Everything is Connected to Everything... and so is Food

The autumn forest is one of my favorite place-times. The smells, the colors, the peace, the crispy air- aaahhh! My dear friend Randall, (AKA the produce delivery man), and I had a beautiful hike and a great time catching up on each other's lives at the famous Ault Park. We discussed everything from conspiracy theories to soul mates. And we high-fived a lot about the power of food and its relation to consciousness. Damn, I love food!

Until my emergency vegan phone calls to Randall last year, I had only known him as more of an acquaintance in the Cincy "green scene". But I always sensed this fiery soul would play an important role in my life. I called Randall because he is a "Health Food Minister". I didn't know what that was, but I knew I needed one. 

Last Thanksgiving was the day I decided to go vegan and it felt quasi-amazing to NOT feel utterly obliterated by creamy-twice-baked-cheesy potatoes and the rest of the binge-fest otherwise known as Tofurkey Day.  Yet feeling quasi-amazing is not the same thing as AMAZING. As Randall would say, "We're not here on this planet to tread water." And yet, I felt like I was sinking on many levels. In fact, with all the training I was trying to do and the cold/dark winter I was having to endure, and the spiritual quagmire I couldn't shake, winter 2009/2010 was straight up kicking my ass. I decided I needed some consultants.

Randall owns an organic produce delivery company that has become integral to my life and mission. It's called Paradise Found and you've probably seen/heard me reference him/it before.

Food is not only essential to my training and recovery; it's essential to my communion with all beings on Earth as well as to the sun and all of the forces and energies of the Universe. Each week Paradise Found delivers to my back door a "Surprise Cooler + Juice" filled with the freshest, most local, most vibrant food in the city. The fact that its contents are a surprise keeps me on my toes in the kitchen. The surprises also connect me to the seasons, i.e. I don't get watermelon in the winter but I get a lot of squash. It feels like Christmas morning every Friday when my newly stocked cooler is sitting on the back porch.

I make it my mission to let none of the fruits and veggies go to waste. Everything seems to find its way into a big-ass chopped salad or a rainbow or muck-colored smoothie. I still don't know what to do with the edible flower kits. Sometimes I gag when I eat them, sometimes they burn my tongue off, but I'm letting my body try it ALL. That's because one of the things Randall is helping me to do is to see foods for more than their tasty pleasurefullness. My body has cravings for feelings as well as flavors and the body can communicate what it needs. So, I'm learning to hear my body's cravings and I'm learning to gain a certain precognition of the subtle feelings that certain foods will leave me.

I still haven't mastered the logistics or will power required to swing this raw food lifestyle 100%, but I have to say that it is starting to feel friggin' AMAZING-- like my body is always on a vacation. According to Randall, my body is likely maintaining some of its defense mechanisms to see if I'm fo' real with this. Occasionally I'll have a leftover #$%# or a %#$$%# and my forgiving body will try to make use of that, but has to do so cautiously. I'd rather my body have an opportunity to slough off its defenses, be able to trust me to feed it the good stuff and I hope there is a continued gain in my physical and mental performance. Accelerated thinking and accelerated racing, baby! The sky is the limit.

Randall, if you're reading this, THANK YOU for doing what you do and for sponsoring me and this crazy project.