Express Your Voice AND Your Humanity

In these final moments of this Election Season, I felt propelled to write to you. Hopefully you made it through this year with your relationships intact and without too many tense moments. I feel like we say it every election, but boy this one was a doozy. It felt very exhausting to me and scared me on a deep level. My fear wasn't so much about the politics, although that was part of it, but my biggest fear was in the cruelty, anger, and frustration that we've been witnessing all over social media, the news, everywhere.

I understand it, in a way, because we are all so different, coming from different walks of life, and feel extremely passionate about the beliefs that have shaped our existence. It's easy to feel angry at things you see or hear from friends, neighbors, the television, co-workers, your community, etc. We want to fight for our beliefs and I respect that, I do. It's a unique privilege to be allowed to have a voice. Elections are our time to express that voice, but don't forget that while our beliefs may divide us, our humanity brings us together.

When I walked into my polling location this morning, I entered at the same time as an older gentleman. He quickened his pace so he could beat me to the door and opened it for me. I nearly cried because at that moment I realized that he and I may have very different beliefs, but it was no reason not to be kind. His act of kindness allowed us to connect with a smile and I felt what I've been missing: hope. Hope for us and our ability to heal the divide that has grown the last year.  I remembered that our humanity is the greatest tool in achieving connection and healing. Unlike our beliefs, our humanity isn't an educated choice birthed from a lifetime of experiences, it's an instinct that is bigger than us.

Our humanity is what allows us to serve others and help each other without asking first who you voted for. Our humanity was expressed after Sept. 11th when, as a nation, we mourned, healed, and stood tall together. Our humanity is showcased in a random smile, a kind gesture, our empathy and compassion, our instinct to help when someone is in need. Our humanity is that amazing feeling we get when we've connected to someone and when we act from the goodness of our hearts. It's what drives us to be good people.

Respect your beliefs, stand up for them, and use your voice, but don't let them get in the way of your humanity. Continue to smile, love, serve, open doors, help, volunteer, make someone laugh, reach out, connect, etc.  Whatever happens this evening, it is our nation, we are the United States of America and we will get through this together.  Be kind and love each other.

P.S. I cried like six times writing this. Anyone else feeling emotional today?! Holy wah!

Easy Fall Spiced Roasted Squash Soup

This year I did a CSA box with MSU North Farm, which means every week you get a large box of amazing produce delivered for your consumption. It's been an amazing experience! Not only are you getting the freshest, local food, but you also get things you might not normally buy, which is a fun challenge for someone who loves to cook (me! That's me, I love to cook!). One of my recent boxes included some squashes and this recipe was so simple and delicious, I thought it'd be a great one to share with you.

Easy Fall Spiced Roasted Squash Soup

Ingredients:

2 medium acorn squashes, halved (I did one acorn squash and one carnival squash, so feel free to mix and match)

Coconut Oil, warmed to liquid form

Maple Syrup

Sea Salt

2 cups vegetable broth

1 cup coconut milk

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, or to taste

1-2 teaspoons maple syrup

Sea salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the squash, cut side up,    on a baking sheet and then drizzle with the coconut oil, maple syrup, and sea salt. Cook until flesh is soft, about 45 minutes.

2. Once squash is done and cool enough to handle, take a spoon and scrape out the flesh into a blender. Add the broth, coconut milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, and maple syrup. Blend until smooth, add salt and pepper, and adjust seasoning for your taste.

3. Serve warm topped with Spicy Pumpkin Seeds, recipe below.

Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Hulled pumpkin seeds

Cayenne Pepper, to taste

Sea salt, to taste

Coconut oil

Directions:

1. In frying pan place ingredients with just enough coconut oil to coat the seeds.
2. Heat over medium/high heat until they seeds start to puff up, brown, and making popping noises. Make sure you stir them frequently to avoid burning on one side.
3. Serve.

Vegan Radish Slaw

I once ran a kitchen in Washington state on a farm. Often our farmer would bring in a surplus of whatever crop needed harvesting. Those of us in the kitchen had a fun opportunity to get creative and find a variety of ways to make one ingredient. This is a recipe I came up with when he brought in a ton of radishes. It makes a delicious, crisp, and light side dish. Radish season is here and it's time to play in the kitchen. Enjoy!

Dressing (makes 2 cups):

1 cup cashews, soaked 20-30 minutes

3/4 cup water

Juice of one lemon (or to taste)

1 large clove of garlic

1/2 cup fresh dill

1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Blend ingredients in a blender until smooth.

Radish Slaw (serves 4-6 people):

3 bunches radishes, cleaned and greens removed

~1/2 cup dressing

Directions:

Chop radishes into a small/medium dice. Sprinkle lightly with salt and stir in dressing until thoroughly coated. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, stir, and serve.

***I personally prefer dairy-free, but you can also make this recipe with a cup of plain yogurt instead of the cashews and water.

I'm Not Normal

I'm Not Normal I found myself confidently and almost proudly stating those three words today and it kind of shocked me. I'm not normal. For those of you who know me, this is not surprising, and that realization in itself was not what shocked me. What was interesting to me is how comfortable I felt saying that. Acceptance is a powerful thing and as I felt my own self-acceptance wash over me tears came to my eyes and I felt overwhelmed, in such a good way.

This square peg has, time and again, tried desperately to fit into a round hole, but, time and again, it doesn't work. I think this is something that gets easier as we get older, but not for everybody. And I think it's something that we come in and out of at different times in our lives. This last winter was challenging for me, I was finding lots of round holes to struggle with. Twenty-nine (the big 3-0 right around the corner), unmarried, no kids, not a home-owner. I started to feel this internal pressure to hurry up and start my life.

Maybe it's that darn biological clock I've been hearing about or maybe it's watching my friends and loved ones start families and settle into homes and lives. Whatever it is, I've been feeling rushed, which in turn has led to a huge inner struggle. Part of me was trying to hurry my life up to get to that point, putting pressures on myself and my relationship, the other part of me wanted to run for the hills and do reckless things the whole way there. This tug-of-war has been going on for months, aided by the pressures of going to school and running a business. But something shifted yesterday. I hit a breaking point.

Being an emotional gal and someone who seeks out self-growth, I'm familiar with these breaking points. They don't happen often and they aren't the most enjoyable things, but it's a very powerful experience if you can ride it out. It happens when you've been bumping up against the same wall over and over and over again and you reach a point where you feel like you're going to explode and at that very moment when you know you can't take it anymore, something miraculous happens. The wall shifts. When this happens things get a little dicey and then comes the feelings of relief, excitement, empowerment, and inspiration. It's like shedding a layer of icky stuff that was no longer serving me and getting comfortable in some new, better skin. With Spring here, it feels like the perfect time to do something different and find some grace for myself and allow my life to unfold naturally, without pressure.

I've always welcomed change and right now I'm especially grateful for the winds of change that are blowing in through my currently open windows. Hope everyone else is feeling that Spring joy, hope, and energy as sunshine and warmth return to our lives. Thanks for listening. Love to you all.