I’ve always thought our Moms should be celebrated on the day we mark as the anniversary of our birth.
After all, I didn’t do ANYTHING on March 8, 1970, except emerge into this world premature, 5 pounds, and sick.
❤️ Mom was the one who did all the work, who carried me in her womb, who endured the nausea I plagued her with, who stayed alive while both of us struggled those first few weeks — me in an incubator, her in your hospital bed.
SHE did the birthing, so really, shouldn’t it be happy birth day to HER, wherever she is? ❤️
⭐️ Still, I own and celebrate this day, because while she did the BIRTHING, I do the LIVING, and that is no small thing.
I’m grateful for every breath I take, every day I wake, every lesson I’ve gleaned, and every gift I’ve been granted — the good, the unexpected, and the hard won.
👉 If you are reading this, you have touched this one life and you have given me the honor of being in yours.
Happy day to you. Keep living until you don’t.
Let me know how you plan to embrace life on your birthday — and beyond.
Jim Crow has become such a familiar term — as in Jim Crow Laws or the Jim Crow South or the Jim Crow Era — that it’s easy to miss the animal — in this case…the crow inside the phrase.
How did the crow come to be associated with a repressive system of segregationist laws that hindered and harmed black men and women for decades after the Civil War?
What is the story behind this animalogy? Listen to this episode to find out!
Letting others know you appreciate and value them is one of the greatest gifts you can give. In today’s episode, I recount personal stories of appreciation and the bonuses I experienced as a result.
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Plaine Products — Use this link and coupon code “compassion” for 15% off my favorite zero waste bath and body products.
Complement — Use this link and coupon code “joyfulvegan” and get 10% off my favorite supplements.
WARNING: Life-changing revelation! In this episode, I explain why it’s fruitless to be surprised that a fig tree produces figs. Trust me. You’ll want to hear this.
Nama Juicer — Use this link and coupon code COLLEEN10 and get 10% off my favorite juicer.
Plaine Products — Use this link and coupon code “compassion” for 15% off my favorite zero waste bath and body products.
Complement — Use this link and coupon code “joyfulvegan” and get 10% off my favorite supplements.
In this episode of the Food for Thought Podcast, I explain how the hindsight of history can give us the insight of sages. (And I include the written essay below.)
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Plaine Products — Use this link and coupon code “compassion” for 15% off my favorite zero waste bath and body products.
Complement — Use this link and coupon code “joyfulvegan” and get 10% off my favorite supplements.
In this episode, I explain the benefits of eating with awareness and provide suggestions for mindful eating.
Nama Juicer — Use this link and coupon code COLLEEN10 and get 10% off my favorite juicer.
Plaine Products — Use this link and coupon code “compassion” for 15% off my favorite zero waste bath and body products.
Complement — Use this link and coupon code “joyfulvegan” and get 10% off my favorite supplements.
In this episode I explain why message for eating healthfully can be narrowed down into three little words: eat by color. The pigments in plant foods are a key to their nutritional benefits.
BANANA OAT “COOKIES”
These couldn’t be more simple and more delicious. There is no added fat, no added sugar — only the protein, nutrients, and natural sweetness from the banana and cinnamon. Mash up 1 banana in a bowl. Stir in 1/2 cup oats (quick-cooking or rolled), some cinnamon, and a dash of salt. Use a spoon to drop 4 cookie-shaped dollops onto a parchment-lined baking tray, and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes until they are a golden brown. (I just use my toaster oven.) Let cool (or not!), and enjoy. (I’ve also made variations where I press a couple blueberries in before baking!!)
Nama Juicer — Use this link and coupon code COLLEEN10 and get 10% off my favorite juicer.
Plaine Products — Use this link and coupon code “compassion” for 15% off my favorite zero waste bath and body products.
Complement — Use this link and coupon code “joyfulvegan” and get 10% off my favorite supplements.
Gratitude, community, abundance — these are the values I celebrate when I prepare for Thanksgiving each year. Not turkey.
Please listen to this NPR / KQED Radio editorial about how to enjoy the true meaning of this holiday without hurting anyone. Listen here or below.
The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lock-down have added stress and strain to our bodies, hearts, and minds. Listen to this episode for ideas for staying healthy physically, emotionally, and mentally during this time and always.
Nama Juicer — Use this link and coupon code COLLEEN10 and get 10% off my favorite juicer.
Plaine Products — Use this link and coupon code “compassion” for 15% off my favorite zero waste bath and body products.
Complement — Use this link and coupon code “joyfulvegan” and get 10% off my favorite supplements.
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.
“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
My absolute, absolute favorite quote from The Fellowship of the Ring. (I include it in the beginning of chapter 9 in The Joyful Vegan.)
It’s timeless, and it’s timely.
Of course, we should be considering this every day — not just in a time of crisis like we’re experiencing now. But while our lives are disrupted and we’re physically (and painfully) distancing from one another, it sure seems like a good time to ratchet that up.
J.R.R. Tolkein wrote Lord of the Rings several years after returning from the First World War — during which time he witnessed death and suffering beyond what most of us can even imagine, including the slaughter of his dearest friends, and survived trench fever and many illnesses that he contracted from his time in the cold, wet, lice-infested trenches.
“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
I’m not saying we have to pressure ourselves to write the next great novel or find a cure for the coronavirus pandemic, but creating some parameters around this time may be helpful, useful, and meaningful.
In other words, what can we do now so that when we look back 6 or 12 months from now, we can say, “I’m glad I did that” or “I’m proud of how I used that time”?
It might be
What you choose to do is up to you, and that’s the point. What do you want to do now so you can look back months from now and be happy or proud or satisfied with what you decided?
Time is going to pass anyway. How do you want to spend it?
