2 steps forward....1 step back.

Its amazing just how much life can teach us in such a small space of time. Only 4 weeks ago on the eve of the last new moon, I sat here, writing up my list of daily achievements with full intentions of fulfilling each on a daily basis for a month. And here I sit on the eve of this new moon with completely different ideals.

This month has really been an interesting month for me. I would have to say it has been definitely the most challenging since taking on the raw lifestyle 10 months ago, but also the most reflective as I have learnt a great deal more than just another series of raw meal ideas.

So what have I learnt, and where to begin. I think the title of this post explains it all. Its like I have taken 2 massive leaps into the raw food world and taken it on whole hearted for 9 months, filled with enthusiasm, energy, excitement and total commitment to living an ideal 100% raw lifestyle.....and then things changed, and I have now taken that one step back. Stepping back and finding a more sustainable way to enjoy a raw lifestyle, one that can be easily obtained and sustained long term. 

I don't think it was really just one day or one thing that allowed me to take that step back, just an accumulation of moments, circumstances and factors that have forced me to take a look at everything and reevaluate life. 

This month I have seen a major shortage of fresh organic food available in our coop, due to members being away on holidays for school and products just not being available such as basic essential ingredients like tomatoes and zucchinis, and the summer fruits have still not arrived, so my weekly small organic fresh food order has not caused any reason to be enthusiastic about food at all! There is only so much interest I can create with the same selection week after week - hence the complete lack of new posts on new raw creations this month. Chia pudding has become a regular standby on the dinner table each night much to the disappointment for the kids who had just had it for breakfast! 

Other than the lack of motivation to create with the same regular ingredients daily, I think the biggest revolation of the month was when I discovered just how distant I had become from my friends due to my 100% raw lifestyle. For the past 9 months I had been literally consumed by the excitement of the wonders of raw living and sharing with everyone I spoke too and became oblivious to the slow demise of my social life. It really hit me hard when I found myself intentionally being left off the invites list of a friends birthday celebration. It was after this that I began to reflect on just how much I had excluded myself and the children from the general community and our friends. I realised then that our social life had haltered the moment we began our raw journey. My friends were uncomfortable around me as they felt I would not approve of their 'conventional' ways so preferred not to include us and assuming I would not be interested in attending gatherings that did not revolve around raw food. While on the other hand, I began to feel judged by everyone, feeling the restrictions, daring not to eat anything that was not raw or I would be caught out as a fraud! I had a profile to maintain as a raw foodist considering all the preaching I had done over the last year on how great raw is. How could I be holding a raw food workshop one week and then eating out with friends on cooked dinners? I soon realised just how controlled my life had become and restricted....and most of all I realised that I just wasn't completely happy. After a week of eating chia pudding for dinner and browsing through photos on Facebook of my friends enjoying a party that I wasn't invited to, I hit a low point and that's when I took that one step back. 

I have since heard about life happening like that. When someone jumps into a completely new lifestyle in one massive leap overnight whole heartedly, they follow that lifestyle for awhile, until one day, something happens and then they have to do a reality check, and settle for a middle ground. A lifestyle that can be maintained and continued happily long term. It is that 'middle ground' that 'balance' between conventional life, friends, family, happiness, and raw food that I have to find. 

So instead of following my 'daily raw achievements' chart on the fridge this month, I have instead began to seek my middle ground, my happy medium that will keep my family and I happy long term and still feel connected with my family and friends while living a raw lifestyle. And the way to do that is with compromises. I found this month being a month of compromises. I actually cooked our family the first fully cooked meal in nearly 10 months. It was either going to be another bowl of chia pudding for dinner or a serve of sweet cooked mashed pumpkin grown by my lovely friend in her garden with spinach paneer made from homegrown spinach from another friends garden. Though it was not raw, it was wholesome, it was tasty and it was enjoyed by us all. I have since made a few meals that I call 'hybrid meals'. Meals that consist of a high raw portion with a small cooked portion, just to bring some enthusiasm back into the kitchen. I have also attended our first 'kids' birthday party in a long time, and I helped myself to some sweet home baked goods that were on offer. Just allowing myself to be in the 'moment' and enjoy what is on offer is such a huge relief to let go of. Allowing myself to say that life can be about high raw lifestyles, and allowing just a little wholesome cooked foods in a 'moment' can actually be beneficial as takes away the stress of maintaining a very difficult ideal and making life a little easier which is more important. Happiness is the key to the greatest health..not just raw food. 

Raw Harmony - finding a harmonious balance of raw living.

A friend posted this link to me after I spoke to them amidst my confusion about life and it helped a great deal.

   

Why I say I'm 95% Raw

By Victoria Boutenko
January 9th, 2010

This month my family celebrates our 16th birthday as a Raw Family. Raw food saved our lives and I love every aspect of my raw life except for one. It becomes increasingly uncomfortable to feel the separation of us "purists," (100% raw foodists) from anyone who is "below" that standard.
I first experienced this unease four years ago. I visited my relatives who eat a standard American diet, when suddenly my 9 year old nephew confided to me that he decided to become a vegetarian. He asked me if I would teach him to cook a vegetable soup. I froze, thinking. "How can I do that? I am a 100% raw fooder!" Yet, after looking into Sasha’s excited eyes, I went ahead and helped him cook a soup, which he loved.
Soon after this episode, I participated in a weekend workshop with Byron Katie about self-realization, along with 500 other attendees. That was the very first non-raw food event that I had been to in more than ten years. I remember feeling different, weird, and completely out of place. In addition, and contrary to my expectation, those people did not look particularly unhealthy. I did a lot of thinking at this workshop about why I felt separated and the importance of happiness in one’s life.
Since then I noticed feeling progressively more sensitive when talking to people who were struggling to stick to a 60%, 70%, 80%, or whatever % raw diet. All of a sudden, I realized that my book 12 Steps to Raw Foods (first edition) contained fanaticism about 100% raw foodism. Soon I completely revised this book and published the second edition, which I find to be a much kinder book, and perhaps more useful because of that. I shredded and recycled the left over copies of the old edition.
I have noticed that when I was telling other people about myself being a 100% raw foodist, it came across as if I was claiming to be a better, higher, more spiritual person. I felt so uncomfortable that I repeated in every lecture, "I am just a woman in a green dress. Please don’t put me on a pedestal."
We are all pioneers, still in the beginning of our research of the human diet. Nothing is set in stone and our bodies continually change. For example, while I enjoyed gourmet raw food in the beginning of my raw journey, for several years now, I have completely eliminated food prepared with nuts. In recent years I have decided that it can be healthier, to eat a bowl of cooked green vegetables than a whole jar of raw nut butter.
While I believe with my whole heart that, when done correctly, a raw food diet is the optimal way of eating for humans, and my present diet is almost exclusively raw, I prefer to resign from a "100% raw" position.

Next Workshop Dates announced!

Listen up everyone, I am announcing the next raw food demo's!!!!!!!

As a follow up from the last workshop on raw breakfast ideas, I will be sharing some simple raw lunch and dinner ideas. Meals that can be made quickly with minimal ingredients. These meals can be served as an entire meal, or incorporated as a large portion with a cooked meal to help family members transition to increase their raw... intake. I want to share how to make raw pasta's, 'stirfrys' and curries. I only plan to make about 5 different dishes on the day so it does not become to overwhelming for me or the attendees!

And more exciting news - I will be also preparing for another follow up workshop in December on Desserts! Yay, thats right - sweet, nutritional raw desserts! Plenty of great ideas to serve and impress at this years comming Xmas events - guilt free sweet treats! I will be sharing recipes on making raw cheesecake, chocolate and fudge layered cakes and some other little things!

And if you cant make it to my workshop, I will have handouts from the days available to be purchased and downloaded from this blog, so look out for that

And here come the dates!..............

 

 

Comming Raw Workshop dates: Kalgoorlie

November: 26th Saturday 12pm
Delicious Dinners - Stirfries, curries and pastas
December: 3rd Saturday 12pm
Delectable Desserts - Cheesecakes, chocolates, caramels and fudge

$30 per workshop
Contact me to book your space as numbers are limited!

 

Please email me on peta@rawharmony.com.au if you would like to attend!

 

Looking forward to sharing some great ideas with you all.

Fresh picked mullberry harvest and delicious fresh raw cheesecake

While on our regular afternoon bike ride through the streets of Kalgoorlie this week, we stumbled into this amazing old mulberry tree absolutely loaded with fresh, plump, juicy mulberries hanging over the fence! What a find. We instantly found ourselves in mulberry heaven...stuffing our faces until purple with mulberry stains. I have the fondest childhood memories of being perched high in our mulberry tree, stained from head to toe in purple juice. 



After eating what we could from the overhanging branches, we politely knocked on the owners door and asked if they minded if we return with a bucket to collect some more. Thankfully, they were more than happy for us to 'help ourselves' and even suggested we bring a ladder back to reach the higher ones. 

So with our plastic tubs and ladder, we returned and collected a lot, ate some more and had a lot of fun!







So now that we were all juicy and full of mulberry goodness, I thought about transforming a few into a delicious raw cheesecake. This was the result which was pretty darn delicious!



Raw cheesecake with freshly picked local neighbourhood mulberries



Recipes: Raw Mulberry Cheesecake

Base:

Process until combined about 2 cups of mixed activated pecans, macadamia nuts and almonds with about 3 dates. Press into a spring sided cake tin.

Filling:

blend until smooth:

3 cups of macadamia nuts

juice of 2 lemons

3/4 cup of melted coconut oil

half a cup of raw honey

pinch of salt and a sprinkle of vanilla powder

I then poured out 1/4 of the mixture into a bowl to keep it 'white' and then added a cup of fresh mulberries to the remaining mix still in the blender. I blended again until mixture was pink and whipped 

Assemble:

I poured the white cream mix first over the base, then poured the pink mix on top and swirled with a knife to create a pretty pattern.

I then topped with more fresh mulberries and left to set in the freezer.

It was a winner with the hubby who couldn't stop at one slice!

Delicious Raw mulberry cheesecake



Confessions of a 'splurge' day....

I really didn't want to write this post as I thought my little 'splurge day' could just slip away in the past with out being noticed, but not so.....and there may even be something that can be learnt from it all.

So, a couple of days ago, it was suggested that we take a quick overnight trip to the beach - (a quick trip being an 800km return drive to Esperance which is Kalgoorlie's closest beach) The plan was to take in a breathe of fresh air, let the kids have a play on the beach and take a 'step back' from the everyday life and all its minor stresses.

So keeping with the 'stress free' theme, and wanting to take a little more of a relaxed approach to the ideals and limitations of an all raw diet, I decided to just 'eat a day of conventional food'. I didn't prepare the fridge with fresh greens and fruit, or make loads of any dehydrated crackers of kale chips. Instead, I took a quick trip the the supermarket, purchased a loaf of bread, a packet of corn chips, a block of cheese, a couple of tomatoes, a dozen eggs, a chocolate nut bar each and some juice. The kids thought it was absolutely fabulous that their strict old mother was letting loose in the supermarket and stocking the trolley with a few of the old favourite things from a year ago. My children were ecstatic to be allowed to eat cheese and tomato sandwiches and packets of corn chips while we spent the day in Esperance.

Still feeling very generous, we indulged in an Indian takeout the night before, complete with curries and naan bread. I went to bed completely stuffed!  

In the early hours of the next morning we set off on our adventure to Esperance. Now that I had eaten Indian the night before, the car was loaded with chips and bread, anything now seemed ok. Our first stop in Esperance was the bakery! I hadn't been to a bakery in years and my kids didn't even know what one was! I remembered an old tradition I loved as a kid - cream buns for breakfast every camping trip, so we entered the bright lights of the bakery hoping to locate a cream bun, but the selection was a lot different to what I remembered. The store was filled wall to wall with every thing creamy, sugary, pink, and flossy..but not a single cream bun. Splurging out completely and being 'in the moment' we walked out with a bag of croissants and a tray of donuts! The donuts were devoured within minutes and the croissants didn't take much longer. Its amazing just how cheap junk food is when our large purchase at the bakery that fed more than all of us cost almost nothing!

Later in the morning, we found a lovely little camp site on the beach. We set up camp and played on the beach. We collected shells, fished, threw a Frisbee, flew a kite, splashed in the freezing waters and then ate some more...sandwiches filled with cheese and peanut butter, corn chips, nut bars, more corn chips and more sandwiches. Even though I was completely stuffed, I ate more. The kids walked around with fistfuls of bread and chunks of cheese. We all then rested for the afternoon, like beached whales in the tent, rubbing our full bellies.  

By evening the tent and all the bedding was filled with sand, bread and chip scraps and spilt juice. The wind was blowing strong and the tent was collapsing. We decided to pack up and head back into Esperance town. 

In Esperance, we did a little more playing on the beach and then thought about eating more. Even though non of us were actually hungry, we still went in search of something for dinner time. We settled on a noodle wok shop and ordered up vegetarian dishes....and stuffed ourselves again. I ate until my stomach literally cramped! I felt exhausted, bloated and totally uncomfortable.
If only a fresh sprout salad or a raw zucchini noodle creation was our only option to eat - we all would have declined on dinner all together. Its not because those raw dishes don't taste nice...its the complete opposite, its because the cooked processed junk food tastes so good! We don't eat that crap because it makes us feel good, we do because it tastes so good and is really addictive! I can never over indulge on a raw meal and have never felt bloated, exhausted or uncomfortable while eating a raw diet. I haven't felt that 'yuk' since discovering raw. And, I am still feeling yuk, even today!

The next day ofter we drove back from our day trip to Esperance, I was hit with a running nose, a terrible head cold, and a shocking migraine complete with nausea and exploding eye sockets! I am still sneezing, coughing, nose dripping like a tap and head thumping. I haven't been sick for a year and the day after my 'processed food splurge' I am sick for days...

So whats my lesson learnt? Its not as easy as just saying I must eat all raw from now on and its not about never eating junk food again either. Something that I have been trying to discover over the past couple of weeks, its about finding a compromise..a happy medium. I dont want my kids to feel completely deprived and never be allowed the chance to enjoy a rare day eating tomato sandwiches on the beach or never getting the chance to eat a cream bun as a kid. We still need to live amongst this current society of conventional products to a degree and I cant disconnect ourselves completely from our modern culture of processed food. Its even harder while we live in this remote town, with a husband that works all day almost every day and everything we eat has to be purchased and everything that entertains us has to be sought from outside our house yard. Allowing just a little piece of 'spurging' on a very rare occasion I think is ok for now - and not a full day of it!...just until we find our 'place of happiness' a place where nature is right on our back door, food grows abundently in our back yard and the community welcomes and respects food in its pure natural raw form. Only then will eating become less about being a 'social entertainment', a way to 'break boredom' or an 'addictive taste sensation'. It will be more about nuturing, respecting and feeding our soul.... 

Ideas on storing raw food for freshness

Living in Kalgoorlie, we do not have access to a local organic shop that supplies us with daily raw products, therefore, I rely a lot on buying bulk from raw suppliers in Perth (Healthy Valley being my preferred organic raw supplier)

Buying bulk is fantastic as it can make the product cheaper and creates less packaging, but it can also mean that storage can become a problem as a lot of space is needed and items need to be stored correctly to maintain freshness. 

Here is a quick overview of how I store my bulk raw organic goods.

Storing Bulk Nuts, Seeds and grains long term: Freezer
I use a lot of raw nuts. I use almonds to make milk, macadamias to make creams, and cheeses, and pecans or walnuts to make fudge, cake bases and 'meaty' substitutes. I usually buy anywhere between 2kg and 10kg boxes of nuts at any one time. The bulk of the nuts are stored in their unopened box in the freezer. By freezing nuts, they are protected from the warm air and hot sun and prevented from going rancid. Freezing does not change the texture or flavour of the nuts as they have a high oil content which will not freeze and little or no water. This is the best place to store anything raw for long term. I will store the bulk of my raw nuts, seeds, coconut shreds, chia, linseed and grains. Freezing will not inhibit sprouting either.

Storing bulk organic raw nuts, seeds and grains for long term in the freezer 

Storing small quantities of nuts and seeds short term: Fridge
The fridge is another fantastic place to store your raw nuts, seeds and grains, but because my fridge is also used to store all my fresh fruit and vegetables, space is definitely limited. As I like to have on hand a small supply of easy to access raw nuts and seeds that are not frozen, I keep a couple of jars of my most used nuts - almonds and pecans at arms reach in the fridge.  I continue to restock these jars from the bulk supply in the freezer as they run low.

Short term storage of raw nuts in the fridge

Storing 'Activated and dehydrated' nuts and seeds and other raw products: glass jars in the pantry cupboard
To store my activated nuts and seeds, that have been fully dehydrated, I place them in a selection of large preserving jars that can be sealed airtight and place in the pantry. I also add an oxygen absorber pouch that usually comes with the products in each jar to prevent sweating.  This is the same way I store unhulled seeds for sprouting, cacao powder, jars of coconut oil, nama shoyu, miso, salt, honey, agave, quinoa, sundried tomatoes, goji berries, dried chili, currents, sultanas, dehydrated buckwheaties, homemade dehydrated cereals etc. I really love the glass jars - though they are expensive, I find they keep my products fresh, look great and will last forever. I started out by just buying 2 every week until I got quite a collection and have a jar for every item in varying sizes. They have really been worth the cost.      

Storing dehydrated raw good in the pantry in sealed glass jars

Fresh greens - sealed containers in the fridge   
As for storing fresh produce - the fridge of course is the best place to maintain freshness and longer lasting. I do find though when storing fresh green leafy vegetables such as spinach or Kale, they do require a little extra effort then simply placing a bunch in the fridge. Often I would have to throw our bunches of green from my fridge as they had wilted beyond recognition within days, but since storing them in containers, they now stay fresh for weeks.

If you have been fortunate enough to receive a lovely big bunch of homegrown silverbeet from a friend, as we did last week, and don't intend on using it all on the first night, then I highly recommend:

washing the silverbeet and then de-stemming

 

before storing in a sealed container in the fridge. This will ensure they will stay fresh for a couple of weeks.

To preserve fresh silverbeet for long term freshness,
pack into a sealed container and store in the fridge

 This is the same for kale: 

Lovely big bunches of fresh kale

Wash and de-stem kale ready for immediate use

Store kale in a sealed container in the fridge

   

Best ever Raw 'Caramel slice' cake

Well, this raw dessert has been labeled by my husband as the 'Best ever' and I would have to probably agree as it didn't last more than 24 hours in our house - and when it was gone, there was a lot of finger pointing at who had the most and who had the last piece!

To make this delicious raw dessert, as usual, I just made it up, as I created and the end result was amazing!

Raw 'Caramel slice' cake
Recipe:
I started by making the base by blending in the food processor:
about 2 cups of activated pecans 
with 5 or so dates,
a couple of tablespoons of my homemade raw carob powder
and about the same amount of cacao powder
with a dribble of raw honey. 
I then pressed this chocolaty fudge into the base of a spring sided cake tin. 

Carob mousse layer:
Next I blended in the high speed blender until smooth
about a cup of flesh from a couple of young coconuts
with about 1/2 cup of my homemade raw carob powder
and a sprinkle of vanilla powder.
I also added about a tablespoon of raw honey.
I then poured this carob mousse over the base of the cake.

Caramel sauce layer:
Next was the caramel layer.
I blended a handful of activated almonds
with 1/4 cup of mesquite powder
and 1/4 cup lucuma powder
with 1/2 cup of honey
and 1 tablespoon of maca powder.
Some of the almonds didn't blend completely, leaving crunchy chunks amongst the caramel. 
I spread this caramel sauce evenly over the carob mousse layer.

Chocolate topping:
The final layer was made by whisking equal parts
melted coconut oil,
honey
and cacao powder.
I then drizzled this chocolate sauce over the top of the cake and let set in the fridge before serving. 

'best ever' raw 'caramel slice' cake!

Absolute Raw Bliss at its finest!


  

   

Easy raw chocolate fudge cake and raw pesto 'toss up'

My most favourite liquid to drink is that of the pure sweet water of a young coconut. The kids will fight me for a sip once I crack open the shell of one and pour out this glorious nectar. We will indulge in this beneficial drink regularly so I will often have a surplus of young coconut flesh stored. Today I noticed the supply was getting quite high so decided to make a delicious dessert for the family. 

I have made many variations of this cake, but as always, each time I do, the results are usually different

Easy Raw Chocolate fudge cake
Recipe: 
Make a base using about a 1 cup of a combination of nuts (I like to use almonds and macadamias) blend with a couple of dates, dash of coconut oil and cacao powder.
Press into the base of a spring sided cake tin. 
Filling:
Blend until creamy the flesh of as many young coconuts as you have on hand,
with about 1/4 cup of cacao powder
and 1/4 cup of honey
Adjust quantites until desired sweetness is obtained
Spread over base
Top layer:
whisk until combined equal parts melted coconut oil, honey and cacao powder and pour over top of cake.
Let cake cool in freezer until top layer has hardened.

Easy Raw Chocolate fudge cake

And as for tonight's quick meal,
Raw Pesto 'Toss up'
Recipe:
I started by cutting up a mixture of veggies into thin strips and making veggie spirals and added them to a bowl. I used carrot spirals, strips of silverbeet, asparagus, mushroom, sundried tomato and olives.
To this I added kelp noodles.
I then tossed through some left over raw pesto I had made for a previous meal and topped with raw cream cheese from yesterdays celery sticks.
It was made in minutes and tasted fabulous.



Raw pesto 'toss up'

 I made my raw pesto simply by blending a combination of:
1 cup of Activated Pepitas - (I have also used activated almonds or soaked walnuts)
with a big bunch or more of fresh parsley from the garden (basil can also be used)
a good pour of olive oil
1 or more garlic cloves
juice of a lemon
pinch of salt
Nutritional yeast can also be included for a cheesy flavour

This raw pesto will stay fresh in my fridge for a week or more. My kids will eat it by the spoonful making it a fabulous way to get them to enjoy a good dose of green herbs and get a substantial intake of zinc and magnesium if using pepitas.

Raw pilaf and raw vegie stir 'unfry' on todays menu

I had a bowl of wheat grains that had been soaking for a day in preparation for planting in wheat grass trays, but as I looked at the swollen soft berries and tasted one, I thought I would sprout them longer and attempt to eat them instead, so here is my impromptu raw sprouted wheat and mushroom dish that turned out quite tasty.

Raw sprouted Wheat and mushroom pilaf
Recipe:
Start by soaking a preferred grain (I used wheat berries, but any grain should work) for 24 hours and then rinse and sprout for another 2 days until the first sight of sprouts emerge by keeping moist and rinsing twice a day. I kept mine in a colander by the sink.  
Once the grain is soft, plump and nice enough to eat, place in a bowl with sliced mushrooms. Make up the sauce.
Sauce:  
1 teaspoon of Miso or 1/8 cup of Namo shoyu
3 pieces of sundried tomato
garlic clove
pinch of salt
dash of cumin
sprinkle of cracked pepper
fresh oregano
pinch of chili powder
and enough olive oil / water to make a sauce consistency
Blend until smooth and pour through mushroom and sprouted grain.
Garnish with fresh herbs. Let sit for half an hour to allow ingredients to soak in the sauce.

Raw sprouted wheat and mushroom pilaf

I served the pilaf with:

Raw vegetable curry stir 'unfry'
Recipe:
In a bowl add a mixture of chopped vegetables (I used carrot, asparagus, peas, sliced bok choy, broccoli and cauliflower )
Toss through a good splash of olive oil and salt.
Add a sprinkle of curry powder,
juice of half a lemon
crushed garlic clove
crushed ginger
1 Tablespoon of tamarind pulp
(Optional tablespoon of nama shoyu or miso)
and massage through.
Let sit in a warm place, preferably in the sun under a glass lid for half an hour to soften and warm.
Garnish with coriander.

Raw vegetable curry stir 'unfry'

Enjoyed by all.....

Simple raw celery filled sticks

Ok, back onto the good bits - yummy food full of goodness, simplicity and the essence of nature.

These were inspired by childhood memories of cream cheese filled celery sticks enjoyed as a kid.

I made 2 versions - one cheese filled and the other I like to call 'ants on a log'

Raw Cream cheese filled celery sticks
Recipe:
Blend until smooth a cup of macadamia nuts with a dash of apple cider vinegar, pinch of salt, squeeze of lemon juice and enough water to allow for blending - about 1/8 cup. You can add nutritional yeast for a more cheesy flavour.
Simply spread on celery sticks and enjoy. 
Starzi loved these.

Raw cream cheese filled celery sticks

'Ants on a log'
Recipe:
Using raw home made almond butter, simply spread on celery sticks and top with 'ants' (currents)

'Ants on a log'

  A novel and simple way to get kids to eat celery!

A new day

Today is a new day, a new day to cherish, enjoy and just be.

I began my morning with a cleansing session of yoga as I drained my body of negativity and allowed the mind to find peace.  Taking focus off my perception of the difficulties of a raw lifestyle, looking past my ego and looking within, I have found reassurance. A reassurance to follow my heart and my desire without restriction and judgement.

I choose to indulge in pure food in its raw state, but I accept compromises in this lifestyle and will not feel judgement in doing so. I want to radiate my love for all that is natural and share my vision with others towards a world of union. I don't want to be labeled 'raw' and live up to the expectations of maintaining a perceived standard from this label, being excluded as being difficult to cater for or being judged as deprived or undernourished. I want to indulge, share, enjoy and connect -ideals that are shared by most whether raw or not. 

I am reminded of my interpretation of the message His Holiness the Dalai Lama shared with his audience during a conversation in Perth earlier this year:

'When our actions are of a compassionate nature and we make decisions based on a holistic and ethical attitude for the long term future then we will find inner peace as we live as one with the universe'       

This statement reassures my truth that my path is the right one for me. And I will follow it without pressure, limits, judgement or grief. I will just let the road unfold and be in each moment as it does.    

Doubt

With all the intentions of enjoying a wonderful day by the lake, sharing delicious raw food and interesting conversations, it just didn't happen. Disappointingly, the great raw picnic event was a non event. The interest in attending was not reached and the weather was not ideal. The failure of this event has slightly dampened my spirits today, following on from a 'low' couple of days.  

Like any 'extreme' lifestyle choice that ventures away from the normality's of general society, I guess the journey along this path can be a little difficult and can wear away at the emotions sometimes. Choosing a raw lifestyle can have so many benefits on a personal and spiritual level that are overwhelming, but at the same time, there is the downside, the daily struggle to 'fit' within society and the expected obligations. 

Over the last couple of days I have felt the negative emotion of 'doubt' lingering as I wonder why this can be so hard when it feels so easy. 

Doubt about the long term emotional negative effects this lifestyle will have on my children as they feel 'deprived'. Doubt about becoming a complete outsider to the entire community as we are continually excluded socially, doubt about whether raw diets gain the required nutritional requirement based on scientific evidence considering I have no scientific knowledge. And mainly, doubt arising, due to this lifestyle sometimes feeling so isolating and restrictive when all we search for is a life that is completely free and abundant.  

So, for the last couple of days and after today's non event, due mainly to non interest, I have been feeling a little flat and emotionally exhausted as I fight the conflict of doubt and reassurance in my mind.     

By freely expressing my raw preference, I feel I have also created an 'exposed' self image that I feel is now opened to judgement and requires a level to maintain. 

I am new on this journey of raw and find it somewhat difficult as we live amongst the world of modern living, with all its chains of supermarkets, cheap takeaway, constant media exposure selling junk, endless social events based on food and alcohol, acceptable long working hours for husbands and tiny backyards being the norm.             

So what is my conclusion to pull myself out of this low point?
Remind myself that we will be moving back East and will be living in the hills amongst like minded raw vegan hippies in the next year, then eat a slice of raw blueberry tart and go to bed.
But most of all, I think it is important to stay strong and follow my heart, my truth, my desire, the passion that led me in this direction - the search for a life of simplicity, for all that is pure and natural - a life of raw Harmony.