What does it mean to nurture your nature?
So glad you asked! I've always been a bit of an eccentric girl. Marched to the beat of my own drum, told my mom I wanted to be a vampire bat when I grow up and stared longingly out of my window wondering when my spaceship was returning to beam me back up to my planet. I was quick to realize that these quirks and idiosyncratic beliefs would make me a social-leper if I shared them too openly, and so I stifled and buried my natural tendencies and whimsical traits under a flimsy Normal Girl costume riddled with self-consciousness and fear of exposure. The burden of holding up a constant mask, and experiencing the rejection I was trying so hard to prevent, plagued my teenage years with inexorable anxiety and bouts of unbearable depression.
Fast forward to being nearly twenty-four years old, and I've grown weary of maintaining the charade. Kurt Vonnegut, a dark humoured literary-crush of mine, said "You are who you pretend to be." Well shit. Then who I am? I've spent my whole life pretending! Last year, I decided to get comfortable with being uncomfortable after my world was turned upside down. It broke me open, which gave me the opportunity to put myself back together; to build a woman I'm really proud of. This jarring experience made me realize I'd been operating on autopilot. I wasn't excited about a damn thing. I had no zeal, no drive. I explored my quirks, my distinctions, my neuroses and affable attributes. I rediscovered my likes, dislikes, values, sense of humour, ideologies, passions - and that noble expedition lead me to this blog. Nurturing the person I naturally am. Embracing the flaws and acknowledging the magnificent, and empowering others to do the same. The journey towards a life that sets your soul aglow.
In my nomenclature process, I enjoyed that nature was a double-entendre. I'm not only referencing your innate, authentic self but also the organic, biological lifeforms surrounding us that we rely on so deeply for optimal health. Immersion in nature, consumption of nature. In a nurturing way. Leave nature better than you found her.
The question you should be asking isn't,
"What do I want?" or "What are my goals?"
but "What would excite me?"
- Timothy Ferriss
Allow me to introduce myself
I'm a seventy year old in twenty-three year old body. A contemporary old soul. I have experienced a staggering amount of hilarious, heartbreaking, breathtaking, straight-out-of-a-movie moments for what some may consider a brief existence; ones I feel others could extract some life lessons from. I'm a nutritionist, but I'm not like a regular nutritionist. I'm a cool nutritionist! I believe in dark, leafy greens as much as I believe in cookie dough ice cream. I'm also particularly enamoured with nutrition that enhances, balances & protects the brain and mental health - it is troubling to me that anxiety, depression, mood disorders, dementia and a slew of other diseases seem to have made their way into every household. I strive to make these less commonplace.
I love empowering people with food-freedom. Considering our very survival counts on eating, we sure over-complicate the f*$k out of it. I am all too familiar with being paralyzed with too many choices, temptations and self inflicted guilt trips. I hate that anyone hates their body, but I love educating people about deconstructing nutrition; simplify it, go on an information diet, cut out the pseudoscience, celebrity endorsements and the fads. Live your life to the fullest, walk by a mirror naked and do a li'l double take (I see you!) and eat with intention and enjoyment.
If you're not too glossy eyed yet, I have one last passion of mine to share. I seem to love topics that the media is over-saturated with, that leaves people confused and balled up on the floor waving a white flag. Another one that our very survival depends on, and yet we're all bloody clueless! You guessed it: Relationships. I've delved deep into understanding human connection, why we behave the way we do, why he never calls back and why she doesn't like the guy who will actually treat her well. I'm hoping one day to return to University to receive a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a Masters in Relationship Counselling & Sex Therapy, because this topic is one of which I am never bored of discussing, researching and learning more about, from all different opinions and perspectives. While I am no expert (yet), I will be offering my Millennial Musings about modern dating, relationships, sex- and how these tie in to my focal passion of mental health. I'll be offering some anecdotal references; you'll want to read about the crazy things I've been through if not for anything but a damn good laugh.
If you wait for the 'perfect' timing, you'll be waiting forever. Someday never comes. What we're most afraid of doing is often what we're most in need of doing. Now is the time to nurture your nature.
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