Back in November 08′, my closest friend introduced me to the world of blogging. Before that time, I was content to just float around online, clicking on anything that intrigued me or tickled me. I didn’t know how much it would impact my life personally because quite frankly, I really didn’t think anyone would read my mental diarrhea. After she helped me launch my first site, The Alopecian Muse, I was hooked. It was a turbulent time in my life because just as I was getting the hang of blogging, our world was turned upside down when we had to flee our home due to toxic mold. We left everything we owned behind, including the computer I was using! Geez, talk about horror right? What do you do without a computer? The computer became a gateway of sorts to finding my voice. Don’t get me wrong, I have plenty of ready opinions, but there was something about blogging and staying connected to not only my readers, but also to the online communities that I had grown so fond of. The dilemma of being computer-less was taken care of when I was presented a new one as a gift when I arrived out here in New Mexico. Our lives from the time we entered NM has been in a constant state of flux. There have been times where it was impossible to blog and there have been times when things going on in the world were just so overwhelming, I didn’t even know how to properly express my inner angst. So why start yet another blog? I do have a category on my main blog site that has a category “Ravishingly Raw,” but I just thought it would be better not to overwhelm the blog with just one particular topic. I like to mix things up a bit.

I was thinking about what my intentions were in creating this site, and the only thing I could come up with was that life is far more than food. While the name of this site is “Ravishingly Raw” I want the focus to be more on being ravishing in all I do. Food is just a vehicle and shouldn’t preoccupy the majority of my life. When we are “cooked” we don’t really think much about what we eat, we just smell something and say, “Oooo, I’m in the mood for this or that,” open the fridge or cabinet, grab it and heat it up. With raw foods it is a little more entailed, but I still don’t think we should be spending hours preparing foods. I want my life to be the focus, not what I put in my mouth. On average it usually takes me about 20 minutes to prepare my meals, and I only eat once or twice a day. I only eat when my body wants food, and I sit and enjoy whatever I create. Back when I was raw the first time, I used to sit for hours dreaming up new creations and then spending just as much time preparing very complex recipes. But that was my life, my everything! My husband and I taught workshops, catered parties and provided a raw food delivery service, so how could it not be my life right? Well, what about this time around? The temptation is to move back into teaching and doing workshops, catering and providing a raw meal service, but I couldn’t commit ourselves to that. We are in a different place in our lives now, and for the majority of people that are choosing to go raw, I don’t know if they want to scrap their identity and do a major overhaul of their whole lives to teach and provide raw foods to others. For some reason it seems like the natural progression of a raw foodist. They start out raw, love it and all the sudden they are teaching others. There’s nothing wrong with teaching others, but we can’t forget about our heart’s desire either. What is our passion? What do we want out of this life, and how do we accomplish what we want while being raw? Being a raw foodist means different things to different people. Bottom line is that you eat raw foods. That couldn’t be more simple right? But rules and regulations have been put on such a wonderful lifestyle, causing inner turmoil in the hearts of others. I’ve seen the back biting if a person isn’t 100% raw from so-called veterans that have been raw for more than a few years. I would like to see the shift from always talking about food (which is a distraction from our lives) to talking about who we are and who we are becoming, all the while becoming more radiant and healthy along the way.

Some choose raw foods as a way to loose weight, conquer addictions and to cure diseases that may have taken root. Ok, say you lose the weight, conquer those addictions and cure your ailments…now what? What does your life look like and how how are you living it? Is it always about the food? Or is there more? I want to know what makes a person’s life more radiant…more Ravishing.

Tags: becoming radiant, Going Raw, life choices, living as a raw foodist, passion, raw training, raw vocations, raw workshops