2011 - Page 7 of 27 - Sarah Wilson

five books: that connect me to vulnerability

July 31, 2018October 5, 2011 by Sarah Wilson

I often get asked what books I’m reading. I’m really bad at answering definitely (on most things). In part because my memory is shocking. But also because everything is always “for now”.

edina csoboth five books: that connect me to vulnerability — photo by edina csoboth

So, here are five reads I’ve experienced recently that touched me because the author truly went deep into their search or their fear or their desire to share and connect. And in turn took me to my own version of this place. Not in a bash-over-the-head way. But just through the process. You might like them, too.

1. Your Voice in My Head by Emma Forrest.

A quirky memoir of an eccentric as she grapples with managing her weirdness and various breakdowns via what is almost an ode to her shrink. It’s a tender, sad and real read. It could be accused of being self-indulgent, in a Prozac Nation way. But it dodges such a call with the bravery and rawness of her writing. It’s unapologetic. And this frees it from contrivance. And freed me to dig down deep with her and to feel the freedom of it all. PS a big part of the book is her battle to recover from one particular ex…who is clearly Colin Farrell. Buy it here.

2. This is Not the Story You Think It Is by Laura Munson.

This book started as a Modern Love column in The New York Times in which Laura details how she sticks by her husband when he announces he’s leaving the marriage. She refuses to buy his story. Not because she’s a martyr or damaged or desperate. Instead it’s because she chooses not to do pain. This means sticking by the man she’s always loved. It’s a fascinating and very pragmatic approach to love and I like it. As real as it comes. I interviewed Laura and you can read about it here. Buy the book here.

my chat with Nora Gedgaudas on paleo eating (a podcast)

July 31, 2018October 4, 2011 by Sarah Wilson

On Friday I had the indescribable joy of chatting to Nora Gedgaudas on Skype. Nora wrote the paleo living bible Primal Body, Primal Mind and is a gem of a woman.

Picture 2 my chat with Nora Gedgaudas on paleo eating (a podcast) — photo via The Alkaline Sisters

In a nutshell, the premise of her thinking is this:

* our genealogy hasn’t changed since Paleolithic times when we ate fat, protein and low-starch veggies.

* our diet has changed to a high carb/sugar/starch diet, with the introduction of the agricultural period 10,000 years ago, which our bodies have not been able to adjust to…which makes us sick and tired.

Ergo:

We need to eat MORE FAT and ELIMINATE CARBS for optimal health and longevity.

Perhaps the most home-hitting point she makes is this:

Fat doesn’t make us fat, fat eaten with carbs does

and:

We aren’t what we eat, we’re how we metabolise what we eat

If you’re interested in all this, her book is seriously the go-to bible. I went crazy with my highlighter and post-it reading it last week. And for auto-immune/hashimoto sufferers…it almost caters directly to our conditions (Nora’s family all have hashimotos).

The great news is: Nora’s also out here in Australia in November speaking at universities in Sydney, Armidale and the Gold Coast. I’ll be at the Goldie to see her speak. It will be rad.

But in the meantime…our chat:

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Some of you asked some questions via twitter on key points of the paleo diet. I thought I’d spell things out a little, because they’re themes that I’ve touched on a lot on this blog. My sugar quitting philosophy is similar, ditto my exercise approach.

But aren’t grains needed by our bodies?

It would appear not. They contain no essential nutrients we can’t get from elsewhere in more effective ways. They’ve traditionally been eaten when fat and protein haven’t been around (and, thus, signal to the body there’s a famine going on). Since we have the option not to eat them, why would we? Especially given the below…

twee: sweet romp or silly?

October 2, 2011 by Sarah Wilson

This week in Sunday Life I’m twee

nicole l hill s photography twee: sweet romp or silly? — photo by Nicole L Hill

To be nostalgic about an era you have to have been fondly engaged in it first time around. Which is why I’m not very nostalgic. I was largely absent from most eras I traversed. We only had one TV channel for much of my childhood, didn’t live near shops and my parents had a thing for down-scaling to the “Australian-made”, wholemeal, unpackaged version of…everything. So I never wore anything fluorescent, didn’t watch Molly die and don’t know the words to “Girls on Film”.

I also never owned a doll, except for a Barbie Hairtastic Styling Head my uncle’s ex-wife gave me (the one where you cut her hair – but don’t worry Mum! – a simple tug and more emerges from her latex skull). I gave my new Head a mud bath in the dam that very Christmas day, which clogged her follicles.

So my brother fashioned her a Mohawk. And that was that.

I wasn’t girly, so, by rights when I say “this week I’m twee” I’m really only observing from a distance, for “twee” is but a nostalgic romp back to sweetness’n’lite, Holly-Hobby-tea-parties-and-needlepoint girliness.

To be twee is to wear cute floral rompers with a T-shirt emblazoned with kittens (bought on Etsy.com). It’s to squee! at the idea of an afternoon tea. And to collect retro eggcups that you then “instagram” and put on Tumbler. One twee blogger listed what it takes to be twee:

#3 Sit on a curb every time you experience a significant emotion

#4 Push your hair behind your ears (because it “makes you look self-conscious and self-consciousness is pretty goddamn cute” and

#10 Spend hours creating a mixed tape for someone special.

what nutritionists order when they eat out

December 26, 2011September 27, 2011 by Sarah Wilson

Me, I get a little tired of food types banging on about their amazing eating habits. I mean, I MUST really annoy some of you with all my “sprout this”, “slow cook” that rants. So perhaps I should mention, I also eat in food courts. And at 7-Eleven. Because I get really hungry and I move about a bit and just have to eat and not be too precious sometimes.

I approached some of the food types who contribute on this blog and asked if they’d come clean with their on-the-run eating tricks. We all do it. Eat crap and live to see another day!

Mine are thus,

* I avoid Thai (the coconut cream is great, but it’s full of palm sugar). Greek is great. Pubs are my favourite. Indian is OK (coconut cream with less sugar!)

* At food courts, I eat meat. Kebab joints – the straight up meat (with their salady stuff). The beef stew. etc. These stews are likely to have homely ingredients (my experience dating chefs is that Mum makes these dishes and keeps it pretty unadulterated). I avoid anything with sauce, or bready stuff and steer wellllllll clear of salad bars with dressing.

* If you eat sandwiches, ask for it to be made up with your ingredients – pre-made ones are full of gunky sauces. Ask for mustard. Full fat cheese and tuna, toasted, is pretty safe.

* At corner shops/ 7-elevens: I like Kat’s advice below – just buy the dark chocolate and be done with it.

* Soup is always a good option. Again, often made simply and sometimes by a Mum.

* I’ve written about what I eat when I’m traveling here.

But over to the others now…do add your ideas below!

Thai

Lee Holmes is author of Supercharged Food: I usually order a chicken and cashew nut dish and ask for no sauce. I say I’d just like to have it stir fried with garlic. If you’re ordering a curry you can ask for it without sugar too and most Thai restaurants are happy to accommodate you.

would you want to “see” into your future, even if it was bad?

September 25, 2011 by Sarah Wilson

This week in Sunday Life I visit a witch. Yep, a witch.

124155 7 600 would you want to "see" into your future, even if it was bad? — photo by Carlos Gotay

On long road trips, in the back seat of the family Ford Falcon XB, my five siblings and I played the hypothetical game “how much would you have to be paid to…”. How much would you have to be paid to, say, drink a cup of warm sick? Sit in a pond of leeches for five minutes? Ten minutes?

You know how it went. Before Wii, we all played a version of it. It was deliriously fun and simultaneously flexed our little moral compasses, preparing us for real life.

So, let me put this hypothetical quandary to you: if you could be given a vision of your future, but it could mean learning some seriously dire news, would you sign up?

A while back I learned of a witch who’s reportedly one of the best tarot readers around. The caveat is that she tells it as it is, warts and all. Ly de Angeles is the high priestess of the international Coven of WildWood Gate. She’s been practicing as a witch for 30 years and she once told a young woman, “Looks like there’s a death in the family… No, it’ll be you.” She detailed it was going to be in a plane crash. And so it came to be several years later.

I wavered for a while, and was warned against it, but curiosity pulled me in and on Tuesday I fronted up to her dark basement abode to get slapped with my destiny.

question: “how do you deal with infertility?”

October 23, 2018September 22, 2011 by Sarah Wilson

Every now and then I answer a question from a reader that I figure best to answer en masse…here’s one that struck me recently:

I recently dug up this question from reader Dharma. It was in response to my interview with Brene Brown on vulnerability. It’s a doozie.

Ok, I have a question for you. And I am only asking this because I have been basking in some pretty painful vulnerability for the past six months. The area of vulnerability for me is my fertility, it’s drifitng away from me. I try to be optimisitc, sometimes I fail. I went through searching for answers through friends, family and experts only to learn no-one else has the answers either. I have learnt to let go, my life is far less in control than it was a year ago. I am learning to be ok with this, to understand not everything works out the way to plan.

But, I still struggle with, how, when you are in this state of being do you make tough decisions? How does being deliberate come into play when the risks are high and you don’t know what way to turn?

I’m a spiritual person, I meditate, I practice yoga, I do any number of things. I TRY to trust life. But when those flashes of vuneralbility do come in, it can be hard to trust.

– Dharma

OK. This strikes chords right now. For all of you who’ve followed my thyroid/hashimotos/autoimmune journey, you’d know I’ve had ups and downs. Two weeks ago I had a bit of a down. I found out I’ve got some serious complications with my hormones. Again. Sadly, things have gone wonky and so my body has reacted. Mostly to tell me to slow down. Again. I’d been travelling well, but my anxiety crept back in and BAM! my body reminded me I’d pushed things too far once more. I’m working on getting things back working again with Chinese herbs. I believe I will. I know I will. This is not the first time.

So Dharma, I answer you intimately. Because I appreciate “fertility drift”. I think the hardest thing about the issue is the uncertainty. During my 20s and early 30s, having kids was something I just knew I’d do. So it all felt safe and certain, albeit “down the track”. Now, it’s a big fat unknown. Or seems to be more so because the volume on the uncertainty is turned up by this idea of “running out of time”. And this is the bit where vulnerability comes in. Because as Brene said in my interview with her, wholehearted, life-enhancing vulnerability “means actively letting go of certainty”. And I know you’ve said you’ve been working on this. But you’re finding it tough. Fair enough!

The second hardest bit for women – and men – in this predicament, I think, is having to reposition yourself.

when you’re the “somebody that they used to know”

October 23, 2018September 21, 2011 by Sarah Wilson

Today. This. Dedicated to Pete. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UVNT4wvIGY&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/youtube] I saw Gotye play live a few months back. The most sublime experience. He played about six or seven instruments during the gig, dancing between each one. It was a dance, I tell you! More than six million people have viewed this on Youtube, so apologies if you already … Read more

frozen pea love…plus two Michael Moore power lunch recipes

August 10, 2018September 20, 2011 by Sarah Wilson

I have an obsession with frozen peas. I add a small handful to almost every meal. They are instant sweet starch and can balance out rich salty kicks like olives and anchovies (which I consume a lot), and pad out all kinds mish-mash meals, like curries and omelettes.

I tell you, I’m yet to find a meal that can’t be improved with a frozen pea!

Anyhow. I was recently sent a copy of chef Michael Moore’s Blood Sugar and was elated (!) to find these two recipes brimful of peas. I first met Michael when I filled in for Kerri-Anne one day, and then again hosting the Morning Show. He’s owned big restaurants around the globe (including Summit in Sydney) and recently collapsed from a stroke at a dinner party. He had diabetes. Which fired him up to develop the Blood Sugar lineup of nutritious recipes. He’s kindly offered to share two very pretty lunch recipes here (he’s used fresh peas…feel free to substitute with frozen). I’ve also posted a few of my favourite Things to Do With a Pea below. Feel free to contribute to my homage…

mushroom, pea and bocconcini omelette

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove of garlic, crushed
120g mushrooms, quartered
90g fresh peas
3 egg whites, lightly beaten
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 baby bocconcini balls

Heat oil in a small non-stick skillet and cook garlic and mushrooms for 2-3 minutes. Add peas and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Carefully fold beaten egg whites and yolks together. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over mushrooms and peas and allow to set for 15 seconds on the bottom of the pan.

car sharing is to care…

December 29, 2011September 18, 2011 by Sarah Wilson

This week in Sunday Life I car share

121277 3 600 car sharing is to care... — Photo by Charlotte Abramow

I own a power drill. It has moved house with me – shifting from one shelf under the sink to the next – three times. And you know how many times I’ve used it in our five years together? Twice. Which is normal apparently. The average drill emerges from under the sink for 12 minutes in its lifetime.

This sad statistic confirms a festering sentiment out there in the world: owning stuff is annoying and increasingly cluttery and inefficient. It’s like that itchy jumper you had to wear as a kid. It scratches at you incessantly, prompting a violent desire to strip.

But buying stuff is only a fraction of the equation. The real pain is living with it – storing the waffle maker in the bulging corner cupboard, servicing the lawnmower, packing up the Barbie campervan when you move house. And how can I explain it…it’s also the way it all just sits there idle, making you feel guilty like a dog needing a walk.

As Rachel Bosman author of What’s Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption said when we spoke via email this week, “you don’t need to own a drill, you just need a hole in the wall…so borrow the drill, don’t own one”. Beautifully put. And indeed neighbourhood share schemes are popping up everywhere – in Australia there’s The Sharehood and Landshare, which launched in February and connects people wanting to grow veggies with folk who have a spare patch.

In March, sharing – instead of owning – was dubbed one of Time magazine’s Ten Ideas That Will Change the World. Since then much as been made of our itch to “live light”. Bosman confirms it’s not (just) an ethical or environmental crusade. It goes deeper than that.

This week I gave the concept a crack by signing up for car sharing, mostly because I find owning a car incredibly annoying. I also find this statistic staggering: on average we use our cars 8 per cent of the week. The rest of the time they hang about idle accumulating duco damage and parking tickets (at least mine does).