Word of the week: Silence

Photo credit: ~jjjohn~'s

Silence: 1. The condition or quality of being or keeping still and silent. 2. The absence of sound; stillness. 3. A period of time without speech or noise. 4. Refusal or failure to speak out.

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Word of the Week: Patience

Photo credit: Batikart

Patience: the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.

It's been almost 2 months since the oil tank spilled its content in our basement. Oil smell is still there, nothing is being done, house is a real mess (with all 4 of us upstairs - kids are not sleeping downstairs in their room since then)... Bedroom is upside down. Living room looks like a bedroom. Office has become play room, full of toys everywhere.

We are waiting for the insurances to send a check for the builder. And with Christmas coming, I guess the guy will take a break so we'll not start anything until January. I'm getting so fed up!

But. Will. Have. To. Wait.

Patiently.

Health update

Since health is my main concern these days, I feel I have nothing very interesting to write about. So just wanted to let you guys know that after 15 days of treatment, I already feel better. Lighter. Calmer. I have this strange feeling of a clearer mind. I also have another weird sensation, I feel warmth, fire inside, just below the sternum. I think that's the solar plexus spot. Don't know a lot about chakras but that sensation feels very good, anyway.

I don't have that much sugar rushes anymore, and crave good food, more and more. I don't suffer too much when I see people eating pizzas, chips and chocolate in front of me. I'm not hungry like I used to be. I can wait longer between 2 meals without auto-digesting myself and I can eat salad and be satisfied.

I'm very tired but I guess that is a side effect of the detox. Otherwise, I feel great. It gives me the motivation to keep up and the hope of a better life!

Word of the week: Winter

Winter: 1. The usually coldest season of the year, occurring between autumn and spring, extending in the Northern Hemisphere from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox, and popularly considered to be constituted by December, January, and February. 2. A year as expressed through the recurrence of the winter season. 3. A period of time characterized by coldness, misery, barrenness, or death.

What else can I say. She's here. Yesterday, I woke up to see her first flakes, her white blanket, her biting cold wind. Every year the same thoughts. Will I survive her grey mornings, her short days, her cold nights?

Oh Winter! Let me see your good sides, show me your qualities! Please, please winter, don't be so harsh on me this year!

Oh Winter! Be gentle and be quick, so my dearest Spring can come back soon...

Bonne Fête!

photo credit Lok lok05

Eid Mubarak!

Happy Eid!

To all my sisters out there, especially the ones that I don't see often - France, Australia, Czech Republic, are you there? ;) Taqabbal Allah minna wa minkum...

Word of the Week: Privation

Photo credit: Betty Crocker recipes

Privation: a. Lack of the basic necessities or comforts of life. b. The condition resulting from such lack.

Is sugar a basic neccesity? What about pineapple? Bread? Can we say that coffee is a comfort of life? No, no, no and no? Than why am I suffering, why do I have this feeling of privation if non of the above is a 'basic necessity of life?' Shouldn't the definition include the dimension of lack of something we got so used to that it feels like a privation to do without it? God, I feel like I'm being deprived of some kind of drug.

Why do I perceive privation as being so negative? Isn't there a positive dimension to privation?

I made the exercice of writing down what privation means to me. Here is what came to my mind.

Boredom

Exclusion

Suffering

Envy, lack of

Prohibition

Solitude, incomprehension

Hunger

Sickness

No pleasure

Effort

Sadness

Dryness

Health, Vitality

Yes, in the end, health, maybe. Most probably. It's not a privation that will kill me. And I don't need others to approve my decision. My body doesn't miss anything even if I have this feeling of lacking something. It's a privation of senses, not a vital one. It's an habit, a step to take. I have not a lot to loose and a lot to gain.

Health. Vitality.

I have to make sens of this hard period of privation.

At war

Candida Albicans by AJC1

Those of you who know me personnally are aware that I've been suffering from intestinal problems for over 12 years. Since then, I received different diagnosis, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Still, any of those diagnosis seemed to be right, as I was not having all the symptoms and didn't need to take medication. It was just a permanent discomfort, accompanied by various and seemingly unrelated problems: chronic fatigue, rash, allergies, different food intolerances, depression, runny nose, fragile throat, unusual frequent need to go to the WC, articular and muscle pain, excessively dry skin, etc.

Well, can you believe I think I just found out a culpable? For all of these symptoms? Thanks to a dear friend of mine (merci Marie, je ne te le dirai jamais assez!), Candida Albicans is now unmasked. She sent me a bunch of articles and links about Candida and I immediately realized my health problems were almost certainly related to it. This nice fungus present in every human body has taken over my own and my only hope to gain it back and regain health is to fight. To kill the unwanted guy, I need to starve it to death. It's not going to be easy: Candida likes sugar, gluten, yeast, processed food, dairies, cereals, fruits... Well, all the food I love, too.

But I don't mind. I'm at war. I'll have to eat rice cakes and salad for a while but it is worth it. If I can stop suffering, then I don't mind. Just to think about living a pain-less life is giving me all the motivation I need to fight.

Minimalism will spread over to my diet, too...