Tera Warner

My Pickled Personality and a Sneak Peek at Raw Mom, Cooked Dad

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I described myself that way to a dear friend today and I dare say, it fits.

My “pickled personality”.

Hmmm…

I love salt.

I love dill.

I love YOU, you crazy, courageous DIVA! I didn’t forget you, you know. You and your 21-day mission possible!Β  I admit that I have needed a few days to get my bearings and get on this blog to tell you what’s going on in my little world. It’s better for me to write from this bliss bubble within, than to put less than inspiring mumbo-jumbo out there. I know this wasn’t a high support challenge, but we threw it out there andΒ  did our best and that counts for something.

As each of us on our own brought the 21-day challenge to a conclusion, Mika celebrated her 9th birthday. We went swimming and had a great time together. She invited a couple friends and was so grateful that they came to celebrate her special day.

The next day was Father’s Day, and given that I come from a divorced family and have become a divorced family myself, special occasions like these keep me busy. πŸ˜‰ I would have liked to celebrate the Day of Dads in a more official way here, in Divaland, but it didn’t happen. So to all the Dads and Divos out there, we loooooove you and Happy Father’s Day!

The Raw Mom Summit has been taking up a lot of my attention and in only a few hours we’ll be making its release OFFICIAL! One reeeeally exciting thing that happened this weekend was that on the morning of the 21st, Matt Monarch called me up on his wedding day (!!!) for an exclusive interview on Love and Marriage, as part of the Raw Mom Summit.

It was beeeeautiful, but quick. Even though I had prepared a long list of things to ask him, in the presence of a still slightly groggy groom to be, I couldn’t bear discussing anything but looooove, sweet love. If you sign up for the Raw Mom Summit, you can access this 10 minute interview. He had some VERY sage wisdom, and after connecting with Shannon Leone (who did all the interviews for the Raw Mom Summit) I realized that Angela has spoken a lot about this special technique of theirs, too, on her Summit Interview. I’ve been trying it out with Mr. Right and it TOTALLY, TOTALLY WORKS! (Worth signing up for to find out what that is. ;-))

Pssst… that’s YOUR cue! —-> www.rawmomsummit.com

I finally got out a full color issue of Health in High Heels! That’s something to celebrate. I love that little newsletter, just need to get a bit better at time management in order to fit it all in, I suppose. Hmmm… guess that’s my cue to call in a time management specialist as an interview guest. πŸ˜‰

We’re going to be declaring our independence from cooked food and clutter with another session of the Body Enlightenment System coming up very soon! There’s actually so much going on, it’s hard for me to keep track of it all, but here’s the thing I’m MOST excited about right now. (Well, second most. The thing I’m MOST excited about is a secret still. ;-))

Raw Mom, Cooked Dad

This is a book I’ve been working on with Shannon Leone. It’s nearing completion and not a moment too soon. I’ve been so challenged and fascinated with my new relationship with Mr. Right these days, that the timing could not have been more perfect for me to be writing this book. If a cooked dad could be cooked, this guy’s barbqued, Baby! Meaty lasagna, wheaty bread and blue cheese. It’s almost surreal to watch myself in relationship to this person. I mean, I would have expected, insisted, suspected… something! that I fall in love with someone who eats the way I do and who understands and values the same nutritional principles I do. But we’re virtually speaking foreign tongues when it comes to food and it CHALLENGES ME SOOOOOO MUCH.

I love it.

I’ve only ever wanted to do the things that make the world a better place. I’ve only ever wanted to find a way to get this message out to the world in a way that is approachable, accessible and friendly. I laughed so hard the other day when he explained that he was proud of himself for accepting me as I am–weird and highly unusual. I laughed because I thought I was the one being tolerant and accepting!!!

It’s like relearning I’m being forced to relearn this whole lifestyle all over again. I watch my food-obsessed circuits play themselves while he sits smiling and wolfing down meaty lasagna telling me about the time he was soooo sick with a hangover and this meaty lasagna made him feel so much better, this food is practically therapeutic for him! I heard him justify the therapeutic value of “protein” and “calcium” and all the other hearty nutrients in food that I would consider unsuitable for human consumption.

I sit with a half-dazed look on my eyes while thoughts spit themselves out on the sidewalk of my mind:

“Doesn’t he KNOW the amount of carcingens in that thing?”

“Doesn’t he KNOW what that DOES to a person, to eat that way?”

“What about the animals!?!”

“What about the hydrogenated fats and opiate receptors in the brain?”

Doesn’t he GET IT that this food is killing him??!!!

At it is at precisely that moment that I am forced to take a few steps back from my own head and examine the carcinogenic nature of my thought processes.

Oprah touches the lives of millions of people every day. Does anyone reeeeally care that she eats chicken fingers at night? If I had a dollar for all the hours I’ve protested against the consumption of animals, I’d buy myself a book on nonviolent communication. The annihilation of chicken fingers won’t make the world a better place before honesty, truth and integrity does.

I don’t know how to teach people to care for the planet, to love and respect animal life until we empower and lift them up enough to value and respect their own life. I think, sometimes, we’ve got it backwards around here. We’re shouting out in the name of environmental awareness and frowning at fast food, but what if…

What if we all spent a bit more time validating the good we see in the world instead of complaining about what’s wrong with it?

What if we all spent a bit more time telling the truth (with love and respect) about how we feel and what we think, even if we’re afraid it might hurt to do so?

What if we kept less secrets and talked behind backs less so we could sit and exchange eye contact with mutual respect and admiration?

Without divulging too much of my own personal relationship goofups, I admit that I’ve tempted to date destiny in the form of a few raw food gurus a time or two with little success. To find myself crazy in love with the prosciutto-eating King of Sandwiches (as he likes to call myself), well, you can imagine my cerebral circuitry has been doing quite a marvelous dance of discovery these days.

I’m challenged to see the world in a different way.

I’m challenged to accept the idea that there’s more to life than what meets the eye. I always knew it, believed it to be true and now am being forced to PROVE IT!

So, until someone would like to measure the carcinogens in anger, hostility, hatred, ignorance, dishonesty and disgust, then I’m not convinced “raw food” is the answer to all our ills. Until someone can convince me that my thoughts are not responsible for the way I perceive my life and how I live it, then I’m putting more attention on love and affection than meaty lasagna.

Soooo, as you can see, I’m pretty passionate and super excited about this book coming out and will be talking a lot more about it.

In the meantime, it looks like my computer has finished charging. πŸ™‚ I promised myself some time in a park while I do some writing. Soooo, that’s enough from me for now.

Stay tuned, Snuggle puff! And let me know what YOU think about Raw Mom, Cooked Dad and surviving on raw food in a cooked food world. Now’s your chance, as I’m finishing up this manuscript, to get me to address some of the questions, concerns and thoughts you might have on this subject.

Awaiting your display of love and affection in the form of 1s and 0s in the comment box below, my deeear!

Hugs,

Tera