Why my battle to tame my wandering is a good one

A thought. I was reading the follow-up to a wellbeing study I’d heard about ages ago that uses a phone app to track real-time moments in happiness.

Image from serialthriller.com
Image from serialthriller.com

Psychologist Matthew Killingsworth who put the project together tracked daydreaming as well. And found this:

Daydreaming is not good for well-being.

Which surprised me, and it might you. But Matt drilled down:

Minds tend to wander to dark, not whimsical, places.

This stopped me for a bit. It’s true. The majority of my meanderings aren’t rosy, unless I consciously steer them that way. This is kind of sad, but I’m sure there’s an evolutionary (or otherwise) reason for it (spending spare mental time nutting out strategies for difficult situations can keep us prepared and vigilant).

The app study covered more than 650,000 real-time reports from more than 15,000 people. Big and broad. It also found people

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Am I a hypocrite?

There’s a horrible feeling that grips at me from behind the neck at times. It’s like a sucky monster that latches on when I do something seemingly counter to my (often vocal) ethical stance on something. And it whispers in my ear, ”Sarah, you’re a double-standard, Pollyanna-ish flake”.

Image via off-with-the-faeries.tumblr.com
Image via off-with-the-faeries.tumblr.com

Does he hang about your dowager’s hump too?

Anyway, I figured it’s a topic worth exploring…the contemporary angst that emanates from trying to keep up with modern life while retaining basic values – environmental, humanitarian, ethical and so on.

Here are a few of mine, some of which I’ve resolved via a bit of research. Some of which I’ve seductively rationalized to myself.

Perhaps you have a few solutions you can share for the others, or – better! – moments of your own in double standard Pollyanna flakishiness.

* I get my hair coloured to hide my frothing of grey hairs…but I claim to avoid cosmetic toxins (read my posts on why I ditched foundation and how to buy toxin-free cosmetics) I, frankly, don’t have a watertight solution for this. I’m getting very grey and my base colour is dark and I have to present on TV and I’m still in the dating game and trying to cling to some youthful looks so as to not come over all Mrs Robinson and….

For now, I keep things toxin-free where I can. A bit of an 80:20 thing going on.

* I get parking tickets pretty much whenever I drive a car (thankfully, not too often)…but claim to be frugal. This one was presented to me by someone on Instagram once. I have to say I have a rational answer for this. I’m into conserving

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My note to restaurant owners about doggy bags

Dearest Restaurateur,

A while back I did a post imploring readers to ask for doggy bags at restaurants. (If you’ve been reading this blog for a bit, you’ll know how I feel about food waste. And if not, you can catch up here.)

A lady I met in Vienna a few years back, with her al-foil doggy bag.
A lady I met in Vienna a few years back, with her al-foil doggy bag.

It would seem most people out there really want to take home their leftovers. But what emerged was that wait staff are telling them that they can’t/won’t cooperate because doggy bags are illegal.

If I can kindly point out: It’s legal to ask for, and take home, doggy bags in Australia. And in most of the world, in fact. (Read my previous post on the topic if you want to nerd up on this.)

And subtly remind us all: Food wastage contributes more CO2 emissions than cars and factories.

And implore you: to encourage your staff to do doggy bags.

Many readers shared ways their favourite restaurants are making it easier – for both restaurants and patrons  – to make doggy bags more acceptable. Perhaps you’d like to give some of them a crack?

1. Offer leftovers to save patrons the (perceived) embarrassment of asking. Don’t like the term”‘doggy bag”? Try “Would you like

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The time I did something mildly generous and it kept going…

Today I share a lovely story that unfolded over the past two weeks, culminating in a triple donation (and dominoing) of a piece of artwork I auctioned last week.

It went like this. This letter below arrived in the mail on February 4 from someone called Hazel. With no last name, return address or email.

xxx
Hazel’s letter. February 2015.

I couldn’t reply to her direct, so I posted the letter on my social media in the hope it might reach her and just because it was such a sunny, funny letter. A number of people linked me to Hazel on Facebook and Instagram (good on you Cosi!) sharing their heart-felt fondness for the girl, illustrating just how good social media can be (which, in conjunction with a similar experience I had yesterday, makes me think social media is slowly becoming a true force for kindness).

We connected over email a few days later and marveled at…the connections. I hope she doesn’t mind

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I’ve been parodied.

This post has been updated. It’s become quite a story. Read to the bottom.

I was recently alerted to this Youtube clip by Kate McCartney and Kate McLennon – a two-chick comedy cooking spoof ensemble. It’s friggen funny. And only made more funnier for me because it squarely takes the piss out of me, without being snarky. This is an art rarely exhibited today. My brothers have perfected the art of this over decades, so I know how to spot it when done well.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UZJRR8OHhY&index=3&list=PLZFXeozdia12APH8n9xsVNhd5qallmrz2[/youtube]

Since this is my blog and I get to have at least a second last say, a few corrections for the two Kates:

* My “rich girl hair” (my God, it’s true!) was smoothed and glossed by TV makeup artists over an exorbitant amount of time. Just to be clear. I wasn’t born with it. Nor a silver spoon (my chip on my shoulder needed to add this one). The photos you use on your shrine to me are from a TV show I did a while back called (have fun with this one!) Eat Yourself Sexy.

* My saccharin smile shits me too. But I find displaying it on publicity shoots maketh for a fast shoot.

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Which fermenting starter is best: salt v whey

I’ve been making my own ferments for a while now. It started a few years back with pickled daikon and sauerkraut and has developed into a passionate hobby. I’ve recently added fermented turmeric tonic,  kombucha, ginger-ade soda, cream cheese, beet and turmeric kvass. My next book is going to take things to even mouldier levels!

turmeric fermentation
Three generations of turmeric experimenting… A bug, fermented tonic and then the leftovers puréed to become a cooking paste. And a hoola dancer!

I’ve mentioned it before, but I’ll say it again. Fermenting your vegetables is THE BEST thing you can do for restoring and maintaining the health of your gut. And the stuff is a boon for autoimmune folk like me. I’ve shared before how the process all works, the magic ingredient being a starter culture.

When I first started out, I used whey – a protein derived from dairy products (I make my own) – as a starter culture to get the fermenting process moving along.  Whey acts as an inoculant, reducing the time needed for sufficient lactic acid to be produced to ensure preservation of the food.

Using salt, or brine, is the more traditional method of lacto-fermentation. Before the invention of refrigeration, salt was used to preserve foods. Most bacteria need a warm, wet environment to thrive. Salt draws out the moisture in food, denying such a watery

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I’m going to start auctioning lovely things for good food folk…

This is a new idea. Not complex. So let’s see how it goes. You may remember this wonderful painting (below) I shared on New Years Day. My mate Paul from The Art Park in Byron Bay painted it. Paul is a talent. He used to do the poster art for 80s outfits (an 80s word?) like Beastie Boys and the like. We got talking one day about art and disadvantage – worldly things we’re both passionate about – and decided, off the back of this chat, to auction this piece and donate the cash to a charity committed to balancing the life ledger.

by Paul McNeil
Ink on watercolour, by Paul McNeil. Now up for auction. See below.

And so it was I stumbled upon The Inside Out Organic Soup Kitchen. Based in Sydney, IOOSK – as they’re affectionately known – has been running since 2010. Their mission is to provide wholesome organic foods to those who need it most. They provide free organic meals each Wednesday night at St Canice’s Kitchen in Kings Cross. But now, IOOSK is about to launch their IOOSK School for Young Mums with Red Cross – a program that teaches disadvantaged young mums the benefits of cooking good, wholesome food, and they are raising money to ensure that they can get it up and running. Which is where we step in.

If you would like to donate money to the program you can transfer money to the following account:

Account Name: St Canice’s Kitchen
The BSB is 062 784. Account number: 535 5005
Please write in description – for Organic Soup Kitchen

This week I will be holding an Instagram auction to sell “Happy Everything” and donate the proceeds to the School for Young Mums.

Here’s what you need to know:

  • The piece of art is 300 x 320 mm.
  • It’s ink on watercolour paper.
  • RRP $400.
  • Bidding will start at $300.

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Your solitude is profound. In case you’re despairing.

I honestly have no idea where I came across this quote. I’ve been reading a few heavy philosophy texts lately. It came from one of them, I think. Loneliness, aloneness, craving humans while also needing to flee… these are themes I explore a lot here. For me, finding the right balance between being in and outside of the world is a journey I’ll be on for life. All the while, of course, I try to find peace with my need for solitude as well as my discomfort with being around people at times. And so this quote resonates…

Image via Pinterest
Image via Pinterest

“Solitude is the profoundest fact of the human condition. Man is the only being who knows he is alone, and the only one who seeks out another…

“His nature – if that word can be used in reference to man, who has ‘invented’ himself by saying ‘no’ to nature – consists in his longing to realise himself in another. Man is nostalgia and a search for communion. Therefore, when he is aware of himself he is aware of his lack of another, that is, of his solitude.”

― Octavio Paz, The Labyrinth of Solitude and Other Writings

Digested that? Sat with it?

To be aware is to know you’re alone. And yet the process of being aware involves seeing ourselves in others. Two

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10 reasons why coffee might not be great if you have autoimmune disease

Coffee is good for us, yes? I reckon there’s a fair bit of evidence now saying it’s so. But what about if you have an autoimmune disease? (New here? I have Hashimotos and I often write from this particular POV.) Me, I drink coffee – about 2-3 cups per week. But I’ve been starting to wonder if I might want to back off even more. And so I dug around. Figured you might like to know what I came up with…

Image via Pinterest
Image via Pinterest

10 reasons why you should think twice before drinking coffee

1. Coffee can mess up your blood sugar. Caffeine impairs insulin action. In young, healthy folk, moderate intake of caffeine is unlikely to affect blood sugar levels too much, but for some AI types, drinking coffee causes both insulin and blood glucose spikes after meals. Over time, your insulin sensitivity goes down, making it harder for the body to respond to blood glucose spikes when they occur. Ergo, havoc.

2. Coffee disrupts your sleep. I don’t sleep well at the best of times. It’s one of 3984928374 AI symptoms. Further, cell damage from AI mayhem is repaired during sleep, but only once our bodies have attended to everything else we’ve put into it during the day. Which requires solid sleep.

3. It boosts stress hormones.When stress occurs, cortisol is released to make energy available – so you can fight or flee. When stress ceases, the body goes back to its normal state. But when stress becomes chronic, as it can do with drinking coffee regularly, our body is continually exposed to high levels of cortisol which have been linked to (among many other things)

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I’ve been a hypocrite and I need to move on

I’ve been ready for a slap. It’s been building up. I’ve been too seductive. I needed to be knocked back to earth.

Photo by Vargas Photography
Photo by Vargas Photography

Last week, in the midst of the slap-down-I-needed-to-have, my mate Dan Buettner posted a quote on Instagram from the Health Matters conference he was speaking at. He cited Bill Clinton, who spoke at the conference:

“It only hurts for a while to start practicing transparency. Then you can’t believe you didn’t do it all along.”

Reading it, I realised I have been a coward of late.

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