First, I don’t preach to anyone about what they should be doing, about green living, eating organic foods, or otherwise – mostly because I don’t want anyone preaching to me. There is a big difference between educating and letting people make choices for themselves and their own lifestyle and throwing it at someone tied to a brick! Besides, I am not perfect and am not in the position to tell people what they should be doing. There are a lot of choices and options where someone can begin bringing change into their life at a comfortable pace.

My choices in life are ever changing and evolving and to be honest, I like it that way.  I am an artist. I adore creating, the process of creating and watching something evolve. I like to think of myself as a girly girl, but apparently I’m not. I like to get my manicured hands dirty. When I paint, I often use my fingers. When I garden, I often forgo tools to dig with my hands. I don’t mind coming out of the gym, still in my racquetball clothes, before going home to wash up. There is nothing more important to me then my family.

So now that I’ve bored you a bit let me tell you how my store and proactive approach to organic green living began.

Like most people I have always cared about what I ate. When available I chose hormone free, pesticide free organic products. I knew I didn’t want to feed my child chemicals. The FDA didn’t tell us exactly what could go wrong biologically, but common sense told me to feed my child, and myself, the things that humans were meant to eat. That was it -The extent of my organic knowledge.

Well, a few years back, just when my art career was taking off, I became ill. Very ill. I couldn’t continue painting. The development of my newest studio came to a halt. As far as anyone knew, I fell off the planet. The doctors didn’t know what was wrong. They saw the lymph nodes enlarging, erratic fevers, signs of a virus would appear then disappear. I was diagnosed with lupus, then told it’s no longer showing up. I even submitted to serious surgery and got sicker while in the hospital. I was too exhausted and in pain to continue work. I felt terrible emotionally because I feel like I had let down those people who supported me. Those of whom I will never forget.

In pure despair, I decided to try a last ditch effort of changing my diet. There was a theory out there that since I enjoyed gourmet cooking (I still do) that possibly I ate an imported item (fruit or veg) that carried a virus. I grabbed my dusty copy of mindell’s vitamin bible from the bookshelf and kept it with me like an old friend. (I am not promoting any books or diets here. Just telling my story.)

And there my education began to flourish. Learning about pesticides and the vegetation we should be consuming, the importance of organic products and green living. Well, I am not a doctor, so let me cut to the chase – It changed my life. A whole world opened up to me. Yes, as you would expect, I got healthier.

Then I met who would soon become my daughter-in-law. I found out that she is allergic to red food coloring. It didn’t manifest itself as hives, but an emotional issue. How unusual, I thought. It didn’t take deep digging to find out the elements of food coloring and its effects. How it affects not only our immune system but our nervous system. That there are studies popping up every day about children who consume artificial food coloring and tendencies for emotional disorders, violence, ADHD etc. I have seen doctors who have said “I don’t even know how this stuff is legal.”

Once again, cut to the chase – here I am, an organic enthusiast and an artist. I try to promote artisan crafted hand made items, organic foods and sustainable green living items. I am not a perfectionist and wholly respect, and am grateful, for those who are. (A true inspiration.) I still enjoy gourmet cooking, I still eat way too much chocolate and I definitely do not exercise enough. I believe we are all continuing to evolve, grow and learn how to incorporate a healthy lifestyle into our current schedules and budgets. I think that’s great. Ever hear the phrase A little can do a lot of good? I am not asking anyone to make a huge shift in their life right now. But I do believe in conscious living. If everyone did a little, I think it would do a whole lot of good!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I am eternally grateful for the support.