If you check in with this blog, you know I was a pretty strict vegetarian for quite a while. For a long time, it worked. I felt great, my energy was high, and my cardio was strong so I stayed with it. And to be 100% honest, I wasn't a vegetarian for the health factors. The health factors were just a nice bonus on the side, the main reason was to "alleviate pain and suffering," as Thich Nhat Hanh would say. I found a lot of comfort and peace in my nutrition and I still do. However, as I'm getting older, I noticed things changing a bit. I no longer had that gear I once did and it hit me like a brick wall. For a long, long time I measured my strength the exact same way and for a long, long time, it never dropped. My bench was always in a certain range, regardless of how often I trained. I was just kind of lucky with that. Then one day, I went in and it was cut by 50%... I thought "Bad day." I came back two days later... same thing.
Time to reexamine whats going on. So that was my first "push," towards upping my protein. Its very hard, and probably not 100% healthy to take in 130-160+ grams of protein powder everyday, which was what I required to maintain where I was.
I then heard a lyric "Self-realized and metaphysically redeemed, May not live another life, May not solve a mystery," and I thought "maybe I'm a little uptight... maybe I'm taking things a bit too serious... maybe I need to relax... maybe I need to just accept that this ride could be it and all that karma work is great but c'mon... settle down here." (Yes, I actually talk like that to myself "Hey dummy, settle down here..."
So all the sudden, "The Law of Attraction?" Everywhere I go, I'm hearing the same messages... "Calm down. Stop being so uptight with all these beliefs. You can still be a good person and eat chicken!" does that read as crazy on your screen as it does mine? :)
That lyric above and the entire song pretty much says that to me... calm down, relax, have fun, treat people great and finally learn to play that guitar completely! Stop holding back the urges and finally own who you are.
Someone said "Isn't it hypocritical to go back on all that now?" referring to the veggie thing, and I really, really struggled with it. I still am a bit. My ultimate deciding factor is my body. I'm kind of a large guy who likes to do things. I like to be physical, I like to run and jump and climb and flip tires and swing kettle bells and push weight and yoga and all that. I truly love moving my body. If I sit for too long, I get real grumpy. If I'm not doing something physical, I kind of get angry. I'm basically a boy trapped in a mans body :)
Remember a few blogs ago where I referenced an urge I had to find some weekend time to go camping and get lost for a while? I think that feeling/urge was just the beak starting to peck out of that shell. I'm just feeling pretty much done w all this nonessential bullshit, and I'm hunting for real in every moment... That's my air. That real is the guitar, it's yoga, it's running, it's climbing, its power, its freedom, it's full expression... It's like being held under water and dammit I want to rocket to the surface and feel that sun!
Then she asked "Whats with the Primal thing?"
For one, its probably an outcome of everything above and everything I'm tinkering with. That top quote stuck with me, "We weren't designed to sit in cubicles..."
We're built to move. We're built to learn to use our bodies to our maximum, whatever that may be. This "Primal mindset," fulfills a true need.
I think all the time "They could be so much more if they weren't trapped in that shell..." I know that reads judgy but it comes from a truly empathetic place. I don't want to see you trapped... I don't want to be trapped. I want us to be awesome! I want to see us able to express our insides with our outsides... does that make sense? Its like an electric guitar (especially a sweet, sweet Johnny Mayer blues solo)... the insides are being expressed. Same with our bodies and our movement, our achievements, our goals, our appearances, let it be your expression... that would be an amazing feeling.
Whats this primal thing? We're turning back the clock... We're stepping forward by stepping backwards and turning in a new direction. Its going to be safe but its also going to be harder. We're removing the mental hurdles and all those bullshit voices saying "Eh, I cant... Eh, I'm too old... Eh, I'm too weak..." No more. We were made to move and feel and sweat and run and lift and go off...
Imagine all these securities and comforts were taken away... who would you be? What could you get done with no car, no computer, no electronics, no fancy little gym machines :) If the only thing you had was exactly what you have when you wake up in the morning... just yourself.
This isn't a change... its evolution.
It feels exciting and refreshing.
It feels exciting and refreshing.
