Day 11 - Christopher's Take on Cleansing and Letting Go

Lord knows why I started this 21 day cleansing. I blame Ivy of course. Through mutual acquaintances, we crossed paths on Facebook at the time Ivy was campaigning the September cleansing, and as the business saying goes... Timing is everything. While this fortuitous event with Ivy may have crystalized my participation; the bearing point was set years earlier during the healing process that follows the surgery of divorce. The scars are healed; but evolving and growing beyond our past experiences and understandings takes a little creativity, a lot of letting go, and always leaving your heart open. I think the cleansing experience follows the point of letting things go. Some of the letting go I've focused on are:

• My perception of the amount and type of foods I eat. I know I would be surprised to know how little is needed to meet nutritional requirements of my body.

• Managing food cravings caused by life's distractions. When I have an urge for sweets or second thought for smooth bourbon I stop myself and ask "What am I really wanting at that moment."

Being trained as a scientist, I've immersed myself in the cleansing process as an experiment of mind, body, and spirit. I suspect one could focus on just the body component, but all three seem to be tangled in the same web. Pull on one silk string and the others shift as well. Women know this well; but linear-thinking men often miss the point.

For me, the food choices has become easy because of the limits imposed be space limitations living on a sailboat (especially refrigerated space) and the inconvenience of shopping for groceries. Yesterday, I hiked 8 miles to and from a farmers market. I hope the sugarless jam isn't a no-no! I keep my meal preparations very simple. I can do this because I've chosen to replace food emptiness with mind and spirit.

We get to choose how and what we use for filling emptiness. For me, it's been preparing for a new career and the adventure of sailing around Lake MI; anchoring in its protected harbors; swimming to the shoreline and taking nature walks and collecting natures gifts in the parks I encounter along the way.

Let go and let God,

Christopher

p.s. I've been holed up in a snail shell harbor (wind protection for 360 degrees) and staying out of rain and a big blow. The harbor is adjacent to an abandoned late-1800's ore mining community (Fayette, MI) surrounding an ore smelting operation. Many of the shops, residences, factory buildings as well as business community of rooming houses, hotel and smith shops dot the landscape. I gathered fruit, nuts, and some mushrooms for tonights meal. It would be a perfect night for one of those distractions. Google Fayette Historic State Park. =