A collection of life- and freedom-affirming experiences
that I’m loving these days and want to share with you…

Aroma: Roasting Green Chile
This time of year here in Santa Fe, the most amazing smell fills the air. After the green chiles are harvested of green chiles in the southern part of the state, they are sent in batches all around the state. Almost every farmers’ market and lots of grocery store parking lots get designated as roasting areas. It’s mesmerizing to watch the peppers turn over and over in big metal vats over open flames. And even better is the aroma – hot, spicy, smoky, and totally green. Magical.

Great Idea: Empty Bowls
“Empty Bowls” is an international grassroots effort to raise both money and awareness in the fight to end hunger. The cool part is that local artists create the bowls which you fill up with stew and other homemade goodies, and you get to take the bowl home with you. Empty Bowl events happen around the year in various parts of the U.S. – there’s one happening this weekend on Sunday, Sept 16, in my old hometown of Oakland, CA.

Nourishment: COGO juices
This summer I’ve been sipping on lots of juices from Columbia Gorge Organic, a cool company based in Hood River, OR. Unlike that other big juice company, COGO’s juice is all-organic, and they grow all their own fruit on their family farm and squeeze it themselves. My favorites are VitaSea and the Carrot/Beet/Celery blend. At least this way I know I’m getting some of my greens!

Movie: Beasts of the Southern Wild
You may hate this movie. I’ve never seen anything quite like it and I’m not sure how to describe it to you, other than to say it’s a glimpse of the world through the eyes of a spirited and resilient little girl, Hushpuppy. We see her world fall apart and re-create itself as a storm hits the Louisiana gulf and submerges the bayou community she and her father live in. Beasts of the Southern Wild evokes strong emotions and viewers tend to either love it or hate it. As I watched it, I felt a tremendous surge of freedom even in the midst of some very painful situations. See what you think.

Words: The Sun Magazine
This summer, I re-discovered The Sun. If you love words, you will love The Sun. This is the most pure writing magazine that I know of. Since 1974, The Sun has been devoted to publishing honest, beautiful writing from ordinary folks, accompanied by stunning photography. And it’s resolutely ad-free. Find out more here.

And More Words: “Unnecessary Traffic Lights”
One of my favorite online readings of the past month is this post from Chris Guillebeau (creator of the fabulous Unconventional Guides). It’s a great illustration of how easily we can be conditioned to obey senseless rules, and how to break out of that pattern. Excerpt:

The realization wasn’t that waiting forever at intersections with no one around is dumb. I should have stopped worrying about it and started running them long ago.

The big realization was that I had been waiting needlessly only because that’s what I had been conditioned to do. It wasn’t a big deal to tread carefully and then run the light—the big deal was how social obedience had ensured I would spend years NOT running the light…

What’s been on your freedom radar lately? Books, websites, music, anything else you want to tell us about?