One of the biggest adjustments, for me, becoming vegan (or at least more healthy) was NO MORE CHEESE DIP!!!
In fact, nearly all the creamy dishes always contained milk, butter, or cheese in varying proportions.
It’s only been a year since I’ve made the shift. I can’t claim to be vegan, as I generally have some sushi rolls weekly and a steak once every other month or so. But this morning, while making hashbrowns, I was craving cheese.
Cheesy hashbrowns, to be exact!
What I used to say to vegans, as a carnivore, was, “Why do you keep making things that are like meat products?!” Faux Sausage. Fake Burgers. Fake Hot Dogs. The list is long. MAKE UP YOUR OWN DISHES!
After a year, I can tell you, it’s nearly impossible to completely shed the culture we live in. Backyard grilling. Fast food. Commercials. There are just no avocado sandwich or mushroom burgers on the menu at McDonald’s (not that I would personally eat a mushroom burger).
But I digress.
Today, I wanted some cheesy hashbrowns. And I’m going to share the ingredients and approximate proportions. My wife tried it and loved it. And she is a hardcore vegan after being a vegequarian for years.
Eric’s Cheesy No-Cheese Sauce
1/2 cup of Cashews (or cashew pieces) (Add more for thicker sauce)
1/2 cup of Almond milk
1/2 teaspoon of chipotle seasoning
1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon of onion powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
Mix all ingredients in a blender. Pour into sauce pan and warm.
The idea is, cashews and almond milk give a creamy texture and the garlic, onion, and salt help with the cheese flavor. Adding the chipotle, cumin and pepper give it an extra kick and more along the lines of a cheese dip.
These measurements are approximate. Cause, well… I winged it.
Why is it that so many archaeological discoveries are automatically attributed to be temples and places of worship? Gobekli Tepe, a HUGE area of buildings, predates Stonehenge by 6000 years (messing up general historic timelines for human development) and they say it’s a temple??
Will archaeologists of the future uncover our shopping malls and believe it to be plazas dedicated to the worship of individual gods? The god Nike, Apple, Kohls, Target, Dillards, and Tropical Smoothie…the god of brain freezes? It’s obvious that our shopping malls deal with the ‘divine.’ Just look at the temple of Victoria! Here we see angels!
Will our modern day stadiums be viewed as places of weekly worships where we would re-enact ancient battles every week, display the holy pigskins, speak in tongues, and each participant would wear the holy ornaments of the animal gods that the battle participants adorned? So pervasive is this religion of fuutball, that the youth are indoctrinated at a very young age at mini-religious fields in communities, schools, and colleges.
Maybe Göbekli Tepe wasn’t a temple. Maybe it was a series of training pods for some activity we’ve long forgotten.
In a move I haven’t made since the very first day of the year, I’m using my own quote.
It has often been suggested that while, as the human race, we have learned more as we focus intently on subject, it’s possible that we are completely blind to things going on around us. What do you think?
Does the ant see the city or focus on the crumbs?
– Eric Huber
Downloadable PDF
Eric Huber on Focus (8″x8″ PDF) You are free to print and share, but not to sell.
This January 25th, 2012, at Unity of Fayetteville, I’ll be creating an Artist’s Way Creative Cluster. This 12 week process is based on Julie Cameron’s best selling The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity.
For those of you unfamiliar with The Artist’s Way, it began with author Julia Cameron sharing her ideas with a few artists in her living room. Almost 4 million copies of The Artist’s Way and more than two decades of teaching her creativity tools around the world in lecture and workshop form. The book focuses on unblocking your creativity with tools, exercises, and journaling.
I have been using The Artist’s Way as part of a Graphic Design class titled Creative Identity I for the past four years at the New Design School in Fayetteville, Arkansas. While I have done the exercises along with the class each time and have had huge creative breakthroughs, I have decided to create a “Creative Cluster” which is more peer based.
I’ve found that most people who have gone through the 12 week process discover HOW they create and WHAT they love to create. From writing to art to music to screenplay writing, this course is not just about traditional ‘art.’ It is for those wishing to let their artistic ‘inner artist’ out onto the world. For those people told, “You’re not ‘good enough’.” For those who even help others in their creative endeavors while letting yours be stuffed and buried.
We’ll have an Introductory Class on the 25th to answer questions and do an introduction to the course which will start February 1st, 2012.
What do I need to attend and how much is it?
The class is free, but it is suggested to bring a donation for Unity of Fayetteville when you can. $5 is a usual amount, but NOT required (you can also donate more if you like).
Cameron never offered ‘certification’ for The Artist’s Way. She wanted the process to be free to everyone. As stated before, I will help get things started, facilitate when needed, and let the group become peer oriented for our Creative Cluster.
The Two Basic Tools
The Artist’s Way uses TWO basic tools: Morning Pages and the Artist Date. These two things help in the creative recovery. Learn more about these tools on her site.
Additional Class Guidelines
(From Julie Cameron’s Website)
Use a Twelve-Week Process with a Weekly Gathering of Two to Three Hours. The morning pages and artist dates are required of everyone in the group, including facilitators. The exercises are done in order in the group, with everyone, including the facilitator, answering the questions and then sharing the answers in clusters of four, one chapter per week. Do not share your morning pages with the group or anyone else. Do not reread your morning pages until later in the course, if you are required to do so by your facilitator or your own inner guidance.
Avoid Self-Appointed Gurus. If there is any emissary, it is the work itself, as a collective composed of all who take the course, at home or otherwise. Each person is equally a part of the collective, no one more than another. While there may be”teachers,” facilitators who are relied on during the twelve-week period to guide others down the path, such facilitators need to be prepared to share their own material and take their own creative risks. This is a dialectic rather than a monologue – an egalitarian group process rather than a hierarchical one.
Listen. We each get what we need from the group process by sharing our own material and by listening to others. We do not need to comment on another person’s sharing in order to help that person. We must refrain from trying to”fix” someone else. Each group devises a cooperative creative “song” of artistic recovery. Each group’s song is unique to that group – like that of a pod or family of whales, initiating and echoing to establish their position. When listening, go around the circle without commenting unduly on what is heard. The circle, as a shape, is very important. We are intended to witness, not control, one another. When sharing exercises, clusters of four within the larger groups are important: five tends to become unwieldy in terms of time constraints; three doesn’t allow for enough contrasting experience. Obviously, not all groups can be divided into equal fours. Just try to do so whenever you can.
Respect One Another. Be certain that respect and compassion are afforded equally to every member. Each person must be able to speak his own wounds and dreams. No one is to be”fixed” by another member of the group. This is a deep and powerful internal process. There is no one right way to do this. Love is important. Be kind to yourself. Be kind to one another.
Expect Change in the Group Makeup. Many people will – some will not – fulfill the twelve-week process. There is often a rebellious or fallow period after the twelve weeks, with people returning to the disciplines later. When they do, they continue to find the process unfolding within them a year, a few years, or many years later. Many groups have a tendency to drive apart at eight to ten weeks (creative U-turns) because of the feelings of loss associated with the group’s ending. Face the truth as a group; it may help you stay together.
Be Autonomous. You cannot control your own process, let alone anyone else’s. Know that you will feel rebellious occasionally – that you won’t want to do all of your morning pages and exercises at times in the twelve weeks. Relapse is okay. You cannot do this process perfectly, so relax, be kind to yourself, and hold on to your hat. Even when you feel nothing is happening, you will be changing at great velocity. This change is a deepening into your own intuition, your own creative self. The structure of the course is about safely getting across the bridge into new realms of creative spiritual awareness.
Be Self-Loving. If the facilitator feels somehow “wrong” to you, change clusters or start your own. Continually seek your own inner guidance rather than outer guidance. You are seeking to form an artist-to-artist relationship with the Great Creator. Keep gurus at bay. You have your own answers within you.
If you are interested in joining our group or have questions, please visit our facebook group page or email me.
Link to course description: http://juliacameronlive.com/the-artists-way/
When you look at any successful person, be they a writer, artist, CEO, soldier, mother, or father, each one will tell you that they got where they are today because of guidance or help from someone. Maybe a teacher, tutor, parent, partner, or mentor.
Did you know not everyone knows how to ask for help?
While some people don’t believe they are deserving of help, others believe it is a sign of weakness or ignorance. I bring this up, today, because I’m one of those people who doesn’t know how to ask for help. Just like the Beatles song Help!:
When I was younger, so much younger than today,
I never needed anybody’s help in anyway.
But now these days are gone, I’m not so self assured,
Now I find I’ve changed my mind, I’ve opened up the doors.
A few years ago, I took “Happiness Coaching” from Dr. Aymee Coget and during the three months of coaching I had to get several friends and acquaintances to write about my three strongest traits. I was humbled by everything that was said about me. And there was one thing that came up with nearly every person: “I always know I can count on Eric to help and I wish he’d ask for help in return,” paraphrased, of course.
Well, it’s almost over two years since that coaching and that phrase has been bubbling up from my subconsciousness quite a bit.
So I started asking
A few months ago, I started vocalizing to my friends, family, and associates that I might need some help, but I didn’t know in what way yet. They all said, “Just let me know!”
I did some research to see what malady or bad wiring I had in my head that keeps me from asking for help, and determined I didn’t fit in any of the categories listed. I don’t believe I don’t deserve help. I don’t feel arrogant that I know everything. And I’m not afraid of looking stupid. I blog after all, right?
Now, when I say “Ask for help,” I don’t mean, “Can you help me move?” or “Can you help me with a job?” or “Can you give me a ride?” or “Can you take over my bookkeeping?” Those are all easy enough for me, (except the bookkeeping one).
No. Mine are bigger and more complex. At least, maybe they are.
My problems to solve?
I came to the conclusion that I, somehow, got in my head at a very young age that I either HAVE TO solve all problems by myself, OR I should ALWAYS attempt to solve problems on my own before bothering anyone with my problem.
One of the vivid memories I have from when I was about 10 years old, before my brother was born, was telling my mom about a nightmare I had. She was concerned and asked me, “Who do you turn to when you’re scared at night?” I didn’t know the answer. She asked, “You don’t wake your dad or I up at night, do you ask God to protect you?” I remember looking at her funny and saying, “Mom, I just get up and go to the bathroom. That’s what nightmares are for, to wake you up so you don’t wet the bed.”
I also have come to believe that I have gone through a series of disappointments or bad advice that has also led me to the practice of solving all the problems first before either giving up, or finding some outside help. I won’t go into details, but there have been several major ones that have recently come to mind while pondering this affliction.
Of course, I also have realized I’ve probably let people down too. A few of those have sprung to mind, which I will go work on correcting immediately.
Peggy Collins, author of Help is Not a Four Letter Word, says that people who suffer from “Self-Sufficiency Syndrome” (clever), can and do suffer from burn out quite a bit. On a cursory examination of the book (now on order for myself), shows some interesting connections in needing to ‘control’ things in life. I don’t see that for myself, but will delve into it more deeply.
“ERIC! Are you going to ask or what?”
So, here I am writing an article called “HELP!” and I haven’t asked for anything.
Typical, eh? (I’d laugh, but probably shouldn’t).
Since you can only lead a horse to water and you can’t make ‘him’ drink (which, unfortunately makes me the horse), maybe I should start making a list of areas where my skills aren’t strong.
Rising Superstar (in my opinion) Cellist, Tina Guo (who plays classical and hard rock (serious yin & yang)…check out her signature piece Queen Bee), is one of four social entrepreneurs I’m following and trying to connect with. They have shown me that while you CAN do a lot of things on your own, you should surround yourself with people who support your passion. Synergize with others to create, pay people who do things easily that you have to work hard to do, and spend your time doing what you love.
It also helps to read lots of self-help, motivational, and inspirational materials to propel you forward (thus gaining textual mentors from many eras). And I’m talking self-help books from interpersonal skills to business skills.
Is it possible I don’t ask for help because I don’t want to bother others with my ‘stuff?’ Or is it I only want help from others who wish to use their passions to help?
Let’s start with this…
How do you recognize when you truly need help?
Thanks for reading. Thanks for any help you’ve given me (or may give in the future). And remember these words by the Beatles (but my favorite rendition by Joe Cocker), “I get by with a little help from my friends.”
