Hope things have been well for you, my dear readers!!
Time for musings from this year so far....
-- Bridgeton on Netflix - Just finished watching Season 2. I am not a big TV or Netflix person, but I happened to watch Season 1 last year and had enjoyed it. The lead female character this season is South Asian, and there are a few other cast members who are diverse as well. It's refreshing to see how mainstream studios are now choosing brown people as their leads. There is a distinct shift in the entertainment industry that you can observe, and it's refreshing to see. Since my involvement with Hollywood or entertainment was always limited, I never really thought how difficult it was for people inclined in creative/visual/performing arts to find projects and jobs because it has always been a white dominated industry. I watched Oscars and Grammys etc and would hear about how black people rarely won an Oscar, but didn't really connect it with the 2nd and 3rd generation Asian population in the US also experiencing similar outcomes. I love what I'm seeing - from beauty brands like Tinted and Ranavat, to Priyanka Chopra's Hair Care brand Anamoly, to talk show host Lily Singh, to Simone Ashley in Bridgerton Season 2 - it seems we have arrived on the scene!!
-- The Starch Solution by Dr John McDougall - I have known about this book, and the starch solution method/way of eating - for a while now. But it's taken a long, convoluted road for me to adopt it as a lifestyle. I made the switch to eating primarily starch based in the beginning of 2022, and what a life-changing shift has occurred. No other diet worked for me in the past because it always came with calorie restrictions - this one doesn't. I love potatoes, and rice, and fruits, and I can eat to my heart, mind and stomach's content on this plan. I've been vegan for a long time now, so I had the basics nailed down already, but my daily meals were not balanced. I'm eating a lot more vegetables, and have been able to identify and deal with triggers associated with emotional eating and social pleasing.
I've dropped 22 lbs so far in 2022, and can't wait to get my cholesterol checked in May, to see how it has improved. I feel better than ever, mentally and emotionally, more than physically.
I've found a great mentor and coach, Linda, who has helped me through this process. And I'm not done yet - there is still work to do. Linda is 78 years old, and has been vegan for 34 years, and eats starch based. She was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 44, and has been cancer free all these years. I've been lucky and blessed to cross paths with her, and have recommended her to friends who have also benefited from her counseling and guidance.
Please read the book, and read the newsletters online from Dr. McDougall's website. There is no reason in this age to continue to rely on animals for our dietary needs. Meat, Seafood, Eggs, Dairy - they all come with unnecessary torture, suffering and killing of animals and birds. It's the modern day Holocaust that we willingly participate in - day in and day out. As humans, we CAN choose to do better. We have choices to substitute everything that comes from animals to something that comes from the plant kingdom - and I wish more and more people understood and adopted this.
-- Minimalism: I have a sooper fab update on this topic, that I touched upon briefly last year. I can now say that I have achieved my goal of completely decluttering my entire house of things that I don't need, and it is now a minimalist household. I did a lot of reading, consulting with organizing companies, making plans, etc - and after doing that for almost 2 years, I found one lady - Rachel - who I hired to help me with this process. To start and finish on my own was overwhelming, so hiring Rachel was a blessing. She works by herself, is extremely affordable, and we did a trial day together. We hit it off like we had been best friends for years, and over a period of 2 months, where she came anywhere from 4-10 hours per week to my house (half day, 2 half days, 1 full day each week, depending on her schedule and my availability) - we went through every shelf/drawer/cabinet/closet/storage in my house, and got rid of what we don't need. Not only that, she helped me put systems in place for organizing, so that it takes us few minutes daily or even weekly to keep things the way they always are. We did this in Feb-March of 2022, and I can say that it's been working GREAT so far. The #1 thing I used to dread is folding n putting away my laundry, now it only takes me 5 mins, and my closet is 25% of what it used to be. For the first time since our wedding, my husband and I now share a closet, and we still have space :)!! The kitchen and pantry is also free from unnecessary "nice to have" "may need one day" stuff, and it's all organized superbly. From desperately wanting to move out either to declutter or upgrade our home, we now have an empty living room, and space in all closets. We no longer feel this urgent need to move to a bigger home, and the peace of mind that this effort has brought has been priceless.
My next goal on minimalism is digital media consumption. And I'm still working on social media addiction, to be honest. I spend way too much time on social media, and am not happy about it. I think it still fills a void for me, and I'm in the process of figuring out why I feel a void without it, what purpose it serves, and how can I be happy without it. I don't want to rush into giving it up without understanding the reasons properly, so for now, I've put time limits on all my apps. And I'm slowly working my way to filling the void without social media.
-- Breathing/Meditation/Art/Journaling/Daily Walks - I continue to practice all of these daily, in some form or other. Adding blogging to the mix now. These are all sooper important for my mental health, especially my daily walks.
-- Strength training - I hired a new personal trainer this year, after my previous one relocated to a different part of California last year. As such, the previous trainer was not working out well for my needs. I needed someone who would work on my form, and help me correct mistakes as well as help strengthen weak areas of my body so that I could effortlessly do pushups, pullups, narrow squats, etc. Again, through some networking and manifesting, I found someone who seems to fit my needs extremely well so far. I workout with her, Jackie, twice a week at my house. Her workouts are a full 70 mins, and I'm already doing perfect narrow squats, and assisted band pullups. We are working on strengthening my core, which I think is hindering my progress with doing full pushups. I can do 3-5 pushups, but my form isn't great. I'm sooper happy with the progress this year so far. And I can't wait to see where I'll be with my strength in a few months!!
-- Finance and Investments - This is another area where I really need to grow my knowledge. I was never really taught how to manage all the money I earn. I've been working for 20+ years now in the US, and know a few things. But I am still very much a beginner. One of the goals I have is to generate enough passive income in the next 5 years to not have to rely on a paycheck after that. So I'm learning and spending time understand all the different ways I can achieve that goal. My husband is the same as me - just because he is a man, doesn't mean it all comes naturally to him. He is more laidback than I am, and that hasn't helped us being smart about our investments. Well, better late than never. We were so swamped with raising our babies that we couldn't find time to think beyond our day to day life. Now we can, and I'm making it a priority. I've already made a couple of good investments this year so far, and I'm manifesting that in 5 years or less, I can generate sustainable passive income to not have to work at all. It's a lofty goal, but let's see where it takes me. If you can help in anyway, with books/courses/contacts in US/ideas to help me with this, please do. I'll be sooper grateful if I find resources that can reduce the amount of time I have to spend to learn things myself, or make the mistakes n learn from them, or reduce the time it takes to achieve goals - anything that will help me I'm willing to accept help.
Next post will be an update on the kids :)
