goodbye september, hello october

it's world vegetarian day today. united nations have now declared meat production the biggest environmental issue.

please be kind, be a true, smart environmentalist and go vegan. for the animals, for the planet, for your health and for a kinder, more compassionate world.



how about my poor broken arm? well, i had a dt scan on wednesday - 8 am, in the middle of rush hour, so in order to beat it i left home at 5.40 already and arrived at the hospital at 6.45. and yes i had to wait until after 8 to get my scan. which took the whole of 2 minutes - on thursday i had an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon. i didn't even have to argue for not having a surgery, he just asked if i had changed my mind about it. if not i'd get a better plaster, that i had to wear for 5 more weeks and then a lot of physical therapy.

not happy about 5 more weeks in plaster - and oh my, how i dream of a proper, long shower with lots of bubbly soap... - but so relieved about no surgery. the plaster will come off on november 1st, so yeah, my birthday will be plastered this year. literally.



the fascinating thing about my new plaster is that it's made of wood (aspen), environmental friendly and biodegradable. very light and easy to wear compared to the previous hummungus one. and i don't have my elbow fixed anymore.

a very odd and quite annoying thing with the re-plastering process - the nurse (male) kept talking about how smelly it is to have cats. 'no it isn't if you use good cat litter and clean the boxes properly' 'oh, i've had cats myself i know they smell'. seriously. he was good with the plastering, but clearly not very competent when it came to social skills and small talk. and one would think that health care staff should be aware of the fact that pets mean the world to a lot of people (even when one slip on their vomit and broke an arm), and are important for recovery processes. plus really, humans doesn't exactly smell like roses either using their equivalent to litter boxes.



i've scheduled a neutering for pelle this week. i should have done this ages ago, but he's such a doll and very easy going for a non-neuter. but since i'm now unable to give the pill to my still fertile girls with this plaster i'm really worried about unwanted kittens. and the easiest thing is to neuter him. he's 13 years old, so i feel guilty i haven't done it earlier, but it is how it is. hopefully he'll have quite a few more happy years with us all. his punishment for throwing up and me slipping in it, broking my arm one might say.



when it comes to finances everything is figureoutable, they (the illusive they) say. i'm working hard on figuring out my predicament. ever since m's death i've done that, but what i've thought would be sustainable long-term solutions have so far just been short ones. and the nasty let down didn't exactly help. i'm proud of everything i've accomplished, how much i've grown, but i'm also getting exhausted, so very tired, of all this seemingly constant problem-solving and short-term solutions.

for everything i'm grateful for having, having had in my life, i'm also sad that this is where i am financially. at a stage in my life where i really had expected i would have the perfect blend of both freedom and security. life decided differently. to work hard to find creative, great solutions while fighting the panic that's seeping in through the cracks - that's not only where the light comes in -, is not ideal.

and now i'm doing it with a broken, very blue arm. seems befitting somehow.

i do have a few interesting job interviews and possible gigs lined up this week though. may the perfect long-term solution appear soon, very very soon. dear, october, you are my birthday month, so that's not too much to as for as a perfect birthday gift, right? right.

what's your theme song?

October. Already. Where did September go? My birthday month is here. Which this year holds a birthday I'm far from comfortable with. But age is just a number, I know. And the older, and wiser, I get the more comfortable I am with myself, my quirks and fabulastic features. 

And if astrology is anything to go by the next +1 year will be a wild, fun and amazing ride for us Scorpios - and whether you believe in that or not I'm most certainly in a place in my life, after all the sorrow, hard work, introspection and growth I've been through this last 1,5 years, where I'm more open and receptive for amazing things to happen than ever. Bring it on, Universe!

I've never been interested in fitting in - to be honest, aren't we all born to stand out in some way or the other? - and even less so with age. Right now I'm only interested in the finding (keeping) my kind of people mission and making a positive difference for the planet. Which is more important than ever, for us all. And with that does come a very firm statement of who cares about fitting in, it's so much more important to be the best You you can be, find meaning and a purpose, to leave the planet a better place than it was when you entered it. Simple, and difficult sometimes, as that.

Which brings me to the next part of this post, the sentiment I touched on in the last you are unlimited post - "Take responsability for the energy you put out in the world".

I stumbled over this conversation between Marie Forleo and the fantastic Brené Brown - whose TED talk/s I'm sure you've already listened to - and was blown away. 

Because despite being a word-person to the bone even I sometimes have trouble putting my feelings into words. This talk however puts a lot of the way I think, feel, live into beautiful, inspiring words. It made me laugh and cry. A friend said she felt a strong affirmation of herself and her life from listening to it. And yes, I agree wholeheartedly.

It's a 36 minutes video you really should listen to, you will be a better human being for it. And then start having those meaningful conversations!

I've just ordered the book "Braving the Wilderness" too, really looking forward to delve into it and explore new dimensions.

Which brings me to the last part of this post, the theme song. You who, like me, watched and loved Ally McBeal know what I'm talking about. That special tune that lifts you, make you feel strong, capable, brave, confident and irresistable. What's your theme song that lift and urge you on?

Mine has been Proud for some years now, it just encapsulate so much of what I want to be and do. It fills me with a strong sense of all the above feelings, every time. (Also the Cape Town video is lovely.)

I dance to it a lot - albeit the dancing under the stars days are most likely over for this year alas - but my absolute favourite dance tune right now is without a doubt Can't stop this feeling (similar to Happy some years ago). It just makes it impossible to sit still, I dance until I'm breathless and like nobody's watching. But for, as always, bewildered cats.

And that sums things up for me and my life right now, things and actions to be proud of is a work in progress but I can't stop this feeling of wonder, gratitude and happiness in general. It's such a lovely lovely lovely feeling to be in.

I keep trusting the process.

PS October 1st is also World Vegetarian Day and the start of World Vegetarian Month, that's most certainly something I'm proud of having been for over 30 years. Even more proud of being 99% vegan for these last couple of years of course. Naturally aiming for 100%. DS

sunflowers, pizza and pigs

Well, October, you certainly know how to kick things off the right way!

+15 C, castle park visit, sunflower picking,

one of the best vegetarian pizzas I've ever had in one of the most charming pizzerias I've ever been too - more of later -

meeting three adorable pigs - friends not food, right? RIGHT - and getting some promising emails.

Plus it was the World Vegetarian Day and even if it's going way to slow for the millions of suffering animals out there I do feel that a paradigm shift IS coming. That there are even more compassionate and powerful forces at work than ever before. Time to say goodbye to specieism. Have you seen these two articles?

The British shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs is vegan - can we get a WOW!

Mainstream media writing about how industrial farming is one of the worst crimes in history - second WOW! - "Tens of billions of sentient beings, each with complex sensations and emotions, live and die on a production line. The march of human progress is strewn with dead animal."

And the powerful speech by the fantastic Philip Wollen - Animals should be off the menu. "When we suffer we suffer alike." Be prepared with lots of tissues.

So how has your October started?

world vegan day

October, World Vegetarian Month, was rounded off with today, November 1, being World Vegan Day. Admittedly I (we) did not celebrate or respect it with a completely vegan food day - vegetarian cheese, butter, honey and halloumi were consumed too - but the leftover spicy lentil stew for lunch and dinner was delicious and vegan.

I did however celebrate it by doing one of the loveliest things I've done in a long time - walking, playing and cuddling with two dogs named Malte! Yes, there's another dog named Malte in the hood, totally a copycat namewise but also totally adorable, a sweet-natured pug as he is.

Took loads of pics, got some nice ones, but mostly they were a blur. Which of course is a great proof that the doggies enjoyed themselves. The pug Malte was quite taken with me, I got loads of kisses, the REAL Malte didn't exactly approve of the attention lavished on the other Malte but he's such an easy going character - the grump he saves for the cats.

Spending time with animals really is the best soothing of the soul there is. And that I did and had a plethora of on World Vegan Day.

How did you spend World Vegan Day?

world vegetarian day

I had grand thoughts of writing something special today, on World Vegetarian Day - the first day of this grand month of October that's actually the Vegetarian Awareness Month (which ends on November 1st that's the World Vegan Day) -

about how utterly ungraspable I think it is that the vast majority of humans on this one earth still selfishly doesn't care one iota of the pain and suffering that lies behind their plates of carnivore food.

And that all the heartbreaking food waste each day makes it even more painful, the millions of lifes that has been wasted just to become just that, waste.

That a plant based diet is good not only for other earthlings, your own health, but also for the planet and environment, everything is intricately linked. Truly.

That most people really really need to start making conscious choices of what they put on their plate, in their mouths and bodies. For real.

That visiting slaughterhouses should be obligatory for school classes - yes really. It's time to stop pussyfooting around this issue. If you're willing to put dead pieces of flesh in your mouth you're of course able to look the animals in the eye while they die for that flesh, right? Right.

Yes, I am angry, disgusted and sad about human behaviour towards fellow beings, getting angrier, more disgusted and sadder by the day, week, month, year. There's a sense of humans getting more and more stupified, overindulgent and less compassionate. When with all the information everywhere for anyone - unless you're living in a cave or a totalitarian country - it should be the other way around.

This year I've found that I'm less and less inclined to socialize over food with people that eat meat. Because to be honest, it disgust me to bits, and yes I do lose my appetite and good mood having to have to stare at such bloody plates while eating.

I also feel I really really need to get to know more vegetarians irl, not only online, it's just such an immense relief to NOT have to ask, explain whatever, being in a meat free zone, just being. Having vegetarianism being the new normal. Kind bliss.

And why am I not vegan you might ask. The answer, at this time in life, is simply that I find that so many vegan options are a) heavily processed, b) have lots of additives and c) not uncommonly contain palmoil components. Plus I am not the least bit interested in eating vegan food that have been made to taste and look like meat, that have mock-meat names and so forth. Since that is obviously THE thing I don't want to put in my mouth and body.

I have drastically cut down my dairy intake since spring, I've only used kind eggs since last winter - the no egg substitute wasn't a hit, it made for a strange tang imo - but there's always more things you can do to live a kind/er life. At this time in life I chose to keep a small amount of dairy in my eating habits - I chose the life of the orangutang (palm oil issue) over the cow/calf one might bluntly say. It may not be an easy choice, but at least it is a conscious one - with organic butter and vegetarian cheese, feta and halloumi and possibly a bit of cream (rarely).

When I'm eating out I may not question every single ingredient in everything I order, but I try to keep my choices simple and reasonably defendable. But I can do better. Of course I can. I am so glad I've found that one of the Swedish coffee chains serve a mean soy latte, thus I can treat myself to a latte now and then still, without having the drawback of dairy in it.

Yes I had grand thoughts of writing a longer blog post today - sadly I know, they are far and few between these days... - and actually it does look like I've accomplished that. It may not be a perky, upbeat, fun post, but it is indeed a heartfelt one, something I'm utterly passionate about, an issue I rack my brain with each and every day.

And somehow, I think such a post is utterly befitting on a day like this, not only the first day of my birthday month, but also a fine month of vegetarian awareness. Which today happened to coincide with Meatless Monday. I hope you've had such a day, a meatless one, a fine and vegetarian one.

And may each and every meal
from now on be a very conscious and compassionate one. 
Please have a heart ~

world vegetarian day

Oh, I think it's quite befitting that October 1st, the very first day of MY month, begins with World Vegetarian Day!

I hope that you have/are/will celebrated this fine day with great vegetarian/vegan meals, and give all those countless animals who suffer and die in the meat and food industry and elsewhere for humankind's selfish pleasures some extra thoughts today.

On a day like this I feel my favourite quote is more significant than ever -

~ The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated
~ Mahatma Gandhi

I can do better, you can do better, we can all be part of the solution...

********

On a lighter note, October 1st, 2010 also marks the 60 years jubilee of the Stockholm underground - which also happens to be home to the world's longest art exhibition - and yes I did travel a bit with it today. In order to get to another favourite place for food and have one of those wee-luxuary-lunches. Truly lovely as ever it was.

And with that,
I wish all well-deserving,
kind souls a fine weekend ~