Feb 23 - happiness is a box of papayas...or maybe a footbal sized avocado

I'm in Hawaii! Really, what could be more amazing than that? Yeah, you're wondering, but is it really everything they always say it is? Well yes, it is. Here's my list of wonderful things I have experienced in the past two and a half days:

-Seeing my dad and little brother for the first time in 2 years, bursting into tears when my brother draped himself in my arms like a Raggedy Andy doll
-Sunshine, sunshine, sunshine
-Playing music with my dad, picking up the violin for the first time in years...and the whistle...and my country singer voice...where did all this musical confidence suddenly come from?
-Fresh papayas, avocados, pineapple, local greens...I could go on
-Making raw chocolates with my little brother (so umm yeah, the "cleanse" is now officially over with a substantial amount of avocados and homemade raw chocolate now appearing in my diet...more about this transition in a bit)
-Humpback whales: both mamas and babies, doing full breaches out of the water
-Swimming with a sea turtle (and touching it by accident, which, due to a completely unreasonable phobia of sharks, really freaked me out until I saw what it was)
-Random encounters w lovely people like the woman today who I think might be my Hawaiian fairy godmother, who just happened to sit beside us, share in raw chocolate and learn that we're both into the same type of natural healing using horses, the only other person I've ever met who is
-Buying a box of local produce filled with papayas, strange greens, a pineapple, etc. for $30!
-Watching my brother going from being scared of the water to boogie boarding by himself, in 2 days!
-Catching a wave w a body board
...the list could go on. And I still have 12 more days to go!

My trip over was quite smooth. Having been a little apprehensive about traveling raw it's so far proved to be just fine. I brought a stash of fresh and dried fruit, some green powders, superfoods, and other goodies. Some in my suitcase for use over the two weeks and others in my carry on to sustain me on the plane. This is my lunch on the ferry. As I looked around at my neighbors all enjoying their $12 White Spot lunches I really didn't feel like I was missing much. On the plane I survived on water, cranberry juice and smuggled dried figs.

Now traveling raw might be hard some places, but if you're going to do it, well Hawaii is probably the best place ever! A funny thing is how the locals look at me like I'm crazy when I'm loading up on the bounty this island offers. The urban harvesting possibilities are endless! The couple that sold me the $30 of produce were giggling and looking at me with looks that said: how can one girl possibly eat all that fruit and greens? I just grinned at them like a gleeful kid in a candy shop, especially after they added a bunch of free papayas to the stack.

The past two days have been magical. Serendipitous things keep happening, wonderful gifts offered, friendly people popping up. It's pretty great what the world will offer when you're moving through it with a big smile and joy for the beauty of the moment (which hasn't been difficult here).

So: my decision to re-insert the raw goodies back into my diet. Well it just sort of happened. The night before leaving I went to see David Wolfe talk in Victoria, which was inspiring! And they had all these chocolate goodies and his book Naked Chocolate there and the best quality cacao for sale and I just thought well, I guess this is the right time. I suddenly got this image of making chocolate and raw deserts for my family while in Hawaii and that I wouldn't want to if I wasn't going to eat them. I thought about how much my family would enjoy them, you get the picture...so I ate some chocolate. And after that...there was no turning back! I haven't been pigging out on nuts or anything, still keeping it good and green and fruity, but I have been enjoying the macadamia nuts grown by the man who owns the amazing little cottage we're renting. And we made chocolate, goji berry, macadamia nut bark. Jasper (my brother) was so in to it, telling Dad over and over "we're making chocolate from scratch!" and he ate tons! I felt really happy knowing that, though it was a treat, it was good for him and I could just let him enjoy it.

So that's the story of that. I feel good in my body and happy with this decision. And though I kind of wish I will be joining the beginning of the global juice feast this seems like the right move for me in this moment. I'm also already thinking of doing another juice feast later in the spring or summer. Also, let's not forget that eating raw is like living a cleanse, so things are still shifting and healing, just not at the rapid pace of a few weeks ago.

As you may have noticed I have changed the name of the blog. It didn't seem like Ariel's Juice Journey made sense now that I am no longer subsisting on just juice. But at the same time I don't want to get a new web address. So here we have it; the new name...and maybe a new header picture soon, but same address. So you'll still know where to find me.

Here's a few pics of the trip so far. Wish you could all be here, I don't think my goofy grin will wear off any time soon. I had a moment of feeling guilty today because everyone I love isn't enjoying this too. One of those "you don't deserve all this" thought patterns. Then I thought: forget that! I had a hard year, I've worked hard, even if I haven't "worked" I've still WORKED, and I DO deserve this. I decided the best thing I could possibly do is enjoy every moment.

Anyways, as Jasper likes to say: that's it for now. More adventure tales soon!

Here's my lovely little family from the East Coast (and if you live in Victoria that doesn't mean Toronto, that means Newfoundland).
































I like to call this one: Bliss on a Beach

Feb 19 - 2 more sleeps until Hawaii!!!

Sun sun sun...I am dreaming of this thing called warmth, of the feeling of the sun on my skin, of the taste of fresh papaya and fresh coconut water and fresh ocean swimming and a hug from my dad and little brother whom I haven't seen in 2 years!!! Can you tell I'm excited?! It's going to be a crazy few days what with all the traveling and the flying, so I'll probably be exiting blogland for a bit. But there's supposed to be internet on the island so I'll try to re-plug soon. Heavens knows what would happen if I didn't click away for too long, can humans live without computers anymore?

Did I mention how excited I am about the sun? Vitamin D...yumm

I'll try to take some real pretty pictures to share on my next entry.

Question: Does anyone think it's bad to keep this juice blog name when I'm no longer fully juicing? I've been wondering if I should change domains...but people are just starting to get to know this site...hmmm, conundrum.

Okay folks. Sending you love and a few silly sun quotes to warm your day.

“Today a new sun rises for me; everything lives, everything is animated, everything seems to speak to me of my passion, everything invites me to cherish it”
Ninon de Lenclos

“I just told you my dreams and you made me see that I could walk into the sun and I could still be me and now I can't deny nothing lasts forever.”
Anonymous

“Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us”
Samuel Smiles

“These things I warmly wish for you Someone to love, some work to do, A bit o' sun, a bit o' cheer, And a guardian angel always near”
An Irish Blessing

“Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away.”
Elvis Presley

Feb 18 - Life's ongoing challenges

I've given up counting days. I never have been one to stick to the facts. It just ain't my style I guess. It's funny how throughout this cleansing/healing process a day where I feel really good is often followed by a day where I feel really low. Today is one of the latter. My low days also seem to correspond with the day after I run up against criticism or conflict with someone regarding my health decisions. Funny...I don't want to be so sensitive to the comments and opinions of others, and yet even when I feel mentally strong in my choices, my physical sensations always give away how worn out I am after defending myself to the world. Maybe it's because I don't have a large reserve of energy built up yet. Or because I still feel fragile after a year of essentially hiding in my little cottage, contact with the outer world being far too intense for my battered body and soul

I've always liked to think of myself as one tough cookie (if you'll excuse the lame expression). You know: jumpin' on the back of a horse, totin' a big gun (or camera), ridin' into the mountains and survivin' off of roughage for months alone. The truth that I'm slowly beginning to admit is that, though I have a strong will and would never describe myself as wimpy, I am a very soft person. For a few months in the fall I was practicing Qi Gong with a group here in Victoria and my instructor at one point compared me and another girl, saying we paired well because she was so Yang and I was so Yin. I was shocked. Yin, me? A girl? Really? When I started thinking about this I realized how much more feminine I am than I have ever admitted. That got me thinking: How do you navigate this world as a woman when you don't fit into the "girly" category, as in I don't purr for large muscly men and I'm really not into being chatted up at a bar...and yet I'm not a "tomboy" either. But then again, what the hell do those labels mean anyways?

Ok...where am I going with this? My point is that I have been thinking about how, having been raised in a household with strong feminist beliefs, having been told that being a woman no longer restricts my choices in life, having grown up traveling alone, fending for myself and in the end working my ass off to prove that I don't need nobody...how do I marry that with the fact that I love to knit, get the utmost pleasure out of feeding just about anything, and really love it when I'm sitting inside creating something while there's a man outside my window chopping wood? Am I just recreating a society drawn female cliche? Are daughters of feminists aloud to keep house? Have we gone so far to prove that we're as strong and tough as the men that we're literally making ourselves sick? I am not the only woman my age I know in a cycle of some sort of burnout. In fact, I am thinking of starting a support group for women who have fallen into this gray area of creative, highly intelligent and intensely sensitive souls. Women full of passion and good intent, but living in what is still a patriarchal driven society that does not support a yin way of life. Is it any surprise that all things yin seem to be making a comeback? Yin yoga, slow food, process vs. the final goal. I spent four years at art school trying to peel the layers of my thoughts about this subject. And do you know how I did this? By working twelve hours a day, six days a week, non-stop until I was so tired it has taken me a year to get some semblance of strength back.

Ok, this entry has somewhat strayed from the subject of juice. But I think it's okay because what we're talking about is another side of creating total health. These are the deeper challenges of creating lasting health and a lifestyle that will support that, regardless of how we are constantly push push pushed. I am finding that being out in the world and maintaining a flow of love and balance is Much more difficult when I'm not hiding in a cottage or running to live in the mountains. But I'm determined not to give up. I believe in us sensitive yin folk, both women and men! I say it's time for the intuitive, creative types to take a stand, I mean look at the world, the other way is really not working out for us.

And my first step? Acknowledging that yes, I am feminine. I am soft and can be gentle and sometimes need to move slowly. I do feel it deeply when I am criticized, but that doesn't mean I'm wimpy or that I will give up. And I am strong. Strong and bold and ready to be an active and giving part of society.

Oh god. Is this entry my new manifesto or something? We're all going to be holding hands and singing songs in a minute. No really, I won't let that happen. That was my mother's generation. Even though I've outed my femininity it doesn't mean that I don't still love to jump on a horse and ride up the side of a mountain with a gun strapped to my saddle.

This is my Monday self portrait.
Hawaii in three days,
I had to get some sunglasses!
Love and warmth to all.
May we all be exactly as we are...
for at least a few moments every day.