Day 2 and 3: Easing In

Day 2

This morning I began my day with some lemon water. I squeezed half a lemon into a cup, filled ¾ of it with tap water, and filled the rest with boiling water. It's used in traditional Chinese medicine and is said to help liver and digestion. Later that day I went to a Pow Wow and went shopping for some New Age clothes at Goodwill.

The Pow Wow was really interesting, I have gone to another one before this and I love how rich and different the culture is. I've read though that Native Americans don't like the New Age movement, referring to those people as "Plastic Shamans". I felt though that I needed to try to relate with anything spiritual that I could. The singing was phenomenal, and the dancers' movements were full of passion. Here is a video of something very similar to what I saw and heard that day. I think though that when it comes to New Age, this is something to broaden my horizons, I will focus on other ways to understand the culture.

Native Americans do have an incredibly tasty staple called "Fry Bread" I suggest that if you hear of a Pow wow near you, you at least go try some of this amazing food. Get the "Indian Taco", I admit I cheated a little with the veganism, but it was out of respect and open-mindedness, not from lack of control.

I mean, this totally doesn't look delicious or anything

After we went to the Pow wow we drove to Goodwill to find some New Age clothing. It proved to be incredibly difficult for two reasons: the only clothes I saw that related to New Age were loose and not meant for cold weather and I had no fashionable relation to these clothes. Unfortunately, despite it being May, the weather over here has been exceptionally cold, and though I would like to wear the long flowing dresses and skirts I would be freezing my ass off which is only appropriate if I'm intentionally wearing uncomfortable clothing like in girly.

I know there are ways to dress a little more tastefully or to my own style, but I have a bad feeling I'll have to buy clothes that haven't been used and I simply cannot afford them. I'll have to dress in my normal clothes for now and wear something like a headscarf to distinguish me as "New Age".

I feel bad about how gradual this experiment has become, but I believe that something like this cannot be so easily forced as opposed to something based on my physical appearance.

Later in the day Noah went to his house to eat some very not vegan food. I felt that his house, which always had the TV on and whose parents were very traditional would not be conducive to my already fragile state of mind. I knew that if I entered that house I would be glued to either the TV or sucked into the gossip magazine's Noah's mom had a regular supply of.

I went to the bookstore and looked in the New Age section for books I may be interested in. I found one called "Evidence of the Afterlife" that was written by a doctor. It was a very scientifically legitimate book and I plan to use that as the path to become more open to other beliefs. I am getting a growing feeling of excitement and I'm looking forward to being more at peace with myself. I also am very excited to explore the spiritual world as it is a fascinating realm and even if it is not real the fact that our minds can create such "realities" is equally interesting. I think for now I must embrace aspects of New Age that speak to my personal interests, and go on from there. I hope that despite my time constraints I can still explore beliefs fully.

Things are getting better for me. I've been making tons of stir fry, which is my favorite dish, and eating healthy in general really is nice for me. I'm looking forward to learning to make new ethnic dishes as Asian food is my absolute favorite type of food.

Day 3

This morning I did Yoga. It was from a DVD my stepsister got me for my birthday. I enjoyed it but I feel like I could have done with more of a challenge. My mom has some yoga VHS's that may work, we'll see tomorrow morning. Otherwise, today was pretty uneventful regarding New Age as I was very busy with school and work

The most flattering picture I could find sans double chin

I listened to some New Age music while I was working and found some of it pretty nice. I usually listen to classical or opera while working and this was a pleasant change. It did have a powerful relaxing effect which seemed to make me tired and refreshed at the same time. Usually when I get tired like that it's hard for me to resist sleeping, but this drowsiness was comfortable without making it impossible to concentrate.

It's interesting to hear New Age music as it seems to have no set rhythm or form. Some songs have singing; some are just chimes and the sound of a creek. I'm used to songs having some sort of rhythm or form but I'm actually enjoying this kind of music more than I thought I would. I always had this impression that good music is universal and there was no denying the beauty written into some songs. For me this perception began with pop music then expanded into rock, blues, classical, and even Opera. There were some types of music I considered to be simply less appealing to hear than others, and it was a very objective viewpoint. Of course it was also a much uninformed one too. I don't consider myself a "musical" person which I think has worked to my advantage here because people I consider "musical" are usually very set in their tastes and believe the know what "good" music is.

When it comes to getting angry, Noah has really helped me center my energy. I'm already getting much better at this, though I know I have a very long way to go before I consider myself "centered".