Rhythm of the Home

Being :: The Push We Need

May 22, 2013

“Is there anything you can’t do?“ I asked a friend in reference to a new project that she was working on. I was in complete awe of her ability to do something new.

“Don’t you know we can do anything we put our minds to? Even if I fail, I still give it a try.” She replied.

We were typing back and forth and I just sat there staring at the screen nodding my head.

and

Down.

A nerve hit.

Bullseye.

Every single day something calls to me. Inspiring me. It may be a tutorial, a space, a resolve, a technique, a photo, a doll, a pattern, a shirt, a recipe, a project. Whatever it may be, it never fails to stop me in my tracks..thoughts racing about how to go about attempting it….my own spin. My mind whispering all along…

” Just try it.”

For a long time I ignored the whisper. Unsure of my abilities. Early in the years of being a mother, a wife, an adult. Insecure in the craft of living (in general). At the same time I was aching to learn and explore all that there is. So much out there to see…to do…to be.

A surface barely scratched in the realm of things. The realm of life.

But every year there is a turning of the clock. And every year it shocks me as it rings in my ears…. the ticking of years gone by.

Tick.

And with each tick I get to know myself a bit more that the year past.

I do feel it. Maturity. And with it come the crashing waves of security in my own skin and my abilities. No more hiding. No more excuses. Less procrastination. Less worrying what someone will think of it.

I must own it.

I must.

The importance of following dreams and our hearts is ever obvious. It continually makes me realize that we are all responsible for our own happiness. I am no different. There is a necessity to focus on what it is that we enjoy. What it is that we NEED. What it is that we want to give to others.

Spinning our one life.

Every day is anew.

What is it that pushes you?

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A guest post by Associate Editor Julia for the Being series.

Rhythm of the Home is an online magazine for families that focuses on creating with children, nature explorations, seasonal celebrations, conscious parenting, and mindfulness in all that we do. To learn more about us, please visit us on Facebook,Pinterest, and Twitter.

We welcome new submissions for our upcoming seasons. To learn more about submitting, please visit our magazine.

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Whole Family Kitchen Giveaway

May 10, 2013

Today we are so happy to offer Rhythm of the Home readers a chance to win an annual subscription to the Whole Family Kitchen meal plan series. Some of you may remember that Nicole, who owns and operates Whole Family Kitchen, was a contributor to the Being series here on the blog a couple of months back. She offered to return today so that we can share a bit more about her business, and offer readers here a chance to try out her fantastic meal planning service.

Nicole first found herself looking towards eating a more whole foods based diet after the birth of her first son, who seemed to have challenges related to food almost from the beginning. As she looked for ways to help her son, her family began to look to whole foods for healing and balanced nutrition. The end result of the research, planning, and hours of cooking that Nicole did is Whole Family Kitchen. Through the Whole Family Kitchen website, Nicole offers annual subscriptions to either gluten or grain-free meal plans, as well as regular blog posts on finding practical and tasty ways to incorporate whole foods into daily living. She also offers cooking tutorials that cover whole foods based kitchen basics such as making stock.

As some readers may already be aware, my (ROTH associate editor Annie speaking here) own family went gluten-free a little over a year ago, when my daughter was diagnosed with celiac disease. I have always considered myself a cook, and love feeding my family healthy, delicious meals. But the combination of a new baby, a new diet, and the final year of my husband’s medical school education proved to be a bit more than I could sanely manage to take on. I found myself floundering in the process of meal planning and then actually having the time and energy to follow through with any plans I did make. And, I found that my plans were lacking in many ways. As time went on, instead of getting better at planning for our new diet, I was getting increasingly overwhelmed.

On a whim, I signed up for Whole Family Kitchen. It has been about eight weeks since that day, and I have to say that the Whole Family Kitchen meal plans are probably the best thing that have happened to my family in a very long time. The recipes are awesome, in large part because they are creative and interesting, and the inclusion of the weekly shopping list is pretty key for someone like myself right now. I have found that the plans are incredibly practical and feasible, but are also very clever and include tons of stuff I would never have thought of myself! Perhaps the biggest benefit of having signed up for the annual plan is the fact that much of my anxiety about meals has been alleviated. For my family, part of the healing process involved with our daughter’s celiac diagnosis goes beyond just physical health; it is also about finding a rhythm with healthy cooking and eating habits that make us feel as though we are finally on the right track.

There is a lot to be said for the mental healing that happens when you finally feel that you are making and eating the right kinds of foods for your body and offering those things to your growing children too. I didn’t realize just how large this loomed in my consciousness until the day that I found myself at the computer, deleting all the photos of wheat-laden foods I had given my daughter in the past. Apparently, I had some issues. And this fact is one of the reasons why finding Nicole and Whole Family Kitchen has been such a blessing for us. If any of you find that you are also trying to sort out the process of making whole foods based eating easier and more practical, while also trying to get them to taste good enough that your kids will eat them, I think that it is very much worth checking out Nicole’s site. I can’t tell you how glad I am that we did!

Today Nicole is offering one Rhythm of the Home Reader a free annual subscription to Whole Family Kitchen. To enter, leave a comment on this post. We will pick a winner via random number generator next Friday, May 17th. Nicole is also offering ROTH readers a 30% discount on Whole Family Kitchen plans! Enter “RHYTHM30″ at checkout between now and the end of May to redeem the discount.

Thanks, Nicole!

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From the Editors:: Happy May Day!

May 1, 2013

yellow-dogwood-sm

Throughout much of the northern hemisphere, May 1^st is given to celebrating May Day. In the United States, the most prominent tradition is the hanging of baskets of blossoms on the doors of our friends and neighbors, often anonymously. (For simple ideas on making May Day containers, see Nicola’s piece in the Spring 2011 edition of RotH, Spring Flower Crafting.)

The history behind May Day is rich and complex, and our simple celebrations on this day reflect ties to ancient beliefs. It is no wonder that the beginning of May has inspired people of different cultures to create symbolic gestures like our modern May Day baskets. In the past several weeks in the central US, the lush flowers on trees are unfolding into displays of color that seem all the more vibrant after a long winter full of neutral grays and browns. Neighbors are meeting more often outdoors, while cleaning out garden beds and enjoying the warmth of the sun. Children are playing in the golden evening light a bit longer before bedtime, asking for a few more minutes of time running in the grass. Even those of us who have opened doors today to a fresh coat of snow can still see the tips of the daffodils, and feel their promise.

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Our May Day traditions are rooted in the transition of the natural world. We have emerged from the internal quiet pace of the winter into a season full of noise and color and light. When we reach out to our friends and neighbors with simple gifts of blossoms, we are sharing not only the beauty of the season, but also an invitation to emerge. An opportunity to come out of our homes and have shared experiences among the greening trees.

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Perhaps what we are trying to convey with our handmade baskets of blossoms is just this: renewal is what we can always count on. That all that is within us has the power to emerge, even after a long winter of lying dormant. Happy May Day.

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