Disconnect Between Emotional and Rationale

Have you ever observed people spending money? It can be hard to see what people spend money on in supermarkets and large chain stores, however, since JOLI have been holding a market stall it's a little easier to watch people and notice where they part ways with their hard earned cash and how it matches up (or not) with their ethics.

For example, at markets, the highest selling product is food. Not the type of food you take home to cook for the family but immediate, ready made, takeaway food in throwaway (add to landfill) packaging. People selling cheap trinkets also sell a lot, while those with specialty items, especially more pricey items, lag behind in sales. Many people consider beauty products a luxury and therefore not worth their money or ethics.

Recently JOLI were at a three day festival all about women connecting with each other, Mother Earth and themselves. From our humble little stall we were able to see the people coming and going and which stalls sold LOTS and which didn't.

To begin with, there was a lady across the way who had a friend who was confused about where her stall was.  I went over to say hello, realised they were having this issue and proffered a stall map to help and guided them over to the staff for further help.  They literally did not respond to my hello and gave me annoyed looks, you know the one... "Why are you talking to us!".  Later I asked to borrow a hammer because it was so windy marquees were almost going flying (some did fly away!).  Whilst the hammer was loaned, the look that accompanied the hammer - as though I was being so annoying and intrusive.  So much for sisterhood!  I found out days later that the stall holder's friend thought her stall was going to be where mine was and was annoyed that it wasn't and somehow this was my fault, or at the very least worth taking out on me by way of rudeness/coldness.  Feeling the sisterhood love right there... not!

For the most part the women there were (meant to be) spiritual beings, at one with the earth, garden and nature, many vegetarians and animal lovers and activists. The type of women who passed by the JOLI stall, read our ingredients labels (some of the cleanest skin care on the market) and balked because we use beeswax (in only a few products). While they were happy to apply lavish amounts of creams and lotions from the sample pots, say how wonderful the creams are, they purchased very little (kind of scabby and not very spiritual or respectful of the work involved in making my skin care products).

These same women spent copious amounts of money on strands of clip-in dread locks ($25 per dread) made with synthetic fabric and synthetic dyes (that are most likely tested on animals), mass produced clothing (possibly from sweat shops and most likely using synthetic dyes, tested on animals), tarot readings, temporary henna ink art and take away food on plastic plates and paper cups (but at least the forks were bamboo).

Quite frankly, the people were somewhat laughable when they're eating all that takeaway food on disposable plastic plates and paper cups and putting them in the regular bins instead of the recycle bins (which is exactly what hundreds of people did at the festival). Not a lot of ethics or 'connecting with Mother Nature' about that.

Further more, if any of the ladies at the festival use fly spray, insect repellent, Glen 20, washing detergent, disinfectant, mainstream soaps, perfumes, hair dyes, have a large wardrobe etc. then they need to remember those things are far more harmful for the environment and animals that a couple of grams of beeswax in a lip balm.

People kidded themselves that they were being Earth Loving beings (or even self loving) while spending huge amounts of money on instant gratification and disposable items. At the same time talking themselves out of genuinely beneficial products where a lot of hard work has gone into the ethics of what JOLI produce. For me personally, taking care of my skin with clean, green products is far more important and ethical, with long term benefits, than $25 synthetic dread locks, $25+ henna art that will only last a week, $5 cups of coffee and mass produced clothing.

Whilst observing this it was easy to see there is a disconnect between our emotional and rational side. Our rational side is all like: I'm a vegan and don't eat or hurt animals and practice yoga and ride everywhere and I'm all about connecting with and protecting Mother Earth. While our emotional side is all like: Oh I want it, I MUST have it and I cannot differentiate between want and need, good and bad, earth friendly or environmental hazard.

It's time to get real about what we spend money on. If we are really are about saving the earth and protecting animals and being spiritually connected then making purchases based on 'wanting' an item vs 'needing' an item isn't going to work. You HAVE to ask yourself, do I really need this mass produced disposable item? Do I really need more clothes made in sweat shops, sold for cheap and produced at such vast quantities that we destroy the earth just to provide them?

Let your rationale guide you and not your emotions.

  

Starting a Vegetable Garden Part 2

Another thing I've started is celebrating the Sabbats (Pagan festivals) with family (my children, cousins and their children) so that we can all learn and teach ourselves and our children when to plant and and when to harvest, so we can follow and celebrate the seasons - as they occur in Australia.

You might not think the Sabbats play an important part in fruit and vegetable gardens, and there are those who will think this has to do with spells and witches and evil and devil worship. If you think that you couldn't be further from the truth.

The origins of Sabbats where about thanking Mother Earth, Gods and Goddesses for bounty and  successful crops. For example Halloween is about the pumpkins being ready to harvest. In Australia we celebrate the rituals the wrong way around so we might be mistaken in thinking pumpkins are ready to harvest in October, yet it is Autumn (May, June) when pumpkins are ready to harvest. Armed with this knowledge I know not to plant pumpkins before or during winter thinking they'd be ready by October (when in fact the crop would fail because it's too cold).

Lammas, February 2, celebrates the first harvest so this is the time we'd harvest our first crops of produce ripe and ready to be collected. Knowing this, I know this is the time to go out and gather produce from my garden. At this point in time grape leaves are ready to be harvested, ready for either preserving in brine or form making dolmades. As my vegetable garden grows into fruition I'll have more to harvest in the coming years (hopefully).

Mabon, which is coming up is the time for the second harvest. This is when fruit and produce would be harvests and pickled / preserved ready for storage over winter.

Samhain is when Halloween, of sorts, would be celebrated in Australia. This is the time the veil between the living and the dead is thinnest and we can honour ancestors and think of those who have left us.

Yule, winter solstice, is the shortest day of the year. This a time for personal renewal and honouring family and friends - we might give them a gift.

Imbolc is about new beginnings and considering the coming year, what you'll do. Life force is awakened with the first signs of green (although we don't get snow in Australia). It's a good time to spring clean and bless house and temples.

Ostara (Easter) is when flowers and life come alive, the earth reawakens, we celebrate by decorating eggs. We'd bless seeds at this time before we plant them, start new projects and celebrate the joy of being alive.

Beltane is the beginning of summer, fertility festival, we feat and celebrate with flowers and ribbons (maypole), we'd make flowering crowns and celebrate love, romance and fertility and bless crops for successful bounty.

Litha, longest day of the year, is about staying up all night (or for as long as you can or care to), leaping over bonfires to assure good crops. We bless the earth for bringing forth bounty.
  

Dealing With Grief

After finding out my step-mum had bladder cancer and her chances of survival were slim I understandably went into an emotional tailspin. I was overcome by grief.

I spent most nights unable to sleep because I couldn't stop crying and thinking about her not being around any more. I was plagued by insomnia and stayed up watching TV for hours until the TV screen lulled me into a deeply tired state, where I would then crawl into bed and sleep most of the next morning away. Days were spent in a zombie state of mind, unable to focus and, to be honest, not really feeling like doing much. It has been hard going for sure - as I'm sure a fair few of you will be able to relate to.

One thing I wasn't prepared for is the reality of cancer. In movies people with cancer, even though bald and gaunt, are smiling and talking up to their final moments, and for all appearances drift peacefully away surrounded by loved ones. The reality of cancer is the body literally starves to death as patients slowly become unable to eat or drink no matter how thirsty they are. Faculties and mobility stop functioning as organs shut down and the body grows more weak. In the case of my step-mum she took two weeks to starve and die of thirst while being doped up with drugs so that the experience was as comfortable as possible (if that's even possible). It was hard for loved ones to see and I'd like to think she was not aware of what was happening to her, yet the reality is we don't really know how much she was aware of. What we do know is 4 days before she passed away she was told by nursing staff that she was dying. Until then she'd thought she was in hospital to get better and return home.

For around two weeks I was eating a handful of chocolate a day in an attempt to give my body fake serotonin levels (this is even before my step-mum passed away). Though obviously I realised I can't keep this up, chocolate isn't so good for me (all that sugar) and it's not necessarily a good way to cope. Although it's only natural to cope in what ever way we can, it is still important to find natural healthy ways to cope with grief.

After my step-mum passed away I began to crave floral scents, which is strange for me as I tend to find floral scents too sneezy and avoid them at all costs. Yet here I was purchasing floral incense sticks that I've been burning regularly and I've been using jasmine essential oil diffused in an oil burner - jasmine is particularly good for easing depression and easing the grief associated with the loss of a loved one.

natural vegan bath salts by JOLI

My step-mum loved floral scents, especially rose, and coincidentally one essential oil blend I have for grief contains rose. Mix 5 drops of cypress, 3 drops marjoram and 2 drops of rose in an oil burner with water.

To aid with depression, mix 4 drops grapefruit, 3 drops geranium and 3 drops palmarosa in an oil burner with water.

These essential oil blends won't bring her back, obviously, and don't make the sadness go away completely. The point is not to bring about delirious happiness and bury the sadness and not have to deal with it. The aim is to aid with healing as naturally as possible while allowing the mind and body to grieve her passing and come to terms with her soul / life force leaving this earth.
  

Can We Cure Cancer?

According to a book I've got in my library on 10,000 years of human genetics, cancer came about once we began farming and consuming grains in large quantities and using them as a large staple of our diet. Before then we ate a diverse variety of foods such as high antioxident berries and high protein foods such as nuts and mushrooms.

Although our diet might have been paleo we tended to eat small portions of meat. Meat was definitely NOT processed (bacon, sausages, patties etc) and the animals were not grain fed or stuffed with chemicals, antibiotics and such. Grain feeding came about when we began to also farm animals. Living along side live stock made us sick as we began to come into contact with unknown diseases (think of things like swine flu, bird flu, rabies, bubonic plague).

Now I can't say for sure that there was no such thing as cancer prior to 10,000 years ago (and I'm guessing nor can anyone else confirm this since there are no written records from this time), yet many of us are vastly aware that cancer is spreading and becoming more and more common place as the years go by (this is also due to increased population - more people, more cancer rates.). Add to that the fact that we're also using more and more synthetic chemicals in our day to day lives and these substances have the power to alter our genetics causing families to become prone to certain cancers (i.e. people who were present when nuclear testing first began).

The irony is that the advent of farming and living aside live stock gave those who lived this way stronger immune systems (think of the effects on indigenous people coming into contact with people from the Western world, illness that Westerners survived all but wiped out indigenous populations).

Where do we turn to from here? 

What can we do to reduce our chances of cancer? 

Can genetics be altered so that families are no longer prone to cancers?

I cannot answer the last question because if it could be done I've no idea how many generations it would take to have an effect. However, doing the following is a GREAT place to start reducing the potential of getting cancer:

• Eat diets high in antioxidants (brightly coloured fruits and vegetables) and mix your diet up with a variety of many different fruits, vegetables and nuts
• Reduce the amount of grains you eat
• Eat organically
• If you eat meat, eat less meat (I believe The Truth About Meat said a good ratio is around 40-100gm a day - 3 days a week)
• Eat less red meat
• Avoid eating meats that are processed and have chemical additives
• Grow your own organic vegetables (if possible) & DON'T use pesticides!
• Go green as much as possible and find ways to reduce consumption of plastic packaging and wastage
• Use clean skin care and cleaning products or make your own 
• Get educated by experts who can teach you ways to live clean
• Avoid petroleum / mineral oil based products
• Avoid germ killing products
• Get more sunlight (vitamin D has it's own cancer fighting properties)
• Limit your alcohol and sugar intake and quit smoking

In this blog I've written numerous articles on how to be more green, what concerns there are related to man made chemicals in mainstream products, what to avoid, how to avoid them... All in the HOPES of reducing the amount of harmful substances people come into contact with. The main aim with JOLI is to reduce the worlds' chemical foot print because regardless of how often we're told 'it's safe', there is lots of evidence out there saying otherwise. With cancer on the rise (even in our pets!) it is important to me, and many others, that we try and reduce those statistics.

Please join me in my crusade and help change the world for the better.

  

Starting a Vegetable Garden

I've set myself a goal this year to set up a vegetable / fruit garden. For us to grow our own food organically.

It's always been important for me to move away from mainstream products that use chemicals and for us as a family to try and consume less, and over the years I've switched my skin care and cleaning products, and I've been making some of my own food items such as: lemon butter, lemon cordial, lemon verbena tea, lemon sorbet, pickled olives, chilli sauce, Italian herb mix, marmalade (we call larmalade because we make it with lemons), dolma, parsley pesto... but I want to be more self sufficient.

It would be nice to be able to trust that the food we're purchasing from large supermarket chains is not sprayed with synthetic pesticides and fertilizers (synthesized from oil to replace the soils natural recycling process), or that companies tell the truth when they claim these chemicals aren't bad for us and aren't killing off the bees. Yet, with debacles like tobacco, asbestos, copper IUD, the first female contraceptive pill etc. it is easy to mistrust companies that tell us these things are 'safe'.
The good news is Australia have the highest amount of organically grown produce in the world, so yay us!

when to plant and harvest

The first step has been to determine the types of foods we want to grown and eat so I sat down with my children and asked them to list some foods they think we should grow. They were even suggesting foods they don't like, because I like them.

The second step has been to determine when to plant and when to harvest, and what plants need in terms of nutrients, because up til now I've not know the first thing about any of this. I purchased the book The Australian Fruit & Vegetable Garden which has been a great reference for when to plant for my climate and how long produce takes to ripen and when it should be harvested. Also how to prune and grow the plants.

The third step will be building and creating spaces to put the fruit and vegetables. My garden is not huge, we live on a small block of land (the new Australian norm) and most of my garden is already taken up with natives. So space will be a challenge. The good news is most of the boundary along the east wall (that gets the most sun) is bare.

The list we've come up with so far is:

broccoli    brussells    garlic    onion*    potato*    spring onion*    cabbage    carrot    cauliflower    lettuce    corn    cucumber    sunflour    tomato    zucchini    capsicum    chilli*    rockmelon    watermelon    basil    chives    coriander     pumpkin*    beans    apples    apricots     figs    almonds    blueberry    peppermint (for tea)    passion fruit    sage (mine died)    prickly pear*    herbs* [rosemary, oregano, lavender, curry, bay, thyme, fennel, parsley, spearmint, Thai mint (laska leaves), lemon grass]   lemons*    olives*    grapes*    capers    coffee beans*    cherries*    lemon verbena*    avocado

*already growing (though not necessarily successfully)

Plus a handful of flowers that attract bees and other insects that protect fruit and vegetables from insects that eat the plants such as: marigold and Queen Anne's lace, chamomile, daisies, poppies*...

It won't happen over night, I'll have to purchase plants, soil and pots in dribs and drabs because it won't be cheap or simple setting all this up. The plan of action is to purchase a handful of seeds and fruit trees that are ready to plant now, that I have the space for already, and grow the garden from there, adding plants as I go.

Hopefully by this time next year I will have a successful vegetable garden and of course I'll keep you posted on the progress.
  

Touched By Cancer

I'm blessed to have three mums; my biological mum, my step mum and my mother in law. Each awesome and beautiful women in their own right.

Recently my step mum, a colourful, creative, vivacious woman, spoke to me about a diagnosis she received after going to the doctor with pains in her kidney area. At first her doctor dismissed her concerns, so she went to the local hospital thinking she had kidney stones. Scans showed she had something worse. Bladder cancer, well: three small cancerous tumors, one on top of her bladder, one along the ureter and one of the bottom the the kidney. Most likely caused by (according to the doctor) heavy metals her kidney was unable to process and remove from her system. 

Heavy metals are the result of the toxic accumulation of certain metals the body is unable to rid itself of. Where might these heavy metals have come from? Lead in lipstick and petrol. Arsenic in pesticides. Aluminum in antiperspirant. Lead, manganese, iron, nickel, copper, cadmium and antimony in hair dyes. Mercury in fillings and seafood. Could be any number of ways, we're exposed to daily. 

In the beginning we were told the cancer was non aggressive and prognosis of beating it was really good. The doctors removed the ureter and almost all of tumors except a small section too close to nerves near the bladder. An infection in the liver followed and my step mum was put on antibiotics for a number of days until the infection was gone. She reported feeling quite well and was discharged from hospital.

A week or two later she was booked in for 10 days of radiation treatment (she is too fragile to undergo chemo). From there things rapidly went downhill. My step mum has been unable to eat due to nausea and has lost a tremendous amount of weight. It was recommended she go into a hospice for while to be looked after, yet in there, they are not running any more tests to see why she's deteriorating (saying she's too fragile) and they're not feeding her intravenously even though she's barely eating. Kind of feels like they're giving up on her. Which feels so awful and final :(

Naturally this is devastating. Heartbreaking! I'm left wondering how does it go from a positive prognosis to pretty much 'nothing we can do'??? Such an awful thing to have to deal with and my heart goes out to all those who have also been touched by cancer (more like bowled over by it).

On a good and endearing note, I have and will always admire my step mum and have wonderful memories of her and I making soaps, discussing scents and creations together. She is such a creative women and makes candles, soaps, fabric art, ponchos - always working on something creative and colourful. She is the one who started me on my journey by talking to me about propylene glycol and we all owe it to her for the wondrous Skin Serum formula and the chocolate slice recipe she taught me some 24+ years ago.

I'm sending a prayer out to all those fighting the effects of chemicals and toxins in our everyday products and this is exactly why I do what I do - produce natural clean products - because I'd like to see a world where we don't have to fear things that poisons or harms us. JOLI will keep fighting the good fight xo

R.I.P. Liz [5/2/2016]. The world lost some of its colour and joy xo

my stepmum's beautiful art work sits pride of place in my workspace

  

Change Your Period to Align With The Moon

This is way off topic to anything JOLI related however, it does fit in with the naturalness of life and being true to our self.

I've just finished reading a book called The Red Tent. It is about a tent the ladies go into when they're menstruating yet it is more than that. The content of the book is also about how women dealt with TOM (that 'time of the month'), what it meant in the eyes of society and what women got up to during that time. Primarily bonding, sharing life stories and passing on knowledge and family history down to the generations of women who joined them in The Red Tent.

Women having their period was seen as an amazing thing. They were revered for bleeding and not dying and for being able to bring forth life of not just females but also males. This was considered an important time of renewal in the cycle of life, and girls were pleased to reach womanhood and be able to bare children (for those that could). Though giving birth was perilous and deadly, which made it even more amazing that women could do this and survive.

One interesting point in the book is that ALL womens' period cycles lined up with the moon. They ovulated during full moon and menstruated during new moon (again fitting in with renewal and the cycle of the earth and tide). And they only bled for 3 days.

This would have been due to women being more in tune and aligned with nature back before life became about materialism and wealth and we started hiding away in dwellings surrounded by artificial light. We rarely see the moon or know it's cycle these days let alone being in tune with it.

I can't help but wonder if this misalignment plays a part in the premenstrual symptoms us ladies suffer throughout our menstruation years. According to metaphysics these symptoms stem from the sufferers inability to embrace their femaleness and womanly rites. This made me wonder if symptoms women get, such as sore breasts and cramping, during some periods stem from the fact that our bodies are out of alignment will the moon. Considering that I don't always have sore breasts and have never figured out why they're sore sometimes and not sore at other times, I'm wondering if, for example, my sore breasts are caused by my period being due during a full moon, at a time I should be ovulating?

So I'm going to try and test this theory by attempting to line my period up with the tides and the moon. My first step will be to spend time outside each night concentrating on the moon (if and when I can see it), to help me know when the moon is waxing and waning, to help me know at what stage my cycle should be at. It's perhaps a big ask and something that I may not have the know-how to achieve. Still, I shall give it a go and see how things pan out and of course I shall post updates and let you know how this experiment goes. 
  

Natural Skin Care Warning

I stumbled across this article in the newspaper and had to share it with you because it raises an interesting point.

In my 10 years experience as a natural skin care specialist I've learned a lot such as: the effects of essential oils & pregnancy, 'kills 99% of germs' isn't a good thing, and there is an increase in people presenting with sensitive skin.

It doesn't surprise me that someone presented with an allergic reaction to oats after using a product that contained oats because I've also learned we can build up critical mass to certain ingredients - and this differs from person to person.

One reason cosmetic conglomerates use petroleum and mineral oil based ingredients is because it is a cheap alternative to offer to those who have nut allergies, and therefore cannot use products that contain nut oils (i.e. almond, shea, walnut and hazlenut oils). There are other alternatives such as apricot and jojoba oil, both of which cost more to use.

One thing that concerned me about this article is it targets 'natural' skin care and products containing foods - which certainly maybe a concern for some, and ignores the elephant in the room. Which is far more people present with allergies and reactions to the ingredients in mainstream skin care. In fact it is quiet prevalent and common in today's society than ever before because of the amount of products we consume and the frequency in which we use them. Plus the vast amount of known 'skin irritation' causing ingredients in them.

By all means be mindful of anything that may give you an allergic reaction and STOP using any product (cleaning agent, hair dye, makeup, skin care, oils, grease etc) that cause a skin reaction such as urinary tract infection, psoriasis, eczema or contact dermatitis.

Find the products that are right for you but don't be scared to try natural skin care and see if it's a good fit.