by Lisa Marie Lindenschmidt
I’m still working on unpacking, understanding, and integrating the information I received from Daniel Vitalis’ talk in October. One bit in particular really struck me: his concept of the origin of domestication and our responsibility to become feral beings. As an example of this, he spoke about the importance of incorporating more wild edibles into our diet. That resonated with me.
Jim and I have been doing a lot of research lately on foraging, especially for medicinal plants and edible mushrooms. The culmination of these activities is, ideally, the undoing of damage done by domestication.
Domestication is defined as “tameness; to overcome the wildness of.” Feral is defined as “is one that has escaped from domestication and returned, partly or wholly, to a wild state.” Most people understand these words in the context of animals, mainly pets, and Daniel expounded on this to include, among many others, our lawns, methods of Western food production, our system of government, and… each other. The idea of domestication was not new to me. I’d heard variances of it in my college philosophy courses – Marx, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Foucault. However, the idea of feral was new. And how these two come together in terms of parenting is profound.
I don’t remember Daniel mentioning parenting, per se; but I remember listening to him and feeling something unlock in my head. It was audible, a resounding click, a turning, a creak of a door opening.
***
“Mom, I’m going to take a walk in the forest. I’m bringing Edgrrr with me.”
My immediate thought: AGH! No! Don’t bring the damn dog! He’ll get all muddy and I’ll have to wash him and it’ll be a big damn deal! And don’t climb on anything! I don’t want you covered in leaves and crap!
What I said was: “Cool. Don’t wear those dress-up boots though. Wear your sneaks, please.”
As Mo was changing her shoes, our dog – a 13-pound miniature poodle – excitedly paced back and forth around her legs. His was wearing that dog smile, as we call it, and was looking up at her expectantly. Mo opened the door, and he busted through, leaping onto the porch. Mo ran out after him. I stood there staring at the door for a while, thinking about my reaction.
***
When I am parenting Mo, I am ideally trying to guide her on her path while not giving into my power-over desires. We chose to homeschool because it afforded something we knew she could never get in a public school setting: virtually unlimited exploration time. But I struggle with this. I struggle with the learned inclination of wanting to make another Good Citizen™. For example,
she’ll burst into a fit of giggles while working on her grammar and I’ll find myself getting irritated because it will seem she’s lost her focus. Or she’ll clean her room and do things at speeds that work for her and I’ll find myself questioning her productivity. Or she’ll work on a sewing project and I’ll find myself getting frustrated because she’s not completing the task in a way that I
would deem efficient.
As an informed, enlightened parent, my responsibility should be, I believe, to refrain from my pull toward domestication. Almost more importantly, I have to work on undoing all the domestication I’ve been subjected to. So, I am having to find my inner wildness, to find those parts of me that want to burst out laughing, to do things ass backwards, to play in the mud
without a thought to stain remover. This is challenging, to say the very least.
In my family, we’re all doing this work together, communicating openly about the pitfalls, struggles, and accomplishments. We bash up against each other, each on our own course, our own path, living in our own authentic state. But we remind each other that we are operating from a place of love and always with each other’s best intentions at heart.
I’m not sure where we’re going to end up, but a feral family is on the horizon. Clad we may be in animal skins and eating mushrooms, but at least we’ll be that much closer to the Divine.
Lisa Marie Lindenschmidt is a raw foods chef and teacher and owner of Rite Food and Company (www.ritefoodandcompany.com), which offers workshops on intentional and joyful eating. Lisa Marie and her homeschooled daughter, Mo, record a weekly podcast – called Sweet Peas Podcast – chronicling their raw foods journey together.
I make up a big batch at a time and usually make three different flavours at once, the regular ketchup version, a hare krisna cuisine style chutney and my take on BBQ sauce. I’m pretty lax on measurements in my kitchen so feel free to experiment with the quatities I have listed. Most of all, remember to have fun…
This is a little ceramic (there are plastic ones too for travel) that looks like a little white tea pot without a lid. This a nasal irrigation device based on Auyervedic tradition that helps with sinus problems or allergies. I don’t have either problems- maybe that is because of my healthy diet, or maybe its because I use my neti pot. I only use it once in a while though, unless I’m doing a cleanse, then every other day. It’s super easy to use. You fill it up with warm water and a small amount of ground sea salt and ensure that the salt is dissolved. Then tip the spout into one nostril as you lean over the bathroom sink, and just allow the water to travel along the nasal passage and flow out the other nostril.
Oil pulling is another ancient Auyervedic system that is used to remove toxins from the body by way of the saliva. Swishing about a tablespoon or 2 into your mouth for about 15 minutes first thing in the morning on an empty stomach is all it takes. You do not gargle with the oil, just vigorously swish it around in your mouth while you open the mail or file your nails or whatever multi-tasking you like, and then spit out into the sink and rinse. It is apparently good for just about every condition known. The theory is that it exerts a powerful detoxification effect on the entire body through picking up germs and bacteria in our mouth and even beyond by pulling them through the mucous membranes in the mouth from the body. These toxins enter our saliva through a process of enzymatic action in the bloodstream and are drawn up and eventually out of our body with the oil that captures them. Never swallow the oil as it becomes toxic. And the key with this as with most health practices is consistency. Apparently, it is really effective. I am doing it several times a week and am enjoying it. Use cold pressed organic sesame oil (un-roasted) or Olive or coconut oil. This is an act of self love.
You are already doing this daily I hope. It’s as simple as taking a spoon and scraping your tongue to remove excess film that is loaded with bacteria and plaque building micro-organisms. I use an actual device called a tongue scraper that I got from the Health food store and that and brushing/flossing my teeth first thing in the morning is the KEY to me waking up my body-temple in the morning and feeling ready to face the day. Oral hygiene is so important. I have a heart condition which makes it even more so, but anyone will add years to their life if they take good care here. That is an actual fact. Affirm when you do it ‘I enjoy taking care of my self.’
OOOOoooOOoO I LOVE THIS ONE! Our feet contain many meridians of energy that are stimulated and activated when we walk barefoot which help discharge Electromagnetic Pollution as well as invigorate all the organs which correspond to the reflex points on the soles of the feet. I started doing this several years into my raw life as I noticed I naturally felt so much stronger and heartier especially in the cold weather and even winter snow. I have recently learned that my natural urge to be barefoot is actually a true health practice which people like David Wolfe and Daniel Vitalis have been sharing a lot about recently. This is my 4th year and I have to say its such a pleasure to go barefoot out in Nature. Please do it with extreme mindfulness if you wish to try it. I don’t recommend doing it in urban areas. Learn to step with care and confidence. Love your feet, love your journey.
