Vermicomposting

So Vermicomposting, or the fancy name for composting with worms, is my new project to reduce my environmental impact.

Vermicomposting is a great way to compost especially for people that don't have access to a yard. I do have a yard, but outdoor composting gets complicated in the winter time here. Also, if you're able to compost, recycle, and reuse, you can significantly reduce the waste being produced by your household. I learned that generally one worm bin is enough for two people, so a large family, might need to get creative or possible starting blending their compostables before giving them to the worms.

I mentioned that in Spruce Grove we were lucky enough to have a city compost pick up, but it was also pointed out that although that's great, it takes fuel to truck around picking up all the compost bins. Valid point. Also that you never know what your neighbour is throwing in their compost bin. If you have your own worm bin, you know exactly what goes into it. And what comes out of it is amazingly rich and nutritious soil.

I feel like there is also some spiritual benefits of physically dealing with the worms. It forces you to get up close and personal with what your soil is made out of and teaches you an appreciation for what a huge impact such a small creature can make. I've really been enjoying this process.

I took a course on composting with worms, and I'd say so far I've only really been mildly successful. My worms haven't died, but they're not flourishing. But, I'm still learning, so hopefully with time, I'll be able to expand my small worm bin into two.

Ego

I was reading a book this week and there was a line in it that really stuck with me. There are four phrases that lead to wisdom: "I'm sorry. I was wrong. I need help. I don't know."

We've had a lot of lessons recently on the importance of setting aside our egos when it comes to learning. It's easy to think to myself that I approach my learning with an open mind, but I know if I am honest with myself, that's not always true.

At the beginning of each class as I step onto the mats, I've been thinking to myself, "I am an empty vessel." This has really been helping me to get into the right mental state to learn and absorb new lessons. I've always been a fan of learning through teaching. I love questions that challenge my knowledge and make me analyze the intricacies of the things I'm doing. It's very easy to become complacent and assume that I am doing something right when in fact, I am wrong. I am learning to say things like, "I don't know", but have also been gaining a lot of confidence in answering questions that I feel I do know the answers to. Hopefully with this perspective, I will get the most out of the opportunities I have ahead of me.

Goals

I thought since this Sunday I will be busy with a lot of family stuff, I'd start my long weekend off right.

I had a moment last night. A very important mental breakthrough for me. It wasn't about my flow as Sifu Brinker was trying to show us all, it was about my goals and what they mean to me.

For the last two years on the team, I had meditation as a goal. The first year, I had number of minutes, and this year I just tried for meditation every day. No matter the quantity. And for the last two years I've struggled with this goal. I have a hard time incorporating it into my day and I would say mostly it's because I let myself get too distracted and I'm not prioritizing it.

 I had so many reasons as to why I wanted meditation as a goal. It would help me manage stress (very important for auto-immune diseases), help me sleep better, keep me in a healthy mental state. I forgot one very important reason though. The most important reason for me and the easiest way for me to motivate myself to be disciplined. I really love meditation. I really like sitting still, somewhere quiet and preferably dimly lit, and just letting go while I focus on my breath. It's been a long time since I've sat and meditated and not felt distracted.

All of those other things are important benefits that meditation can have, but they don't motivate as much as just practicing something that I enjoy. I small shift in perspective.

The Omnivore's Dilemma

I finished reading this book actually quite a while ago but I've been continuing to process it for quite some time. I'm a big fan of the author Michael Pollan. He's written a few books I've read and he's done some interviews and made a couple of videos on how important our relationship with food is.

The Omnivore's Dilemma is the idea that because humans, as omnivores, eat so many types of food, and we have access to transportation and food preservation techniques. It causes the question of, what we are going to eat, into a dilemma.

There are four different chapters traving four different types of food chains. The first; the industrial food chain. Subsidized crops, feed lots and fast food are primarily what this chapter is about, and I know it caused some controversy, but I found it very disturbing. The second is the industrial organic food chain. Although the organic market is much more regulated and there have been studies that show it's more nutritious, there are still some big questions to ask about this method. Mono culture and lots of fossil fuels used for transportation following this food chain makes you question it's sustainability. The third chapter is about a polyface, multispecies meat farm that believes in local farming and producing smaller quanitity for a better quality of life for their animals. The last chapter is a chapter all about hunting and foraging and how to produce all of your own food from the wild. An unrealistic approach for most. The over population of the earth would make it pretty impossible for us to all live from foraging in the wild.

I guess the thing that gets me the most about this book is that it asked big questions caused quite a bit of internal debate. How do I feel about eating meat and why? Where does guilt come from? Do I have a food culture and what is it? Do I appreciate what I have access to? Can I continue to support the fast food industry the way it operates currently? We've talked about mindful eating in the meetings in the past, and having food chains traced back to the beginning really makes you think about where your food comes from and what it has gone through to get to you. It made me shop more mindfully, and eat more mindfully.

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." - Michael Pollan

https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_pollan_gives_a_plant_s_eye_view

New Lessons

In black belt class on Thursday we learned a new form. It was so cool. Something I'd never been exposed to before. Dragon form part 1. While working with Sifu Hayes he gave a chuckle and said to me, "you really like to break things down into fine details don't you?".. I didn't think about it too much at the time, but since then I've been reflecting a lot on the progress I've made in the past year and a half.

I have discovered the greatest gift that GBS has given me. I love kung fu. I'm fascinated by it. I get excited every time I think of all the things I don't know yet, of all the things I've already learned, and about how to pass on those lessons.

When I first came back to class I had to learn through watching. I couldn't do, some things I still can't do, and so it taught me to watch everyone very closely. I had to learn to break things down while I watched. I spent my time analyzing every body movement that I was seeing.

Then once I could practice a little, I had to relearn everything. Sifu Brinker has brought up often what an opportunity this is for me. To already have the knowledge and eye for detail of a black belt, but to physically retrain myself all over again. I didn't understand this until recently. It's easy to get wrapped up in everything that's going on physically. I never realized all of the new things I was learning. Don't get me wrong, there's definitely a lot of muscle memory, but I really had to think of how my body was moving. I had to watch and try to figure out how to make my body do what everyone else's was doing.

This has really given me a much better ability to break down movements. I can spend a whole evening working on a form and just focusing on my wrists. I watched the blue/brown class doing Hung I and I've been preoccupied with it's simplicity for a couple of weeks now. Analyzing how I'm moving, what I've been missing and how I can start to make improvements. I'm really excited.

Like I said at the meeting, I have to be creative sometimes to keep myself motivated, but I've been learning so much from everyone around me that I just can't help but be pretty darn pumped about it right now.

Lots of Talk About Acts of Kindness

Watching Mr. McKee's posts about acts of kindness has reminded me to be kind. I don't consider myself unkind, but I have a tendency to hurry through my life forgetting the small things that can make a big difference. 

I am very fortunate to work for my parents. It's great because everyone has known me for years, and so they are very understanding when I need to lay down for 20 minutes to take a rest. I work as a purchaser, making sure everyone has the supplies that they need for hazardous materials removal. As such, I have the opportunity to interact with a lot of different people in a day. A lot of the people are sales people that are always trying to convince me that their product is the best for the best price. Although sometimes this can get annoying, I've really been working on being understanding. We all have to make a living somehow, and as long as we have respectful relationships, I'm pretty happy. I made a special effort this week to be patient and courteous, but honest with the reps I deal with. Why I'm not purchasing their products, and what we can do together to make our working relationship better. 

I noticed this also makes a big difference when people are approaching me to buy, for example, girl guide cookies. I don't want or need girl guide cookies since I can't eat them (food allergies), but rather than trying to avoid their questions, I have started to just look them straight in the eye, smile, and say no thank you.. I feel less guilty for not supporting their cause, and I think it makes them feel better because I've taken the time to recognize the value in what they're doing. It's no different when I'm working to raise money for our own causes. I just need to keep that in mind for the future. It's a small change, but it feels big. 

The Joys of Aging

This week has been an interesting one. Straight off the plane I started feeling sick and was ridiculously nauseous. The first day I thought I might have the flu, but by the second day, I realized that there was something else going on. I went into the doctor and was told I had a major buildup of fluid in my ears. This is not the first time this has happened to me, but fortunately this time, my eardrum didn't burst. So I've been pretty laid up. Until Friday I was mostly useless although I tried my best to hold it together at classes since I told Sifu Freitag I would be there.

I had the wonderful experience today of celebrating my mom's birthday. As a kid, I remember that everything at home seemed like a chore, but as an adult I'm lucky to have outgrown that perspective and had a wonderful time cooking what turned out to be a great meal for my parents. There was some experimentation  but all went fairly well.

Reflecting on how much I enjoyed making and sharing the meal, I've decided that aging is great. I wish I had the perspective I have now when I was young. Not that I didn't have some spectacular moments in my youth, but I wish I could have appreciated them more. Living in the moment has become something that through the process of the I Ho Chuan I've sort of adapted to. I've never had this necessarily as the forefront of my goals, but I think through pursuing mastery, I've been drawn into this practice.

It makes me appreciate so much more, all of the things I have, and all of the things I can look forward to.