more energy being helpful, trying to cause less suffering in the world:  I tried to only buy used things when I could help it, I started giving things away, I tried to be more helpful, I wanted to try and see things beyond what I have been told and taught my whole life.  What I found was that I was much happier.  Actually, I don't think I was "happier".  I realized how grateful I was for the things I have, and that helped me realize that the things that make me unhappy don't have to. (disclaimer:  I'm not trying to be holier than thou, in fact, I am honestly at the point where I can now see how my actions cause a lot of suffering in others, and am nowhere near the point where I have the ability to always abide by my own set of morals)

So how does community come into all of this?  Like I said before, I have the feeling that most religions preach the same message using different messengers.  I also see how people sometimes are blind to the fact that what they see as truth may look different through someone else's eyes.  If we could get back to the basics of each religion I think we would find we could all be doing a lot more for each other.  My assumption is that each religion calls for each member of the community to help lift up those who are in need.  So instead of assuming, I want to find out for myself.

I am going to try to spend each month this year learning and living with a different group of people.  The plan is to spend the next few months learning about different world religions by practicing each tradition for one month.  My hopes is to spend the month doing some educational reading, participating in each traditions customs, and hopefully attending weekly meetings.  What better way to understand how to help others than trying to see what is important to them and what they believe in?  I want to start with the better known religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, and Atheism.  My hopes is to spend the other months learning how to volunteer with other communities in town including the homeless, LGTB, and hospice.  It's early in the year, time will tell how this year will pan out.

This month I will focus on Buddhism...specifically Zen.  There is a weekly meditation group that meets in town each Sunday, followed by a group led Buddhist discussion.  I plan on continuing my sitting meditation for the rest of the month, and will try to apply the principles of the teachings into everyday life.  My goal is to blog a few times each month.  It helps me hold myself accountable to the year long project and hopefully someone will find some of this information useful.  I don't have big plans for the blog, but I have no doubts someone may take this (or something I write) out of context, or personal.  My intentions are not to judge.  I do have a tendency to get pretty passionate about things, and I have no intentions to sugar coat things, but hopefully it will lead to some nice discussions both on and offline.  So please if something offends you, let's chat about it.  If something I say isn't how you understand it, feel free to correct me.  If you have any information to help me along my path, don't hesitate to tell me about it.

Namaste.

and then there was one...

Apparently, habits die hard.  Truth be told, I've been consistent with only one of the three goals of the month.  I have been able to sit and meditate for at least 15 minutes a day, but I have gotten a little slack on the working out and no processed foods.  I'm probably stretching/exercising about 4-5 nights a week...one night turned into mandolin night, so not a total loss.  I have been pretty good with no preservatives, but twice I caved and went with the burrito over the bowl at Chipotle.  And we also HAD to go to Dairy Queen for a celebratory treat after we bought a new (to us) car.  Other than that Nicki has been making some really good meals, and we have started back on juicing here and there.  The juicing continues to surprise me with its deliciousness, although tonight's was pretty awful. 

I have decided to focus a little more on the meditating this month, but will continue to do my best to avoid preservatives and exercise everyday.  I am still trying to make getting up early a habit, unfortunately my bed is really cozy in the morning.   Most of my sitting has been happening at night, but I would rather sit first thing in the morning.  Its not only a nice way to start my day, but I find myself more mindful throughout the rest of the day.  Before the new year I was sporadic with sitting, in both consistency and length of time.  Now I sit for 15 minutes, which used to seem like forever, and find myself thinking about the time much less.  There have actually been a few times in the past week when I sat the full 15 minutes without thinking about checking on the timer. 

In the past, I have played around with different types of meditation, but have currently settled on zazen, specifically susokukan (counting meditation).   In a nutshell, I count from 1 to 10 with each in and out breath.  Originally I thought the purpose was to just sit and not think, but the more I tried to not think, the opposite happened. (I had read this many times before, but guess needed to find out for myself).  Now I just sit, breath and count.  When something comes up that I don't need to think about, I try to go back to the breath and start counting again.  I will tell you when I get in the groove, the counting works really well at keeping myself from getting distracted...but the moments in the groove are few and far between.

Now that I have decided to focus more on sitting this month, I am going to start increasing the time I sit each day, and branch out and try a few other kinds of meditation.  For the rest of this week I plan on dabbling in some guided meditation.  I have tried this once or twice before, but I thought it was a little corny...maybe this time will be different. 

For anyone interested in Zazen...google that spiat, you might find it a good read.

Nice to meet you 2014

Looking back, 2013 was a pretty excellent year.  The joys of family, along with the addition of miss Emmersyn, and other happy times far outweighed the stressful ones.  Last year I thought I would continue the blogging, but it wasn't in the cards.  I also planned to continue the monthly resolutions, but lost the urge after the first month.  With a new year comes new learning opportunities, so this year I'm going to make an effort to keep at it for the year.  And my hopes is that blogging about it helps me to keep it up. 

Like a lot of people, I go pretty nuts at the holidays with stuffing my face with delicious and not-so-great-for-me foods.  In addition to that, I pretty much stopped most of my regular stretching exercises. Now add in a bit more soda and booze than I usually partake in (thank you Mrs. Clause for the Blantons!) and you can understand why its time to get back on track in the health department.  Unfortunately, my family doesn't get back into town until tomorrow or Friday so there is no rush to start today,  but I've decided to eat only "real food" again.  Meaning no preservatives, artificial nonsense, or other genetically modified shenanigans allowed this month. 

Since my insides are going to be taken care of this month I thought it unwise to neglect the rest of the body, so this month I will also be trying to do at least 30 minutes of stretching/exercise/vigorous activity (I'm looking at you Mrs. Shelton) a day.  I have also been doing a little meditation in the past year, and I feel like now is a great time to try to make it apart of my daily routine.  I generally feel more relaxed right after sitting meditation but I never take the step to get up early and sit.  So why not go for the trifecta and sit 15 minutes everyday to start my morning?  I'm hoping 15 minutes leads to upwards of 30 minutes, but as a rule for the month I will meditate at least once a day.

It's an ambitious start to the year, time to create some new positive habits and keep the needle pointing in the right direction.

Time for a break.

Well this past month was good and not so good.  I found myself very busy at work, and wasn't able to write as many thank you's as I would have liked.  I am determined to send 30 thank you's, but it's going to take a little longer than a month.

I have a lot of people to thank, but feel bad that I won't be able to get to everyone.  I have found it hard sometimes to say thank you.  Crazy right?  I have some friends that I have never really thanked for things they have done for me, but found it hard to express my feelings.  Mostly my guy friends...probably something to do with the "dude-code"...whatever that is.  But this month has been a good reminder that no matter what, people should be praised for the nice things they do.  There were even occasions when the same people let me know the "thank you" came at an opportune time whether it be a busy time in life, or a time they weren't feeling very appreciated.  And that makes it worth it.

Is there someone you know that deserves a thank you?  Probably.  Will you tell them how you feel?  I hope so.

I know I'm going to think about it a lot more, and try to appreciate the relationships I've enjoyed through the years.


As for December, I'm ready for a break.  It's becoming a hassle coming up with something new to do this month.  So I'm taking a break from it all.  No internet, no TV, no facebook, no words with friends on my phone.  I have some reading I want to do, I want to play my mandolin a bit more, I want to write a few more thank you's....and send it the old fashion way (you're welcome USPS).  It's been a great year, now its time to sit back and relax, and not be bothered by all this technology.

I hope you all have a great December.

November already?

Well, another month has passed without a blog.  Last month wasn't too exciting, so I didn't really feel the urge to blog.  Last month we decided to kick start our budgeting.  Nicki and I decided to not use our debit cards for the month and buy everything using cash.  It worked out pretty well, and we stayed within our budget...mostly.  We went a little over bugdet for our anniversary trip to Nashville, but it was well worth it.

It really helped us realize where we are spending our money.  But now that the month is over, I'm looking forward to using my debit card tomorrow when I have to fill up my car at the gas station.

This month is going to be a month of thank you's.  Too cliche?  Who cares.  There are a lot of people I have met that have had some kind of impact on who I am today. I'll get to really think about who I haven't said thank you to enough, or who I've never said thank you to.  I'm sure I wont be able to get around to everyone who should get a thank you, but 30 people in 30 days seems like a good start.

Goodbye Chipotle...for now.

This month Nicki and I have given up going out to eat.  It seems we have been steadily going out to eat more frequently these days, so I think it comes at a good time.  Also, it will be nice to try out some new foods we haven't had before now that we will be cooking every night.

If I get rambunctious, maybe I'll update with some new foods we like.  If you have any suggestions on something good to eat, let me know.

Vegans: not just for the animals

I know, July was a long time ago...but I had a lot of stuff going on, so the blogging had to take a back seat.

Nicki and I decided to go vegan for the month.  I didn't think it would be too difficult, but my wife loves her some cheese.  For the sake of the monthly resolution we decided to be a bit strict, which meant no meat, eggs, dairy, or honey.  For the most part we ate how we normally ate, with a few changes.  We ate our pizza without cheese, which wasn't really any less delicious.  I ate a lot more nuts in July to try to keep up on the protein.  A lot of people I talked to were worried about us getting enough calcium because we weren't eating dairy, but a lot of green leafy foods contain calcium, so we made sure to put Kale in a lot of our meals.  I also like to snack on Kombu (seaweed) which has a lot of minerals and calcium.  

There are a lot of reasons why veganism is a good thing.  For one, its healthy for us.  It has been shown that a vegan diet can reverse artherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), reduce type-2 diabetes, reduce heart disease, lower blood pressure, ad lower cholesterol.  

It also is healthier for the planet.  As I have blogged about before, factory farming is a nasty business.  By decreasing our reliance on meat based foods we can conserve up to 70% of clean water which is used to sustain factory farming techniques.  Much of the amazon rainforest is being cleared annually to support grazing animals.  Also, its estimated that 760 tons of grain (half of the worlds grain supply) is used to feed animals so we can eat them.  Some say that transitioning to a plant based diet would also reduce pollution from untreated animal waste.

The most inconvenient part about this month was being limited on where we could go out to eat.  You would be surprised what foods contain animal products. Most italian dressing uses anchovies in their ingredients, anything with gelatin is animal based...no gummy bears, marshmallows, jello, ect.  Alot of whole wheat bread uses honey as an ingredient.  Needless to say, we had to do a bit of research before going out to eat.  

Chipotle is not only delicious, but vegan friendly.  Qdoba is also vegan friendly, but not as delicious as Chipotle.  Panera is really nice.  They have a book that lists all of their ingredients used in each dish.  The vegan options include black bean soup (the bread bowl is also vegan), the mediterranean veggie sandwich is vegan if you hold the cheese, as is the greek salad without feta.  Most of the breads are vegan at Panera as well, except for the whole wheat (honey).

We went to Red Robin for dinner and our service was by the far the best of the month.  A manager came over to our table and talked through the menu with us, letting us know how things were cooked, and what to avoid.  Red Robin has a pretty good vegan boca burger.  Their buns were vegan, and their french fries are fried seperately from the other meat items on the menu so there isn't any cross animal-age getting into the fries.

We tried out a few meat/ cheese alternatives with mixed reviews.  I had some soy cheese on a pizza which I thought tasted pretty close to real cheese, but it had a harder texture.  Daiya cheese has a nice creamy texture like cheese, but I personally don't like the taste of it.  Nicki lost 9 pounds just by changing her diet, not too shabby without exercising. 

All in all it was a good month.  Towards the end of the month, I had to travel back home which made eating vegan quite hard.  I feel lucky we have a good selection of fruit/vegetables/meat substitutes, but back in my parents small town it was very hard to find the foods we were used to eating.  We managed during the month of July.  After the month was over, I was all about staying vegan.  Unfortunately, I had to stay with my parents for a few weeks in august with my father being ill.  With the lack of variety at the local grocery store, the lack of refrigerator room (due to all 3 of my siblings staying home to take care of dad), and the stress of it all, the vegan lifestyle went to the wayside.

In the last week I had made a point to eat all the foods I missed while being vegan:  Sushi, soft shelled tacos from the Italian Villa (a favorite of my dads), italian chicken casserole, and a LOT of cheese.  Now its all out of my system and as of right now....I'm vegan again.

I care about how animals are treated, I think a lot of the meat industry is disgusting/political, but the main reason I am choosing to go vegan is the health benefits.  I'm not too distraught over eating honey, or buying things like cameras, cars, clothes that aren't vegan.  But I will think about it more.  I just lost my dad to diabetes and heart disease.  If I care about what I eat now, hopefully my son will have a chance to hang out with me longer than I got to with my dad.