"How To Hold Your Own Hand" aka "The List"

Here is the growing list from Kris Carr's My Crazy Sexy Life.

The is a living document of decisions, mantras, reminders, lyrics, best thoughts, visions, etc... that we keep on a list in a good place for us (computer, desk, frig, purse for grocery shopping, desk at work, etc.) to remind us about what we want and who we want to be in choosing food and healthy living.

It's not meant to be all inclusive. Just a mindful hand to hold through tough moments or those times we need to reset our decisions and commitments.

List got too long to keep on CSL so here it is as it grows. Feel free to copy and use and if you have any other ideas, please leave them in comments. Thank you!

1. My knees feel better when I eat better (old runner's knees)


2. I look better and better naked (!) as my skin gets brighter and healthier!


3. NO heartburn! Yea!I didn't come to the store to throw my money away! I didn’t come to the store to buy junk. I came to the store to buy things GOOD for me.


4. I made a promise to myself to be Greener Than The Day Before. How is this helping me with my promise to ME?


5. I won't be happier after I do or eat this. Taking care of ME is not a burden! IT'S a JOY!!


6. At a restaurant: ASK for substitutions. Sub all the white stuff for veggies. ASK for two salads instead of a white item. DRINK water. If something comes on my plate I don’t want, I offer to give it away, and then I put it on a side plate if no takers and hand it to the server on their next return for removal. Bye! Bye!


7. Even if I see something that looks/smells good, I am strong enough to walk away. I care enough about myself!


8. I can spend 15/20/40 minutes a day and PACK MY COOLER! Why am I getting up today if I can't spend THAT time on ME?


9. I know a better way. I can make a better day. My life will be better have more value


10. I don't need that crap!


11. That's not for me


12. That was for my old life


13. I make a list and I buy off my list


14. SMELL the good veggies right now!


15. For extreme emergencies: find something healthy in the store and start munching NOW. Pay for it at checkout (I know, a little tacky but I said for extreme emergencies


16. Buy a flower or a candle


17. Think of how much better you will feel/look/live!


18. What’s it going to FEEL like to reach my goal of BLANK (30 days juicing, 30 days no alcohol, etc.)


19. I can have that ANOTHER day, I just CHOOSE NOT today. I choose!


20. Think of how HAPPY you will be to do the BEST THING FOR ME!!


21. Do the BEST thing


22. for anything: exercise, eating, planning, friends, life, decisions, etc: "Dear Me, Please do the RIGHT thing for me for the long haul!"


23. NEW ONES THANKS TO DANA DOWELL: I'm tired of seeing the flab in the mirror


24. My cute clothes will fit finally


25. I'm so happy after I run


26. I have so much more energy when I eat lots of vegetables


27. My complexion is so much better when I eat healthy


28. It's so easy & quick to cook recipes in the NYTimes Health section


29. Food I cook tastes SO much better and feels better and than, say, a bag of chips


30. Slow down and breathe


31. Remember your intentions


32. NEW ONES THANKS TO JAMIE: Remember, when not in the grocery store, you have strong convictions about animals and their byproducts being used for food. Remember.


33. In case you forget, remember that bright, beautiful food is health and vitality, flesh and dairy are exhaustion and do not work well with your conscious.


34. You are beautiful, do not let your insecurities decide what you put into your body. That is not the real you.


35. Beets are delicious.


36. There is nothing good about sugar except the taste. Is that enough?


37. You have awesome nails when you eat well.


38. You breathe life when you eat life, you love this.


39. Never doubt your ability to make a difference.


40. Remember your idols, what would they do?


41. Be glad and rejoice in this day.

Pedaling Fast to NoWhere

I'm in my home and I hear a knock on the door. Boyfriend is in the back of the house and I am closest to the door. I open it. In front of me is a man about 60. Long shoulder length hair. His hair is gray and it's not been combed in a very long time. He has big eyes. Too big and wide for his face. His nose is swollen. He has thick lips. He is standing very humbly in front of me. A practiced stand. It immediately makes me feel ashamed for some reason. He is very dirty. His pants are sweat pants that were cut off just below the knees, and this was done a very long time ago. It's been many days, weeks? since they have been washed. His threadbare now-gray shirt limply hangs on his torso and I can see it use to be a men's white t-shirt. In his out stretched hand he is presenting me with some change. He asks me something and I can not hear him at first. My senses are overwhelmed with all that I am taking in. there are several surprises in my view; directly behind him is a boy's sized bike, sprawled on my lawn. It lays in the way a bike will when a boy will crash into his yard and keep running into the house. The pedals still swirling in the air. Perpetual motion. And in the foreground again, this man. Whom I've never seen before. In front of me and my house. Very chaotic view.

He asks again and now I clearly hear him: "Can I buy a cigarette from you?" I'm shocked! I suddenly get what I am seeing! A homeless person has come to my door! I live in a family neighborhood. I've never seen a homeless person in this area.

"No!" I say. "Nobody here smokes!" I spit out the answer with disrespect and pride. And shut the door in his face. My face flushes with shame for responding to him that way. I watch him pick up the bike off my lawn and peddle frantically away from my door. Weaving from side to side. Is he afraid I'm going to call the police? Is he embarrassed? Or is he just really in need of a smoke? I assume the later as he hardly gets warmed up before he stops next door to talk to the college guys.

His visit to my house has put a crack in my little world. A homeless person came to my door and is making his way door to door. Real life crashing into my little street. My little part of the world.

I DO NOT want a stranger coming to my door. That really upset me. But then, for some reason, I spontaneously remember my grandmother telling me that my great grandmother (her mom) would routinely have homeless men into their home at dinner. They were allowed to wash up and sit at the family table for dinner. She would then give them some food wrapped up to take with them. She gave them respect and a moment to sit with a family and rest. I think that she asked them to do little chores, but I never got the impression these were chores that my great grandmother couldn't do. And that memory changed my anger to shame. How could I be so hard on the guy?

So I remembered that I have an ancestor who did this quite regularly before, during and after the depression. I never heard one story that any of these men were a problem to my grandmother or my family.

Suddenly I was worried. Would he come back for food? I would HAVE to feed him. What would my great grandmother say if I turned him away? More importantly, what would Jesus say? I would HAVE to feed him. I willed him away with all my shameful might because I am afraid. If he got one meal from me, he'd be back and probably bring friends. I mean really, my worries were real probabilities. What would I be getting myself into?

The boyfriend told me NOT to feed him if he came to the door. That we would figure something out if he needed food. He said he would handle it away from the house by giving him food but not in a way that would have him coming back to my door. My boyfriend is kind and generous. Overly generous. I know he was trying to figure out the safest way to handle my concern, if it became a reality, but at the same time keeping me safe. I could tell we were on the same line of thought...didn't want him coming back especially when the boyfriend wasn't there and/or with friends. But he never came back (can't blame him after the way I spoke to him!)

Now, I see him regularly. Each day he peddles past my house. He pedals fast for the speed he's going. It's like his bike is in a gear that causes him to peddle in spin cycle. The bike is too small for him. He's all around this neighborhood, pedaling around the lake. Spinning down one block and in front of traffic. Darting down another road and disappearing over a hill. He dive bombs cars and he daringly darts through the merry go round of traffic circling the lake. I vacillate from wanting him to go away to worrying that he'll be hit one day.

The other day, I saw him gingerly feeding the ducks with some scraps in his hand. He appeared to be concerned about being fair and ensuring each bird was treated fairly. He was gentle. They ate from his hand. He becomes more real to me everyday even though he still frightens me. I've never talked with him except that one day (and that really wasn't talking. It was a combination of him begging and me being rude) But I do know some things for certain:

He's somebody's son. Two somebodies. Likely both have passed away but they probably experienced the same as most parents - happy for the birth of their son and unless his circumstance was unfortunate, their plans for his life and success did not include homelessness and begging
He was raised with at least minimal manners
He never grew up dreaming of the day he would be in this situation
He cares about the hungry birds
He gets more exercise in a day than I do in a week
He cares about fairness and watches out for the underdog
He found a good neighborhood to hang out in

But as I watch him pedal frantically back and forth, I wonder what the end of the story will be? Will he finally get so desperate for something that he breaks into a home and gets arrested? Will he get so bold as to knock on the door of someone who immediately calls the police? He peddled up to my friend the other day, a woman alone, as she stood in her driveway. He didn't notice her large dog behind the car and as he rushed up to her and started talking, her dog rushed HIM and he tore off in a panic. That could have been the moment he got some law enforcement involved. He startled her. What was he going to ask her?

I noticed him the other day as I was waiting for the light to turn green. He was looking all over, checking, double checking, triple checking and then I wondered how the other driver's were responding to him as he pressed and wriggled his bicycle into our line of traffic. I had the strangest sense that nobody else was seeing him! Was I just seeing how easily I can block out what bothers me? How can I be sure to keep myself from becoming cold and sterile to life as it happens around me?

It's as though he's learned that this perpetual motion will keep him under the radar. But it's that exact perpetual motion that makes him most visible to ME. I wonder if the end of the story will be a bike wreck? He is a very daring rider and not in the movie style - but in the scary "oh my gosh, he's going to get squashed" style! Or will he just disappear one day? Will I suddenly miss him one day? Or, if he abruptly goes away, do I even have enough heart to remember to miss him? Does anyone else miss him right now? Is there some family member somewhere that wonders everyday where he's gone, what is he up to?

So this man, pedaling fast to nowhere, crosses my mind quite a bit. But selfishly, he's making me think about the condition of me even more than him. How am I (or not) and how SHOULD I be responding to those around me in need? There are SO many! We have a lot of homeless in our town. We have two big shelters. People come here to central Fla where it is warm. I know lots of community people are unhappy about this. It is not how you imagine your town square when you go there on Saturday morning and many of the benches have single, homeless men lounging, sleeping, packing and repacking their bags. You could argue, with lots of support that they shouldn't be there. You could argue that they shouldn't be in the library. They smell. They don't "act right." They make me nervous. Honestly, when people don't act socialized, they make me nervous. They have long forgotten certain social etiquettes (don't stare, don't scratch, don't spit, don't dig in the garbage.)

But now, their lives are on a completely different plane. They need, they MUST dig in the garbage for food. They don't have a private place to go scratch or spit, so they do so when they have the need. And honestly, I sometimes wonder if they stare because they are remembering their lives from before this time when maybe THEY were walking with a woman, or friends, to their favorite restaurant, before THEIR world collapsed on them.

So, I have realized that what I want and what I need, is some confidence that I'm making some contribution to help this problem. I don't have much to give right now, but if I give what I can then it counts. Even my little gift counts.

I don't have answers to any of these social issues. You might. You may have it all figured out. But at the end of the day, my mind rests on what it must be like to suffer homelessness and loneliness today, right now. Real aloneness. And nowhere to even go to BE alone with comfort and protection. No door to close. No light to turn on, or off. No bed to crawl into. Now, I'm not even trying to evaluate whether someone is there because they are a criminal on the run, a mental patient, a person who can't fit into society, someone who lost their home and job or someone who just likes that life. I just know that this is not the life that any of those people imagined as children when they thought about what they'd be when they grew up. That's where my mind is at and that's all I'm considering. The suffering that their wrong or right choices made for them. There they are.

So I ask myself to find a way to help, and small is totally acceptable. Actually a small way to help is my only choice for me right now. I have decided that every month I'm going to take a bag full of something to one of the shelters. I'm going to go to the dollar store to make MY dollars stretch and buy either canned food or sundries or cheap sunglasses or something to make a life a little more pleasant. I can't fix the problem, but I can give a little and I can pray for the problem! Maybe I'll find a sale on tube socks. Being homeless and getting a pair of soft new socks would have to be a treat. I'm going to come up every month with something I can fill a bag with and drop off. It won't be much and won't really make a difference. But I feel this strong need to leave a little comfort FOR someone FROM someone who cares.

In the meantime, I go back to considering this pedaling man and discover he has something else to teach me.

Perpetual motion.

Pedaling fast to nowhere.

Where am I pedaling fast to nowhere?

This is one of the hardest kind of questions to ask yourself because it's the kind of question that challenges a strong decision, even a conviction in your own heart. In my heart. After all, none of us pedal fast unless we are convinced we have a really good reason to do so!

So where am I wasting energy in MY life that is taking ME nowhere? What am I fooling myself about? Is there a place, an activity, even a relationship that is weighing me down, costing me my life and the time I have to live as responsibly as possible? What am I afraid of stopping and looking at? Where am I pedaling fast to no where?

I can't thank this man for making me think but he's actually given me a huge gift in personally challenging myself. And thanks to his perpetual motion, I'm going to change and give a few practical things every month. Really, the people who receive my gifts should be thanking HIM! Isn't life full of delicious and surprising mysteries? I would never look at him and believe him to be responsible for changing someone's heart. He looks chaotic and out of control. He's filthy and disturbing. And yet, he changed me and brought two really important lessons to me.

He has way more value than he looks to have. If I want to be completely honest, he has been my teacher and I have been his student. Another lesson to take into my heart. Another blog. Reminds me again that we all have value in God's eyes and He wastes nothing if we pay attention.

But if I can slow down and discover MY false thinking, then MY pedaling will be more purposeful and I will definitely be Greener Than The Day Before! (UPDATE: by the time I finished this blog and published it, I realize I haven't seen the man recently. Apparently he has moved on.)

So maybe you'll begin to think about where YOU may be pedaling fast to nowhere. And why are YOU doing so? And what started your journey? And why haven't you arrived yet? Best wishes in your thinking and let's all check ourselves with some regularity to be certain we are pedaling in the direction of our heart with purpose and passion!

My T.V. Died

So, Thursday night I went to turn my t.v. on and it just gave a little blue glow and shut off.
What? I try again. Same. Blue glow to black.

What's wrong with my t.v?

I was sure the problem had to be something I was doing...or the cable box. I called the cable company.
The cable was fine

The connections were fine

But my t.v....was....dead

How can my t.v. be dead? It's the most expensive piece of electronic equipment I've ever bought. It's 12 months and 2 weeks old (that 2 weeks will be an issue I'll revisit in just a moment.)

I even turned the power off to the house to give the t.v. a chance to reset, and it didn't. So, 40 or 50 more attempts of turning it on, watching the power button light warm up its blue glow and tease me...and then watching the power button grow dim and then black...and I was convinced, my t.v. was ill and/or dead.

I got up and dusted it, like that would help.

It needed a t.v. ER and I am out of a J-O-B so I was thinking no way...what am I going to do?

Then I got upset! I tried to hide it from my boyfriend who stopped by and was very calm and gave me the suggestion to call JVC, the manufacturer in the morning. (oh yeah, right, THEY are going to care? Giant JVC isn't going to care about me and my t.v!) I was so depressed. I don't have a "back up" t.v. See, I am a little conservative. I only own one t.v. There's only one of me. I know a lot of you have 2or 3. I have a friend that has 6 t.v.s. But I only have one. I thought that was protecting me from something....apparently not!
All I wanted was one t.v. that worked. Just one. And now my t.v. was dead! I was starting to have a little anxiety. Then a LOT of anxiety! What was going to keep me company tonight? The boyfriend was going to be away so I was going to be alone and I like to leave my t.v. on all night in the living room. I don't know why - but I think it must make me feel like I've got company, or protection. I guess the burglar will see Monk on the t.v. at 3 am and be frightened ???
So, I sat on my sofa and had no idea what to do. I called the t.v. store and they said (revisiting the 2 weeks right here) that I was 2 weeks late for the factory warranty and since I didn't buy the extended warranty I was well, out of luck.
I got very upset. Here's my sick friend, my t.v., and the t.v. store doesn't care! I told them my last t.v. lived for over 15 years! And I even gave it away working when I got this t.v. last year! They told me (back when I bought this new t.v.) they had heard of t.v.s going on for 20 years. Now, would a conversation like that convince you to buy an extended warranty??? Not me!
But last night, the young man on the phone told me I should have "known better" because the new t.v.s now have lots of "components" that break and I should know that one of these new t.v.s would have a problem. What??? I made sure I understood him. They expect a $700 t.v. will break in one year. No, one year and TWO WEEKS!
Well, long story short I called JVC today and they were AWESOME!! (Sorry boyfriend you were TOTALLY right and the BOMB for suggesting it.) As you said, the world is made up of mostly good people so companies are made up of mostly good people. Thank you for reminding me! When I got Mr. JVC on the phone (Steve)I was all wound up to go on and on because I hardly slept last night because of t.v. withdrawal (more on THAT in a moment!) and this was my only chance to help the t.v. and me - and the guy was SO cool and tells me..."This is a no brainer. Your t.v. shouldn't have broke, you were only TWO WEEKS out from your warranty. (There's that two weeks again, but now from a TOTALLY different point of view) and I'm going to send you a voucher and have a repairman come to your house!"

The entire repair will be on JVC!!!!

JVC and Steve Calabrese (sp?) You both ROCK!!! And you too boyfriend, you get two kudos for being so cool! I thought I was going to cry. I was so happy.

I went in to tell my t.v. the good news!

Okay, here 's where the real story begins...what the heck is wrong with ME? I can't go without t.v. and not meltdown? Apparently....
So last night was VERY, VERY quiet. I tried to listen to music but I was so upset that my t.v. was broken it just annoyed me and I love music. It was like going out on a date right after breaking up. No matter how great the other person is...all you can do is think about your heartbreak. I just wanted my t.v. So I turned off the music and MAN was it quiet!!!

When I turned on the shower, I heard a little squeak in the handle I didn't recall. I heard the crickets outside my bathroom window while I was showering. I heard my cat walking past the door which is quite a feat because she weighs under 5 pounds and is over 17 years old - translation: she walks very softly. And I heard her footsteps. Sweet!

When I went into the kitchen I was aware of the sounds I didn't recall. The sound of the refrigerator sealing as I shut it. The hinge on my oven door. When I dropped a spoon, the crash on my wood floor really rang out. I listened to the water while I washed dishes. I got so into what I was hearing, I forgot to just throw the dishes into the dishwasher...I could hear the thumping of the clothes in the washing machine in the garage...I heard my own footsteps...

Now, I WAS really sad. And a little edgy. When I got in bed I turned on my iPhone and listened to radio on Pandora. That relaxed me a little but my brain was racing. What show was I missing tonight? What's wrong with my t.v. What if it's a bad problem?

Now, my normal behavior is I leave my t.v on a lot. I don't sit and watch it a lot, but it's on for company as I said. So I was sooooo lonely. For my t.v. Okay, I'm saying it out loud. "I was lonely for my t.v!" Wow, I sound kind of like a loser. I couldn't believe I had developed this affection and dependence on my t.v. Wow! I have a crush on my t.v!

"Hello, my name is Isabelle and I'm in love with my t.v."

Not too far off from the truth...

So, I'm old enough and have made enough (more than enough) mistakes to know that when I feel like this, when I get to a place like this, there is a ripe, juicy LESSON waiting for me and if I don't slow down and pay attention, I'll miss some free schooling.

Sooo...I've been thinking. The t.v. must kind of put me into a trance. Lull me through the days. Now, I'm a BUSY person, probably busier than most, but something is going on!

I'm wondering:

WHAT WOULD I BE CAPABLE OF IF I DIDN'T HAVE THE T.V. DISTRACTING ME?

How would my life be different?

I don't know the answer to that question but I'm going to find out!

You can be sure I'm getting my t.v. fixed thanks to JVC and STEVE (and you TOO boyfriend!) did I mention that you all ROCK!?!?

But until then, I'm going to have some time without it. And my boyfriend will miss it too. It'll give us some interesting conversation - especially because the t.v. won't be on distracting us! LOL

I DID listen to Andrea Bocelli today. I dusted off my c.d. player and hit play and his voice came booming through. So I turned it ALLLLL the way up and listened to the entire c.d. and I have to say WOW! It felt great. Why haven't I done that in a while???

I love you t.v. but we are going to have to cut back our time together. You are hogging too much of my time and you are distracting me from my other friends, music, books, writing and peace and quiet and lovely...little...tiny...sounds. Those sounds are just little bits of my life, but I'm missing them. What would they do to my spirit if I just heard the song of those little sounds one night a week? Maybe not every night, but more than not?

And I need to discover what else I'm not hearing...my thoughts, God's directions, my body's needs...what else am I missing with the t.v. drowning out the sounds???

So don't be mad t.v. , but once you are better, we are going to make dates and schedule times to be together. It'll be better that way and I might even remember the shows we watch together instead of trying to study, fold laundry, clean, pay bills and pay attention to you.

We both deserve better.

I can't believe I miss my t.v. so much. It's embarrassing and bothersome, but I have the LESSON...IN...MY...HAND..I just need to take it in! And you might be wondering...how does this relate to being Greener Than The Day Before? Because it's about greening up my soul! How can you green up your soul today?

Wheatgrass - Hold the Frosting!

So what exactly is frosting?

You think I add some dark chocolate frosting as a topping for wheatgrass juice? Nah...hate to spoil that image. I call mold "frosting." I never, ever, ever liked frosting, so mold is frosting in my mind. LOL

So you want to grow a little wheatgrass?

All you need is some seeds, and some trays, and some soil, and some water and some sunshine and...

Not that simple.

If you want to grow beautiful, healthy, wheatgrass your climate will be THE biggest help and or hinderance of all your tools, IMHO.

I'm not saying this to dissuade you, but instead to pursuade you to "grow" for it! Go for the growing of this grass but remember that you need all the tools and that DEFINITELY includes the knowledge of the humidity, heat, air circulation (or lack there of.)

And practice a little patience with yourself AND the seeds! LOL

Now you don't have to become a weatherperson. But you DO need to remember that mold WILL grow, happily and out of control, if the following occurs:

soil remains too soggy and gets warm, clammy
you don't monitor and ensure some light (indirect usually is the best)
there exists poor or no air circulation
Your environment is very humid

I grew wheatgrass in Philadelphia on a balcony. Outside. I only watered it (just sprayed the water on top of the grass like I did my flowers) and the morning sun hit it for about 2 hours and it grew like crazy. My problem in Philly was the birds! I had zero mold issues except in the sprouting phase.

Now that I live in Florida I've been "inspired/had to" try lots of adjustments. So what about the adjustments! I'm learning and Getting Greener Than The Day Before!

I find that where the humidity is higher, I have mold and slow-growth challenges.

Here is what I've learned about growing wheatgrass in Florida:

I sprout in a Sproutman hemp bag.

I rinse those sprouts everytime I use the sink. It's takes seconds to do so, so not a big chore. Because of the climate, even though inside and in the air conditioning, mold is always a threat.

I sprout for about 2 or 3 days. Mostly what i want is for the root to be at least 2 times as long as the hull. I don't know if that is the "correct" length but it seems to work for me.

Remember though, I'm rinsing this bag probably 6 or more times s day. Maybe if you did less rinses, you'd plant with a shorter root because longer roots offer more possibility of mold, at least in my experience!

Before I put the sprouted seeds on the soil, I will first water the soil only (before I sprinkle the sprouts seeds) and make the soil very moist, close to but not soupy. Then I lay the seeds on top and put a loose cover on top. I have a small fan that I point at the grass and I run the fan on the new trays (is this necessary? - not sure but I do it.) Then after two days I remove the cover and I let some direct sun onto the small seeds (just a few minutes up to 30 minutes.) Be careful because I've fried a few pans. LOL

There is a balance between getting them some sun and making crispy sprouts that won't grow. I don't want them dried out of course, but I want them to lean towards the sun a bit. I want to kind of spur their growth, get them excited to grow!

When I plant my seeds into my trays I leave a little open trough or creek around the soil. This was Cindy's idea and is a great one! This leaves a little "creek" or "trough" for me to pour the water into and water the seeds for the first few days after planting. I start by filling that surrounding trough/creek with water and let the soil absorb the water, and I do this several times over the course of about 15 minutes. I make sure the soil is very hydrated so I only water once a day because I'm busy or lazy or whatever.

Here are several "trough/creek" pictures. Obviously the grass has grown but you can see that the trough remains throughout the entire growth of each tray. (Ignore the bike helmets LOL the shelf doubles as bike central)

I will also allow some direct sunlight onto the grass about 30 minutes a day for the first few days. Then it's indirect sunlight afterwards. If my soil gets over watered, I will either move the trays closer to the indirect sun, open the shades for a bit to allow for direct sunlight and/or move the fan closer.

Once the roots from the grass grow into the soil something that I call a "root mat" develops. A root mat is the interwining of the roots of the wheatgrass into the thin layer of soil. Once the roots start growing into the soil, you can lift the soil, roots and all, aka; my root mat!

I actually will stop watering in the trough/creek and start to lift the root mat up like a blanket and pour the water under the soil and then rest the soil gently, back onto the water-filled tray. I do both ends of the tray. This is SOOOOO important! This allows the roots to soak up the water and I am able to avoid pouring water onto the grass and the top of the soil itself where the mold threatens to grow. In my experience growing wheatgrass in Florida, ALL my mold has grown on the TOP of the soil at the base of the grass. Since I have started this practice of watering around the soil at the start (in the trough/creek) and then just a few days later (once the root mat has developed) lifting the soil and watering underneath - I have have reduced my mold by 99%!
Every day afterwards, I water, always under the root mat and never on the top of the soil. Everyday I turn the trays 180 degrees because I'm using disposable painter's pans and the height on one end is higher than on the other end and I want to make sure the fan gets to aerate the grass.

I also like to give the wheatgrass the workout to reach for the sun, so everyday, it leans a different direction.

If the soil seems too moist, I will either add more fan, or more light.
Never, ever, ever do I water the seeds and/or the grass directly from the top, no matter how thirsty they look. They've seduced me to do so a couple of times, looking all thirsty, and EVERY time - mold!!!
Also, very important: I keep a little fan blowing on the grass during the day. I keep the fan close enough to gently blow the grass. Again, I believe this keeps the top of the soil a little drier and mold free. It's a delicate practice down here in Florida but definitely very, very possible to grow wheatgrass. I'm sure I have a lot to learn and each "crop" teaches me something and I read as I come across new things. I'd love to win the lottery and go to Hippocrates and learn from them. But until them, I am my teacher and so are others who help me along and provide their encouragement and suggestions and experience. I have found growing outside is not dependable because our daily climate changes so radically plus bugs and birds galore, AND they spray for mosquitos and I don't want that poison settling on the grass.

I also grow inside with the air conditioning which seems to help. I am fairly certain that as the level of humidity changes I will have to adjust watering (probably less) sunshine (probably more) fan (maybe less.) The nice thing is that the grass is easy to read and I understand it much better now.

If you have any questions, please let me know. I'd be happy to help if I can. If I can't I have resources to point you to.

Happy Day!

Kaizen The Right of the Ridiculous

I have always been the "safety girl." I'm the one that is careful, over thinks, over analyzes. New situations have always caused me to pause and assess what embarrassments, dangers, results can come from any new experience. I've given up a lot of fun and joy because of this nature. Of course, I've remained relatively unscathed to the tender age of 48. No surgeries, no hard casts, no speeding tickets (really! ever!) I'm the one who holds the "stuff" while people go on roller coasters. You'll never find ME, hanging upside down in a stuck roller coaster! I pick people up, I drop people off. I'm the DD. I'm the one who can tell you how to be safer on the trip, ride, adventure, etc.

All I ever had was a broken foot and it wasn't from rock climbing, or biking, or hand gliding. It was from running out the front door of a building at work and tripping on my sexy high heels on the 2nd of 3 steps and falling. Rear in the air, down on all fours (very graceful). I did go back and consult my Safety Girl manual and running in high heels is strictly prohibited! Safety Girl Note: IF you ever break your foot and are so inclined to jump up and walk really fast in tight circles you can NOT walk off a broken foot! No matter how determined you are. And so.....your friends will try hard not to laugh at the same time they load you into the car for the ER. And for that great adventure, I even got a walking cast. It wasn't even bad enough for a real cast.

Me
My point? I am very true to my nature. I am careful. And while this careful nature has its rewards, it can also prevent growth, change and better times for me. Ultimately, it is hard for me to change. I'm proud that I have the strength to be loyal, faithful, committed (not to an institution - just to people and tenets LOL) I am a safe person. That's a good quality - being a dependable and true person. But still, it can be defeating to be too rigid. It is in this place in my nature, that I have found kaizen to be very helpful.

So What is Kaizen?
It is the process of making small, very small, incremental changes that are barely noticeable. The point is to remove the stress and strain of dramatic change. These small changes build, one upon the next upon the next, until you arrive at true change in a manner that is almost stress free, and not shocking, yet as good or better than what you anticipated.

The book that I am currently reading is not my first introduction to kaizen, but I am enjoying it very much. It is written by Robert Mauer, Ph.D., The Kaizen Way. Mauer states: "Despite the foreign name, kaizen, small steps for continual improvement, were first applied systematically in Depression-era America." (pg 8)

Kaizen teaches the beauty, the spectacular, the STRENGTH of the small. Sometimes ridiculously small. I am very attracted to this method and it works well for me.

If you are interested in the business application of kaizen, from which this principle is highly attributed to have come from, he explains the history of kaizen and how it was born out of Dr. W. Edwards Demings work with the Japanese in their study of continuous improvement.

Maurer launches his book with:

"Small things with great love....It is not how much we do, but how much love we put into the doing. And it is not how much we give, but how much love we put into the giving! To God there is nothing small." Mother Theresa

From Lao Tzu he shares: "A journey of a thousand miles must begin with the first step."

I love the application of: "When you improve a little each day, eventually big things occur. When you improve conditioning a little each day, eventually you have a big improvement in conditioning. Not tomorrow, not the next day, but eventually a big gain is made. Don't look for the big quick improvement. Seek the small improvement one day at a time. That's the only way is happens --and when it happens, it lasts." John Wooden, basketball coach. (pg 11)

I've read different interpretations of this word. I am most fond of the translation of this practice from the Korean language; as "change for the better." (I think this translation may have come from Wikipedia but I'm not sure. I just jotted it down in my book. But I like this translation. )

Consider the opposite of kaizen to bring additional understanding: "Kaizen and innovation are the two major strategies people use to create change. Where innovation demands shocking and radical reform, all kaizen asks is that you take small, comfortable steps toward improvement." (pg 13)

Accidental Kaizenite
I tripped into kaizen (not literally this time.) I was in an ugly battle with a diet coke addiction. You might laugh but I was sick from drinking at least 6 a day and I couldn't stop! But I broke a 6 can a day habit of drinking diet coke in exactly the kaizen way - however I had never heard of kaizen beforehand. I was just desperate. Weaning myself off, slowly, was all I could think of to do. In hindsight, I recognize the kaizen process.

How I did it:
I drank six cans a day, every day for a week. I made myself drink six even if I didn't want that last one. Then the next week, I drank 6 cans a day and every day I would not drink the last few drops of each can... Really - drops! and then each day I would leave just a little bit more. I would leave a swallow, and then two swallows. I wasted a lot of diet coke, right! No way - I was on my way to freedom and I never, every felt pressure. I'd rather pour it down the drain than through my kidneys and my liver!!! It took two months and I never got to what I thought would be 6 cokes a day and only a few swallows from each can. Instead, I got down to a can or two a day and and then only a few swallows from each can.
And then one day......I....just....didn't.....drink....diet....coke!!! Yea! It was the ONLY way it would work for my type A, intense personality. Then when I read about kaizen, I was like, wow! I know what that is! I did that!!

Applications:
How to move towards a more vegan, healthy lifestyle, aka: "Meatless Mondays" started by Lauren and found on Kris Carrs' My Crazy Sexy Life!
Start with one meal on one day and go meatless. In the next week, continue to go meatless on that one meal during that one day and add another meal in the same day that is meatless. In the third week, go meatless all day, only on that day. Then the fourth week, start with another day...and continue in this manner. Or maybe you add a new day every month instead of every week! Who Cares? Are you changing? Are you moving forward? Is it working? :)

When you consider meatlessness now, it may be unfathomable. But could you give up meat for one meal..and slowly, slowly make a change? (to learn more about how to transistion into a vegan and/or more healthy lifestyle, please visit Kris Carrs' My Crazy Sexy Life!)

You can apply these seemingly inconsequential, almost silly changes (small, minute, almost invisible) and you will suddenly find yourself in a new place where the ride is almost a nonevent.

Kaizen teaches the opposite of cold turkey, drastic, dramatic measures. While sometimes "the drastic" is an acceptable, necessary, even better way to go...kaizen teaches a practice that appears so minor - it's strength is hidden in its process.

Lifestyle Changes:
My favorite author on Kris Carrs' My Crazy Sexy Life, Jerome, wrote about a great suggestion that he uses with his clients to help them design their life. Daydreaming about what if money was not an object, what would one do with their life? Jerome gave me the courage to think and dream in a unique and wonderfully new way. He suggests that what you daydream about will give you a window into what you would like to do. I am finding his suggestion very helpful and empowering. (Thank you Jerome!) Dr Mauer suggests a similar practice of daydreaming about leaving an unsatisfying career (pg 16.) He suggests applying kaizen principles and daydreaming a few seconds each day...and building and adding seconds onto seconds until you get to your end result, your truth, your discovery!

Maurer includes significant explanation about how this works in our brains and I find it fascinating but almost secondary to my excitement in my successes of applying these principles.

How To "Do" Kaizen
The first part of kaizen, to my understanding, is to identify areas that are of concern to you (ie: a messy desk, having a hard time getting out of bed in the morning, not exercising.) He suggests asking small questions of yourself that reduce anxiety and open your mind to being creative to new ideas and thoughts. You need to determine what is contributing to or causing your problem...(ie: "I have a hard time getting up out of bed in the morning because I stay up late watching t.v.) Suppose you stay up until 1am. You know it's nuts but you can't sleep. So you start going to be just a few minutes earlier every night (or turning off the t.v. a few minutes earlier, or putting down the book a few minutes earlier...) You work in small incremental measurements to get to where you want to be (ie: asleep by 10pm for example) The point, the discipline, the leverage of kaizen is to go in very, very small incremental stages. Never rush, never double up. Discipline yourself in slow movements, slow changes while always improving in small measures.

Personal Examples From My Life
The elliptical machine in the gym. I could only do 20 SECONDS when I got on that machine the first time! SECONDS. It took me a couple of minutes to clean the machine before and afterwards (typical gym practice on shared machines) to use it for 20 seconds!!!! I finally, now can go 30 minutes. Now, 30 minutes is like 20 seconds to some people. But the principles of kaizen got me to 30 minutes. Without applying those principles, I would still be one of those people walking past that elliptical machine, everyday, wishing and never starting.

In the last few years I have done some pretty crazy things for me, kayaking with alligators, snorkeling, climbing over lava rocks to get to a beach, got on a bike, rode in traffic(!), rode a motorcycle, bought a house, started my own business life, and especially important...dedicated myself to being Greener Than The Day Before. All have been realized by applying the principles of kaizen, making small unobtrusive habits.

It gave me the patience to learn to grow wheatgrass. The patience to learn to juice. The patience with myself when I would juice and then go to Chick-Fil-A and have a coke and sandwich.

The Patience To Change
The Patience. The patience IN time of which, as human beings, we are subject. Time passes and takes us with. We can not step off of time. We can flow with time or fight it or even use it to improve ourselves. I find that the theories of kaizen help me partner WITH time and allow me to change in so many ways!

Onion
Layers to Learn. It is the proverbial onion. I'm not an expert on kaizen. I have only recently started applying it to my personal life (within the last 2 years) and to becoming Greener Than The Day Before. If you are very knowledgeable about kaizen you will likely find fault with my writings or see where I am missing some part of the process. However, I believe that part of Kaizen is about the process of learning the same and therefore in my practice of kaizen I believe there exists grace for mistakes :)

Greener Than The Day Before

Small changes:

Changes that barely stir the dust in your mind and your emotions.

Very small. But, what if you embraced the smallness of this kind of change?

Where could that take you?

This is kaizen for me. Everyday incremental steps. Loads of patience. A goal. A focus. I ask myself the "why" questions. And I use these principles to get to my answers. The incremental is the process to the reward. So go be Greener Than The Day Before with patience and incrementality when needed. Practice kaizen to reduce stress, anxiety and embrace the patience and joy of the change of your hearts' desire!!

My Teacher Leans Towards the Sun

Fascinating!

I grow my lovely wheatgrass on a shelf next to my front windows.

Every morning I check it for water, wipe up the extraneous dirt that mysteriously appears overnight around each pan. It's always a very small amount but I imagine the unfurling and casting off of the hulls, the growing, (even dancing) of my happy, may I say MOLD-FREE YEA! grass sheds small bits of dirt. But one thing I have learned to do, each day, is to turn the pan 180 degrees. I do this because every morning the grass has spent the day before leaning towards the window (the sun) as it grows.

If I don't turn it, it will actually end up in a very strong lean/growing path in that one direction - toward the sun. And I do want it to grow as vertically as possible to reduce the risk of dirt on the grass. And so I turn the pans everyday to make the grass correct itself and ultimately grow very tall and straight.

But wait....

It got me to thinking. HA!

That grass knows where its life source comes from. It KNOWS, as the creation, that it gets its strength and life (aka chlorophyll) from the sun. It knows this in the depths of its molecular structure and it reaches for it everyday. And in fact, each day that I break it's path by turning it 180 degrees - it corrects my rude interruption - and starts redirecting it's path BACK to the sun. Where it receives its very life and health!

Random thoughts:

We get good things from the sun! We get our vitamin D from the sun. As my dear friend Ron has taught me, vitamin D deficiency is serious and 15 or so minutes everyday (flip like a pancake - sans sunscreen - though I like it on my face and hands) is great for us. I personally take a vitamin D supplement, 2,500 units per day, since I recently tested deficient!

Vitamin D is credited for:
"...increasing levels of vitamin D3 could prevent diseases that claim nearly 1 million lives throughout the world each year, as the widespread vitamin D deficiency seen today is now thought to fuel an astonishingly diverse array of common chronic diseases, such as:

Cancer
Hypertension
Heart disease

Autism
Obesity
Rheumatoid arthritis

Diabetes 1 and 2
Multiple Sclerosis
Crohn’s disease

Cold & Flu
Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Tuberculosis

Septicemia
Signs of aging
Dementia

Eczema & Psoriasis
Insomnia
Hearing loss

Muscle pain
Cavities
Periodontal disease

Osteoporosis
Macular degeneration
Reduced C-section risk

Pre eclampsia
Seizures
Infertility

Asthma
Cystic fibrosis
Migraines

Depression
Alzheimer’s disease
Schizophrenia"

All this great information about vitamin D, and SO MUCH MORE is available at Dr. Mercola's website!

Another thought -

The sun gives our entire creation life. Without sun we would be devoid of life. The sun warms us up, it makes us sweat (good to get rid of toxins), sparkles on the water, dances within our atmosphere before our eyes (ie: rainbows) gives us life and energy...just ask my wheatgrass!!!

So-

IF the grass that we walk on is intelligent enough to know what to lean towards/into, why do WE struggle with OUR right choices?

Why does my wheatgrass know that the sun is its source of strength, life, energy, all-goodness, and therefore patiently and persistently LEANS towards it everyday - no matter how after the mean lady turns it 180 degrees? I realize, it's so committed to the right thing, it can't help itself! I can only imagine what my life would be like if I could be a strong as a blade of grass!!! Whoo!

Why is my wheatgrass more patient than I?
Dare I say, even smarter?
Why does my wheatgrass do everything in its power, day after day, to be its very best and never gives up?

So the creation of my Creator teaches me to be the best of me everyday; correcting myself everyday so that by the end of my "tray" of life, I will have given it my best.

And to beat it all, I juice that grass and it gives ME all IT has...and still I get distracted. LOL

I am grateful that God teaches me through the grains of His grass and that I am not yet so dulled that I didn't miss this lesson.

I can BE GREENER THAN THE DAY BEFORE if I am as patient and committed and focused and forgiving as my little wheatgrass. When I fail, or chose a less-than-best choice, I just redirect. Redecide. Recommit. Repoint myself on the right path.

That is my formula for being GREENER THAN THE DAY BEFORE

So I will lean today, towards everything good and right and healing and healthy and life-giving. And if a mean person comes by my way and turns me off course, even by 180 degrees!!!....I will recorrect myself, holding no anger or interest in that person but instead in correcting my course.

Go Green! Happy Day!

Greening Up My Soul

I took the 43 Things Personality Quiz and found out I'm a

Spiritual Self-Improving Extrovert

So I took the quiz. Because I don't really know how to add a link, etc, I tried to do it the correct way. I don't like that it says: "Buy the Book." I have chased that box around and tried to delete it. It's squirmed and grown and shrunk...but it won't disappear. Sorry!

Don't know if this is a good book to buy but my "diagnosis LOL" reminded me to think about how "Being Greener Than The Day Before" is about my soul too.

Especially my soul.

If my soul is out of sorts, then my mind is, and if my mind is out of sorts, then my direction is, and if my direction is out of sorts, then the gift of my life is careening out of control...what will it be worth?

I don't feel I have to earn my value in my life. I believe my relation with Jesus has set me free from any of that baggage. BUT, because of that gift, shouldn't my life be lived as big and and with as much gratitude as possible?

And shouldn't my soul be as green as it can be?

Meaning, to me, as empty of anger, fear, disappointment, resentful, jealousy, regret, greed, covetness, anger, unforgiveness, etc....as it can be. I've suffered all these things, made them up, borrowed them, caused them, inherited them, hoarded them in my heart. When in reality, all I needed was to ask for God to help me. Why do we (maybe only me?) hang onto these things longer than we need to? These are poisons I need detoxed from my spirit more than any other detox...

I reaffirm to myself to ask God for help to remain humble, to be reminded to love instead of hate, to forgive immediately, to rejoice for another's good fortune, to be content and grateful for what I have and even for what I need.

I make a covenant with myself to green up my soul!
I need that strength to become Greener Than The Day Before!

So what is a spiritual, self-improving extrovert? Hmmmm... I have no idea! LOL!

• Lots of people call themselves spiritual...that's a wide continuum
• Self-improving...got that...I can always do that
• Extrovert? Noooot sure about that either. Work made me extroverted but I think I'm less so in my personal life.

Wow, a whole other discussion! Having to design a personality for work...LOL


However, I digress. On a high note, I am familiar with 43.things.com. Even have a short list with them. It is a fun way of designing your "bucket list' and finding others who can lead the way and sometimes how they did.

It's a cheery place to viisit! Another way to keep your soul and mind and heart greened up and full of love!