I'm back in action guys and gals...
Well, sort of. If I'm going to be totally honest with you, Post-Italy-Withdrawal and the setting in of reality hit me like a ton of bricks today, my first weekday back from a joyous three-week hiatus. A fitness bootcamp (with rockin' vegan trainer Damon Valley of La Vie Physical Fitness) started the day off right, tons of delicious veggies, legumes, and tea, tea, tea filled it out quite nicely, but the challenging (to say the least) new year's prospect of finding supplemental income to aid me on my quest to work on behalf of hens in Southern California caused a sea of anxiety, worry, and dread to settle inside of me today. Nothing like a Monday in January to really shake you out of the ease that accompanies a good, old-fashioned vacation.
As if all of this weren't enough, I also happened to sign myself up for an acting class (just to shake things up even more), which I started tonight. While waiting for the class to start, I found myself walking into a bookstore next door, casually perusing section by section, until I stood right in front of self-help. Fate? Hmm...
A book stared back at me called Loving What Is by Byron Katie. Intrigued and moved by the title alone, I opened it up, read a few pages, and chose to buy it on the spot. On the fourth page was a quote that ultimately became my deciding factor for purchasing the book. It read:
A book stared back at me called Loving What Is by Byron Katie. Intrigued and moved by the title alone, I opened it up, read a few pages, and chose to buy it on the spot. On the fourth page was a quote that ultimately became my deciding factor for purchasing the book. It read:
To realize your true nature, you must wait for the right moment and the right conditions. When the time comes, you are awakened as if from a dream. You understand that what you have found is your own and doesn't come from anywhere outside.
Buddhist Sutra
We each have inside of us something so special, something that is uniquely our own. At this early point in 2011, I am finding myself a bit lost in the all too familiar sea of "What do I do with my life?" and "What should I do for a living?", and the voices within me trying to figure out the answers have grown ever more adrift. I'm sure many of you can relate to these feelings, and I think it's high time to share with you the silver lining in all of this.
Back in 2007, when I had been out of drama school for a little over a year, when finding paid acting work was nearly impossible, and when the time in between doing a play became endless, I found myself completely lost. Yet in that moment, an experience fell into my lap that would forever change me - an experience that may have not occurred had I had been too busy with the work I was so desperately seeking. In that moment, my husband shared with me the end of Fast Food Nation and thus my journey toward veganism began. What a beautiful, magical, blissful thing to behold!
Back in 2007, when I had been out of drama school for a little over a year, when finding paid acting work was nearly impossible, and when the time in between doing a play became endless, I found myself completely lost. Yet in that moment, an experience fell into my lap that would forever change me - an experience that may have not occurred had I had been too busy with the work I was so desperately seeking. In that moment, my husband shared with me the end of Fast Food Nation and thus my journey toward veganism began. What a beautiful, magical, blissful thing to behold!
And ever since I chose to commit fully to this lifestyle, life itself has never felt the same. All of a sudden, my eyes opened to a wider world, a world in which there were countless possibilities for me to help make conditions for animals and people better. I learned how much I loved writing and keeping a blog, I learned how deeply animal welfare meant to my life's journey, and my relationship with Steve grew stronger when he chose a vegan lifestyle a year after me. Bottom line - life got better. And all from an experience that may have not happened had I been too busy, too productive, too focused on my life's mission to see it.
I try to remind myself of this today, because when you're feeling lost, the last thing you usually think about is the light at the end of the tunnel. But if you are present enough and patient enough, you may just find that the light is already within you. No matter how lost you may feel.
I try to remind myself of this today, because when you're feeling lost, the last thing you usually think about is the light at the end of the tunnel. But if you are present enough and patient enough, you may just find that the light is already within you. No matter how lost you may feel.
So, I guess if I had to give myself a New Year's Resolution, it would be this - to enjoy the chrysalis of feeling a little aimless, a little stumped as to how to proceed next in life. It would be to remind myself that the very thing I have found that is my own (as the quote above so beautiful says) is something that the very act of being lost led me to - a loving, joyful, abundant vegan lifestyle.
And as they say in Italy - Buon anno!
Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.
Proverb
The Very Vegan Caterpillar
Reviewed by citra
Published :
Rating : 4.5
Published :
Rating : 4.5
