Sourceful RD

Intuitive cooking with whole foods has been my creative medium since college. Previous hobbies of yoga, dance, and navigating the esoteric healing properties of crystals had all dwindled away allowing for whole foods to become my primary creative outlet.

I made a majority of my dishes from scratch for years! And then that became unrealistic given the time demands of everyday working-life in Silicon Valley. (Which, charmingly enough, was previously called the Valley of Heart’s Delight. How delightful!) But seriously, what I am saying is thank you food delivery services! And yes, my whole foods commitment dwindled, too.

As I dove deeper into my nutrition-focused job, I lost passion for nutrition… and cooking. Being right about nutrition is so argumentative. People in the grocery store line advocating Paleo-this or Keto-that after reading one book think their 200 page whatever is the silver bullet to “fix” the world’s health. Forget about experts who know how to discern quality information…. But am I an expert?

Somehow, I have come to the emotional belief that nutrition and whole foods don’t matter. And rationally, I know this is not true. Food does matter. Food’s source and quality matter. I believe the term is cognitive dissonance. As an RD, I know food matters. And, as an RD, I am also overwhelmed with the constantly changing tides that are trend diets.

Having worked in clinical nutrition for the past several years, I am way out of touch with what is “up to date” in the every day world, but am doing just fine in the “save your life” nutrition world.

What if we both got back to the basics? Basic isn’t sexy or flashy, but it’s doable. Doable will make the biggest difference in your life. Why? Because you’ll do it. Shocking, I know. Change because you feel uplifted by changing. Cultivate gratitude for the little wins in your life.

My little win for Valentine’s Day was assembling an ingredient I had never worked with before: flowers. Strange how preparing flower arrangements was the same as intuitive cooking, but without all that pressure to be “healthy.” A little of this rose here, a little of that ranunculus there. Lovely. You should try it!

Preparing a delightful dish of assorted flowers sparked something in me. I know I am finding my it.

Firsts are a big deal; especially when unprepared. My challenge is to begin.

Maybe you wonder what this blog will be about? Maybe I ask myself the same question. Yes! We already have something in common, Friend! Interests that will most definitely be topics to frequent these blog pages include nutrition, cooking, yoga, hiking, music, meditation, travel, et Cetera. Unique? No, not even remotely. But this space is cathartic for us both. We journey through this blog together in community.

Let me share with you. Thirteen years ago, instructing yoga seemed like a dream job. Emphasis on dream because dreams are not high powered enough for Silicon Valley. And that’s what I told myself as I earned a Bachelor of Science degree and then became a Registered Dietitian. Three years into my first job as a clinical dietitian at Stanford Health Care, I burned out. And so here I am writing a blog about whatever, and we are figuring it out together.

Kenny Graham and Hannah Muse taught the Fall 200 hours ROOTS of Yoga teacher training at Pleasure Point Yoga in beautiful, serene Santa Cruz, CA. Six months of juicy meditation, asana, and learning about the body in yogic motion. And I am a student and soon-to-be certified yoga teacher! Because, why not? My career is askew. I weave through experiences and trust that these threads will become a tapestry of meaning and memories. Thirteen years in the making, and I am ready.

Rebirth was my intention-word at the start of the YTT program. And that seems fitting. The program shone light on parts of myself that had dulled and dimmed after years of cultivating “my career” and forgoing my passions. I am reinforcing myself. We all need a little reviving and reinforcing now and then.

When I doubt my unstructured process of weaving through passions to hopefully guide me into a new future, I remember an interview with Martha Beck in the 1440 Multiversity’s fall/winter 2017-2018 catalogue. When asked how to find your life’s path after losing the trail, Martha was quoted saying, “You find the trail through tracking back to find the last thing that brought you joy. It’s like a game of getting warmer or getting colder. You find the places in your life where it’s warmer, and warmer, and warmer, and then red hot- then you’ve found it.”

I am finding it. Whatever it may be.

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