On and off and on again

Artwork by Matilda Heindow @crazyheadcomics

So, I took a bit of a break from my healthy eating program for a while.

I chose not to write about it as it was happening. Basically, I was feeling the truth of “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”

But now I’m close to finishing my first weekly fast in almost a month, grateful that it hasn’t been any harder than usual (phew!), and feeling ready to look at what happened.

Some of it was due to the (not unusual) “perfect storm” of stress, emotional eating, and going on vacation. But I realize another factor is that I got a little bored with my eating routine.

And that’s due not so much to having lots of restrictions, but rather to the fact that I don’t really want to be bothered with creative cooking. I mean, other people in my program post these awesome photos of delicious, tasty meals which I would gladly eat — if they just happened to magically appear on my table!

I think it’s a lingering side effect of my decades as a freelance musician in San Francisco.

My “at home” eating habits back then were pretty darn boring and routine (I could eat pasta and broccoli 4-5 times a week for months on end), but that was balanced by the fact that I ate out a great deal of the time.

Chinese food, taquerias, coffee houses, favorite breakfast spots…these and so much more were a huge part of what made living in San Francisco so fun. Then there was the fact that I was frequently eating on the way to gigs or at gigs.

There’s definitely not that kind of constant interest and variety around food in my life now, which is fine! I’m not really a “foodie” and I truly don’t want to go back to eating out constantly.

But I’m also not going to sweat the fact that, after seven months of being amazingly consistent, I felt the urge to cut loose for a time.

Taking an intensity break

There’s at least one more “Racial healing” blog post percolating in my mind, but I need a break. So here’s something I felt to share on Facebook a few days ago, starting with what I wrote to introduce it (the lyrics are included after the video):

Yesterday I felt the strong impulse to share this “funny” song of Swami Kriyananda’s. It’s based on a story that Yogananda used to tell. Right now, it’s the TRUTH of the song that is resonating with me, not so much the humor. “What we need is light!”

Yes, It’s Devil Worship
by Swami Kriyananda

Brother, I’ve a faint suspicion
You and I’ve been led astray:
Taught to drive the devil from us,
We’ve invited him to stay!

What we need is light!
For we can’t drive out the darkness
With a stick, with a stick,
No, we can’t drive out the devil with a stick.

Some proclaim all men are sinners,
Can’t escape the devil’s might.
How their interest must intrigue him,
They won’t let him out of sight!

What we need is light!
For we can’t drive out the darkness
Talking sin, talking sin,
No, we can’t drive out the devil talking sin.

Some of us were taught the slogan:
“Social evils must be slain!”
But can anger drive out sorrow?
How can passion conquer pain?

What we need is light!
For we can’t drive out the darkness
While we hate, while we hate,
No, we can’t drive out the devil while we hate.

Brother, have you ever wondered
Why the darkness lingers on?
If we want to see the sunrise
Let us turn and face the dawn!

What we need is light!
For we’ll only best the darkness
When we love, when we love,
Yes, we’ll only best the devil when we love!

Time out

It goes against the grain, but once in a great while it has to be done…and we’re doing it tomorrow.. Namely, we’re consciously choosing not to do our Saturday sing-along in order to avoid a complete crash-and-burn.

I’m particularly proud of Ramesha for accepting the need for this small break. He’s been going at it full speed ahead for weeks now, and I can tell he’s starting to feel the pressure as he moves into the final week of his album launch.

It’s the culmination of close to a year of training, studying, investing, and overcoming obstacle after obstacle. He has stayed the course and is poised to reap the rewards. Yay, Ramesha!

P.S. Here’s the second lyric video, which I think is even more beautiful than the first one!