by Stacey Terry
Where do I start today?
I suppose by putting down the soggy tissue I’m holding and adding it to the pile of other soggy tissues that seem to have accumulated since listening to Tera’s BiG call with Julia Butterfly Hill, our BiG speaker who dedicated two years of her life to protecting the Redwoods she loves.
Does it happen to you?
Do you ever get inspired so much that you commit to doing something you’re not sure you can do? Something so BiG, you may need help?
A thought gets in… a feeling comes over you… and it wiggles its way into the place where your heart is *really* beating… not that place where a muscle moves bloods and circulates the oxygen, but the place where your inner self beats its loving and quiet, often too quiet, rhythm. And you feel and hear that soulful beat, you experience the rush of inspiration, of beauty, of love…
That’s how I feel after listening to THAT call.
I want to babble excitedly about every word that resonated, every truth that shouted in a joyous YES, every reason that I feel SO alive in this moment that I just had to sit down at the computer and write.
If people could feel the real joy that was in that call, we’d be donating $100 000 to the Lower East Side Girls Club instead of $10 000. People spend a lot of money looking for happiness… Julia sure knows how to tell you where to find it.
I want you to know what a difference this call can make. That after listening to this call, I’m more inspired than ever to be me, and I trust that being me is all I have to do to make a BiG difference.
Being me includes knowing it’s okay to be honest… that it’s okay to admit I don’t always stick to a healthy path… that I still struggle with self-medicating with food, that my jeans have gotten tighter and tighter and put away and then the new jeans got tighter and tighter, and I can’t believe I’m where I am again. Being me includes admitting that my personal mountain to climb is figuring out how to love myself unconditionally, no matter what my jeans tell me. (You just *have* to hear what Julia says about this!!)
But thankfully, being me ALSO includes being among the most supportive community with Tera and The Raw Divas and knowing that no one here judges me for being human, that I’m always offered gentle and loving encouragement to put my attention on the good, the green, and the glorious, that this community always holds me together, inspires me (like TODAY!), and gets me to the peaceful and positive place I deserve to be in. Even when I do binge on junk, I still return to green smoothies and the sunshine feeling that green smoothies and The Green Smoothie Queen bring, that I need, to cut through the clouds. And one of the reasons I can connect so well to people is because I KNOW personally from experience what they’re going through.
But in honour of that BiG call and Julia’s words, I’m going to do something FIERCE right now.
Our next 21-Day Detox is coming up on September 6th, 2010. And though I’m probably going to get a shaky feeling in my tummy when I hit the “Publish” button, I’m going to commit to a dark cloud-busting challenge and do Before and After photos for this detox. And while I know weight loss will be an effect, it’s more about the joy, about reconnecting with a more natural state… it’s more about reaching for the positive and beautiful within… the real toxins I need to release are the self-directed negativity and self-criticism that weigh me down.
I KNOW already what a difference raw food can make. My first introduction to The BES system in November 2008 was the most amazing raw food experience I’ve ever had, physically and emotionally. And working behind the scenes of The Green Smoothie Queen, I’m reminded daily of the difference that getting more greens can make.
And I know that if I can be vulnerable, if I can be open, if I can share what I learn and inspire others to bust through their dark clouds too, then I’m doing what I’m meant to be doing.
I feel ready.
I feel inspired.
I feel LOVE in a BiG BiG BiG Believe in Green way!
So I hope you’ll join me for the next 21-Day Green Smoothie Detox. I’m going to make this special. And with a nod to another of my heroes, Steve Pavlina, I’m going to follow my inspiration and make my progress public here on the blog. I’m going to be open and reach out to everyone else in the 21-Day detox group and we’ll get to our goals together. Maybe some of you will do some before and after pictures with me??
It’s not going to be about being perfect. It’s going to be about persistence and positive energy.
That’s the spirit of Julia Butterfly Hill. Tera is honouring that spirit too and she’s committed to continuing Believe in Green until we reach our $10 000 charity goal. Tera is going to make a new interview available each day until we reach our goal. We only need 200 more people to sign up. Remember that 100% of registrations go to support The Lower East Side Girls Club.
Julia’s call, her courage and love, is worth every penny of the $10.00 donation.
But be careful, because her words just might jump into your heart and then you’ll find yourself doing something beautiful and scary…
… like hitting the “Publish” button.