A WORK IN PROGRESS of staying in the NOW...

Sometime we pull ourselves from the present into the past or the notions of what the future may bring. Recently after driving with my husband and our 6 children from southeast Georgia to northern California in three days...I found myself dreading the drive back in less than 96 hours and had to stop myself and focus on the "now" of being  together with family we have not seen in over 7 years, the "now" of our children meeting those they know by name in picture now in living color like cousins, aunts, uncles, grands... and basking in their love,  the "now" of going to Baba's and Mama's  favorite"eats" and sharing the flavors and ambiance with our children, and the "now" of honoring family including our ancestors with song, flowers and poetry.

The return drive was challenging, exciting and beautiful as we flew in record time from the city in the Bay to New Mexico where Long Run, our 15 passenger van hit something laying on the interstate, and broke down and we had a 2.5 day layover before pushing on in a rental.  Breaking down, walking briefly along  interstate 40, crossing over a barbed wire fence, seeing wild prairie dogs and rabbits miraculously made the dread of driving home totally dissipate and all I could do was focus in the now on getting home safely...oh, the humor.

Now Baba is preparing a journey to the west coast for one of the greatest assignments of all, taking care of his first love and Mama, and you would think I would have learned my lesson and not be so quick to begin missing him...while he is still here...Ahh, I am a work in progress of staying  in the now.

Path of a Healer

Spring sprang and brought with it an urgent need to address the respiratory issues of our first born son, poison ivy issues of my mate and skin issues of my own. Our son has been experiencing severe and multiple bouts of asthma like symptoms.  Our solution has been to eliminated the triggers which seem to be meat and all things white (sugar, potatoes, rice, flour, etc.), drinking plenty of water, eating plenty of raw fruits and veggies while giving him a liver detox.  He has claimed that before he hits the double digits this fall he will cease having asthma like symptoms.  I am so pleased to report that he is doing much better. Besides his color returning, gaining weight, and not using the nebulizer He can breathe! He can breath! and is walking out his healing truth that he will be free of breathing issues.

 No sooner had our son begun his road to recovery Baba got outside to do his annual spring yard work and caught a wicked case of poison ivy/oak. Thank goodness we had a 2 pound bag of dried jewel weed which I used to make salve, ice cube and spray tinctures.  Oh so happy to report that Baba is healing well and no other family member caught it!

I am also happy to report that after thinking I and the baby had caught poison ivy I was relieved to learn that we only had dermatitis which I attribute to the commercial detergent we had stopped using but began using again. So we are back on track and using our homemade laundry soap and I have also added homemade body wash too. The itchiness has subsided greatly and no new spots. So as spring comes to a close I can say as my family's healer "Together, We Made It, We Made It, We Made It!"

Food Allergies: A Path to Mama Nature and a Real Love of Real Food

When Baba  and I were blessed with the birth of our eldest son we rapidly entered and began the journey through the land of food allergies and over the years have been thankful for these travels.  I was a over thirty when he was born and  I was beginning to regularly experience seasonal allergies,  though Baba had endured allergies since childhood.   Both Baba and I knew what foods triggered these allergies and continued to eat these addictive foods.  When our eldest son arrived he carried the mantle of my eldest brother, who was allergic to peanuts and dairy. Our son's allergies went beyond as we soon discovered he was allergic to soy and eggs too.   I was thankful my husband and I came from a family of women who breastfed and our son loved to nurse.  With him I truly learned the power of breast milk as we slowly navigated our way though the introduction of solid foods.  Over the years, I learned to truly appreciate his connection to Mama Nature as his body is rhythmically in sync with the change of the seasons.  We as a family follow the seasonal calling of detoxing, cleansing, toning, strengthening...something our elders did not so long ago.  Baba and I have found that we can avoid allergies both food and seasonal if we drink plenty of water, stay away from processed foods and eat fresh fruits and raw veggies.  This journey has been one of finding our way to true health and wellness by looking back to the source of our original wellness. Though we do not use milk our son can drink local organic raw goats milk, and cheese. This is not surprising as I soon learned that goats milk matches up to the human body, is less allergenic and is easier to digest. Though we do not eat eggs he can eat local organic eggs from free range chickens.  We choose not to eat foods manufactured purely for profit or grown purely for profit.  As foods that are raised with the profit being health and wellness, can only give you back health and wellness. 

Day 6: Professional Lemonade Makers

It is going on week two of not having a working vehicle and for a family of 8 it has been most empowering! We hardly ever use a mechanic, as Hubby is usually able to get our vehicle up and running. This time however,  it has taken a little longer than usual, so in the mean time we have been riding on our bikes where ever we need to go.  Life continues as meals must be cooked, laundry must be done and one must be on time for work. Though we are working to have my mate work from home,  I am thankful that where he is employed it only 20 minutes away by car and 40 by bike. Already he is on a mission to cut that time down and committed to riding in on nice days even after the vehicle is repaired.  Our children love riding to the stores to go grocery shopping. Their enthusiasm reminds me my attitude when my family and I had to carry our weekly groceries by bike in the Bahamas before our vehicle arrived on the island.  Not having a vehicle has made us spend less, eat healthier and be more active as a family. Though I am looking forward to getting our vehicle up and running for planned spring events, I am sure glad to learn we are a family of professional lemonade makers!

Day 5: Walk it and birth it

Today we celebrate the birth of our last child, who was born at home surrounded by her siblings and caught by Baba.  It was a hard labor, unlike her brother's who was our first home birth. During our labor with her brother, I walked and walked until I could walk no more and eventually HAD to stop and give birth.  I am still tickled as I recall my Doula telling me let me to let her know when I was ready to push, I asked her "When will I know?"  but before she could answer I told her " I NEED to push!"  During our first home birth, I did not necessarily want to walk but I knew I needed to walk until the pain told me to stop, squat, sway and recite affirmations until the intensity of the pressure and pain would subside and I could then move on to walk again. Well, I stopped walking during my labor of my last birth. I usually go to bed early but I was nesting and went into labor at 11 p.m.  Initially, I walked back and forth in the upstairs hallway and by 2 or 3 a.m. I just wanted some sleep.  My Midwife, Birth Worker, and Mate kept asking are you sure? I was only able to snatch 3-4 minutes of sleep before my intense labor pains would jar me upright and I would have to  get up to walk and whistle, moan and breath through the labor pains.  Obviously, I was willing to settle for a few nips. Finally a few nip was NOT enough,  so I rose and walked and walked and walked and around 8 Baba caught a beautiful baby girl weighing almost 8 pounds.  I knew my labor was as long as it was because I choose for it to be long and hard.  Birth is going to happen. It maybe a live birth or a dead birth but it is going to happen, but you choose the walk. I choose a live healthy birth and to walk it out how 'bout you?

Day 4 Sun Child

Yesterday was filled with so much sunshine I am still basking in its warmth this cool morning.  A day filled with bike riding, hanging clothes to dry,  scratchin , washing and combing heads, making banana coconut smoothies, taking long naps outside and getting so dirty you can be sure Mama or Baba is scrubbing you down and buttering you up before bed. I love days like this, Mama Nature knows I do! 

Day 3 Be Not Discouraged

Well, the fair trade had begun and I am on my way to removing a bag of unused goods from the kitchen and completing in my herbal studies course 1 lesson 1.  I will have the kitchen completed this weekend and now have only 9 more lessons to go before submitting course 1!   I am pretty excited about this forward motion on these two fronts.  I had begun these studies but stopped after I lost my completed work when the computer's hard drive was damaged. I was a little discouraged but not about the time spent gathering and writing the information down but  whether I could rewrite all the writings that came from my heart.  I have since come to the beautiful awakening that what came from my heat is still written in my heart. So, be not discouraged. 

Day 2 Moving at the speed of life.

As a house wife and home schooling mother of 6, I find that there have been more days that I have only been able to manage the daily maintenance of my household and nothing more. This is quite frustrating as I have had BIG plans to clean the house of unused items to bring in income and make room for much needed space for a family business and craft activities.  My daily maintenance usually involves cooking meals (everything usually from scratch), cleaning (washing and putting away clothes and clothe diapers), floor scans and pickup, overseeing the purposeful learning environment, focus and structure of our children.  To accomplish the goals set in day 1 of this blog I realize I am going to have to make a fair trade of sleep to manifest  life/heart dreams coming true.  That is the only way I will have more time to clear out the unused items we have collected over the years, learn and implement some new tools like meal prep and planning, house hold scheduling to make room for getting my family moving more at the speed of life towards their divine purpose and calling.

Day 1 My Journey Begins

Breathe and type, breathe and type,...I tell myself as I begin my blogging journey whose sole purpose is to  break through my clutter of fear, excuses, procrastination.  There is so much in my heart I want to do (create a family business so my husband can quit a job he hates), be (a holistic healer, doula and midwife to serve my community) and  accomplish (support my 6 children in their purpose and passions) but I have found myself trapped by my clutter.  So this day after striking out with my friend and accountability partner I say "enough is enough!" It is time for the journey to not only begin but be recorded as well. So, day1 is just one step in not allowing fear to overtake me (by sharing with you), removing excuse, and doing the dang gone thang by bloggin and thus become Imaniful.