a positive spin

              I loved this sign I recently saw in Corning, NY so much that I took a picture.  It shows that you can look at everything from two perspectives.  An empty building from the owner's perspective means obviously lack of rental income, and we have a knack for noticing the negative aspect.  But, as this sign expresses, the same empty space can be seen as "the other side of the coin," a different perspective of the same fact.  The building is indeed full of opportunities, it's full of possibilities, your imagination is the limit as to what you can do with this space.  It is a very positive interpretation of the same fact, an unoccupied space.

            How you look at something is always in your power, always under your control.

my new favorite spice

            Familiarity breeds contempt, as they say, and often I find the taste of cinnamon a bit too predictable and a bit too Christmassy.  Cardamom has become my new favorite spice (smoked paprika is a close second), and it works well in many instances where the recipe calls for cinnamon.  Cardamom has such an elegant fragrance and taste - light and flowery, and entirely unique.  There is really nothing quite like cardamom.

            I have found whole pods in Indian rice dishes, it's used in Middle Eastern desserts, the Swedes sprinkle it in the dough of their yeast rolls.  It's beautiful in tea, black or green, makes for an instant chai, just add some latte (cow's or almond) - no sugar needed.  It works well in mild desserts where its unique flavor really stands on its own, such as rice pudding, panna cotta, chia pudding, or cardamom flavored vanilla ice cream.  And sprinkling it on your breakfast oatmeal makes the mundane sophisticated.

            As an ancient Indian spice, that's been around the block a few times, it has of course medicinal properties, and chewing on a pod freshens your breath.  Just open a spice jar with cardamom pods or powder and let yourself be transported far far away by the fragrance of this beautiful spice.

no size fits all

            You are unique, your digestive system is unique, your food preferences are unique, your constitution, in combination with ethnic provenance and health history, is unique. 

            It's ok to critically read books on diet trends (paleo, ketogenic, vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian, ethnic), or on nutrition, in order to become informed on the state of our food and its profound influence on our wellbeing.  But then you need to test these theories mindfully on your own body to understand what agrees with you and what doesn't, what aggravates certain conditions or alleviates them, what gives you energy, what regulates your weight, what helps you heal.  The one exception I'll take is refined sugar.  It's not good for anybody.  Period.

            We like to simplify and standardize, but imagine what would happen if some diet fundamentalist prescribed the same diet for all seven billion people on this planet?  Digestive systems have adapted over hundreds and thousands of years to what is available geographically.  Prescribe a vegetarian diet to an Inuit, or an Inuit diet to a Hindu - ok, these are extreme analogies - and they would likely become ill.

            So, take all you read, all that people say, with a grain of salt - then see what really applies to your own condition and constitution.   Although I had already cut out a lot of grain from my diet (and lost quite a bit of weight in the process) I am currently trying this gluten-free thing.  I'm really not convinced this is necessary for me - we'll see, hoping to prove myself wrong.  No diet applies to all - which one is the right one for you?

in awe

           I am always in total awe when I see big creatures out there in the wild. Seeing a bear (two days ago at lunchtime out my office window), a fox (same thing, out my office window), even a deer, a flock of turkeys, or a moose (last year in Alaska), seems not only exotic to me, but twists my reality back into place.  These magnificent creatures show me how awesome nature is, that we must respect their magnitude, their sheer force and power.  There is always a bit of incredulity at their sight, maybe feeling privileged that they show themselves, and awe that we are part of the same environment that sustains them too.

            It touches something deep down in me.

love thyself

            At the beginning of a flight they often announce that, should oxygen masks be required, mothers put theirs on before helping their child.  We need to be in a good place in order to be nice to others and help each other.  A modicum of self-care, therefore, is not egoistic or self-centered, or even a luxury, but a smart thing -  as a grounding base and for basic physical and mental wellbeing. 

            Self-care does not mean that you are supposed to spend gobs of money on massages, lunches out, facials and manicures, or toys for the boys - those are all excuses for spending money, unless you've got lots of it.  Self-care is special time with yourself, away from family, away from chores - for mental sanity and balance.   You can practice self-care in many different ways, many of them without spending a dime.  Going for a contemplative walk by yourself can be self-care, simply making yourself a cup of tea and taking a break in the middle of the day could be self-care (one of my favorites), having a regular meditation session is definitely self-care, if you are a busy parent date night out with your partner is self-care, if you are a busy business person date night out with your partner is self-care, taking  a weekend nap can be self-care, going to bed early on occasion is self-care, taking a long leisurely bath is self-care.   It's good to get away from rut and chores, and just think about your own enjoyment for a bit.

            We are also better able to love others when we love ourselves first, able to give more if we are in a good place.  I suppose you have you heard that one before.  Do you have a regular self-care practice?

unlimited energy

            And by this I don't mean your personal level of energy, I mean energy to produce electricity for transportation and machinery/electronics as a basis for our economy. 

            Rob Hopkins founded his Transition Movement in England in 2005 based on the idea that we are coming to the end of the fossil-fuel era and need to revert to local economies to reduce our reliance on oil.   One element of this reasoning, the suggested need to decrease our energy requirements, is now changing.  While the local economies movement is stronger than ever, it is for different reasons than the potential lack of energy. 

            We are now seeing a strong movement towards renewable energies, much of it based on solar and hydrogen, but also wind, geothermal, and others.  My prediction is that we will actually have way more energy than we have available now, an overabundance of energy, and that geopolitical alliances will shift because everybody will have access to enough energy, not just a few.  We will never ever run out of sunlight and hydrogen.  So even if a country didn't have enough sunshine, well - nobody will ever run out of hydrogen.  Iceland is such an example that is already energy independent and produces all of its energy from hydro and geothermal sources.

            Volvo, no longer Swedish but long owned by the Chinese, bets on the future of electric cars, and is throwing their Chinese power and money behind it.  Hydrogen is unlimited and may become one of our foremost energy sources in the form of hydrogen fuel cells.  Meanwhile the return to local economies, away from globalization, will remain a strong movement because people want agency, they want responsibility for, and involvement in, their local politics, be it for reasons of local customs and culture, sustainability, landuse, or general policies.  But the return to village life will no longer happen due to a lack of energy.