truly living... in the RAW

[Alissa]

There are so many good things about being raw. I could make a huge list but i really have been thinking that for me lately the best thing about being raw is
"Feeling deeply".
I always thought i was a sensitive caring loving person to some degree but looking at myself honestly and doing enough growth work on myself i have come to know myself pretty well
And one thing i know is that there have been times (many times when cooked) where i go through life so quickly (Gemini) and make changes so fast that i tend to forget to 'smell the flowers' on the way. Being raw has made the little things that i used to pass by now seem so much more intense. If your not raw its really hard to know truly what i mean. I know years ago when went off and on raw i donÂ’t think i could relate to this as in really feeling what im saying, but those of you who are raw, even for a few days i think will be able to relate. I am so happy at times, its hard to contain it, and i feel so much love towards people at times its hard to not show it. It can be a funny feeling i guess because in our society people donÂ’t arenÂ’t always open to that.
Like this morning. We walked down the street to get a juice and the girl behind the counter is so sweet that i ended up telling her i loved her, that she is so sweet and she kind of looked at me funny. Now, she's only known me for about a week and she's young. My husband started laughing - at me, not with me - and i started laughing and walked away, i didnÂ’t know what to say, i just felt it. I was laughing on the walk home.

There are times of course i get stressed and angry or upset but i feel even those emotions so deeply.
Thank god for raw. I think this is what it means to be truly alive. Feeling everything good and bad and in between and not being 'asleep' to it all.

[Analeah]

Wow, thank you for sharing that Alissa! I can totally relate to just about everything you said. I had a day a couple weeks ago where I just felt so happy and it was unlike anything I had ever felt before because it was so intense. It was strange because nothing "happened" which made me feel this way, it was just this overwhelming feeling I had while going for a walk. I wanted to take the host family I am staying with here out for dinner or something and tell them how much I appreciated living with them and how grateful I was to be here. It is so interesting what you said about telling the girl at the juice bar that you loved her and she is so sweet but she looked at you kind of funny. I think most people are definately not used to that kind of reaction and it's sad because I think what you said was so sweet and caring and such a display of honest emotion. It reminds me very much of how someone acts on ecstasy and having done it once or twice myself I know while on it I talked to a few different people who I didn't know too well but I told them how great they were and what a wonderful person they were and that I loved them etc. I know the main thing ecstasy does as a drug is produce a ton of serotonin and it got me thinking that maybe when a person is eating only raw food it helps the brain produce more serotonin naturally, thus creating an ecstasy like effect at times (but in a natural and safe way). Anyway, I think that is just great what you did Alissa and it has inspired me to try and be more honest and open with my emotions! It's too bad your husband laughed at you! I guess some people just don't understand. How long have you been totally raw for and is your husband raw too? Has he experienced similar intensified emotions like that?

[Alissa]

Ya, its weird when you feel that way but not everyone around you does!
Ive been raw 14 years - 100 % for around 6-7 years, i donÂ’t know, im-losing count!
Yes, my husband is raw also and has changed an incredible amount! Picture Tony soprano going raw and meditating with me everyday ;) . He is so different from what he was! He had a ton of rage and anger when i knew him 14 years ago and when we got back together a year a half ago he went raw and totally changed his life. You can read his whole story and our whole story at http://www.alissacohen.com/about.html.
It’s kind of corny but people love it! The doctors told him he'd be dead in a year if he didn’t go on interferon (sp) (chemo). He could barley walk up a flight of stairs without huffing and puffing and his liver was sticking out of his side, his leg was swollen and he was all itchy from bile backup from his liver. Today he rollerblades 10 miles every morning, goes to the gym and plays softball till noon. He is in the kitchen as i write juicing watermelon for us! yeah! (At least its not his morning green drink he usually makes us drink - i tell him i created a monster when he forces them on me and when i complain he says - oh listen to the raw guru, i should tell everyone how i have to force you to drink your juice!) HA! He’s very funny, cracks me up constantly! And makes me laugh at myself when i get too serious. I love him so much and im so glad he has chosen to live and spend his life helping me create my dreams. He sold his restaurant and works with me now, im so lucky! He just had another blood test and his enzyme load is cut in half. The nurse practitioner said 'oh, the interferon is working hu? He said ‘no, the fruits and veggies are working’. She didn’t find it funny and more amazingly didn’t even ask what he was doing that had so drastically cut is enzyme level in half! The doctor was blown away but didn’t even ask either. He has giving up on doctors and just goes to them for a blood test once in a while to monitor it himself.
So he was laughing at me but lovingly, we were both cracking up because her expression was really freaked, like we wanted her to come home with something or us. Dennis on the way home said, ‘you better be careful with all that love your spreading’. It made me laugh even harder!

[Sweet lips]

How Wonderful - Alissa, I especially needed to read this as I have just finished yelling at my son and being disgusted with his behavior. Reading your post made me realize that I do not laugh as much as I should, that I need to take some time and inhale the celebatory rites of life - all the blessing that God has provided to me and for me. Andrew is truly a gift from God, because I was told that he was a tumor and I needed to have surgery or I would die. As with your husband and with my strong convictions - I told them under no uncertain terms would I have surgery because I was not aborting the baby that was in my womb. They sent me to counsleing because they felt that I need to help ! I needed help okay - I delivered a 9lb 13 oz boy, much to the chagrin of the first doctor. So why am I arguing with my gift from God - let me regroup and start all over again.

Thanks Alissa!

[Alissa]

mmmm, nice sweet lips!

[loveraw]

Alissa,
I know exactly what you mean. I have not been 100% raw, but mostly I would say, and I feel the difference when I am raw. For example the other day I was thinking about the same thing, I was on a raw juice fast and going downtown to get my fruit and there is just so many people buzzing around and when I was eating cooked I know how I felt all closed up to it all, kind of like being on guard and making a wall around myself. I think cooked food does that to you emotionally. But being raw I just melted into it all and was part of it and being afraid to touch everything around me and feel it.
Thanks for sharing

Renata

[monkeyboy]

Hi Everyone,

I can tell Alissa and Dennis are enjoying California. I can feel the vibe in her posts. Something about the air out there that's gets you all fired up.

Yes, raw is still the great equalizer. I can't tell you how good I feel. It will be 10 months for me next week. The love I share with people is incredible. People notice the change in me. I'm calmer and more willing to just sit and chat. Getting to know my friends and family a little better. It's all becaue of the food I eat and the wisdom and coaching from my friends on this board.


Some of you may remember a few weeks ago I posted and said I resigned from my job. The stress was too much so I decided to leave. Well, I now have taken a position with a European carmaker here in New England. I made the right choice and things are looking great. I know it's hard for many people to just quit thier job without a safety net, but if you do, it usually works out ok with a bit of planning.

My new lifestyle combined with work I enjoy. AH, isn't life grand?




Peace,

M.B.

[Alissa]

Loveraw, i know what you mean about melting in. you feel 'at peace with your surrounding and in tune with nature and people... its amazing isnÂ’t it?!

Monkeyboy- ya, maybe its the California vibe gettin' to me! HA! yep your right, thereÂ’s something in the air here! we are soooo loving it here i cant even begin to explain it! the ocean is in front of us when we walk out our door and the mountains are in back of us. we walk to the center of town and its only about a 5 minute walk, there is soooo much happening there (Laguna village) and then we walking to the bottom of our street get a juice, around the corner to the gym, ride our bikes, a bunch of raw restaurants all within 1/2 hour to 45 minute drive, etc... the weather is perfect! 70 and sunny, a little chilly in the AM and PM and nice during the day. EVERYONE here is nice, really, just about everyone is friendly! Really really friendly, total strangers will walk buy you and say' hello how are ya" with a huge smile! i love it, not like other places i lived. (could that just be my imagination, or maybe...what im putting out there now that im so happy here? i donÂ’t know, but i could live here forever! when i lived in CA years ago i always felt like it was my home. funny how certain places you just feel connected to. ive met up with a bunch of my old raw food friends, one of them, this really cool guy ive know for years, unbelievable musician been raw for 20 years, is taking us to san Diego this week to this great raw restaurant....sooooo much to do soooo little time

ThatÂ’s so great your new job is what you expected. yep, close one door and another one opens! and usually a better one when you have the courage to that! yeah for you! your such and inspiration! Congrats on your new position!

[Curtis]

Hmm I used to live by San Diego a number of years ago. Looks like more reasons to move back there. :)