One day at a time

Taking things one day at a time is important to me for my own self care.

If you are in any type of 12 step recovery program, you probably know this phrase very well.

The premise is to live in today. To not worry about the past or the future, to just rock today.

Or as I have heard it said in another way: If you have one foot in yesterday and one foot in tomorrow, you are pissing all over today.

Amen.

Life can get tough sometimes. It can get dark. It can get overwhelming. Sometimes one can feel stuck in a rut, and can feel that way for a while.

If you are an activist of any sort, it can be easy to get filled with all of the negative things you are fighting against. The suffering of animals, the destruction of our environment, the persecution of others, etc. We can see so much of this that it affects us. In a negative way.

Each day I try my best to be a powerful voice for the voiceless. I try to build bridges. I try to make the world a better place for all living beings.

Some days I feel like I don't do enough.

Some days I encounter darkness within me. Some call it sadness. Some call it feeling depressed. I call it darkness.

Definitely not a fun place to be.

If I am living in today, just today, taking it one day at a time, I tend to get in that dark place less often. Less fear. Less angst. Just focusing on today and what I can do to help. What I can do to help the animals, the voiceless, my community.

It's funny how my life fills up with light the more I help others.

And one last point I'd like to make is that I do not have be in my darkness alone. My incredibly supportive husband and friends are always there to support me and to love on me. That makes a huge difference, no matter what I am going through.

Thanks for reading this post.

A (crazy busy) vegan life

I find myself describing my life as "charmed" when chatting with people.

Indeed it is.

As one who spends his work day raising money to support homeless young people, I am very well aware that I have so much in my life.

A loving spouse who I am in love with.

A wonderful roof over my head that I get to share with my husband, four dogs and two chinchillas.

I have a job I love.

I have an incredibly amazing group of friends who are always there with love and support.

I have the opportunity to eat very well.

I could keep going.

With this blog I have the opportunity to share things that are important to me, like veganism, animal rights issues, equality and about how we all have more in common than not.

And I lead a life that is just a regular life.

I got up close and personal with this thought this week when life just seemed so crazy. Work was crazy busy. As I realized this I also remembered that it wasn't just this week, but the last couple of weeks. Sixty hour work weeks as I prepared for our largest fundraising event of the year. One night I didn't gt any sleep and got back to the office the next morning pretty exhausted.

Add in home life, blogging, and everything else that we do as part of life and I was completely wiped.

I'm sure you can relate.

So this weekend I am completely chilling out. I have time planned with my little brother (from Big Brothers/Big Sisters) and that is about it. Maybe some gym time. Maybe some writing time. A book sounds good? And I think Mike and I are due for a date night.

These are the things that relax me, that make me feel like I am alive.

Life can get crazy. Sometimes I have to stop, take a breathe, and just smile. Or take a nap.

Thanks for reading!

Looking at ourselves

This past week sure has been eye opening for me. To read more on that go back one post and read "no homo". Through that post and conversation and comments that were a result of that post, I have realized things that are hard for me to stomach.

Forgive me while I just share some random thoughts.

I have been part of the vegan community for along time. I know we have our faults. A community filled with so much passion and compassion in trying everyday to decrease animal suffering is also a community as diverse as any other. We all come from from different parts of the country (and world!) and we all have our life experiences outside of being vegan.

Also, we all have different reasons for becoming vegan and participate in different levels of activism.

This isn't only in the vegan/animal rights communities. I find it in local politics, the LGBTQ communities I am part of as well as the homeless activist community I am proud to be a part of.

Regardless of what community we are a part of and are passionate for, we are a representative of that community. Like it or not, our actions and our life steps have an affect on what others may think of our community.

For me as a vegan and animal rights activist, I am very aware that I represent the billions of animals that suffer for food, fashion and entertainment. I am asked about that all of the time. If I am acting like an ass, and folks know I am vegan, it doesn't look good for the voiceless animals whom I am trying to help.

Racism, heterosexism, sexism, homophobia, hate, etc. have no place in the vegan/animal rights communities.

The more I wrote about "no homo" the more I learned how many people use the comment. People in the vegan/animal rights communities. It was totally disheartening.

Many times in my life I have to look in the mirror and take a good look at who I am and what I am doing. My language, my behavior. How does someone feel about veganism after an encounter with me? Do my posts, tweets and comments reflect well for the voiceless?

I don't like when I hear homophobic comments at vegan events. I don't like realizing that there is acceptability by vegan athletes around the term "no homo".

So I speak out against it. I let folks know that what they are saying is offensive.

And then I go back to that mirror and take a good look at myself.

Thanks for reading and thanks for being a voice for the voiceless.

Date night -taking care of ourselves

There is a lot going on in our world. Both Mike and I seem really busy with work, civil unions were just passed, the US Supreme Court is hearing arguments on Prop 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act (rulings on both could affect marriage equality) and the list of emails/letters to write in support of animals is endless.

So what do we do?

Date night.

Mike is at his bi-weekly boot camp and I am cooking dinner. The furries have eaten and when Mike gets home we get to enjoy each others company, talk about our days, love on each other.

One of my firm beliefs is that in order to be a strong voice for the voiceless, in order to be a warrior for equality, I need to take care of myself first. That includes eating well, exercising, prayer and meditation, time with friends and definitely date nights with my husband.

When was the last time you had a date night with your other half?

Sometimes it's dinner out. Or a hike. Lately it also includes a run as we both train for our first half marathon. Regardless, it's time alone, just us.

I love it. I highly recommend it.

On date nights we both reinvigorate personally as well as a couple. It's not that we can't do that every day, it's that with the list of things going on that I wrote of above, it's easier to do when the focus is on date night.

Tonight's dinner is simple: blackened tofu with black beans, kale, butternut squash and corn. I tossed in some cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. It's all just cooking together on a low heat. It smells delish.

Of course date night can also include cooking together. That's a blast. When we do that Mike does most of the cooking and I do most of the talking!

We'd love to hear of your date nights!

Take care of yourselves. Make good decisions, ones that are healthy for you, your relationship, the animals and our world.

Thank you for reading!