Friday 28 June 2013

Souls

Death puts everything into perspective. It shows us the true meaning of life. I believe the true meaning of life to be love. Love is shown through our souls, nothing to do with out exterior selves and appearance. It speaks beyond our trials and tasks of every day living and represents us as beings which defines who we are beyond the point of death. The best people who have ever walked this earth, of which there have been many, have always shined from the inside out with love and continue to do so after passing.

I have recently been privileged with having a soul connection with a fellow earthling. This means that our relationship and friendship was made out of the purest thing. Love. The body of this soul was physically taken away from me. The signs had been there for days that this was going to happen but they were so subtle that I was blissfully unaware. Which meant that I lived, I lived in the present moment with my friend, which was what was meant to be - it was the universe's intentions. When this body was taken from me physically I thought all was lost. That this connection we had had gone forever. How I was wrong. What the universe quickly informed me of was that a soul connection lives on forever. Love conquers all, including life.

What I had to quickly learn for the first time was that physically we all go and leave this earth as earthlings, but our souls live on forever. How glad I was to be enlightened with this knowledge so soon after the parting of my dear friend, that our bodies do not define us but our souls do. After learning this I have realised that it is essential to let our souls speak for themeselves and let them define who we are whilst on earth. They are the only eternal aspect of who we are. When we are at peace with our souls we can then begin to accept others for who they really are as we have accepted ourselves. This is a connection of souls, and this is how me and my pal became souls mates, we accepted each other because of our spirits and allowed one another to shine, from the inside out.









After realising this suddenly my wails and screams for the return of my friend were meaningless. My friend was, and still is, with me. I realised that the universe had connected our two souls and that I was going to grow with my friend always, whether I liked it or not. I went beyond the grief and feelings of physically losing something dear to my heart and realised that the true gift of this friend hadn't been taken away from me.

I have been blessed with a soul mate. I will physically miss my pal everyday, thinking always of what she would do in each circumstance that I would have experienced with her. But I have no regrets, only occasional feelings of sorrow. No, everything that happens is meant to be. This is why the universe let me be with her till the very end. I was the only earthling to watch the last breaths of this beautiful earthling, the peace she possessed was an image I will carry forever. It changed the meaning of death for me. When an earthling is at peace with their soul it makes death, in essence, a fairly peaceful thing. Her peaceful death was the universe letting me know that she will always be taken care of.

So, how do I react and what do I think if I am not going through the usual definition of grief of loss? I am thankful. Thankful that I had such a great time physically with a fellow earthling on this earth for a fairly substantial amount of time. Thankful that I was able to learn from this earthling and experience the love that she always radiated. But more importantly, thankful that our souls will go on living with each other, nourishing each other always.



Picking your 'Path'


I could be considered as a moderately lost person at this stage in my life. I live a comfortable life in a nice house and am surrounded by people who care for me, yet I feel like I’m looking for something, something substantial, a part of me which will make my life more 'fulfilling'. In the form of an analogy the best way I can try and describe my current situation is by referring to life being like climbing a mountain. In order to climb the mountain it helps to find a decent path, some paths are steeper and more dangerous yet exciting whereas others are relatively safe and simple, depending on what type of person you are effects which type of path you choose. The point at which I’m at is not even being able to find the right path for me to start climbing. I’m not personally a ‘simple path' type of person because I know there is a route which is much harder but where the views will be so much more satisfactory. How do I know the views are worth it? I have absolutely no idea; instinct I suppose.

''No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.''
-Buddha

Deciding big life choices is you mapping out your next stage of climbing the 'life mountain'. Whether it be what school you should go to or what the right career path is for you, deciding these questions normally begins with a time of self-reflection. A period of time, either un-consciously or fully planned, in which you decide what brings you true joy, the pros and cons and whether the pros outweigh the cons. There comes a point however, when you may just have to take the leap of faith; trust and believe that ‘whatever is meant to be will happen’ and go with your gut. For those people who don’t believe in fate this will be a pretty hard concept to accept, but I think if you don’t trust your instincts then sometimes you’ll just never move forward in life.
“If the problem can be solved why worry? If the problem cannot be solved worrying will do you no good.”
Śāntideva

One of my biggest inspirations and a person whom I believe to have chosen an exceedingly interesting ‘path’ is Russell Brand. He seems to have carved his life into the most intricate piece of art. His life could be thought of as a fairly abstract piece of art, which is probably why so many have difficulty in understanding him. Perhaps his enthusiastic speeches get lost in translation and mask his true genius for some. But those who appreciate the depth and detail of his character as a work of art will agree with me that he is an inspiration for not leading a necessarily conventional  and conforming life. There are many who define him by his ‘mistakes’, there are tabloids going back years which are a constant and evidential reminder of his addictions and past flamboyant antics. But does a ‘moral relapse’ in one stage of your life really have to constitute in our modern society in earning him the permanent status of being a ‘failure’, constantly being defined by his former actions?


I digress, I believe that with every drug he took and every drink he drunk it was his own journey and his version of climbing up his ‘mountain of life’. And who are we to be the judge and deem whether we believe he should never have partaken in such activities? Ultimately it is those lessons which he learnt that has brought him to such an articulate and profound perception of his understanding of life. I really do believe his life has been like a breath taking work of art, I think he is an exceptional being, something I could only aspire to.

''It's difficult to believe in yourself because the idea of self is an artificial construction. You are, in fact, part of the glorious oneness of the universe. Everything beautiful in the world is within you.''
-Russell Brand


I’m a big believer that ‘life isn’t about the destination it’s about the journey’, so my philosophy is to do what makes you happy in this present moment and try not to dramatically worry about every minor consequence it may have. From one perspective we  could be considered as a collection of our past ‘mistakes’. They are an inevitable part of us which makes us human so learn from them and maybe try to enjoy them from time to time; perfection is an idea which can only really be defined in relative terms to each individual. It is a simple fact that you’ll never know what you like until you try things. Don’t be afraid to explore just because you may get something wrong and make a mistake. And try not to feel you have to necessarily conform and follow everybody up their path to save yourself from making a 'mistake' alone. Trust yourself and your mistakes so that you can go up your path at your own pace and in your own way.
''The one who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The one who walks alone, is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been.''
Albert Einstein


 I recently came to the conclusion that if life is impermeable then we can only really trust (and enjoy) this present moment, nothing more and nothing less. Bar that, our life is ultimately a collection of our own memories, so what is so wrong in making the ride a little bit more interesting and entertaining. Ultimately you are the only one that has to live your life. I’m not saying it’s perfectly acceptable that the best idea is to go and be a reckless idiot, following the current popular trend of ‘YOlO’. However, I am saying to consider saying ‘yes’ a little bit more often and trusting yourself that mistakes aren’t the be all and end all. They could possibly be the factor that takes you up a different and more interesting path, the one that leads you to the better view. 
''To avoid situations in which you might make mistakes may be the biggest mistake of all.''
-Peter McWilliams
 
 
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(Please Note: I would want to write the equivalent of a dissertation on Russell Brand  as oppose to a couple of paragraphs but instead he will probably be a running theme throughout the course of my blogs. Check out his website here: http://www.russellbrand.tv/ If you know little about him   I will be talking lots about him. For the time being a  little fact I'll share is that we both do a form of meditation called Transcendental Meditation, he speaks about it  and supports it a lot for the David Lynch Foundation.)

Monday 24 June 2013

Becoming a Vegan

Before I initially became a vegan it dawned on me as being a level of commitment that I aspired to have but never found myself in the right environment or possessing a strong enough incentive to make that big transition. My initial diet change came when I became a vegetarian a couple of years ago, however, during a crazy experience in Australia I found myself in the outback where the term ‘vegetarian’ was a complete foreign concept and eating meat was the only option. A year after returning to England I started to be home educated and I was no longer surrounded by farmers' daughters at school and living as a vegetarian was a much more achievable goal.



Due to the fact that I make my own dietary choices the obvious next deliberation for me was whether I wanted to go a step further and become a vegan. I had observed my sister and Mum, who are both vegans, and the idea seemed a lot of hassle in comparison to what it was worth but it still played on my mind. I decided, however, that I wanted to make an informed decision over what I was putting into my body. When I was doing some research I was watching an interview of ‘Ellen Degeneres’ and I heard her mention that the documentary ‘Earthlings’ was what had turned her vegan, and seeming as I love documentaries I had to watch it. It was the biggest eye opener I think I have ever had. It screamed the truth about the treatment of animals and factory farming which left me beyond the point of upset and in a state of shock. There was no way I could eat animal products with the same naive attitude that I had always maintained.



The next day I went to dance classes completely clueless and bewildered as to what I was going to eat. I had always cheated whilst being a vegetarian by eating bits of fish here and there but I was keen to be strict, as I didn’t want to feel responsible for the mistreatment and death of that animal. Due to being completely unprepared I think I ate some chips from the chippy and a bit of fruit. It was quite hard that day but as soon as I told my Mum my decision I then became fully introduced into the wonderful vegan world. Without her there is no way I could keep it up as I have no culinary skills in the slightest.






A couple of days later, following my documentary experience, I read the book ‘Skinny Bitch’. I'm really happy that I read it once I had made the transition as it was just a final confirmation for me, giving me plenty of practical facts to think about without concentrating too much on their information they give about animal welfare. I am constantly learning about this lifestyle choice I have chosen to adopt, another great documentary is 'forks over knives', and reading posts on the the 'PETA' are also very interesting.



I have not particularly missed any foods, partly due to the fact that there are such fantastic replacements for everything which I loved – they are also often more healthier and better tasting in my opinion too. Physically I feel so much more healthier than before. For example, my skin has always been fairly problematic and within a very short space of time my spots began to fade. My diet is constantly evolving, such as I'd love to cut out as many refined products as possible but it is a journey and I have to kep on reminding myself to take it one step at a time.  


I am so pleased and proud to be a vegan and it takes every bit of my inner strength not to preach about my new found wisdom to everyone in the world at every single opportunity! I have realised that being vegan isn’t just a diet but it is a lifestyle, an enlightened way of thinking and a new perception towards the world.


Sunday 23 June 2013

Joyful Juices!

Juices are an incredible invention; something incredibly nutritious whilst tasting yummy. If I drank these more often I would definitely be the epitome of health.

The way I got interested in them was by my Mum who introduced me (online) to an amazing woman called 'Mimi Kirk" who at the age of 70 was named the "sexiest vegetarian of the year". When I saw her I thought she was a good 30 years younger then 70. She has had an amazing life and things don't seem to be slowing down for her now she is 74! She lives a completely raw vegan diet and swears by juices (hence where I got an interest for them). I figured if she looks nearly 40 years or so younger by drinking juices and eating a vegan diet that there is no harm in testing her theory. I recommend you go and look her up, and watch some of her youtube videos as she will make you laugh as well as inspire you.













Mimi practices a full raw vegan diet to the extreme which I truly admire and wish I had such dedication and time for. However, I believe in balance and so I am going to try and incorporate some of her ideas in a more manageable, realistic way that suits me, starting with her idea of drinking juices. Over the past few days I have been making a celery, carrot, apple and spinach juice. If you would have offered me that a while ago I would have laughed you out of town but now I am genuinely looking forward to drinking it each day.

The types of juices that she has in a morning, and that I am adapting to suit me, are something I can easily see forming an integral part of my diet. If I drink them first thing in the morning I can almost feel the energy and positivity spreading through my body, it is quite remarkable (sounds rather dramatic but it's true!).

They make eating vegetables and fruit really fun and easy and they are also an easy way to obtain all the nutritious wonders that these foods contain. Not only this, but the nutritional value isn't dropped by having to cook the vegetables - plus no prepping as you simply shove it in the juicer! I have never been a breakfast person but they are something that are so easy, quick and tasty that I really would enjoy having them for breakfast too.


Another great thing about them is that there is no particular method or set ingredients you have to use to make them. They are good for using up any leftover veg you happen to have. It is your creation and choice; it's all down to your own indervidual tastes. It is a wonderful way too to eat some things you hadn't liked as much before, the reason being that by getting rid of the texture and pulp and by mixing the flavours with some of your preferred tastes it can get rid of the undesired part you didn't like whilst still obtaining all the nutrients from that particular food.



The benefits are quick to show, my skin was more glowing and I felt the benefits with my digestive too. Do make sure though that you drink them as soon as possible after making them so that you really get to drink all the good stuff. They are a brilliant new aspect to add to my new healthy diet that I am trying to create. And if you hadn't already noticed I would thoroughly recommend you joining me in this wonderful world of juices. I can think of plenty more to say on the subject but I think that is enough for today.
Much love, Bean xx

(NB Something to bear in mind when you start making them is that a pound of produce is roughly a cups worth of juice)

(PS Another vegan who my mum and I have found really inspiring is a woman who goes by "Chef Chloe". Her recipes in her book are truly tremendous. My mum and I cooked a few at the weekend and they were vegan heaven! Her book as well as Mimi's is definitely worth the buy!)










Tuesday 18 June 2013

Inspiration

My mum once decided to create a blog in order to write about the various aspects of her life but predominately for self development reasons. As always I have been inspired by her and have also come to the decision that it would be quite fun to do the same. She decided to base hers on 12 parts that she believed to be the main factors of her life & it got me thinking about what I believed to be my 'parts' that I would want to write about. I came up with the follow -

1) Performing
2) Discovery of health exercise (inc. being vegan)
3) The trials of being a teenager & growing up
4) Finding myself (inc. religion, life goals, etc)

I believe that being 38 years younger than my Mum, it is quite acceptable to have only a third of the amount in terms of the aspects of my life that I'd want to write about, which I deem to be important and influential in my life, in comparison to her 12. My 4 subjects are all relatively different and I think how 'deep' they are also varies quite a lot. I have been doing quite a bit of 'research' of different blogs and you-tubers and haven't quite found someone as of yet who has inspired me in the sense that they talked about all the things that I wanted to cover. So, as I have been told in the past - if you want something doing, do it yourself.

A brief explanation of who I am is that I am 16 years old and I left school at 15 to teach myself and entered the strange world of being 'home educated'. Before that decision of leaving school I had been to a total of 8 schools. I left each one for different reasons and I believe it is by going to so many schools that got me to the point where I felt ready to leave school a few years earlier then planned. I come from a strong, tight knit and supportive family of 6, with 2 dogs to fill in the spare space of our house. My parents run a successful and thriving company that is now 21 years old. My 2 sisters are both equally successful with one following into the family company and the other just starting a PHD in physics. My brother, is much like myself however, he has big dreams of making it in the performing industry without a concrete plan of how exactly to go about it.

I believe that different people have different forms of outlets to express themselves and I am hoping that through the Internet I may be able to express myself in this strong time of self discovery.


Much love, Bean xx


 
 

Monday 17 June 2013

Welcome

Hi!

I have decided to start this blog simultaneously alongside a YouTube channel, both called ‘BuddingBean’. They will hopefully develop into a go-to place for all the necessary information about being a Vegan and the realistic and achievable fundamentals of living a natural and eco-friendly lifestyle. I think that people are slowly becoming more accustomed to the idea of living in a different way to how society tells us to live but there are limited resources that people can trust in learning more about how they can practically apply these ideas to their life. I plan on talking about an array of  topics ranging from the best current beauty products to how to be eco-friendly when doing the laundry. Ultimately I’d like this to be a journey and just see where it takes me, as Buddha once said 'do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.'

Much love, Bean