February 25, 2012
I will never eat meat. I will never ski. I will never paddle board in the ocean. I will never live in Pacific Palisades. Those statements were embedded in my consciousness. At the age of six when I saw a pet lamb slaughtered and then in our kitchen pot, I made the vow to never ever eat an animal again. I was a serious vegetarian back in the day when all there was for us veggies to eat was pasta. I basically ruined my health with a diet that lacked in healthy fats. Now it seems easier to be a healthy vegetarian, and for the most part I am, but once in a while, I will have some sort of animal protein in a medicinal way. I have to say . . . I feel better than ever now. I always had in my mind that I wasn't athletic, so skiing and paddle boarding were out of the question. This last year as you know, I learned to ski and one day last fall I was convinced to go paddle boarding and look at the stingrays, schools of fish and forests of kelp. It was truly magical, an altered reality.
The day before graduating from high school my beautiful friend was brutally raped, murdered and her body left in the bathroom of a yogurt shop in the Pacific Palisades. This was understandably deeply traumatic for all of us who were close to her. From that day forward I couldn't go into the Palisades without having a visceral response. It was as if my body refused to forget the tragic circumstances, even though my conscious self had thought it was healed. A year and half ago I found this house that I am now in, near the Palisades. It instantly felt like a healing place with the trees and creek in the yard. My hesitation was if I could stomach living so close to the tragedy. The day before I signed the contract for the house I ran into my deceased friend's mother. I had not seen her since the funeral twenty three years ago. We shed some tears, held each other, and she told me . . . she now also lives in the Palisades. It was the message I was yearning for. We can't place limits on ourselves with black and white rules. Now I never say never to anything. We are mostly atoms of energy and energy shifts, changes, moves, expands.
Please take a look at my article for NY Times T magazine on a green approach to acquiring new clothes. Swapping!! Also this week The Local Rose is a year old. I have all of you to thank for keeping this going. ♥
This week I am highlighting The Pacific Palisades and Topanga. Feels good coming home . . . .