September 2020
Hello and Welcome!
I’ll tell you a bit about myself and then we’ll look into what this blog is all about. First and foremost, I’m a mother. I have 3 children and pets, but I find that moniker applies to far more than that. It’s a worldview. Taking care of others, observing their health and welfare and getting involved, advocating, advising, and most of all, LOVING completely those that come to me in person or from afar is who I am, not necessarily what I do.
Let’s talk about Magpies for a moment. They are known in some indegenous cultures as “interpreters”. They take the information from on high, and bring it to the beings below. They clean the Earth and take care of the messes made by man and those that have passed. They talk a bunch, and love shiny things. They are beautiful and simply by living their daily lives, bring something joyful, enlightened, and sacred to us. I greatly enjoy participating in that energy.
Now, as to the title and purpose of this blog. I got in a bit of a struggle over the name. Sole is a homonym (sounds alike) for Soul, my first choice in a title for this endeavor. Soul, to me, is the part of us that carries all the aspects of ourselves, the deep unconscious, the record of the conscious thoughts and activities, the interconnection with all other beings and consciousness that has been and ever will be. I believe many of us (if not all, somewhere in there) understand the soul as something beyond the body we’re in, as well as, what animates it. Though I’ve learned so much about how to build and operate the body, it’s really at the level of the soul that we heal, and generate long lasting health and wellbeing.
Sole is also a homonym for Sol, a Spanish word for Sun, from the latin, Solis. I have spent many years making friends with this “demon”, the sun, demonized by popular culture (to the benefit of an industry or two) as something to be avoided at all costs. My eyes were bad, my fat production was out of control and fat processing was impossible, my immune system was a wreck – then I learned how critical the sun is to our health. Slathering on the sunscreen and always wearing sunglasses, never going out at strong sun times of day – that’s how I got there. Respecting the sun, spending time in the sun in a balanced way (not hours at the lake with no protection, or 3 pm at the pool covered in chemicals) but 20 minutes in the late morning stretching, only using sunglasses when driving or working requires some shading for my eyes, taking an afternoon walk, has completely changed my body and my life. Not to say there aren’t other factors, but this is a big one.
Sustenance means more than just food, it is what is sustaining. This can include movement that feels fulfilling and keeps the muscles and joints and skeleton in tune, this can be conversations with people you love that keep you sane, inspired, and grounded, it can include knowledge that fills you up with new ideas and thoughts that give you momentum in your life. It can be connections with others that help you provide yourself and your family with good food, good music, all the things in life that sustain us, keep us here, keep us going.
Someone already thought of Soul Sustenance as a blog, as a practical guide for people. Whaaat? Well, they’re awesome and you should search those terms and check them out. I started playing with the word Soul, and came up with the word Sole. It’s main definition is Alone, and I thought that is the opposite of what I am here to do. I want to bring connection, and community support, and the idea that we’re not all alone. Yet, if you break that word down, alone becomes All One. And we are. And it is! And it is the sole responsibility (response-ability) of each individual to figure out what makes us tick, what motivates us, what feeds us, what we are able to do for each other. So really, Sole Sustenance is precisely what I’m aiming to share. I want to express the way self-awareness around how we are fueled, our impact on the world around us with what foods we obtain and how they were grown and distributed, our little inspirations and motivations that connect us to the wider world, these awarenesses and connections sustain us all.
No one diet, or movement, or art, or skill fits everyone. It’s little by little, discovering yourself and gaining the energy to connect that self with those around you that makes the world go around. That makes life worth living. Let me know in the comments below (or even email privately) what is getting you up today, what have you found that sustains you? If you have a business, or farm, or organization of some kind that feels in tune with these ideas, please share them as well, and we’ll make a connection.
Love!
Catrina aka Magpie at the Spring