CHANGE.

Update... Changing My Blog... Soon...

2013-07-06T22:36:00.000-07:00

Marty hitchhiking the Carretera Austral - Coyhaique, Chile

It's been several months since my last post... I got busy wandering several months through Patagonia and getting myself back to the U.S. I have had lots of content I wanted to share but am working on developing a new blog site before I do.

Change is good. And I've decided it's time to change up my blog and direction.

Until that happens, I wanted to fill you in on a few things since the last post if you haven't seen or heard from me...

I shot two short documentaries that I'm currently editing for the Glimpse Correspondent program. One film is a video portrait of the street dogs in Chile layered with my personal experience of living in foreign country with themes of communication, isolation, love. The second film is about one of my best friends, Rex, who joined me on a 3.5 month backpacking trip through Patagonia. The film explores Rex' pursuit of his dream as a professional poker player and how his early success allowed him to partake on such an adventure with me.

After Patagonia, I said goodbye to Rex and travelled solo via hitchhiking and bus 6800 KM to Lima, Peru. I was broke and just needed to get home. With not a dollar in my bank account, I bought my plane ticket on credit. On my way to Lima, I made a visit to Macchu Picchu. I needed cash and few places accept credit card and many that do can be sketchy if they're mom and pop shops. I figured out that I could go to the casino using a credit card to buy chips, play slots for 10 minutes, and redeem the chips and walk out with a bunch of money.

Macchu Picchu and Cuzco were awesome but can be very disorganized with tours. There's simply too much tourism and chaos for it to be handled in an organized manner. I was broke again on my last day there. I was several hours late getting back from a tour and I needed to get to the bus station to take a 24 hr bus ride to Lima to get on a plane back to the U.S. the next day. I no longer had time to run to the bus station from my hostel or go to the casino for cash. Luckily, some friendly Argentines who I ate lunch with on the tour gave me cab fair.

I made it to the bus just in time with the equivalent of $ 0.50 USD. I just needed to get to the airport and home and was planning to fast until I do so. The next day, the bus stopped for lunch. I went to use the bathroom and I couldn't believe it! There was about $ 3 in change on the window of the bathroom stall. There was no way to tell whose it was so I pocketed the change and accepted a big lunch of fruit from a nearby market. Thank you universe!

Once in Lima, I went to the mall. I needed a little bit of cash for a cab to the airport. I went to a smoothie stand and negotiated with customers, in Spanish, if I could pay for their order with my credit card if they gave me cash. They did, and I was on my way to the airport.

I arrived in Washington DC on April 2nd. The band IAMDYNAMITE, good friends of mine, picked me up from the airport at 3am after I was held up for having coca leaves on me- they let me keep my chia seeds. I spent the next 5 weeks on tour with IAMDYNAMITE as they played from east coast to west coast. I lived in their van and hotels, eating free continental breakfasts and venue food, and directing their new music video here:

Mid-May I got back home to Michigan and have been spending time with family and friends after a long absence. There's still a lot of people I want to see, but I've been working away getting my life back together.

I sold my car while travelling in Patagonia and meant to save money for a motorcycle or used car upon my return to the U.S. but that didn't happen. I bought a bicycle and have decided to do without a car. I came across several travelers in Patagonia who were doing the trip on bicycle. I thought that was really awesome and would like to do something like it one day. I've learned that if I have a goal or dream, it's important to start making small steps towards them, right away, no matter how small. I figured by buying a bicycle capable of such a long-distance touring trip, I would have the necessary tools for such an adventure when the opportunity comes. The longer I commute, the more I love my bicycle and the freedom my feet and legs provide.

At the beginning of June, I started working at a health foods bar making juices, smoothies, and foods. I've been working 50 hour weeks focusing on getting my physical health and financial health in top shape. I've already got myself back out of debt and am working on saving for the next adventure.

Working 50 hours a week is a big adjustment. The job is fine and all, it just takes up too much of my time which I'd rather focus on goals and dreams for the the future. Not finding time for such dreaming is frustrating. I want to complete my documentaries, publish my new blog and content, and get an exhibition together of photo, video, and writings to bring closure to The Pan-American Dream project. I hope to scale back my hours at the health bar soon to part-time to make my dreams not so part-time or spare-time.

When The Pan-American Dream project started three years ago, I dreamed it would be possible one day to become a travel filmmaker and photographer if I just persist in that direction. A few opportunities have presented themselves along the way and I'm still optimistic. Most recently, I submitted a 5 photo essay from a hitchhiking experience in Patagonia to WorldNomads.com 2013 Photography Scholarship. Winner goes on a 10-day assignment to the Arctic Circle in Greenland with National Geographic photographer Jason Edwards!

So, visit my submission here for the first preview of some of my Patagonia experience. Please let me know what you think either by commenting on my blog or the contest site.

I look forward to sharing more content with you soon!

Peace!

-Marty

Change of Direction: Travel Filmmaker?

2012-09-12T08:55:00.000-07:00

Lota, Chile

While packing for Chile and South America, I was hustling my cameras, lenses, computer and other gear on Craigslist to invest in some new travel gear and a camera package that was light and versatile and could travel with me in one backpack. In the back of my mind, I want to become a travel filmmaker, photographer, and/or writer on this journey. Sounds like a dream job, right? How do I do it professionally? How do I make money to sustain myself and traveling? I don't know. Either way, I want to have the tools needed to shoot in a variety of conditions should a job or opportunity present itself.

After the new gear, insurance, airfare, fees, and other expenses, I arrived in Chile with only a couple hundred dollars- much less then I feel comfortable navigating with. In the past, I returned from an Alaskan road trip broke and stuck for months. Since then, I've tried to be a bit more cautious. The challenge with my work exchange travel lifestyle is having a little money saved or finding a freelance gig so I can get to the next place or job. Once there, I can usually sustain myself fine for the present making little to no money and having few expenses- also, thanks to living with family and friends for periods in-between.

Recently, I have been thinking of summer travel plans after my volunteer term ends. After the investment to get here, I don't plan to return home until I experience much of what South America has to offer. I want to go to Patagonia and then make my way north slowly by bus to several destinations and eventually home. I have plenty of time to do this... but only a couple hundred dollars. I wouldn't say it's not possible, but it would be a challenge.

I was starting to think my camera gear investment went too far. It was risky and foolish. I should have left myself more travel money. I guess my fall back plan was that I could always sell my camera or computer to travel or get home. But because they're my tools for occasional freelance work and one of the few ways I know how to make money, expression and hobby aside, that seemed foolish too.

However, last week I was able to sell my last lens back home via my parents and Craigslist. That was a relief as I now have some travel money I can work with.

Last week I also received the exciting news that I have been selected as the filmmaker for this fall's Glimpse Correspondent Program! I'm really glad I invested in my camera gear now! I'll be producing films about stories abroad with the guidance and mentorship of the editors at Glimpse. Meanwhile, I'll receive free tuition to MatadorU's Travel Journalism courses on writing, photography, and filmmaking where I hope to develop my craft and perhaps learn how to make a lifestyle and profession from traveling. The program also includes a stipend after my finished films are published on the Matador website. Awesome!

I'm not sure where this will go, but it's gonna be an exciting new chapter for my life and career!

Check out the announcement here!

Lota, Chile

Changing Lows

2012-09-10T17:07:00.004-07:00

I wrote the following passage almost a month ago during a spell of winter rain. I was feeling rather low at the time but noticed something different from what I use to consider seasonal depression. I didn't care to post then, because I didn't need a sympathy response. I also wasn't trying to bring anyone down. (Hence, cute street dog photo above.) The feeling past after a couple of days anyway along with the clouds.

A lot has changed since then. Spring is approaching along with Chile's independence festivities beginning this week. I'm shedding a few layers of clothing. I've enjoyed several beach days, hanging with friends, BBQs, a little exploring and pick-up soccer. I also received some really exciting news last week that may change or shape the direction of my career- whatever that entails. The news isn't public yet, but I should be able to share later this week.

Life is good.

Still, I think the passage does represent an important change of my perspective towards depression, perhaps a more optimistic understanding of it. So, I find it appropriate for my blog about change. It also shows that not every single day living abroad for me is crazy exciting but I just gotta ride it out until the next one.

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I’m enjoying my time in Chile. There are happy moments. Fun moments. Curious moments. Confusing moments. Quiet moments.

There are times when I’m alone. And times I want to be alone. Times I don’t want to do anything. Times when I wish I could lay in bed forever.

Today, I lay in bed nearly all day. It’s a holiday and I don’t have to work. I see very little of the gray day from my window. I’m not motivated to get up as I listen to the sound of the rain pouring on the roof. It’s been pouring rain for days. I lay in bed with my thoughts, halk awake, and let the time pass- not that I have control of it anyway.

I want to say this feels like depression, but it’s different.

I remember I didn’t experience depression until college. I think depression is more of a feeling than a thought. Althought thoughts can be depressing too. During the times I was depressed in college, I didn’t think I was free at the moment. I was stuck. I felt like shit. I didn’t think I had any control to change anything. Whether I had to write a paper, stay awake, go to class, or pretend I was happy so that I wouldn’t bring down my friends... I didn’t care about anything that was happening.

I thought I’d rather be in any other place doing any other thing than what I was doing at that moment. I thought I’d rather be asleep then awake. And when I was awake, I thought my bed was warmer then ever and that it’s the best place in the world. I didn’t ever want to leave but eventually I would have too, and that thought was depressing.

Now, I feel a similar warmth and attachment to my bed.

In the past, my times of depression often aligned with the winter season. Perhaps I was depressed because I was staying inside for most of the day with my motivation frozen. Or maybe I thought it was okay to stay depressed inside while not missing much during the cold days in Michigan.

Now, I feel similar need to stay inside. The difference: I’m now okay with it.

In college, I had so much anticipation for the future. And I put so much pressure on the myself in the present. I thought I could learn and be productive at a constant or increasing pace. I couldn’t accept being depressed nor my lack of motivation. The days were unproductive, long and seemed to last forever. The happy days seemed too far away to be optimistic.

But now, I understand that when I feel this way, it is what I need for the moment. I give myself permission to rest, away from the outside world and any of its expectations. When I hear the sound of rain resume on the roof, I am grateful. As if the universe has also given me permission to do nothing.

The emotional cycles in my life tend towards extreme highs and lows. I recognize this now and perhaps its necessity. I’m okay feeling the lows whereas I wasn’t in the past. I recognize this feeling as a healthy time for rest. A time to be alone. A time to forget motivation and my own expectations of myself. A time to recover. A time to be optimistic and ready myself for the exciting future ahead. Perhaps this feeling will last a day or months. Either way, I have been learning to be patient with myself. Enjoying myself, my thoughts, my feelings, the good and the bad.

From the comfort of my bed, I can still experience the world through three windows: From the bedroom window, I see the outside world as it spins and rains. For now, I’m not missing much. From the TV, I experience fantasy worlds that are much more exciting than my present. I’m fine allowing my imagination to dance while my body lays still. And with my computer, I write my thoughts and fantasize my own future. What will I do next?

That is my question. What to do? I am more free now then ever. It is totally okay for me to do nothing now. To do nothing forever, to not take advantage of my freedom and opportunity, that would be depressing. Or would it be choosing just to live? Why do I think just living is depressing?

Perhaps, it’s because I think I’m great. I’m not talking up my ego here. Rather, I think it is an inherent human condition to think of oneself as great. I’m sure other species have feelings and thoughts but I’m not sure if they think they are great too. But we humans may think we are really special, or at least we should. We may think our lives are special even if we don’t think life itself is special. What differentiates humans from other species on Earth may not be our capacity of intelligence and emotion but rather the responsibility that comes with being special.

As humans, we are privaledged to live at the top of the food chain. Our actions and choices in the present shape life and its future in dramatic ways. Not only because we’re at the top, but because most of our human population lives outside of a simple, balanced, and sustainable life cycle.

We can’t blame the birds for dropping nuclear bombs from the sky. Or the dogs or cows for their complicated oil dependent lifestyles that spill catastrophically into the oceans while ruining marine life. We can’t explain why we think the rare instance of a bear eating a human is much more devastating than millions of humans eating millions of species of animals every year. The only explanation seems to be: Because we as humans are special.

So, since I am inherently special as a human, I feel responsible to do more than just living which only requires healthy air, minimal shelter, water, food, some exercise and rest. With my responsibility as a human, I feel that I have a purpose for my life. What is it? How will I make a difference? How will I live? How will I be happy? I don’t know. And that’s okay.

Aside from just living, there is little that I care about in terms of material things. I do enjoy fancy ideas and creating them into tangible mediums. And I really enjoy the company of my family and friends. But they are far away now. And I don’t know what I’ll create with my life next. So for now, I’ll just lie in bed and rest.

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[And here's a random photo update of dogs only until I get my Flickr account going.]

Change with Film: Minimalism + IAMDYNAMITE Music Video

2012-08-08T12:31:00.000-07:00

I've been experimenting the last several months with a more minimal process of filmmaking, partly out of necessity, and enjoying it: Less people, less camera equipment, and less complication. All the gear and tools I need to create, I can carry in one backpack with my own two feet- that is a liberating feeling! It allows me to shoot and move fast while adapting and improvising on the way. It can make filming much more fun. Although I do enjoy shooting projects with large crews of close friends and colleagues with fancy film equipment, this is a nice change for now. I don't have to create a production schedule around many actors, crew members, etc, which often causes delays, stress, etc... When I want to make something, I just do it. One-man crew style if I have to. Boom!

Above is the new music video I directed for IAMDYNAMITE "Where Will We Go." If you haven't seen them, you need to. They're on tour right now. They are incredible performers and awesome to see live.

I shot this video with the tiny GoPro Hero2 HD camera along with GoPro's headband mount. We shot guerrilla style moving all around the beautiful city of Ann Arbor without permits for two days. We were able to move fast and almost unnoticed as it was only a two-man band, myself, one assistant and a small camera. We could walk down the street and film almost unnoticed. Most people may have thought I was just being obnoxious walking down the street with a loud boom box. Moments after passing, they would realize and say something like, "Oh my god! They're making a video!"

Adjusting the camera mount on Chris Martin.

It took some practice with the band (Chris and Chris) to get used to the camera setup on their head. For example, it was necessary to really exaggerate the facial expressions of the performance, mainly the lips, to make it look good or natural for the camera with its wide fisheye lens, even though it felt somewhat unnatural. After a while, the headband mount became uncomfortable so we improvised more padding with a gel foot insole we bought from a convenience store. After a rehearsal shoot the night before and a few hours on set, the Chris' had it down and the performances were able to shine.

Aside from concentrating on performing and moving while staring into a camera that is six inches from your face, which is difficult to do when you're walking through the woods over rocks and tree roots, the Chris' would also have to roll and stop the camera since I would often be hiding off screen with the boombox for playback. When we filmed this, GoPro had not yet released their WiFi BacPac accessory so there was no way for me to monitor the camera while filming. I would watch the performance from a hidden distance and review playback on the small LCD screen later. Without a monitor, we had several 'lost takes' in the beginning: "Yes! That looked great guys! ...Fuck! We weren't recording... let's do it again..."

I give a lot of credit to Chris and Chris. They each did about three full takes at each of the several locations. It was a lot of work and they kept the energy every time. By the end, everyone was pretty exhausted, the band rightfully so.

For me, it was more exhausting editing the video. If you think you are dizzy from watching it once, imagine watching it for eight hours a day for a couple of weeks. I hope you enjoy it! Otherwise, I just killed a lot of brain cells for nothing...

Change of Place: Thoughts from 5 Weeks in Chile

2012-07-25T15:48:00.001-07:00

This is me sitting in my bed in Chile. Cool.

Below is a collection of thoughts from the past month while living and volunteering in Chile as a gringo who does not speak or understand much Spanish. There are a lot of thoughts here in English because I cannot share them all in Spanish yet. It may be bold to post a seven-page, single-spaced, entry. This long format goes against most Internet standards and attention spans. Perhaps you’ll find the time to read on your lunch break or something. Perhaps you’ll have smoothie for lunch instead of a big burrito. That way you can use your other hand to scroll the page while you eat at the same time- unless you are really awesome and can eat a big burrito, cleanly, with one hand. Either way, I trust your literacy, interest, and eating abilities. This paragraph is pretty unnecessary, but I thought starting a blog post with roman numerals and section titles would be pretentious. Although I am interested in self-reflection and serious thought, I’m more interested in fun and adventure then appearing smart or too-awesome-for-you-to-understand. That’s why I like to make up words or use colloquial words, which are casual, familiar, and non-pretentious words that require a pretentious word like colloquial to define them. If you don’t read English, this may be tough to understand regardless. But, you can use Google translator and miss out on most of my humor.

I. Time and Place

I made it to Chile! The last five weeks have flown by quick: One week of training in Santiago with the English Opens Doors Program, EOD Program. A bus ride to my volunteer placement in the city of Concepción, in the southern region of Biobío. Three weeks of work at school. One week of English Winter Camp. And now, one week of winter vacation and time to write. For my northern hemisphere friends: Yes, while you are enjoying summer, it is winter here.

My neighborhood.

II. Family and Friends

I live with a host family, a couple in their early 50s, and they care for me as a son, calling me hijo. I address them as Tia and Tio, aunt and uncle, in return. They have a son and daughter, each married with a child, living in the city nearby. They are over at the house often for almuerzo, lunch, or once, tea, in the evening. It’s nice. We share a lot of family time in the kitchen. On the weekend, I’m invited to many family birthday parties, outings, and barbeques or asados.

I’ve met my friends here through the family, teachers at school, or other volunteers. The daughter-in-law is my head teacher at school so both home and work life feel like a close family.

Some of the family together on my birthday.

III. Gringo

There aren’t many foreigners here in Chile compared to the diversity of the U.S. I use to think I had dark brown hair, but here I may border on the blond side. When I share Facebook photos of friends back home, people may something in Spanish like, “Oh an Asian,” or, “You have a black friend?!”

Blue eyes are a rare treat here in Chile. I was having a michelada with some volunteers- it’s a beer with lemon juice and salt and spice on the glass rim- and an amusing drunk on the street started talking with us. The volunteer with the blue eyes caught the man’s attention. He couldn’t stop staring and talking about how beautiful her eyes were. Eventually, he sang a Pink Floyd song and left.

Quite a few people have told me it is characteristic of Chileans to welcome foreigners, perhaps for this reason that, in contrast, we are different and exciting. I heard this idea referenced in a song here too. So far, I find it to be true.

I often run into students and their parents at the market who smile warmly and say Hello! While waiting for a colectivo, a shared taxi, to go to school, a student’s father recognized me as the new gringo in town. He offered me a ride and told me how he supports the EOD Program and how important it is for students to learn and practice the language. The father continues to give me a ride to school in exchange that I help him with his English. I find many people are interested in such a language exchange as there are few native English speakers here. Others may care less.

I have felt incredibly welcomed by many people here making it easier for me to be far away from my family and friends back home. (The drunken philosopher I met at a party who talked about Obama and said he was Osama is an exception.) I wish I could tell my friends here who want to travel to the U.S. that it’s the same there. That everyone welcomes foreigners kindly. That there’s a fun welcome party at the airport where you get naked, felt up, and people pretend you’re a terrorist… that’s a joke, maybe?

As the gringo, I represent, or rather, appear to others, to represent the United States of America. Yep, Just me- America! It’s a position I was elected to without my consent, but it is what it is. I often find myself being asked about money, politics, economy, capitalism, and things I don’t understand or care to discuss.

It’s challenging for me to understand my own life, ideas, and philosophies and explain them in English let alone Spanish, which I also don’t understand well. In these situations, I try to explain with limited Spanish and hand gestures that the U.S. is very big, different, and complex including its geography, systems, corporations, and some of its people. I also say the U.S. is great for road trips and there are many beautiful national parks. I’m not sure if I can really say all that in Spanish or if people understand me… but with a few beers, I try.

IV. Speaking and Smiling

Many people here speak little or no English since it is not necessary. There are also many people who say their basic English is bad, but I seem to understand them just fine. Sure, it’s not as expressive or grammatically correct, but it gets the point across. Then, there are people like the motivated students at English Winter Camp who impress me with how well they articulate themselves in English and how well they understand me.

The only Spanish language education I had prior to this was two months of listening to audio lessons while in Puerto Rico. I am now learning basic grammar and my vocabulary is limited. My Tia and Tio don’t speak any English, but some of the other family members do. Communication for me can be fun and creative with lots of miming and hand gestures, but it is also difficult and exhausting. There are times when my Tia and I eventually give up and just laugh and hug. Or she says something simple like have a good day and when it’s not one of the stock phrases I know, I reply with No entiendo. Translation: I don’t understand how to have a good day.

My mind works all day to say basic things like where I’m going, when I’ll be home, I’m going to take a shower, whether I’m hungry or not… At this point, I can’t express many complex thoughts or ideas, which is tough when much of my communicative strength comes from storytelling, anecdotes, and relating with humor. For now, I settle with communicating thoughts such as, “I too, like dogs.”

I often listen to a bunch of Spanish I don’t understand, though it still sounds nice. Even when I’m with people who speak English, I would prefer to make the effort to communicate in Spanish. I want to distinguish myself from the American that speaks loud English as if it makes more sense and the jerk that likes to give non-consenting people nicknames because he or she won’t bother with the correct pronunciation of their real name. Still, I do find mental relief communicating in English every now and then.

There are times I wish I could say, politely, how I need to rest and stop trying to communicate. Once or twice, I almost became quite irritable, but was able to contain my frustration. I spend a lot of time in my head, which can be a nice break. I realize how important it is for me to rest, eat, and exercise well to maintain my patience and keep myself in good humor.

Smiling is my primary form of communication whether I’m abroad or at home. With a smile, I can express gratitude, I can humor, I can persuade, I can attract, I can make others smile, and I can say everything is great without ever speaking a word. Body language is universal. It’s the emotions inside expressing itself on the surface. A righteous smile communicates a good mood that can be shared with others, regardless if you speak the same language or not.

If you don’t have a good smile that can radiate joy, I would work on that. It may be more important than a college education. I would much rather be in a room with a smiling quiet person then in a room with a person not smiling and telling me how the room and I are not real because some philosopher said so and how I cannot prove him wrong. (Or her… but it is more characteristic of males to want to prove themselves right to the point of annoying. And I have yet to meet a boring female philosopher.)

It’s not my intention though to just smile while I’m here. I am motivated to learn Spanish so that I can further communicate my appreciation to my family and friends here. I also want to have deeper conversations about things other than my like of dogs.

I study a lot and people have said that I’m learning fast. I’ve already been able to make some jokes in Spanish with my limited knowledge. Finding humor with a foreign language is a good gauge for progress.

A typical evening: Tea, verb conjugations, and TV in Spanish.

V. Stress and Focus

I came here to Chile with no expectations. No expectations for my region or school placement, no expectations of living conditions or lifestyle, no expectations of anything. The flexibility of this approach works well for traveling and working abroad. This wisdom comes partly from my experience in Puerto Rico where I experienced culture shock when my expectations for work were not met. Without expectations, there is less room for any disappointment. I accept nearly everything as is: I ignore any negative aspects and embrace everything else as a happy bonus.

Even with this approach, it took about 2 weeks for my physical stress to subdue. When I arrived, I didn’t have many thoughts or worries to stress me mentally, but I still felt anxious and could feel my blood pressure operating at higher level than usual. Perhaps it’s because I now consume a significant amount of caffeinated tea, which I haven’t drank in a while. Either way, I am feeling healthy and well now as I maintain rest, diet, and exercise.

I also came here with unfinished work. In the quick month I was home between Puerto Rico and Chile, I directed a new music video for IAMDYNAMITE. I intended to finish the edit and deliver the video before I left, but in the craziness of preparing and packing, that didn’t happen. So, during my first two to three weeks of training, meeting my new family, starting a new job, and trying to communicate and live in a new country… I also needed to find time to finish the music video. It was too difficult to express in Spanish that I needed time to myself to finish work or that I need to find a fast enough Internet connection to upload the final video, which will probably take 8-16 hours. The video is done now though, it’s really rad, you’re gonna love it and I’m excited to share when it premieres August 8^th.

I can now focus more on school, learning Spanish, exploring, and enjoying the experience here. It helps that my verb conjugation knowledge is limited to the present and I don’t know how to talk about the past or the future. Everything is right now!

A nigh time break at my window.

VI. School

Working at school is awesome! I assist one of the English teachers with grades 5^th-8^th. My primary direction from the EOD Program is that I speak only English at school and facilitate speaking and listening components from the teacher’s lesson plans. This way, I am an asset providing teachers the opportunity to practice and improve their English while students, who are excited to communicate with me, are more motivated to learn.

It’s fun to see some students struggle to understand that I don’t speak Spanish. To them, I am foreign and exciting. Everyone wants to ask questions. Everyone stares.

The students truly bring me much joy. I start everyday with so many young kids excited to see me. I get several hugs and high-fives as I walk to each class. I’m treated as if I’m a celebrity. A few times I have found myself in a frenzy of signing autographs, after which, one student, a boy, hugged me and said, “I love you man,” and another student said, “This is the best day ever!”

With this much love and excitement, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to have a bad day at school. Especially with the occasional surprise such as an eight-year-old dancing Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean at an assembly.

A video the students choreographed at English Winter Camp.

VII. Money and Things

I often receive complements for how nice my things are. I feel relatively self-conscious of my personal possessions, which I have selected and packed carefully in my nice backpack [Perhaps, a future blog post on packing]. At school, one student wouldn’t stop prodding me about how much my Apple MacBook Air costs. My Tia always warns me about theft and dangers on the bus and at nighttime. Whether they’re expensive or not, my possessions stand out with foreign appeal.

What makes it difficult is that I cannot avoid appealing to the rich American stereotype. In the processing of whittling down the majority of my possessions back home, the things that remain which I have selected for utility and quality are also quite expensive. I cannot communicate that my computer and camera are the tools for both my passion and profession and the means for which I make money. Or, that I have really nice shoes because I run a lot and believe in preventative health care through exercise and food and how I prefer to do without medicines and health insurance. Or, that I’ve acquired really nice outdoor and travel gear because I often sleep on the ground, in a car, or on someone else floor by my own frugal preference. And how I often enjoy work exchange for room and board, which is what I’m doing now and have done for six months during the last year. I cannot express my minimalist philosophy and disregard for the majority of material culture. Or, how I sold a majority of my stuff to afford to come to Chile and the nice things I now have. I just have to deal with it. No importa.

It has taken several weeks to muster the courage to pull out my camera. I’m still looking for ways to draw the least attention if possible, as I don’t feel quite comfortable being a gringo wandering around the city with a nice camera. But, I am finally starting to explore, photograph, and experiment.

Camera envy in the bathroom.

VIII. Dogs

There are many stray dogs here in Chile, more than Puerto Rico. Some are cute and some are dangerous. While I’m out on a run, some try to bite me. I yell at them and they go away. I spaced out for a moment while running through a field and almost tripped over two dogs huddled in the grass. While stretching, I let a dog approach me. He seemed pretty chill while he sat nearby. Then he spazzed out and tried to go after my feet. That’s not as scary as though as the dogs that dart out in the middle of the street barking at the wheels of the colectivos. I step in poop occasionally and it’s gross.

I was on the bus heading to school. I notice it smells really bad. After five minutes or so of wondering what the awful smell is, I look over and see a smushed pile of dog shit in the aisle of the bus. I then see that there’s poop on my shoe. Gross. I am now pretty self-conscious because I am unsure whether or not I was the one that stepped in the shit first and brought it on the bus, forcing several people to smell it in a closed environment for the next 20 minutes. One lady puts a napkin over it in the aisle and tells the bus driver. Everyone boarding for the next several stops is warned to watch out for the caca.

I wrote a ‘serious, heartfelt’ poem about dogs and poop that I recited in Spanish during the talent show at the English Winter Camp. The students loved it and I got the laughs I was hoping for.

Regardless of their caca littering all the streets, I really like the street dogs. I decided to photograph them while I’m here. I think they’ll make for good subjects because I don’t have to worry about communicating with them in Spanish. And if a dog does indeed try to communicate with me in Spanish, I will try my darnedest to understand. In some ways I can relate to the street dog because I too like to wander and sometimes feel a bit lost or unable to communicate. But, I don’t poop on the sidewalk… or on the bus…

Cute.

Cuter.

Winner.

A street dog with dignity watches sea lions eat dumpster sea food and plastic.

IX. Marty un Poquito

Un Poquito, a little, is my nickname and a running joke with the family because that is often my response to several questions. Do you speak Spanish? A little. Do you eat meat? Solo un poquito. Do you like bread, cake, beans, rice, beer, wine…? Un poquito. My host family has been very accommodating while providing me with vegan options. It’s only been a year since I really started changing my food choices. While I aspire to make as many vegan choices as I can, I’m also trying to be flexible.

I prefer to say un poquito because I don’t want to say no to many things since I already appear foreign and crazy as it is: Like going out and running for two hours or refusing to use the microwave. Yesterday though, I did express to my Tia that I was fasting for one whole day on only tea with lemon and honey to give my digestive system a rest. She understood what I was saying, still offered me food throughout the day, and probably still thinks I’m crazy.

X. Cold

The winter here is often cold and rainy. However, the majority of last week was sunny and nice. The days aren’t much of a problem because the sun is warm. It’s the nights and mornings that are cold and challenging. It takes a lot of motivation to get up during the cold mornings. I often go to school wearing all my layers and take off several by mid-afternoon.

While I was packing for Chile, I looked at the average year round temperatures for the region and it didn’t seem that cold compared to winters in Michigan. What makes it cold is that central heating is pretty much non-existent in homes, schools, and buildings here. So while Michigan is colder, you often experience only periods of cold as you travel outdoors from home, to car, to work, to home. Some jerks even wear tank tops and flip-flops in their house in January.

Here, I experience cold for most of the day. We have a space heater that we use in the kitchen for an hour or so in the evening during tea. Other homes may have a wood stove. I usually wear many layers of clothing. I can often see my breath. My hands are cold as I type on my computer. After using the bathroom, I wash my hands with ice-cold water. I sleep with many blankets and a ‘Guatero’ which is a bag or bottle that you fill with a kettle of hot water to keep your bed warm. I’m usually quite congested in the morning but after a few glasses of water and a cup of hot tea I can cough up the majority of my phlegm. I still break a good sweat when I go out for a run and I steam like the kettle when I return home.

Hot foreplay with my Guatero before bed.

I say this all not as a whiny complaint, it’s simply how things are and I’m adjusting to it fine. It may be tough for some, people here still complain about the cold, but it’s not that bad. That’s why this is the last and least important section of this blog post. It’s included merely as interest for understanding my experience.

Although the weather can be cold, the Chilean people of the south are warm and friendly. I’m happy here and feel very fortunate to have such a great host family, school, head teacher, and students with my volunteer placement. While I embrace the warmth of the people, summer will come soon enough.

Good night.

Changing Since 1997: Notes from My 5th Grade Self

2012-06-12T00:31:00.000-07:00

I will be flying to Chile in 3 days. I will be volunteering with the English Opens Doors Program teaching English in the southern Bio-Bio region. (Google Chile Bio-Bio and check out the images = RAD.)

Before that, I must finish editing a crazy music video I directed, sell a bunch of my stuff to have adequate funds, and configure my life into a single large backpack.

I have a one-way ticket and not sure how long I'll be gone. My position is for 5 months but I plan to backpack and explore a significant time afterwards.

I'm preparing myself for nearly any condition since I'll be experiencing cool winters in the south and will eventually explore desserts, mountains, jungles, and more later during the summer.

I am also going to explore becoming a travel documentary filmmaker and photographer and how to shoot in these various conditions while moving with a single backpack.

Packing and preparing has been quite the challenge as my mind mulls over the utility, versatility, and weight of each item. I believe I have nearly acquired everything I think I need. I will find out in the next day or two whether or not I can fit everything I think I need in my backpack.

I've experienced a much higher lever of stress than normal the past week. I'm feeling better though as I check off my last minute To-Do items (vaccinations, dentist, etc...).

I think part of that stress is mentally preparing for a really big new chapter in my life. I don't know exactly what it is, but it goes beyond the volunteer position. Once again, I've done another purge of my decreasing amount of physical possessions which I store in a nook at my sisters. A nook is a space under the basement stairs and not a small technological device from which many people read many books.

I find myself becoming more vigilant of getting rid of stuff and ignoring the notion of "Maybe I'll need it one day." I've realized that by the time I need "it" again, I can get a new one. I find this notion can sometimes translate beyond the physical to the mental thoughts and I consider what thoughts I hold onto and what thoughts are holding me back...

But I'm not gonna take that tangent. Instead I want to share some old school papers I found during this physical purge. While looking them over, I reflected on what ideas, traits, etc may define me now that were present with my younger self.

The first document is a worksheet titled, "All About Me," written by my 5th grade self in 1997:

1. Physical Description Short, Fast, Strong, Big

2. Favorite Food Pizza

3. Least Favorite Food Egg Rolls

4. Favorite Place to Visit Toys "R" Us

5. Favorite Book Franklin the Turtle

6. A happy day in my life was when... My soccer team took 1st place in a tournament

7. A sad day in my life was when... I got in big trouble

8. Favorite Movie Jurassic Park

9. If I could change anything in the world, I would... Change Pollution

10. Soccer makes me happy.

11. Some day I would like to... Win the lottery

12. I often worry about... Not having my room clean

13. I feel good at school when... I do great on a test

14. If I could trade places with any one in the world, I would trade with nobody

15. My favorite animal is my dog Shadow

16. I think a good role model for me is My mom

I will now retake the worksheet as a 25 year old:

1. Physical Description Tall, Slim, Athletic Build, Smiling

2. Favorite Food Various smoothies I make for myself

3. Least Favorite Food Most meat and dairy

4. Favorite Place to Visit Hmmm... Michigan. Ann Arbor in the summertime with friends and family. Western Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. But perhaps only to visit and not to live...

5. Favorite Book Ishmael, Born to Run, The Dharma Bums, The Secret

6. A happy day in my life was when... I paid off my student loans. All of summer of 2008, 2009. 2010, 2011... I guess I really like summer.

7. A sad day in my life was when... Several winter days in Michigan. A pet rabbit named Charmander died and we had him cremated.

8. Favorite Movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, This is England, Gummo, Ken Park, In the Mood for Love, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

9. If I could change anything in the world, I would... keep changing myself and assist lifestyle change of the global population to direct individuals towards health, happiness, and fulfillment. What might that entail? Not sure. But probably make things more simple: work, food, needs, daily life...

10. Friends, Family, Love, and Sunshine make me happy.

11. Some day I would like to... Live off the grid with my lover, family, and/or friends

12. I often worry about... Not having enough time to do

13. I feel good at school when... it doesn't require money or a test

14. If I could trade places with any one in the world, I would trade with nobody

15. My favorite animals are Alaskan Husky, Sea Turtles, Tigers, Pandas, Koalas

16. I think a good role model for me is My mom, Dos Equis' "Most Interesting Man," and that crazy naked person that just outran the cops

Next up is a document of books I checked out from the library for the accelerated reader program in 1997:

- 3 different titles of The Magic School Bus

- Where the Wild Things Are...

- The Haunted Mask

- Song and Dance Man

- Let's Get Invisible!

- The Grouchy Ladybug

Very interesting! I feel like some of these titles may be well below 5th grade reading level. But I do recall getting free candy if you got a perfect score per book test... and I do love candy!

Next up is math document:

It contains 23 long division problems. 15 of the problems are blank (maybe I wrote on a separate sheet of paper, maybe not) and the remaining 8 I wrote "Skip" under them.

Perhaps I knew at a young age that I should just use the calculator in my desk and that long division is a waste.

The next document is a worksheet titled, "Life on Earth Decision-Making Frame." It has 3 boxes that I filled out from which I received a blue star:

Question Box: Is there life everywhere on Earth?

Important Info: Parts of Antarctica there are no life. Like in the coldest part and in the water there is no life. The deepest part of the ocean is unexplored. Parts of the desert are also unexplored.

Decision Box: No there is not!

This was interesting and I like the title. I think University's should give out a similar worksheet with your diploma when you graduate. Perhaps a "Life on Earth After College Decision-Making Frame" and one tailored to those who study the liberal arts, have little chance employment, and no clear direction for life on Earth.

I must say that I am disappointed my teacher didn't tell me when I was wrong. It took me more than a decade later to realize there are microscopic worms and organisms that live in arctic and antarctic ice. Knowing that would have been much cooler than getting a blue star on my paper.

I apparently made decisions with exclamation points when I was 10 years old. What self confidence! I think we all should make greater efforts to make decisions in our lives with exclamation points. If it turns out we're wrong, who cares! At least we'll know there is Life on Earth and really cool worms that live in the ice.

I also found this document interesting since I have considered working in Antarctica within the last 3 months. I met someone in Puerto Rico whose daughter's best friend is a baker on one of the science bases! A frickin' baker in Antarctica! That's crazy, right?! Well, I guess scientists have to eat.

Before you write me off as crazy, which I may very well be, I will give you my romanticized logic:

- I am most inspired to learn when I surround myself with new environments, people, communities.

- In college I was surrounded by some people that wanted to change the world and some people that wanted to drink a lot and not figure out how to keep the world spinning. For several years post-college I was surround by a lot of my liberal arts filmmaking friends. Within the last year, I've surrounded myself by new age kinda people and ideas which has inspired me to learn and take control of my health while doing things I once thought incapable. I will be surrounded by a totally new environment and people in Chile and will be inspired to learn the language and culture. Who and what else can I surround myself with to learn? What about scientists? Yes scientists!

- I realized in Puerto Rico that I really do enjoy working in the greenhouse and partaking in the growth of my own food. I was at peace outside.

- I am considering grad school to learn a new subject or interest. But I wouldn't do it if that required I reenter education loans and debt. I think debt is counter-intuitive to life. If you think that is a radical statement to make that is okay. I won't explain myself now. I would rather be radical and skateboard and eat pizza.

- What better way to learn while being surrounded by scientists and working in a greenhouse in one of the harshest environments on Earth?

- And perhaps surrounding myself by scientists could be one route to finding the dream job or work as a travel or environmental filmmaker. National Geographic here I come.

So maybe after Chile I'll be in Antarctica. Right now it's just a fun idea twirling around in my head. Being physically closer to Antarctica makes it twirl a little more.

---

If you have any insight or reflections from 1997, 5th grade, or Antarctica, please leave me a comment on the post. I'm interested to hear where you were then.

[And instead of editing, packing, or sleeping, I spend an hour writing and thinking about ice worms. Sometimes I just don't know where I'm going... physically or mentally...]

Change of Place. Back in Michigan. Change of Diet?

2012-05-15T10:32:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm back in Michigan staying with my folks for a month before moving to Chile.

Before I left Puerto Rico and the Ann Wigmore Natural Health Institute, Kelly came to visit me. We spent a week driving around the coast exploring the island. We took the ferry from Fajardo and went to the island of Culebra for a few nights. The beaches and snorkeling was fantastic! Lot's of sea turtles!

I really love Puerto Rico: Its people, mountains, rain forests, beaches and its tropical produce.

I really love its tropical produce! The coconuts, bananas, papayas, oranges, limes, grapefruit, avocados, mangos, watermelons, and more...

However, I was really happy to eat an apple yesterday, or rather, several apples. It's tough to find a good organic apple shipped to PR. I needed a separation from Michigan to realize how much I love and appreciate simple things like apples, cherries, berries, etc...

I will now miss the tropical foods very much. Anyone who hung out with me in PR may attest to the vast amount of bananas I ate. I believe I could beat anyone in a banana eating contest. The PR bananas and varieties are SO GOOD. One banana that I believe they called "apple banana" has a berry like flavor that would sometimes make me feel like I was eating strawberry shortcake or a similar desert- just the banana! Brilliant!

While traveling around PR, it was difficult to find good greens whenever I left the institute where we were growing greens ourselves. So, I usually resorted to a high fruitarian diet. The best place to buy fruit is not from the supermarkets but from all the fruit stands that are set up daily on busy roads.

While visiting a beach one day, I stood out like a total foreigner as I ate watermelon. Although I was the only white kid on the beach- tanned white kid that is- it was my watermelon that was drawing attention. I cut it half and scooped it out with a spoon. A young group of locals started talking to me and thought it was funny how I ate the watermelon like a bowl. I'm not sure if it was just the way I was eating it that was weird or if eating watermelon on the beach in general is weird... We communicated a bit with our little understanding and speaking of English and Spanish. It was nice.

Although I was able to use Puerto Rico's abundant raw tropical fruit to create a healthy diet for myself, I found this contrasted with much of the island both culturally and economically. Unfortunately, there is an abundant amount of fast food in Puerto Rico. Traditional bakeries are everywhere serving nutritionally lacking products of refined sugars and flours. Food carts and trucks are parked on every street and corner serving fried meats, plantains (tostones) and other foods. Obesity is very common and it seems like fry oils are as imbedded in the current culture as it is in the cells and pores of the people.

---

I thought about food and health a lot while I was in Puerto Rico: What foods do I like most? Eat most? What fuels me best for my particular body type and activity? Where do these foods come from?

I recall reading a nutrition book that challenged me with a radical suggestion that sounded something like this:

The majority of your food should come from fresh local seasonal produce. Perhaps you should MOVE to the region whose produce and growing season suits your diet and needs.

Woah! This idea may seem far out but it makes intuitive sense to me.

From my little bit of studies and experience, I think that diets and health use to be very traditional. People adapted to the available and abundant food sources of their geographic region. For example, a high consumption of seal, whale, salmon for Alaskan eskimos. High consumption of fish, rice, and sea vegetables in Japan and coastal regions. Corn and chia staples for the Tarahumara tribe of Mexico. Perhaps high fruitarian diet for the tropics...

Perhaps particular people have physically adapted to better digest and perform with foods of that region as well, or perhaps sought the food that suited their needs best. For example, the Tarahumara is known for being a running tribe and their diet includes chia seed that has the property to retain water for a longer period of time when soaked, which is important for hydration in hot climates. I haven't studied any of this enough though to really know...

When I say adapt, I mean to eat to really live healthily and not just survive but thrive. In terms of Puerto Rico, I cannot believe that the people have adapted because they thrive best on a high diet of fried foods. Obesity doesn't seem essential for thriving in the tropics whereas it may be for insulation and survival in the Arctic.

Right now, I do believe there is no optimal universal diet. That belief relies on the premise that I couldn't recommend a high tropical fruit diet for an eskimo that lives in freezing temperatures. It simply isn't possible, at least naturally.

Although if a universal diet is possible, I think it would include a very high quantity of GREENS. The Ann Wigmore Living Foods Lifestyle is created in a very SIMPLE way in terms of ingredients for a universal approach to health and healing. The main staples are sprouts and greens along with sprouted nuts, seeds, fruits, veggies and fermented foods. I believe there is much truth to the Living Foods Lifestyle in which you can then add or tweak foods for your own personal needs.

Bananas are probably one of the biggest staples in my diet because they are my go-to base for breakfast smoothies. There are very few days when my breakfast is not a smoothie. My typical smoothie in Puerto Rico would contain some combination of bananas, almond milk, rejuvelac, chia seed, avocado, coconut, sprouted buckwheat groats, sunflower greens, mixed greens, carob, mango, or papaya.

Now that I'm back in Michigan, I'm thinking of how I may rework my smoothie a bit more for this region... however, I'll probably still eat a good amount of bananas for now, even though they don't taste as great.

---

Perhaps I am may be best suited to live in a tropical region. However, I'm not gonna settle yet. I'm gonna keep traveling and exploring: Looking for the geography, the community, the food, the fun and everything else in life that suits me best.

I'm not saying I'm gonna settle in the tropics one day just for a banana. Food is very important to me, but there are plenty of other aspects aside from a year round growing season that support the lifestyle I'm creating: Lots of sunshine, barefoot running on the beach, the fresh air by the sea, the latin music and percussion. I love the idea of living in a thatch tree house that I make myself... I love the fact that I just spent the first winter in a long time where I didn't experience a fair to significant amount of seasonal depression during winter in Michigan. The only thing I really missed was friends and family. But, just like fruit, I realize by separation how much I appreciate them!

Change of Place: Coming Home and Heading Out

2012-04-26T17:49:00.000-07:00

Okay! Here is my exciting personal news! It was a rainy day in Puerto Rico, I've been taking classes last week and this week to receive my Living Foods Lifestyle certificate, I'm still working full time, and preparing to leave the Ann Wigmore Natural Health Institute (for now)... so I'm exhausted. The video may not express my excitement as well as I would like... but I'm excited!!!

(P.S. I'm becoming conscious of my "And" fillers and am working to remove those for more concise videos when I'm too tired or lazy to edit.)

Making Change: The Documentary Thrive - Challenging Ideas, Questions, Answers, Solutions

2012-04-21T22:42:00.000-07:00

The documentary film Thrive was released a few weeks ago for free on Youtube. Watch the trailer above and the full film below. I really do hope you'll live 2 hours of your life watching this. I think it's important. And there are few things I find important. Maybe it will change your life. Or maybe you'll change your life. Find out more about the Thrive movement on the website.

----------------------------

The description of my blog in the top left corner there has stayed pretty consistent even though my blog itself is all about CHANGE. Maybe that means CHANGE is a consistent process that is always CHANGING.

I don't know.

My blog description says, "It contains a variety of stuff I don't fully understand and probably never will..." This is still very true. But, I just lived 2 hours of my life to watch Thrive the documentary which provides some very good explanations for some of the questions I've been asking of both my life and life in general.

I sometimes find it really hard to identify or connect with humans and the world. I sometimes feel crazy or alone with some of the ideas that swirl in my head. I've been working on making positive change in my life but am always confused by how to make positive change in the world. That step usually introduces concepts like politics, economics, or other things that get people so charged up... And the concept of politics and economics themselves do not make sense to me.

With American politics, I never understand why there are only 2 political parties or sets of major beliefs and why we have to vote on one or the other. I cannot identify with either. I also can never understand why people who choose to identify with a particular group hold onto those beliefs so rigidly as though it is necessary for their survival. I do identify with Darwinism, evolution, adaptation, change, and survival of the fittest. That makes sense to me. It's a system that nature created. Change is natural. Everything changes. But man created politics which is an unnatural and very complex system where the concept of "survival of the fittest" is distorted.

At times, it's also hard for me to understand beliefs just as a general concept. It seems that when beliefs never change, people may attach a certain sense of pride to holding them. And in many cases, this may work well. It gives a sense of reliability, security, and predictability to actions that may be useful. But what if you chose a wrong belief in the beginning but you didn't know better? And the pride in holding that belief has now dug you into a big hole that will be tough to climb out of without 'losing face' among your peers. What if it's not only your peers but your family? I experienced an example of this:

Simply put: Two close family members of mine were living their lives in a way that one older family member did not believe in. It was a very strong belief associated to religion. The belief was strong enough that it escalated to an argument with another close family member who was then "banned" from the believer's house and family. The believer cited during their argument how many years they had stood up for what they believed in as though it was a justification.

But it never made sense to me. I cannot justify supporting a belief or idea over a family member. I could never understand religion, really. I can understand the joy getting together once a week, singing, having a continental breakfast and planning community events. But, I cannot understand how religion has created so much division, wars and killing among so many people in the history of mankind.

I don't believe in religion, but I very much believe in spirituality and am on a path of exploring that. I do believe in family. I do believe in love.

Beliefs can be very powerful. But to change your beliefs is even more powerful.

And the economy. Wow! That certainly does not make sense to me. I got stiffed on one of the worst freelance jobs I ever did. The company never paid me and after months of emails, I finally receive an explanation, "Due to the poor economy... we are unable to pay you at this time. " What? What do you mean? What does the economy have to do with this? How am I suppose to make sense of that? Does that really work? Can I just start telling people, bill collectors, banks, and the government that I simply cannot pay them back at the time due to the poor economy?

When it comes to the economy, I simply wish I didn't need to participate. When I graduated from college, the one truth I did know was that I needed to pay off my loans right away so that I could be free. Free from debt. Free to choose what job I wanted and not have to worry about its pay. Free to be in control of my own life and not have my choices be influenced by fear of not having enough money. Free to explore a life worth living. I've spent half of the past year doing work exchange: I don't receive any money, but I have a bed and healthy nourishing food, and I don't have many stresses of bills etc. The only time I worry about money is when I need to get to the next place. I've been much happier living this way.

Now that I've been taking control of my health and realize how important natural food and nutrition are to preventing and healing serious illnesses and cancers... I have even more questions:

Why is so much time, money, and resources spent on cancer research when I see so many personal witnesses come through these natural health centers and either make dramatic improvements or heal themselves completely of cancer and other illnesses? What is all this find a cure talk about? Why is little to no nutritional classes and education required for medical degrees? Why are doctors telling my grandparents that they cannot eat too many greens because it will thicken their blood? Why is organic produce more expensive? Why are non-organic methods even used still when it's known that organic farming methods maximize nutrients while preserving and recycling natural resources? Why do we spend so much water, produce, time, and resources to raise a mass amount of animal meat products that only give us derivative nutrition while severely polluting our natural resources? Why do I only remember eating beef and cheese nachos everyday during middle school with a quarter cup of iceberg lettuce and tablespoons of italian dressing? How is it possible for a large agricultural company to patent corn seeds and nature and sue other farmers for intellectual property theft when their seeds blow naturally in the wind onto their neighboring property?

If you wonder any of these same questions, or wonder what your doing with your life, or what you should do... maybe you should watch this film. Ask questions about yourself, your life, and what you want life to be. Don't accept it as it is because life is always changing and you have the power to make the change you want to see in the world.

A lot of my questions and developing ideas were aligned while watching this film. There were also many ideas introduced that really challenged my ideas and understanding. The end of the film does provides some positive directions and solutions for the future. Check it out. I'm curious to know what you think.

Career Change: Dream Travel Job. Yes.

2012-04-08T20:39:00.000-07:00

Hello Dear Readers,

Over the years I have traveled here and there while shooting photos and video while thinking:

Maybe one day I can be a travel filmmaker and do assignments for National Geographic or something...

But how?

Well, Viator.com has created a window of opportunity to becoming a travel videographer with their Dream Travel Job contest. I created a video entry for Kelly and I. They are looking for 2 more travelers or filmmakers to go on a 60 day, 20 cities, travel adventure and document it. All expenses paid. Not only would this be awesome, it would open doors for more travel assignments.

So please, check out my video entry and vote for it. You need to be signed into your Facebook account and "Like" the Viator page in order to see the video. The Vote button is bottom-left under the video. You can vote once a day! Thanks!

WATCH AND VOTE HERE! THANKS!!!

Peace!

-Marty

Letting Go: Change at Work. Change of Control

2012-04-05T23:57:00.010-07:00

[This is partly a response to my earlier post about my frustration and failure in first attempting to shoot a commercial in Puerto Rico.]

The last month in Puerto Rico flew by with lots of changes! First off, I successfully shot a commercial in Puerto Rico! It's a fun surf spot produced for a contest held by a brand of whisky. I applied the lessons learned from my first failed attempt at making a commercial here: I sought out reliable non-actor locals and gave myself plenty of time to shoot it while anticipating delays, cancelations, and/or reshoots.

I cast two surfers who I met on the beach to play father and son. The "father" is the owner of a surf shop and the "son" was an employee. I cast the two because they looked the part and there was already a natural chemistry between them from working together. This meant I would be able to use less energy on trying to direct a performance. I approached the project very much like a documentary which was a change from my recent work. There was very little staging and very few takes. I basically gave them simple actions to do and I would watch them and capture different moments and angles I found interesting.

I was a one man crew with all my cameras and lenses in a backpack with a tripod strapped on the side. It was very empowering to know that I could carry everything I needed to make a commercial in one backpack with my own two feet. Larger productions can get so complicated once you start adding tons of gear, people, etc. This was liberating. Everything was shot daylight exterior so there was no need for lights which I didn't have a budget for. A few times I used the white bottom of a body board to bounce the sunlight.

One of the most rewarding parts was just hanging out with the surfers, getting to know them, and becoming friends.

Over the past month, I've humbled myself a bit while learning to "let go" and not attempt to control so many things that are beyond me. During the commercial shoot, I had no control whether it would rain or not or whether the swell would come in and the waves would suffice. I also had to adapt to "Caribbean Time" where nothing or no one exists on a set schedule. There were three days where we were suppose to shoot that fell through... luckily I was the only crew member and I had to just accept it, not stress over it, and say to myself, "Okay, I guess we'll shoot tomorrow."

The great thing about it all was that everything seemed to work out perfectly as I let go of control. We got the waves, we got the sun, we got the shots and everything we needed in time and it all happened right before the owner caught the flu.

When I arrived in PR, I started looking for ways to make some extra travel money. After the commercial, the one employee left to take a commercial fishing job in New York. Now with an employee gone, and being sick with the flu, the owner who I became friends with asked me to work at the surf shack. And thus the universe provided!

Working @ the Surf Shack is a pretty good gig. The only real work is running 6 miles on the beach there and back everyday.

I had a really busy week while the owner was sick. I was working in the kitchen at the health center and at the surf shack nearly every day. I worked a 60 hour week while commuting 6 miles a day via barefoot running on the beach. I was exhausted.

I've had some time now to rest and recover a bit.

I've adapted better to the Caribbean and am much happier with this new perspective of giving up control. That's not to say I don't make plans and have optimistic intentions for outcomes... But rather, I don't stress or get too hung up when nature, people, or other things happen that are beyond me. I realized I was some gringo trying to bring a whole different attitude from the film industry with expectations and scheduling that simply don't fly too well in Puerto Rico.

Also, the Surf Shack is right next to the yoga studio where I tried to cast the two people that flaked on me in the earlier failed commercial attempt. That failure and my earlier expectations aside, they are totally nice and cool people and I see them on a daily basis. No more hard feelings.

Now that I've changed a bit, I recognize other people who attend the health institute who bring similar expectations from busy city life. They too would be better off if they let go a bit.

For example, the power frequently goes out here for long durations while storms pass through. The last power outage lasted about 36 hours. During these times I have to run the generator for a bit to power the kitchen and prepare meals. One woman complained to me that the generator was very loud and inappropriate for the nature of the institute... She said we need to have a "sound barrier."

Really? Are you serious? You want me to make a sound barrier?

I simply apologized politely for the inconvenience. But in my head, I'm blown away by her non-constructive feedback. What does she expect? My only two options are to run the generator and prepare her meal, or allow her to enjoy silence and solitude which will require her to fast. I cannot control nature and its storms. I cannot control power outages. I cannot build a silent generator nor quickly organize a crew of volunteers to help me build a "sound barrier." Come on lady! Let go!

Although it's frustrating working without power in the kitchen, I don't mind doing without power, internet, and sufficient water pressure for a while on my own. But this is really hard for city people...

Another lady was very sassy when we ran out of papaya. I told her I'm sorry but the only papaya I have left isn't ripe yet. In my head: There's some parts of nature I simply cannot control. And I'm sure the papaya would ignore any verbal requests to ripen faster on my behalf.

Last week I started working in the greenhouse too! I haven't practiced growing much of my own food which is one of my intentions this year. I love it in the greenhouse and I'm learning a lot: For example, don't wear flip flops while shoveling compost because ants will bust out with no mercy and leave you with the itchiest of bites on your foot. Growing the wheatgrass and sunflower sprouts takes about 6-8 days so we always have to prepare for groups far in advance. We have to be very careful because we run low at times and can't make nature grow any faster: Another lesson of control.

What I like most about the greenhouse is the occasional fresh coconut break. The other day one of the workers chopped a bunch of cocos with a machete for each of us. A fresh coconut water break is much healthier and cooler than the typical cigarette break most people have at work. The world would be much better off if we replaced all cigarettes with coconuts. I can picture myself now walking outside of a bar and a hipster asking me for a cigarette at which point I reply smugly, "No dude. Just a coco..." And I pull out a machete and chop the coconut right in front of their face! They then walk away with their tail between their legs realizing how uncool cigarettes are and how cool machetes and cocos are! Boom!

So, if you find yourself getting too stressed out... Maybe you should let go of some control... Or have a coconut... It helps!

Changing My Approach to Filmmaking: Explore, Experiment, Reflect, Change, Retry, Results?

2012-03-06T18:52:00.003-08:00

Man!!!

I'm excited! I'm working on an idea for a future film project that I think is going to be freaking awesome! Today, I finally rendered some preliminary results and was ecstatic after seeing the potential! Unfortunately for you, I can't share any of the results yet, but I wanted to write about the experience.

Regarding the part of my life as a filmmaker- I don't even know if I'd call it my career yet- I feel like I haven't really been learning since I graduated from film school. That's not entirely true, but my process or approach to filmmaking certainly changed then and has become rather stale.

In film school, everything I was seeing and doing was new. I was learning. I had the time to experiment with new ideas, try anything, fail, reflect, try something different. There were no clients involved or money to be made. Most importantly, the end result often didn't matter. It was all about learning and taking time in the process. And that made the process very rewarding at the personal level.

Since graduating, I learned a lot about the film industry and have made advancements in my writing and directorial work. But in retrospect, my process to filmmaking now feels stagnant. I realized, for the most part, I've been playing it safe. For the majority of my work, I've been producing films for a client or for compensation with an end result in mind and a deadline to be met. Although it can still be a creative process, it is not an artistic process.

I realize this is why I often think of myself as a creative, but not an artist. I think, ideally, the artistic process should have few constraints in terms of time and results- granted, some constraints can be helpful as a creative challenge.

Many great artists have a "through-line" with their work: A certain direction, element, or theme that they are constantly exploring and building upon. That is the important part: exploring. Taking the time to try things, fail, reflect, improve, try a new direction. You build upon results and don't settle at one result and hand it over to a client. Most importantly, you are exploring and creating art primarily for yourself and no one else.

That is what I'm finally doing again: exploring. I'm experimenting with my filmmaking technique. I'm learning. I know what I'm gonna try differently. I'm taking my time. I have ideas and directions for results, but there is no end point for the time being. I'm doing it for myself and no one else.

And that makes it more of an artistic process that is incredibly exciting and rewarding.

I look forward to sharing!

Peace.

Change of Gratitude + Transportation: Run 13 Miles to Rent a Car to Hike a Mountain Top in the Rainforest

2012-03-02T20:38:00.004-08:00

I live and work at the Ann Wigmore Natural Health Institute in Puerto Rico. It's been a month, and I'll be here for two or three more. I find very similar patterns of the environment here and myself as I did when I worked at the Creative Health Institute, or CHI, in Michigan last summer: The energy can fluctuate rapidly! While working at a living foods health institute, it is very easy to go from soaring energy to bitter exhaustion in a short amount of time at unsuspecting intervals. For me, The soaring energy comes from the rich health and nutrition of living foods. This helps support the long work hours. The increase in energy often leads to feeling great, trying to do too much, and then over doing it. I work a lot, I exercise a lot, I read a lot, I think a lot, I want to be awake a lot... Then I forget to sleep a lot and the exhaustion sets in. Then I rest, recover, repeat.

While all of this takes place, the guests go through their own experience: Many are here for the 2 week program where they learn the living foods lifestyle and eat a 100% raw living foods diet. Many are also new to the lifestyle. This means at some point their body will begin to detox significantly. When you eat well- for us that means raw living foods that are densely nutritious and easily digestible- you allow your body to detox more rapidly and productively.

Your body always tries to detoxify itself, naturally. Although you may consume 100% pure organic food with no pesticides, hormones, or toxins, you will still intake toxic substances from unavoidable sources such as the air you breathe, some tap water, etc. And some may be choosing to use avoidable substances like unnatural hygiene products, make-up, etc. Even if you have been eating a high living foods diet for sometime, you will continue to detox, perhaps significantly from time to time. A few detox symptoms include fatigue, lightheadedness, and irritability.

As a staff member, the challenge is trying to prevent myself from the often inevitable: When your own symptoms of exhaustion align with the guests detoxing experience. An occasional scenario for me is not sleeping much, working an exhausting 8-9 hour shift, where, regardless of your hard work, a few guests or more will be unhappy because they've been fasting on the same energy soup for a few days.

I do understand how the guests feel, but it may not make it any easier. I did a similar 2 week detox with energy soup fasting at CHI last summer. I couldn't palette or look at energy soup by the third day. Over a long duration though, the alkalizing high greens diet will alter the pH of your body while altering your taste buds. I typically crave energy soup now. It's a nutritional craving instead of a junk food craving. While it is very difficult for any of the guests to believe that, it is also difficult for me to process the perceived lack of gratitude. (Note: By the end of the 2 weeks, guests typically feel better, joyous, and are very grateful!)

Exhaustion + Perceived Lack of Gratitude = Frustration. When this frustration starts to set in, it's difficult to process the minute favors and requests that are often asked of you. Since I basically live next to the kitchen, in the same building, these requests also come in frequently when I'm "off the clock" as well. With this frustration, I essentially forget how grateful I am to be here in good health in Puerto Rico. And that is unfortunate. At this point, it is important to get off the grounds of the institute and take a day trip if my work schedule aligns. However, it is also difficult to get around Puerto Rico without a car. Riding a bicycle is kind of scary because the roads are narrow and poor, the drivers are crazy and there are several accidents.

BEGIN AWESOME ADVENTURE + RENEWAL OF GRATITUDE:

I get off work Saturday night and go out with some of the guests to a bomba in the nearby town of Isabella. One of the guests is Kimberly Snyder, author of The Beauty Detox Solution. I had the pleasure to hang with Kim and get to know her a bit. It's hardly been a year since I started making major lifestyle changes in terms of the food from which I make my body and the exercise from which I play with my body. Since I'm still trying new things, it's reaffirming to see Kim, a nutritionist in high demand from Hollywood's top A-List talent- it seems I'm making pretty good decisions.

I am grateful for the many interesting and inspiring guests like Kim that come to AWNHI.

At the bomba, Kim and I play pool at the bar.

I am grateful that the pool table only costs one quarter! I've never seen billiards this cheap in the states.

The bomba is awesome!

I am grateful for the incredible drummers! Truly amazing!

On the way home, Kim and I think of getting out and going to El Yunque rainforest which is about a 2.5-3 hour drive. We need to rent a car.

It costs about $25-35 to rent a car for the day. However, it's a $40 one-way taxi to get to the car rental. $80 in cab fare to rent a $25 car. It's a waste of money on principle. The next day I suggest a plan:

I WILL RUN 13 MILES TO THE AIRPORT AND RENT THE CAR! BOOM!

I go to bed later then planned, about 11pm. I wake at 3am. I put on my shoes, my headlamp. I fill my water bottle. I put my license, credit card, and $5 in my bottle hand strap. I get on the road about 3:30 am and start running.

I run roads for a few miles. I run down the beach for several miles. I stop at a river entering the ocean. I choose to have water instead of sand in my shoes. I run the beach some more, shoes soaked. I cross a second river. I run on the boardwalk where I pass the occasional late night lovers, sobering up from the early night. I run through a field. I stop. I pet a beautiful horse, tide to a tree, alone. I say goodbye, step in some of its shit, and continue running. No worries. The shit will fall off in a few miles. I run a few miles up steep hills. Enter a storm. It pours for 20-30 minutes. I'm soaked. I find minor shelter under a billboard. It's almost 5:30am; the time of my reservation. I call the car rental. In Spanish, I tell them I'm 15 minutes late: The first time I really communicate my needs fully in Spanish. It's a start. I run past planes at the airport. I reach my destination. I get the car. Freedom of feet. Freedom of car.

6am - Alive + Awake after 13 mile run and shower.

I drive back. I pickup Kim. We take a shot of wheatgrass. Off to El Yunque. About an hour on the road I have a banana, papaya, chia seed, almond milk smoothie. Kim has energy soup. There's a brown-out of sorts and several traffic lights aren't working. Free form traffic guidance. We stop at a few fast food places on the way. We certainly DON'T buy their food. But we donate our own waste into their public restrooms. We get to El Yunque in about 3 hours with traffic and after I pass the entrance road once. The road maps and signage are poor at times. We pick up a trail map, we drink fresh coconuts, eat oranges, and start to explore.

It's lush. It's green. It's vibrant. The fresh air. The soothing sound of waterfalls. The cheerful sound of coqui frogs. The chirps of birds, hidden in the private tree canopy.

I am grateful.

We hike to the top of El Yunque. About 4 hours round trip, taking time for photos. At the top, fog and clouds. We wait to see if it will clear. Not this time. We hike back down to exit the park by 6pm.

On the way back, we stop in Old San Juan. We explore the beautiful town. We grab a coconut and I get a dark chocolate walnut snack. We chat. We head back, return the car, taxi back and return at midnight. Long day!

HIGH-FIVE ADVENTURE! HIGH-FIVE PUERTO RICO! HIGH-FIVE GRATITUDE!

I forget all earlier said frustration. I am grateful for my feet and where they have taken me. I am grateful to rest and sleep in the next day.

Change of Place: Inspiration, Flaky Non-Actors, and Utter Disappointment

2012-02-22T11:34:00.006-08:00

Part of my plan in coming to Puerto Rico was to take a break from film and commercial work. But that quickly changed in less than 2 weeks. Moving to a new place makes everything exciting. If you've been walking down the same street, neighborhood or city for a few years or more, chances are good that you don't "see" as much anymore. Things like grocery shopping, going to the post office, or filling your gas tank are now probably mundane. Unless you make a conscious effort to look, or see things in a new light.

All of that is much easier when you move to a new place. You can explore everything: The streets, the alleys, the people, the places, etc. Everything from a stray dog taking a shit can be exciting! And there are A LOT of stray dogs in Puerto Rico.

Needless to say, I'm already rejuvenating my creative inspiration. However, I thought it'd take me a while to find crew and actors. Within a week and a half, I met a fashion photographer and cinematographer who relocated from New York. His wife teaches where I work. That was a start.

We decided to try working together, first, on a contest for MOFILM. I came up with an idea I really liked and kept it simple so that we could produce it within our limitations (No budget, 2 man crew, I don't have a car, no lights, short amount of time until the deadline, very small actor talent pool, etc).

The last week I've been very busy both at work and then running around trying to produce this project. Craigslist isn't very popular on the island. In order to find actors, I ran, literally ran on my feet, around town posting handwritten casting notices. Meanwhile I was scouting locations, trying to borrow a truck, gather props, all while trying to make a schedule that can be realistic and simple as possible while balancing all the variables.

Casting was appearing to be the most difficult. The DP and I went to the market, the beaches, and around town asking strangers if they were interested in acting. The short notice and scheduling was looking difficult.

Monday I got a call from someone who was interested. It was getting down to the last minute. I ran 5 miles down the beach barefoot with my backpack to meet her. Again, my feet are my only transportation. Not too many people ride bicycles here because the roads are narrow, there's usually not a shoulder, people drive crazy, and there's 1500 accidents on the island a week.

I meet the woman, she's a yoga instructor. She hasn't acted, but she's enthusiastic and looks the part. She has a husband, a surf instructor, who fits the part and is interested as well. Awesome! We're cast!

We planned to shoot yesterday on my day off after they get off work but I get a call the night before from the husband saying that yesterday was the only day he could have a mechanic fix his car. No flexibility there. Okay fine, it's gonna be a pain but we reschedule everything: Borrowing people's truck, apartment, babysitter for the DP, my work schedule...

Everything's good to go for today. We're shooting at 1pm. I get off work, make lunches to cater for the "actors" and start set dressing and moving furniture from other buildings with the DP. We have picnic tables outside wrapped in tinfoil bouncing light into the windows. We have a janky tripod and on it we have pretty good cameras with nice lenses. We're all set up.

I walk around the campus to see if the a actors are lost. I give the husband a call. I say, "Hey this is Marty for the commercial." I get a "Hey, what's up man!" No indication, recognition, or apology that they are 30 minutes late. Then I realize I dialed his house number and not his cell phone. Uh oh. "Are you guys on your way soon?" "Hold on a sec." I wait for about 2-3 minutes of silence and then the wife picks up. She quickly tells me how "crazy" things have been for them and I get a list of eight excuses or more. She asks if we could shoot next week. I remind her, as I told her before, that the final deadline for submission is Monday. Insert more excuses. My mind and body become a bit numbed from disappointment.

I kindly explain to her how much goes into the schedule and planning for a film or commercial project. I explain how important it is that when you tell me you are available, then you have to be available. Otherwise, it's important to tell me that you're not available. It makes sense to most professionals, especially producers and those in film. Apologies. Good bye.

Burned.

I sit down with the DP and share the disappointment. We talk it over, try to think of alternate casting, but we really don't have anything. I say let's think about it for 10 minutes to give time for a creative alternative or solution. Ten minutes go by. We call it off. It's done. A lot of planning and work for nothing. Or rather, a lot of work for the lesson learned.

Back in Michigan, with my network of both actor talent, crew, and other resources, I could have pulled this off. Not in Puerto Rico. Not yet at least.

I still feel a little numb. I wish I wasn't working on this the last few days and I could have rested more. Oh well, it was a great first lesson to approaching future projects here. I'll need plenty of time for pre-production and casting to find real actors or reliable people. I'll also need enough wiggle room for cancellations and rescheduling. I'll forget about people being on time in the Caribbean. Unless they're surfers, we're shooting a surf spot, and a good swell is coming in.

I'm gonna go take an afternoon nap, swim in the ocean later, and get over this one.

Change of Fruits: First Tastes

2012-02-07T09:44:00.000-08:00

The last few days I've been trying fruits I never had before. And I like that.

The kitchen picked some puma rosa yesterday. It's looks like a small red pear with white flesh and a pit inside. It kind of tastes like eating a tart handful of rose petals. Awesome!

Chironja is a common fruit in Puerto Rico that I eat a lot of. It's a cross between a grapefruit and an orange. It's sweet and delicious.

Change of Place: Moved to Puerto Rico

2012-02-05T16:39:00.000-08:00

I made it Puerto Rico! I’ll be here for the next 3-4 months doing a work exchange at the Ann Wigmore Natural Health Institute in Aguada where they teach the Living Foods Lifestyle created by Dr. Ann. I live in the men’s dormitory where there are 6 beds and, currently, 2 other participants staying. I work in the kitchen and will be producing videos and marketing materials in the near future. I eat a very simple diet here in the program which is living, raw, vegan.

I wake up early every morning- something I’ve not been good at in the past- and walk 50 yards to the beach. I run barefoot and usually head south to the town of Rincon. I listen to Spanish audio lessons on my iPod. When I turn around and run back to Aguada, the sun starts to rise. It has an amazing warm glow as it parts the palm trees and reflects in the ocean mist. When I get back to Aguada, I go for a swim and then head up for breakfast.

There’s typically lots of papaya and bananas for breakfast along with almond milk and sprouted buckwheat cereal. For lunch, there’s sprout salads, avocado, and energy soup along with ferments like sauerkraut or seed yogurt. For dinner, always energy soup, which is blended sunflower sprouts and lentil sprouts with vegetables, rejuvelac, and dulse. For people new to the diet, or rather lifestyle, energy soup may be difficult to palate at first. I really like my energy soup though! If you mix in the blended papaya, blended ginger, and limes that are served with it, I think it tastes pretty good. I was warned by people who have come to AWNHI that although the food is very healthy and healing, it can be rather bland. Few seasonings are used and there’s no salt. Dulse, a sea vegetable, and celery are used for sodium. There’s basil, parsley, and other herbs in the garden. Throughout the day, I drink lots of coconut water, water with limes, wheatgrass shots, and rejuvelac- a fermented drink we make from quinoa or cabbage.

I’m not sure why I didn’t move to the tropics earlier… but I’m happy to be here now. The majority of foods I love, that is the tropical fruits, are here: Bananas, lemons, limes, mangos, coconut, avocados, and more. I didn’t know there were other varieties of avocados! The ones we had at lunch today were huge! Papaya wasn’t my favorite fruit for a while, but I like it now. There’s also a lot of almond trees, but they’re different here. The nuts have a richer flavor and are much softer and skinnier. I learned to crack the fallen shells with a rock yesterday.

I’m trying to keep my computer use to a more controlled minimum: Once in the morning and once in the evening. Technology can do some great things… but in the past, I would often find myself distracted by the internets and unable to concentrate. Perhaps I’ll get my computer use to only once a day or less. Regardless, it’s much nicer to use my computer at the picnic tables outside where the wind flies while carrying the sounds of the ocean.

I’m very happy thus far to be at the AWNHI in Aguada. It took a few months of persistence to secure a position. At one point, back in Michigan, I felt like I could have let this opportunity slip by. I thought of moving somewhere else or pushing harder on my career in film. At that time, I began to feel a certain sensation in my gut or body, a physical response to these mental ideas. It felt similar to the physical feeling that can come after an emotional loss or pain. I’ve been getting better at listening to my “gut” feeling. In this case, I began to interpret it as telling me the right thing to do while allowing me to feel the pain and regret that I might experience if I were to let this opportunity pass. I needed to follow this new interest in food and find some personal growth. I’m not sure exactly where I’m heading but I feel as though I’m on the right path. Either way, I’m on the beach in Puerto Rico and I’m happy!

Boom!

Changing My Seriousness

2012-01-18T12:15:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I forget that I shouldn't take myself too seriously...

Because when I remember not to take myself seriously, it is a lot of fun.

The picture above is an example of me not being serious today.

I found a pair of goggles today and I put them on. Then I put on my warm hat. Then I laughed like I was a crazy person. Then I went to the post office and grocery store while pretending I was a pilot.

This made my errands much more exciting. At the post office, I sent my packages air mail. At the grocery store, I got in and out of there as fast as I could as if I was on a secret mission. Driving home, I had to refrain from doing a barrel roll while checking my rear view mirror and seeing cars locked on my target. Having dual horn triggers at both thumbs proved useful.

Have fun!

Changing

2012-01-16T14:54:00.001-08:00

Changing

The year is 2012. What a change. Last year it was 2011.

I am 25 years old. Some people might say I am 25 years young. The measurement of my age is the same, but the attitude towards it changes. All the while, my age continues to change as time keeps moving.

Change is everything. Everything is change. At least that is what I think right now. I may no longer think that way…

A few moments ago I changed to become a writer.

Last year I changed a lot.

I changed my physical health. I changed the foods I put into my body. I changed what I thought of my body. I changed what I did with my body.

All of that helped my body change for the better. At least I think so right now…

Thoughts, though, are a bit abstracted from my body and they change too.

My body holds my brain where several little things spark and change to create my thoughts.

If someone is thinking the same thing I am, then does that mean they are sparking and changing exactly like me?

Does my brain hold onto its lovely creation of thoughts?

I was moving my mouth once while talking to a person. They were interrupted by a calling, which came from a telephone. They answered their calling and told me to, “Hold that thought!”

In the past, I held onto things I loved with my hands and arms. In a pinch, I could hold onto things with my feet or even in the crook between my neck and shoulder. I was not quite sure how to hold onto my thought though… So I just closed my mouth.

Maybe I would be better off if I could hold a thought between my neck and shoulder. But thoughts are not physical so I cannot hold them there. I am not even sure if my brain knows how to hold onto thoughts. My brain is physical.

My thoughts are not physical, but they can still speak to me. One thought told me it was staying in my mind. It is a pretty cool place from what it tells me:

Yeah, it’s cool, ya know? It’s spacious and open unlike that confined space of your cranium. I get to hang out with your other thoughts all day. Sometimes someone else’s thought may stop by and crash. And if I ever get bored or need something fresh, I can move and hang out in someone else’s mind.

“You can really pack up and go just like that?”

There really isn’t anything I have to pack.

Woah! My thoughts are pretty free spirited! I like that. Just hanging out, following their own direction, moving wherever they need to.

“I wish my body could do that,” I say.

Your body can. Your body holds a brain, which creates thoughts like me. Sometimes though, I will tell you the wrong things and you must listen to others.

“How do I do that?”

Well, aside from your brain, your body holds onto your heart, which creates emotions that you must also listen to. If your heart is really telling your body to move and follow another direction, then that may be what you must do.

Your body has 1 mouth and 2 ears. You were created that way on purpose because listening is more important than speaking. You must remember that.

The tricky thing is: You cannot listen with just your ears. Your heart cannot speak to you in the same way others do.

Your heart’s physical purpose is to pump blood throughout your body to keep it living. Your heart also processes emotions and feelings. When it does so, it changes the way it pumps blood through your body. When your heart is afraid, it will beat faster and pump more blood through your body. Your blood pressure rises. You may breathe faster because your lungs are working to add oxygen to this increase in blood flow.

While your mouth uses words to communicate, your heart uses your blood. When your heart is trying to speak to you, you must listen by interpreting it’s beat, the way it pushes blood through your body, and how the rest of your body is responding. When described with words, this message coming from your heart is sometimes called a “gut feeling.”

“Okay. So there’s my body, the physical. My body holds my brain, which creates my thoughts, that are, somewhat, held in my mind, the mental. My body also holds my heart, which holds and processes my feelings, the emotional. All of which, are changing right now and all the time. Isn’t there something else?”

What’s that?

“You know, like the spiritual? What or where is my soul or spirit? How does it communicate? How do I listen to it? What holds my soul, if anything? Does my soul change?”

Well… we don’t know much about that yet. Some of your other thoughts and I have been discussing this in your mind… But we haven’t been able to draw many conclusions...

Change Your Approach and Succeed with Your New Year's Resolutions. It's Not Too Late.

2012-01-07T14:45:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year all! I love this time of year: A time to reflect on the past, a time to look to the future, a time to make change and energize the present.

I'm not a life coach, but I want to offer you some great advice to make sure you succeed with your resolutions and goals while making awesome change this year. You can do it! Read on!

The key to a successful resolution is all in your approach. This entails your intentions and the perception of yourself among other things. Unfortunately, many have not learned how to create a successful approach towards reaching their goals. We are over saturated with poor advice coming from every facet of media, i.e. television, films, web articles, magazines at the grocery store check out, etc.

I often find you learn best from your own failures. Our society and media often portray failures as a negative thing. Our exposure to this can create a fear of failure that discourages people from trying something new. FORGET all of that right NOW. Failure is a great thing! It makes success feel greater! And as long as we can learn from failure, it is always positive. Michael Jordan would agree. Read some of his quotes on failure.

We're gonna learn how to make a successful resolution approach by breaking down a failed approach to one of the most common resolutions every year: I WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT.

Tip 1:

How you phrase your resolution and every single word of your resolution is VERY IMPORTANT. Empower yourself with your word choice.

When you study your words carefully, they describe your intentions and self perception along with your attitude of whether or not you think you will succeed. You must STOP wanting and trying and START willing and being. Although it's still not the best approach, you can improve the above resolution by changing the words to: I WILL LOSE WEIGHT.

I recently read a very common resolution from a woman via Twitter/Facebook: I want to lose 10 lbs this year. This could possibly be a worse choice of phrasing for a similar goal.

Tip 2:

Make a concrete resolution that has tangible steps and goals that you can possibly see or measure. Do not phrase your resolution with abstract words or ideas.

The idea of losing 10 lbs is somewhat abstract. Sure, you can measure 10 lbs. But you really don't know what the loss of 10 lbs is gonna look like. And why 10 lbs? Why not just a few pounds. You can lose a few pounds by fasting without food and water for a couple days. You may be severely dehydrated but you reached your goal right? This is logical but sounds crazy. It's crazy because you lost a few pounds, you succeeded with your resolution, and yet you still don't feel right. Maybe it's because you're dehydrated now, or you forgot why you made this resolution in the first place, or the result doesn't match your original intention.

Tip 3:

Ask yourself, really, why are you making this resolution in the first place. The why will help locate and describe your intention: Your reasons and actions for making change.

People often fail at resolutions when their intentions are misguided due to negative feelings, attitudes, and a negative perception of themselves.

For example, I'm going to guess that one reason you might make a resolution to lose 10 lbs is because you're not feeling happy with your body image. This feeling may have come from self destructive media that portrays celebrities, athletes and skewed versions of health, beauty, and perfection. Negative feelings of self perception often result from this media exposure. Although these feelings are not good for you, they're really good for an economy where people want to make money off you by selling you gym memberships, athletic products, food and supplements, 'beauty' products, and a host of other things that, most often, do not make you any healthier or feel any better.

Tip 4:

Make your resolution about YOU and ONLY YOU. Although it may have a positive ripple effect on others, you should be the primary one to feel the success of YOUR resolution and no one else.

Now, you're starting to realize that your intention to lose 10 lbs was not to look better for anyone else because you don't really care about them. YOU CARE ABOUT YOURSELF!

Tip 5:

Tell yourself that you LOVE and RESPECT yourself and THANK yourself for this love and respect. Say it in the mirror. Say it out loud. Say it all the time.

You must tell yourself, "I love you." If you think it's not true, then you're letting the negativity of media, others, and your own self doubt speak for you. Saying it is the first step to believing it and when you believe it, you will be empowered to create the change you want within yourself and the world.

Tip 6:

While making decisions, remember that you love and respect yourself.

You care about yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Your love and respect of yourself will promote a healthy mind and body by influencing your decisions. You realize that the earlier resolution to lose 10 lbs is actually not about losing weight. It's about caring for yourself, primarily the physical. It's about creating a healthy body that you love. It's about empowering your body and enjoying your body which is only one part of enjoying yourself. When you enjoy yourself, that energy radiates to others. It's positive. It's beautiful. It's attractive. It will most likely attract more positivity.

Physical health is not a secret. However, with the great amount of poor and negative marketing and misinformation today, it may seem that way.

Physical health is comprised of 3 core ingredients:

-Good Nutrition

-Good Exercise

-Good Sleep

Obtaining great physical health involves a healthy balance of these components. When thinking of balance and health, remember this: Everything in moderation is NOT necessarily healthy. But, everything healthful in moderation, IS healthy.

Now that we have clarified our intentions in a positive and healthy way, we can now rephrase and create new successful resolutions and approaches that will likely yield the same result to the original resolution: I want to lose weight.

Example:

I will love myself and my body. I will take care of my health with proper nutrition, exercise, and sleep.

This resolution has a positive intention and message that you can remind yourself of everyday. You will likely empower yourself and reach success with this resolution. If you use the old resolution and you remind yourself everyday that you want to lose weight, it will likely promote negative feelings of body image which will hurt more then help you.

Again:

I will love myself and my body. I will take care of my health with proper nutrition, exercise, and sleep.

This resolution also provides direction for creating sub-resolutions and small steps towards your health success: nutrition, exercise, and sleep.

Some examples of sub-resolutions:

-I will eat a fruit or vegetable I've never tried before (every week).

-I will check out a book from the library each week about nutrition.

-On Sundays: I will wake up without an alarm clock. I will not do any work. I will rest.

-I will join a recreation sports team, meet new people, and have fun.

-I will dance in my room or outside for 15 minutes a day.

Tip 7:

Make your resolution FUN!

If you make your resolution or sub-resolutions fun, you've already succeeded. This is especially important for exercise. Many people who make resolutions to lose weight also dread exercise. If that's the case, you need to make it fun! Or make it a game. Get creative. If you're a theatrical person, maybe find a rabbit costume to wear along with a friend who will wear a turtle costume. Chase each other around town. Perhaps if the turtle wins, the rabbit must make them a healthy lunch. You will be exercising, having fun, and spreading laughter and joy to others while indirectly reaching your goal to lose weight. But again, remember that the goal should not be to lose weight, but to love and care for yourself and your body.

Tip 8:

YOU are ultimately responsible for YOUR OWN HAPPINESS. No one else.

Be conscious of the decisions you make regarding your health and know that you are responsible for the results. You have the power to make better and better decisions everyday. Since you are establishing a love and respect for yourself, it is likely that you will automatically make better decisions which will likely result in improved health and an improved sense of self.

Tip 9:

When approaching your resolutions: Always be positive, and never be negative. Congratulate yourself on your successes while learning from and forgetting your failures. Guilt must NEVER be considered when pursuing a goal or resolution.

This is very important on the day to day basis while pursuing a resolution.

Here's one common example: Say you made a healthy resolution and are achieving success. You've joined a fun sports recreation team, you're exercising, you're learning about nutrition and preparing delicious healthy meals... then one day you breakdown and you try a little bit of junk food. You feel like you failed. You feel like you disrespected yourself. You allow that negativity to sink in and then you don't care anymore. Perhaps you forget that you care about yourself and you gorge for the rest of the day in bed on junk food while feeling sad. You feel that it's hopeless.

You must remember that you have made a resolution to yourself and that you are making better decisions and getting better everyday. That doesn't mean you're never going to make a bad decision. Bad decisions happen. They are natural and healthy when we learn from them and move forward.

Again, congratulate and support yourself on your good decisions. Remember that you love yourself. Remember your intention. When you slip up, don't feel guilty and dwell on your bad decisions. Move forward. Get better and better.

Tip 10:

A resolution is a change. A change of actions, thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, ideas... Change is a transition that takes time. Make sure to enjoy each moment of it!

Tip 11:

It's never too late. Only seven days of the new year have passed. It's nice to make resolutions at the beginning of a new year but really, you can make them whenever you want.

Congrats on reading thus far! I wish you love, joy, and success while you empower yourself, better yourself, and make change with your resolutions.

---

If any of this resonates with you, I always appreciate comments and feedback. It's nice to know that I don't write these posts to an oblivious internet.

Change Your Life with Choices: Top 5 Regrets of the Dying

2011-12-04T15:23:00.000-08:00

The article below is a great reminder of how important health and freedom are in pursuing our dreams and happiness.

Read the Top 5 Regrets of The Dying

http://www.activistpost.com/2011/11/top-5-regrets-of-dying.html

I will remember to keep my life simple.

I will maintain my good health and freedom.

I will listen to my heart while making choices.

I will choose a life full of love and happiness.

Change of Shoes: 488 Miles and a Marathon Later

2011-10-20T11:56:00.000-07:00

I'm now a marathon runner! Last Sunday I ran to Canada and back at the Detroit Free Press Marathon- pretty cool! I ran 26.2 miles and felt pretty good throughout the whole race. And I met my personal goal to finish within 4 hrs! My final chip time was 3:57:22. Boom!

That night, I rode around Meijer in the electric shopping cart to purchase some epsom salt while wearing my medal: proof that my legs were sore and I'm not goofing off... Well, I still did a lil' obstacle course through the women's clothes section!

I ran 488 miles in the past 5 months- crazy! I'm gonna retire my current pair of running shoes now. And I'm gonna retire to the couch because my right foot hurts...

Change of Tire + Attitude

2011-10-11T18:58:00.000-07:00

This is me back at my temporary home in Brighton with my bicycle and a balloon I found. This is the end of a somewhat unfortunate 4 hour journey.

4 hours earlier I leave Dexter on pictured bicycle. Before that, I'm kayaking with a friend. I opt to ride my bicycle back home instead of doing a 6 mi run for my marathon training. It could be a pleasant 16 mile ride, an hour of sun and fall colors...

And it is all swell for about 8 mi... and then I get a flat. Shitty roads- damn! No worries. I grab an extra tube and a hand pump from my bag. Both of which could be very useful in this situation, except that my crappy wrench isn't useful at all. I carry the crappy wrench to save weight in my bag... but now it isn't saving me anything. As I try to take off my back wheel, the wrench bends and won't hold the bolt. I try just pumping up the tire and it won't hold air either.

Insert said F-bombs here.

Okay, no problem. I can call a friend for a ride and they'll probably pick me up. However, as I search through my bag I realize today is one of those rare instances where I forget my phone at home.

Awesome! Insert more said F-bombs here.

8 miles of pushing my bike home starts now. Every now and then a car honks at me. I hope one may offer me a ride. It's not happening. I pass a high school and get looks from a few cars of girls... no ride... c'mon!

Discouraged, I start to think of how much I dislike suburbia... after a mile or so of negativity, I try to flip my attitude. I think of all the things I'm grateful for... after a while I feel better. It's gonna take me a while to get home... but I can enjoy the long walk. Yeah!

Now my bike feels weird. I stop and find that my front tire is flat now too! Dang! I just bought new tubes!

Insert said F-bombs here.

I walk for a while and wish I had a hybrid... they're expensive though. I'm discouraged from buying an expensive bicycle as my last one was stolen. I like my bicycle. It's cheap, but it's light and fast. On smooth roads that is... I can't stand mountain bikes because they can be so slow... but nothing's slower than my road bicycle with two flat tires right now... aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!

Now I'm pushing my bike along busy roads. With each car passing I feel their rush of air and squint to avoid getting dirt in my eyes.

My Camelback runs out of water. I stop at a gas station for a green tea. I take a break on a picnic table next door at the AA club. I talk to a couple of guys. They say, "Nice bike." "Thanks, but it's a lot nicer without 2 flat tires."

I journey on with 3 miles to go. On the side of the road, I find an orange balloon among other debris. It, too, is holding little air. I pick up the balloon in effort to think positive and cheer myself up. I will carry it the remaining miles home.

Shortly after, an inspiring idea for a short film and/or photo series strikes me. It keeps my mind busy with positivity for a while until a sign interrupts: "Scuba Lessons Start Today!" Awesome! I stop in to get more info on scuba certification.

2 miles out my feet hurt. I take off my shoes to prevent a blister but I'm too late. I walk the rest of the way home barefoot with a blistered heel. Awesome! Blisters: Just what I want before a marathon.

Will someone please give me a ride? I have a balloon. Is that cute, strange, weird? I dunno...

Still trying to keep positive, I near my street sign home and ponder the possible irony that may happen in 30 seconds.

30 seconds later an SUV pulls over to the side of the road. I approach the vehicle smiling as to what may be confirmed:

"Is something wrong with your bike? Do you need a ride?"

"Yes, I have 2 flat tires... but this is my street right here so I'm okay. Thanks though!"

Although I partly wish I found her three and a half hours earlier... I'm happy to still have found a good samaritan. And if I did find a ride earlier... I may not have this new creative idea that I'm really diggin on... Nor this stupid balloon... Nor become inspired to start scuba diving... And maybe this was good marathon training for mental strength...

Anywho, stay positive.

Change in Distance: Going for 26.2 miles

2011-10-10T10:47:00.000-07:00

It's less than a week before I run my first marathon at the Detroit Free Press Talmer Bank Marathon. It's kind of a big deal for me. I started this running earlier this summer after adventuring towards a raw vegan living foods diet that heightened my energy level. My training has been DIY: I started researching a lot about running, reading forums, watching Youtube videos, and changing my running form from a heal strike to a toe strike- all in effort to get myself to a 26.2 mi race without injury.

If you don't have Sunday plans yet, I'd def appreciate any support on the course and/or at the finish line- I'm also looking for some photos/video at the finish line if you can help. When I ran the Dexter/A2 1/2 marathon it was pretty awesome to pick out Brad's and my family's cheers near the finish line.

The marathon race starts @ 7am - Sunday Oct. 16th @ Fort/Cass Downtown Detroit.

My real goal is to finish. But, my estimate/goal is that I'll finish in approx. 4 hours. Since there's about 4,400 participants (in the marathon alone, not to mention the 1/2, 5k, and relay) I may not cross the starting line until about 7:30am. So, I'm guessing I'll be at the finish line around 11:30am, possibly 11am possible 12pm. This guess may not be accurate as I haven't ever trained with a watch. The overall race ends at 2pm.

YOU CAN TRACK ME, VERY COOL.

Thanks to technology, you can track my progress during the race (whether you're there or not) with the free Detroit Free Press Marathon app available for iPhone and Android. You'll need my bib number which is 5866. My bib has a little computer chip that tracks with a sensor at each mile marker- crazy! You can search for the app or go to the website to download.

If you will be there, please send me an email and I will write your name on my arm and run a mile for you. Last time I ran 20 miles, my feet became very sore around mile 19 and I just started yelling while running down the road looking like a lunatic. Who knows, if you come to the race, I could be screaming your name and cheering you on too!

To help spot me: I'll probably be wearing all bright blue with headband, tank top, and shorts if the weather's good.

Okay! Lemme know if you'll make it out. Thanks! See ya!

http://www.freepmarathon.com

Change "Only Important" Stories with Facebook: Alien Encounters and Preserving the Future with Pizza!

2011-10-04T14:56:00.000-07:00

Personally, I think Facebook is relatively a waste of my time. I took a 3 month hiatus over the summer while interning and learning the raw food lifestyle at the Creative Health Institute. Most of my communication was by snail mail and I used my cell phone very little. That was nice. And healthy.

I reactivated my account a couple of months ago when I needed to Share videos for a freelance job I did. Since then, I've stayed "plugged-in" and may be regretting it...

Facebook continues to lose its usefulness for me over the years: I no longer need to find that drunk girl I met the night before during a party in college. I can remember the majority of birthdays of my family and select friends. I am okay with being a jerk for not knowing your birthday with my lack of checking Facebook. I use to find "Events" useful... but after college, fewer friends use Facebook regularly to make an invitation reliable, ex. "Why weren't you at my birthday party man?! I sent you the FB invitation." The layout has become more and more cluttered with lame "Friend" stories and statuses. And I don't care to learn the "New" features with each frequent update.

The one thing I find Facebook useful for is to contact the friends of which I don't have their email or phone number and vice versa.

By having an active Facebook account, I still get sucked into checking it on a regular basis to see if anyone's contacted me. Afterwards, I scroll through the "News Stories" for that sixth sense of what my friends are doing far away.

The problem for me is that a lot of the "Stories" are generally lame or from people I don't know well. 99% of the time, even if you're my close friend, I don't care what you ate, what you saw, what you did. For the remaining 1% of the time, I want to read something really awesome like, "Crazy night! Got really drunk, surfed a tidal wave, and ate the raw meat of a shark after killing it with my bear hands!!!!!!!!!!!! :)" I also want that Status Update followed with an Event invitation to have a bonfire on the beach with a bunch of friends to eat the remaining shark meat while playing drums and dancing with the shark jaws.

Just the other day, I couldn't find any cool shark stories on Facebook because the Detroit Lions beat the Dallas Cowboys and are undefeated. I don't have to watch football to know that. A hundred people told me that with their Status Update. In an effort to find a good shark story, I made another effort to Unsubscribe from the Stories of people I don't know well enough and/or care.

It was at this point I discovered a new Facebook feature that gave me more options of how I can Subscribe to this crappy content: "All Updates, Most Updates, or Only Important." It was the third option that made me laugh! "Most Important." Really?! Come on Facebook! I know you're company is worth millions or billions of dollars, but this "Most Important" feature seems a little self righteous. I don't think I've ever read any "News" or anything of real importance via a Facebook Update. They certainly might exist, but they're at the bottom of the list of drunken photos from the night before and what people ate afterwards.

Actually, this "Most Important" could be a great idea! If I Subscribe to only the "Most Important" updates from all of my "Friends," I can then find out those who I should absolutely avoid. I'm very sorry to say this, but if I read that you have eaten a pizza and that is the most important thing you can tell me... Well, I'm gonna stop being your friend, both on the internet and in real life.

I'm not counting myself out on all of this either. I certainly contribute my fair share of links and status updates to clog the toilet of information which is the internet. I still contribute wasteful tweets and links about how I'm running, or eating raw food, or blah blah...

At this point I'm not sure where I'm going... So I travel 88 m.p.h far into the future while reflecting on all this rather lame information being archived on some crazy giant Google server. Here, I meet an alien riding a hover board around a Google server that stands alone amongst mountains of concrete debris and bent steel. I look to the alien, whom I've never met, and he or she says, "Welcome Lazer!"

How does this fricking alien know my name? Before I can ponder the question, the alien feeds me an entire pizza, 10 shots of booze, and takes a 100 photos of me while I vomit. What the fuck was that for alien? Hiccup! The alien captures my vomit in a large glass vile, straps it to his back, and pulls me onto his hover board. We fly towards an enormous starship and the alien explains:

I need to keep you alive! I'm well informed about your subsistence on pizza and alcohol along with your necessity of self documentation. We've got lots of questions for you!

My skin tans from the bright entrance light of the starship.

I'm an anthropologist and I've been studying the human race for millennia. We recently discovered this artifact on Earth that we call Google. From it, we've collected countless data. We've been very fortunate in our research to uncover your Facebook!

Inside the starship, I'm lead into a large cathedral with thousands of aliens and one giant alien on a thrown at the top of a thousand stairs.

Please proceed to our Leader.

I stare at the alien while trying to process all of this information. He or she pushes me forward and I now stand at the steps before their Leader. He or She begins:

Mr. Lazer, I'm impressed we have found you! Although the human species discovered time travel, very few of you have made an attempt to use it. You were all too busy documenting your present that you forgot about the past and stopped looking towards the future. We thank you for coming!

In an instant, the Leader flies down the thousand stairs feeds me an entire pizza, 10 shots of booze, and takes a 100 photos while I vomit again. Before I can wipe my mouth, he returns to his thrown at the speed of light.

Your Facebook, Mr. Lazer, is the most impressive document we have read among any other species. It's more important than anything our ownkind has authored. The last generation of humankind successfully destroyed planet Earth while documenting every single detail leading up to it. From this authoritative document, authored by every member of your species, we have insight into the last living day of Earth: We know what each of you was doing, what you liked, what you ate, what you thought, what you were feeling, what you looked like- it is truly incredible!

The Facebook, Mr. Lazer, is like a religious text or philosophy for our species. It offers us all of the insight and knowledge on how not to live. Humankind destroyed its very own environment that it created and the Facebook tells us exactly how you did it. Our species learned the secret to surviving happily and sustainably by doing the opposite of what the Facebook says. In doing so, our species and millions of others have inhabited millions of planets for millions of years. We thank you for your contribution to the Facebook. It has saved millions of lives.

Whoah!!! Facebook is very important I guess. I never looked at it that way...

Can you tell us more about the original Creator, Mark Zuckerberg?

Ummm... well I never personally met him, like in physical person you know... I think there were a few more than he... at least originally... Did you happen to see the film The Social Network?

Oh yes, the Mr. David film, very interesting indeed! We've only seen select scenes though... We uncovered a scratched Blu-Ray disk under remnants of Arizona... Tell us more!

Well, I saw it at the theater and-

Was there popcorn?

Well yes, there was-

Tell us, what is popcorn really like?

Well, it's like popped kernels usually covered in butter and salt that you eat-

Oh, are you hungry again?

Before I can reply, the leader flies down the stairs, stuffs me with another pizza, and 10 shots. I'm not sure if he takes my photos or if I vomit because at that point I black out.

Now I'm hungover, trying to collect my thoughts and finish this blog entry.

Lately, I was thinking that Facebook can be pretty dumb along with the people, including myself, that contribute to it. I thought that the quality of our lives may suffer from the use of Facebook and other lame technology and communication. I thought we are creating an exponentially growing clutter of crappy pointless information. I wanted to at least inspire myself and others to create better lives for themselves and better content or "Stories" that we share via Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Now I realize that I may be wrong. Every bit of information we share on the internet that may be dumb and useless now... will be very important to the survival of aliens and the Universe in the far future!

So... If you want to eat a pizza, go for it! And please tell me about it via Facebook and Twitter. And know this: For every person that "Like"s you eating pizza, one alien will be saved!

Change in Taste + Health: I'm a Certified Raw Living Foods Chef!

2011-08-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

Citrus Mint Gazpacho. My own recipe. Delicious for that hot summer day!

Last weekend I completed my internship at the Creative Health Institute in Union City, MI where I have been transitioning to a raw living foods diet. I spent 3 months of the summer here and several hours in the kitchen preparing delicious healthy gourmet raw meals, snacks, and desserts. I've felt a great transformation in my health and energy as a result of this diet, including: increased physical performance with my running, a boosted sex drive, mental clarity, general happiness and more! I'm now a firm believer that a balanced high raw diet is a critical component for a healthy life.

Receiving my certifications from Master Chef Na Young Anderson. Na began her journey to raw living foods when she first came to CHI with ovarian cancer in 2009. Since then, she has healed herself and continues to teach at CHI.

One of my most rewarding experiences in the kitchen was the development of my palette: My first day, I tried a salad dressing that was prepared and the chef asked me, "What does it need?" At that time I was pretty clueless. The majority of my food preparation in the past was simple and singular: SPICY. I still love spicy food, but now I understand the complexity of all the flavors much more: spicy, sweet, bitter, sour, etc. and how different ingredients, herbs, and spices will affect that. I can now taste a recipe and figure out what it may need to improve itself. It's so rewarding to add that pinch of this or that from your intuition, taste it, and say, "Much better!" Since then, I've created several meals just from intuition and taste and people will say, "That was fantastic! I must have the recipe," and I smile, point to my head and say, "It's up there!"

Raw Vegan Blueberry Banana Crepes with Cashew Frosting.

Aside from flavor and taste, I'm becoming more and more intuitive with the nutrients I eat. I'll typically eat to nourish my body and not just be full. I feel more and more connected to what my body needs. My body has craved both nutrients and junk food during this transition. I've found my appetite to shrink at times when I was eating nutrient dense raw living foods. Then my appetite grew tremendously at times since I've been training for a marathon. I would crave more carbs and fruits. Then, there were other times when I was able to eat a GREAT amount of junk food, more than I had prior to my transitioning, and STILL not feel full. That's usually what happens when your body is hungry for nutrients and you give it junk. It's been a crazy fun experience as I continue to experiment both with my diet and exercise.

Staff, Volunteers, and Guests at Creative Health Institute

As I move towards the future, I'll continue to incorporate the raw living foods lifestyle and share it with those who want to learn. I may also try working as a personal chef for a few of my family members to get greater experience. I'd also like to travel and perhaps work as a personal chef on a ship! We'll see!

Wheatgrass Face. Good for skin. Taken during my 10 Day Detox.

A quiet night at CHI.

CHI grounds. Firefly show. The photo doesn't do justice.

---------------------------

Now I'm not a nutritionist, but a few tips if you are interested in transitioning to a raw living foods diet:

-RESEARCH. Read books, websites, watch videos, listen to podcasts on nutrition and the raw living foods lifestyle. Everyone has a different body type, will experience the diet in their own way, and will need to develop their own personal approach to better health.

-TIME. The transition takes time. And unless you're extreme, it will most likely continue to be a transition for a long time. Judgement and guilt can present itself on the day to day basis: Say you "slip" and have X food one day and you feel like you blew it... That happens and you shouldn't have any negative feelings about it. Just remember that you're intention is to improve your health, your working at it, and getting better each day.

-ADD FIRST. THEN SUBTRACT. The important thing is to add healthy raw food to your diet. If you love a particular food, don't subtract it right away. That approach most likely won't work for you. As you make progress adding more and more raw, the later steps are to slowly subtract the unhealthy components, perhaps doing less and less quantities until you can do without. Again, it's a transition.

- DETOXING. Toxins enter the body through a variety of means: the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe. The body naturally tries to release toxins through a variety of means: lymph fluid, excrement, urine, sweat. However, toxins are stored in the body's cells when you consume higher levels of toxins: chemicals in processed foods, pesticides on non-organic foods, unnatural cleaning supplies, etc.

When you start eating a high raw diet, you're body will detox. And it will continue to detox throughout eating raw foods. Detox symptoms can include: irritability, fatigue, headaches, and more. If you slowly incorporate more raw, you may slowly feel detox symptoms.

Some suggest doing a rapid detox cleanse such as the detox programs offered at the Creative Health Institute and other centers. When I did my 10 Day Detox at CHI, I had days of irritability and fatigue. And I came in as a young rather fit individual with no health conditions. I did eat meat and dairy, but, I ate a good amount of raw fruits and veggies and tried to avoid processed foods. I also exercised somewhat regularly. It wasn't until my 3rd or 4th week on the diet when I experienced my "awakening" of energy. And it felt great! I started running everyday and now I'm training for a marathon.

So if you're beginning the transition at an older age, or with a poorer diet, just know that these symptoms are natural and you'll probably experience them more than I did.

Again, I just want to reiterate that I'm not a nutritionist, doctor, or expert. I'm still transitioning, will continue to do so, while researching and learning more of what I think is a wonderful lifestyle. I strongly advocate a well balanced raw living foods diet from both my personal experience and some of the miracles I've seen while at the Creative Health Institute, but you must be responsible for your own decisions and perhaps consult experts while doing so.