Eating Well: My New Hobby

I recently realized that I want to start eating well.  I don’t mean eating fewer calories per se — though that’s certainly part of it — but I mean eating whole, fresh foods that are rich and nourishing in more ways than one.

It began when it occurred to me that I need a hobby.  In my close circle of friends, I am surrounded by artisans and crafters: people who knit, refinish furniture, and make windchimes out of antique teacups and silver.  They tell me that their hobbies relax them — give them something to do with their hands that is satisfying and creative.  I, however, have zero crafting skills.  I can scarcely hot glue sequins on paper. (What’s that you say?  No one hot glues sequins on paper?  I rest my case.)

My hobbies tend to be cerebral — reading, writing, thinking.  Even when I’m running, one of my favorite physical pastimes, I usually pop in a podcast or audiobook to occupy my mind (and to keep myself focused on something other than how badly my legs hurt). 😉  Which is great, but since reading, writing, and thinking are pretty much what I do for a living as a professional copywriter and content development director for an internet marketing company, sometimes I (and my brain!) need a break.

So I went in search of a hobby.  Something I could do with my hands.  Something creative.  Something I would enjoy.  And because I run a business and am always looking for ways to spend quality time with my family, preferably something I could do with my daughter.

That’s when it hit me: FOOD.

Women and Happiness — Part 1

I’m reading a book right now that came highly recommended from a counselor friend I admire, called Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul.

I’ll admit: I was (and, to a certain extent, still am) totally skeptical.

It’s a popular Christian book, and as such, I was afraid it would be full of platitudes and patronizing pep talks; or worse, rigid proscriptions of what a woman “should” be: domestic, demure, passive, well-dressed — none of which I am, of course, and which have always contributed to my feeling particularly inadequate as a woman.  (The book is not off the hook yet, by the way, because I’m only a chapter and a half in…but so far it’s managed to generally avoid those traps — though it has used some borderline cheesy language that had me rolling my eyes in a place or two.)

Still, last night, feeling a tiny bit discouraged, I picked it up and came across this passage:

Independence, Isolation, and Spiritual Growth

Perhaps the most significant change in my belief life over the past several months is this:

I now take full, personal responsibility for my own beliefs.

That means I believe what I believe because I believe it — because it resonates with my soul, because I perceive that God has led me to a particular insight or truth, because it fills me up and changes me for the better in terms of my ability to love and be loved.

Of course, the flipside of this radical new change is that I no longer believe simply because a person, institution, or book tells me to.

Ideas About Discovering Spiritual Truth

I’ve been thinking a lot about how to unlock spiritual truth.  This is a challenging matter, because spiritual truth is neither objective nor provable.  So how do you define and discover the truths upon which you’ll shape your life…without driving yourself crazy?

Here’s my approach — a work in progress, of course.  I guess you could call it Katie’s personal epistemology.  🙂