Why choose Vegetarian and Vegan

This post is taken form my networking site http://www.soul-cafe.net and the group for Veggies and VEgan people!

People become veggie/vegans for a number of reasons. SOme because they simply do not like the taste of meat, others because they hate the thought of killing an animal.

I write a whole chapter in my next book The High Heeled Guide to Spiritual Living about my choice to become a vegetarian. Though it was something more pressing than a 'choice'. I felt that after years of on/off vegetarian eating, I could simply no longer eat meat. It was simply an impossibility for me to continue to do. I can't explain it better than that, but it made perfect sense.

I still ge teased mercilessly by friends about whether or not I am a vegetarian this week! Though I am proud to say that I have been for over a year now, no slip ups, no fails, no 'just one last time bacon sandwiches!'

The first time I became a vegetarian, shame to say it, was because Mark Owen from Take That was one. Not only this, but he lived near my Dad in Oldham, and I once saw him in his bedroom window. THis sealed the deal for me in typical teenage fashion. He was, so I was. I stuck to it for years, but then my downfall was a McDonald's cheeseburger. Soooo not even worth it, but by now I was an older teenager, and my thoughts were not so conscious.

I'm not sure what happened then. But from my late teens till a year ago I would have fads and phases of vegetarian living. Followed by mad attacks of 'atkins diet' style meat fests. I was trying (and failing) to be a model at the time, and copious amount so meat seemed the way forward. I was very much thinking of my own waistline, and in no respects was I concerned about the animals that suffered for it.

Again a few years after that, when under a 'vegetarian' label I cracked under the pressure of a deeply stressful holiday and ended up loading my plate full of the hotel's finest bacon. I started smoking too. I guess that in my confused state, again, the animals and even my own health was the last thing on my mind.

Happily, I am now past these flummoxes of consciousness. I have been a semi-veg for a few years, and a full-on - 'no meat passes the lips vegetarian' for over a year. I am so happy about this. I can safely say that this is a decision that will be permanent. And who knows, maybe in a few years my friends will stop asking the question, 'are you vegetarian this week / month / christmas'.

And why do I choose to be a vegetarian. So many reasons... I can refer you to PETA or VIVA, for the full list of abuses caused to animals and the environment caused by the meat industry. All of these are my reasons. But on a more personal note, I simply love animals. I love their fluffy, furry innocent little selves, and I have no desire to be part of a chain that chops that fluffy self up, roasts it and munches away liberally. Been there, done it, and I always did prefer the veg option on the menu anyway if I'm honest! I believe my spiritual progression led me this way, and I am not one to argue with spiritual progression. I try to go with the flow and if the flow insists on veg and grains, then so be it.

I hope in time, to cut right back on the animal products too and lean strongly towards veganism, for the most part. This is something I'm working on though, so be patient with me!

So why do you choose to be veggie...?

From dresses to darkness in one fell swoop

In total opposition to my last post about dresses, here is something a little darker to get your teeth into...

We live in our little worlds of our own makings... We sit on our sofas, watch our TV's and if we are lucky we talk to our angels. This thing is life is not all ice-cream, eastenders and crushes on inappropriate rockstars. Life is adarned hard place to be. Everyone reading this will have their own set of crummy circumstances to contend with. SOme of us will have suffered real pain and heartaches in our lives. And perhaps these pain and heartaches have led us to the place we are at now.

So what about the war torn countries and the horrifc stories you sometimes read in the news, or on sites like Amnesty International. What about all the world's cruelties and human rights abuses. What about the world of pain that exists on the other side of our four walls and silk taffeta curtains form Laura Ashley?

Well in The HIgh Heeled Guide to Spiritual Living I address chaos, darkness and difficulties in some of it's awful forms. As spiritual folks we kinda have to reckon on the fact that all things are spiritual. That's my theory anyway. Sometimes those spiritual things are also horribly painful. But even looking back on your own life, those darknesses that have visited you, have all made you who you are today. It is often the death and destruction that forces the light of love and lovely spirtuality in to our existence.

Whilst I would never deign to suggest that anyone 'deserves' their pain and torture, perhaps we still all benefit from each other's pain. Perhaps those people in war torn countries are suffering so that as individuals and as a planet we can progress. So that we can outrage against what is happening to them. So that in the future they can have a knowing voice that speaks out against evil regimes and cruelty, and that in turn helps make the world a better place. Perhaps those people undergoing mad pain and suffering have in some ways volunteered for that, knowing that their survival and their braveness in the face of untold horror can help make the planet a better place. If that is the case then those brave souls are more special and more powerful than Buddha, Jesus or Gandhi himself in their sacrafices for the rest of human kind. It is through the eyes of their pain that humanity will become closer.

So maybe there is spiritual sense in even the darkest of moments. We are all here for each other, and it is through the bad as well as the good that we will raise our consciousnesses, spread our wings and rise like a phoenix to a better version of humanity than we can even imagine right now.

Big love to all of those suffering, and may we all rail against it to create a new peace.

Alice's Wonderland: The Dress

Lets get serious guys and gals. Let's talk dresses.

This girl has a book launch to prepare for to which you are all invited of course...BOOK LAUNCH DETAILS This girl has to start thinking dresses.

I will be honest with you. Shopping and me do not go. For a Woman who has written two books with 'high heeled' in the title I really should be more at home on a high street. But really, I am not. I kind of detest shopping. On a spiritual level I think excess of it can be unhealthy as we while away our hours on earth always searching for the next 'thing' to take the pain away or to make us feel happy. I have been there and done that... But on a very human level I can't be bothered with the crowds, the marching store to store, the disappointment, the sore feet and the worst aspect of them all... the changing room mirrors. Yuk.

But like I say. I have an outfit to purchase, a dress to wow the crowd, a little something to shine! As much as I may feel like schlepping about in something black and baggy, it's my book launch, I gotta make an effort. I must be proud, if not of myself, but then of the wonderful universe who put the book in my head in the first place - then sat me down for hour after hour and recited the detail into my brain as I typed it out. That's a whole lotta typing that needs a little bit of a 'big up' from the typist herself!

So clearly the dress must be found. I am secretly hoping the dress will find me. If I close my eyes and will it, then maybe it may just appear... as if by magic. Stranger things have happened! Maybe this post will help. Maybe a shout out to the universe via a cyberspace blog is precisely what I need to prevent me having to trudge through those double doors, scour the aisles and depart with silly amounts of cash.

Dress buying is not as simple as it used to be when I was eighteen. First up in relation to dress buying, the book itself is highly ethical, (some may say ranty) I say ethical, opinionated too yes. So the last thing I can do is fling myself into a piece of cloth welded together by the sweat of eight year olds in Guatemala. I gotta find something uber ethical, something that reflects my desire for the world to be a better place. Primark, I am afraid, you are ruled out.

But does this mean fashion has to be expensive? I mean why should it be? To pay someone a decent wage, why would that translate massively to the consumer? Well happily it doesn't! Nor does it mean I must go clad in cheesecloth and tie dye. Happily the world is catching up and I have seen at least one contender in the great dress competition. There are a mass of online retailers touting ethical fashion, and whilst the high street is slowly catching up, I can have a massive choice of morally happy threads, without leaving my front room. If everything is spiritual, which I believe it is, then dress shopping is too. Maybe even those darned dressing room mirrors have their place! Maybe those damned mirrors have forced me to stop shopping, contemplate the ethics and eventually make the right ethical decision - all just to avoid the high street changing room! High Street 0 - Universal Magic 1!

Suddenly the world of shopping and dressing is appealing to me again. I feel a reversal to my younger self, where a dress was a dress, rather than a moral question! As for what I buy, and how it looks. I'm not sure yet? I guess I'll keep you posted, maybe even a pic before the event. Ethically sound, marvelous dress, here I come!

Oh god... an afterthought... what about the shoes... more ethical dilemmas and clothing related installments to follow from the gal hoping to turn officially vegan very soon! Eeeek!

A review of my book! The High Heeled Guide to Spiritual Living

Feel very blessed to have had the following review published in US trade mag New Age Retailer:

"In her first book, The High Heeled Guide to Enlightenment, Grist recounted her search for spirituality through the wisdom of ancient spiritual traditions. Instead of finding the answer she was looking for, she found more questions. It opened a door that allowed spirituality to find her. Actually, it allowed her to realize that she was already spiritual and everything in her life was part of her spiritual journey. It’s a truth that any authentic guru will give to his/her followers. It’s a truth that readers will relate to and revel in.

She divides the book into eleven lessons. Each lesson is a kind of meditation on a topic: faith, the Goddess, love. Dynamic, witty, and filled with insight disguised as common sense, her writing puts universal experiences, especially women’s experiences, into language that allows us to look at them from a new perspective. This one will apply to a broad audience. It’s fun to read and will leave readers feeling better about themselves. Of course, you’ll want to display it with The High Heeled Guide to Enlightenment — a perfect package."

Thanks to Anna Jedrziewski from the New Age Retailer

Have Faith...

HAVE FAITH

Soul Cafe http://soul-cafe.net is based upon the writing of author Alice Grist. Her latest book, The High Heeled Guide to Spiritual Living is published on 29 July 2011. In the lead up to her book launch event, Alice is introducing you to some ideas to assist in Spiritualizing your living in simple, lifestyle friendly hits!

Keep checking back to here or Soul-Cafe over the next month for the latest dose of spiritual wondrousness and commit to bringing these elements into your life! Feel your Soul grow!

Please use Spiritualize your life as a working tool! Don't just read the advice, live it. Use the comments below to let us know how you get on and if any minor miracles occur!

WEEK 1 - HAVE FAITH...

That sounds easy enough doesn't it..? Or perhaps to some of you is actually sounds like the hardest thing in the world! Faith is not everyone's cup of tea, some can only believe in what they see, feel and know. But faith requires a belief in something unseen, something intangible. It is the very first step towards spiritualizing your life. Without this step, you can go no further. So I ask you... Repeat after me....

'For this week, I choose, consciously and purposefully to have faith'

Now say these words to yourself every day, in your mind, out loud, whilst driving and really feel them. Let them infiltrate your week and know that in this week, yes, this week, that faith will be rewarded.

Having faith is a task I put forward in The High Heeled Guide to Spiritual Living. Like here, it is the first task. It takes a giant step in thinking and being, but it is a step that will catapult you forward into a more spiritual existrence. The act of deciding to have faith is powerful, empowering and vital to this little project!

So Keep the faith ladies and gents. And as you do, and as you exist in that faith I ask that you keep your eyes open for little signs. Ask your guides, spirits and angels to show you signs. When those signs come, you must then choose to believe them. Bring those signs here and let us know and we can all marvel at the power of 'having faith'.

I'll be around all week, so please do ask questions below. I want to help guide you through this, and if you are unsure of a 'sign' then come holler below and us Soulies can be your 'faith and sign' support!

So... It's simple, have faith, ask for a sign. That is all you need to do... Looking forward to reading your mini miracles!

Alice xx