Who's That Bald Vegan?

What’s Up With The Bald?

I have yearned for something my whole life that most people would consider unusual. As far back as I can remember I have wanted to shave my head! Other things would include: kicking through double doors, cock a shotgun with one hand and shoot it (without hurting anyone, of course, but I’m still working on bringing this one come to fruition.) I was in a seminar entitled, “My Invented Life, My Life, My Design,” and a conversation was taking place about how people don’t do things because they are afraid they are going to look bad. That was when it hit me. I wasn’t shaving my head because I was afraid of what I was going to look like. The fear of what people might think or say was holding me back. Who says women have to have hair? That any of us have to have hair? And I remember thinking “What am I waiting for?”  Like most things, I realized I was waiting for someone to give me permission. I was waiting for the “perfect” opportunity. I fantasized about ways to go bald while being cool, socially acceptable, and popular; ways where I wouldn’t have to do it alone. I really wanted to shave it on Semester At Sea as part of a nautical tradition. Unfortunately, our voyage got really close to the equator but never actually crossed it. Maybe I would have to shave for an acting role! That would be so cool and I would look really good to all my friends.

In me waiting for permission, for the perfect time or opportunity to present itself to me I had been waiting my whole life to do something I had always wanted to do. Instead, I stopped waiting. The time had come because I said so. I was going to shave my head because I was going to shave my head. So I did! I shaved my head and I felt more beautiful than I’d ever felt in my entire life.I then thought of going bald as a perk to help my upcoming campaign. I raised money for a service trip to South Africa that summer, where I was hired to lead a group of undergraduate students, creating social entrepreneurship in a rural community. It was an amazing experience, enhanced by my new found baldness.

I felt so vulnerable, open and free. Like I had finally stepped into my true self. The strangest thing happened, People were flocking to me, wanting to talk. People were drawn to the radiance I was giving off and not just because my head was shiny. My bald noggin became almost like a beacon.

Like moths to a flame!

Letting go of my hair, I discovered what was really underneath: My true SELF.

What’s Up With The Vegan?

Ever since I can remember, I was a beer-guzzling, “I'll have a side of meat with my meat,” kind of gal. 

Yup, you guessed correctly. That's a chicken nugget.

Sometime around Spring of 2013, a shift happened that I can’t really explain. I started to notice how my body felt when I ate certain types of food. When I would have a burger, it would sit in my stomach for what felt like hours. I’d feel lethargic, sloppy and bloated. I gradually started to eat more veggie burgers, more vegetables and vegetarian dishes. Like never before, I started to feel - no other way to put this - alive!

I didn’t know it was possible to feel this good.

When all you ever know is “bleh”, you don’t know that “oh yeah!” is possible.

It's possible to feel like this?!?!

There’s always some new thing. You should eat this or definitely eat more of that. Some uup-and-coming fountain-of-youth product or trend. Juicing. Gluten-free, etc.

What if there was transcendence that we have yet to discover in how our bodies could feel?

The limitless possibility of ours bodies, our health and - dare I say - the world?

What if our collective well-being was far beyond what we put into our bodies and, instead, had everything to with the context in which we lived?

Now THAT is something worth standing for.

Can I get two hands up for that stand?! Woot!

Throughout my blog, you will hear me refer to, “creating from nothing.”

What this means is getting back to the basics. It means not letting the past dictate what “should” or even “can” be created in the kitchen and beyond.

What would it be like to invent your well - being / health / life / anything from the ground, up?

Just like I make any choice I wanted to be able to chose from nothing each time what I eat versus basing my decision off of who I’ve “known” myself to be in the past.

Inside a cage of the past and what is you can never be free.

In cooking - as well as in life - so much of the time we get bogged down by what we already “know” and what we have already seen. Shifting our context allows us to see things we couldn’t see before. Sweet potato kale cakes? Chia seeds? Marvels I might have never encountered!

Creating from nothing allows for creative expression through things we never thought to be possible.

If I had always done what I’d known I never would have discovered the beauty of veggies and fruits.

Watermelon walk! 

When I let go of “limiting” myself to meat I unearthed the unlimited world of plants.

I discovered that structure can actually allow for freedom.

Creating a word - a word I can keep - for what goes into my body can give me more freedom then when I have nothing to say about what I put into my body.

What’s Up With The Ish?

Sometimes I choose to eat meat. Most of the time I don’t. I’m big on cultural experiences. Traveling quite a bit, I usually try dishes when offered to me, even if they have meat or animal products in them. I gradually took on being vegetarian. Then I was full vegetarian. Then I flirted with being Vegan. Then was married to being vegan for a while. Then was married but had my mistress meat on the side for a while. I will go through many spaces during this blog as I’m sure you will. All of those spaces are perfect and are exactly where we need to be because that is exactly where we are.

What happened to the culture/tradition when Native Americans would explore the land and hunt animals for their food? When an animal was killed for food it was also sacred in that rite. They were clear of the sacrifice that had to be made for the nourishment of their bodies. Prayers were said. Gratitude was evident.

The circle of life!

Is it possible to still eat meat AND not support the way some animals are slaughtered today AND believe that everyone has a right to choose?

Can I be an animal-lover and still eat meat every once in a while?

If we stopped arguing that, “this way is the better way,” what could we create together? Maybe Vegans & Vegetarians & Meat Eaters could partner to significantly reduce the amount of meat being consumed, improve living conditions of animals and create harmony?

Why does everything have to be so black/white, right/wrong?

Is there a possibility that if we look into grayness of what is in-between, we can create a kaleidoscope world?