March 19, 2007    Passion

GREETINGS AND SALUTATIONS from Arnold's Way!

It’s a Monday morn, and I am totally amazed by my being. I am totally amazed by my words, and I am totally scared shitless that whatever words I used do not do justice to this week's newsletter. I speak of myself day in and day out, and I am more than 100 percent committed to the raw food movement. It is never a question of money. It is never a question of time. It really doesn’t matter. It is, in my mind, a question of giving of yourself all the time. What you give, you get back. Not so much in monetary reward, but being true to the very essence of your soul. That is the path I have chosen. It is my truth and my life. It is my happiness. I am complete, without regret, knowing that every moment is that moment of joy and happiness. I have learned through the years (almost 60) that the best form of giving is unconditional giving. In this way, you will never ever be sorry for not receiving something in return. It is on this note that I speak of Michelle Pierson, or as dancing Michelle, which is her nickname in our store. It is on this note that I want to speak of passion. It is on this note I want to speak of doing whatever it takes to follow your dream. It is on this note that I speak of not only speaking of your truth, but about living your truth. It is on this note I speak of Michelle and how she went from delivering baked goods and working as a waitress in a bar to becoming not only a raw food chef but also a raw food educator.

It is a Monday morning, and I sit in quiet silence desperately trying to remember Michelle’s words that were so beautifully woven together last Saturday night at our Monthly pot luck. She was our featured speaker. She was so afraid to talk. She was afraid she had nothing to share, and most of all she was afraid of sharing her truth. Michelle faced one her biggest fears, and began her story in front of group of strangers. She shared about how she became who she is, and why I listened, somewhat amazed, somewhat proud, and most of all, just trying to hold back my tears as she spoke of her words of frustration and describing her teenage years. The years of drugs, the years of looking for the next high, the years of just trying to fit into the crowd, and the years of her getting ready for the next step. To those that know there is always the next step built upon the previous step, Michelle just wanted to be happy. She wanted to love her truth. She wanted to be a free woman. It is on this note that Michelle gave up her drugs. They gave her a high for that moment before the crash, and then she would take more drugs. It was an endless cycle. In some cases people never get off them. Michelle was one of the lucky ones. She wanted her truth more than anything else in the world. She wanted to find her passion. It is on this note, after giving up drugs, she began to look at the animals that were at the zoo and that were on the farms as if they were her pets. She saw that they were all happy, all minding their own business, and in her mind, she began to see that all animals and humans are equal to one another. She began to look at love. She began to look at passion, and began to realize that it is wrong to eat another animal. Michelle, by choice, became a Vegan. Michelle, by choice, became more conscious of what she ate. Michelle, by choice, began to read every ingredient on every package to determine if she wanted it in her body. Michelle wanted truth. Period! Michelle instinctively knew that anything less than that was unacceptable. These thoughts, these standards brought to her to raw food. These thoughts led her to my café. These thoughts led to the synchronicity of how life works once the vision is clear. Once there is a clear vision, and nothing, and I do mean nothing, will stop one from creating, forming, and being in truth with your self.

It is under these auspices that dancing Michelle came into my store. She wanted, as quoted, "Create the world she wanted to live in to share the joy of being free.” This is the mantra she lived by. This is the mantra that had become her words and her life. She, by chance, happened to get a delivery job minutes from my store. Michelle wanted to be around a raw food environment. She came. She ate. She listened. She brought her boyfriend. She bought all our food, and literally she became hooked. She heard. She saw over and over all of the Arnold’s Way success stories. She heard all of our customers stories, of how they were once tired, sick, being with no hope, and of how once they changed their dietary habits, they became, literally, a new person. Michelle not only wanted to feel that way, she wanted desperately to share that joy. Michelle did not want to work in a bar. She did not want to serve meat. She did not want to be around smoke. She was looking for a way to create a living from going raw by hook or by crook, or by whatever it took. Needless to say, synchronicity followed her. She got a job with a Raw food chef. She learned how to make all the dazzling gourmet raw food meals. She began to research other options. Quite by chance, quite by accident, and mostly by Divine spirit and guidance, she happened to see a TV show featuring a Raw food chef. (Alicia Cohen.) It was at that instant that the wheels of life, the wheel of creating your destiny, the wheel of doing what ever it takes to create your dream took effect. Michelle asked he boyfriend to Google Alicia Cohen's name on his computer to find out whatever he could about her. It then happened that the heavens opened, and the clarity of what is Michelle’s truth and what is Michelle's passion came storming out of the computer's technical jiggermaro (No such word.) Alicia was offering a Raw food chef and instructor class. Michelle desperately wanted to take it. Michelle had no money. She lived in a tiny apartment in South Philly barely able to make ends meet. My friends, this is what the Raw food movement is all about. This is why those who are involved with it are on a constant high. This is why the word, synchronicity, always comes into play. This is why creating your destiny, living your passion, and doing whatever it takes once the vision is clear can become a reality. Michelle, with no money other that a shoe box full of tip change which she was saving for a rainy day began her career, took of all the money she had in the world--all $280 dollars, and turned it in for cash. She then called upon everyone she knew, and asked if she could do odd jobs for them. Michelle worked at any odd job she could get, from cleaning basements, to painting walls, and anything that would create money so she could live her dream, live her truth, and live her passion. Michelle did exactly that. She raised the money, took Alicia Cohen's class, and became a Raw Food Certified Instructor.