What I Explored This Month 1/10 - 1/31: Indigenous food, healing, and otherish givers

Originally published on Substack

I’m sharing my future works in progress, things I’m in the middle of, by sharing what I’m learning, exploring, and currently curious about.

I also decided I’m going to share these updates once a month instead of weekly. It’s easier to keep track and more sustainable so that I can also publish a regular blog post at least once a month.

WHAT I LEARNED

How to write a book

I’ve always wanted to write a book but didn’t feel that would be possible until this last year. And this month, I listened to a video from Self Publishing School about how to write a book. I actually knew these steps - I’d heard them before at a bookkeeping conference - but I liked hearing them again. It made me feel I could do this, like I could actually get the rough draft of my book done.

Video: Building Fire Resilience

This video was filmed about a month ago and, due to the LA wildfires, it felt timely. I was curious about how to build fire resilience and the specific tips did help calm my fears.

Video: Sean Sherman: Why aren’t there more Native American restaurants?

This video made me realize that I like indigenous foods. It would make sense to have them because what’s more local than the food developed by the land’s original inhabitants?

MORE ABOUT MY SPECIAL INTEREST - HEALTH OF THE HUMAN BODY

Video: Thomas Myers - Why does massage hurt?

A life-long interest has been in the human body, how it works, how our minds work, how disease works. I loved biology classes in school and read science books for fun. But I never wanted to be a doctor or a nurse. I don’t know why, but medical careers never called to me.

What does call to me is traditional medicine, being a healer. And so I read about different methods as they enter my radar and over the years learned about face massage, traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, qigong, epigenetics, polyvagal theory, etc etc etc and fascia - the point of this video. Fascia trains are new for me but they make so much sense. It also reminds me of when I learned about how awful regular shoes are for our feet and anatomy (even regular running shoes, not just high heels).

Anyways, I could go on about this topic but I normally don’t outside of my close friends and family because I respect that everyone has different needs and knowledge. And the right knowledge at the wrong time can be harmful.

If you want to know more, here’s a longer video about anatomy trains:

Video: Spiral line release

I tried this stretch and omg, it finally released some of my persistent right side tightness.

Podcast: Networking & Beyond: Unlocking the Full Potential of the Nervous System with Dr. Scherina Alli

I follow Dr. Scherina Alli on Instagram and love seeing her posts about the nervous system and how she helps her patients. I enjoyed listening to this podcast and hearing more about the behind the scenes of running her practice and how she got focused on the nervous system.

WHAT I READ

Book: New Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins

I saw this book recommended somewhere in one of the many homestead or homestead-adjacent threads I’ve read. It sounded interesting so I decided to read it. To be honest, none of the book was shocking - growing up Black in the US meant growing up hearing “conspiracy theories” in casual conversation - but it was good background on the US’s economic involvement in other countries.

It reminded me of another book Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong that was, again, not shocking but valuable for filling in the gaps of history omitted from my AP US History classes.

Book: Fire Weather: On the Front Lines of a Burning World by John Vaillant

I saw this book recommended in a subreddit post discussing climate change. It’s a nonfiction account of a major fire that hit a Canadian city in 2016. The author explains the circumstances on the fire’s origins, and why wildfires are getting worse due to climate change.

I already knew that the oil companies knew about climate change before the 1990s. But the book detailed that they knew since 1950/60s, were researching its effects, and wanted to help at first - that was surprising to me. I enjoyed the book. The storytelling pacing reminded me of my favorite book Seabiscuit.

Book: Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success by Adam Grant

I originally read this book before the pandemic and enjoyed it. So I decided to re-read it and found so many gems. The author uses psychological studies to show that givers, people who give without expectations, end up better off than takers. And he shows how to be a healthy “otherish giver”, and avoid being a giver who burns out.

This quote perfectly expresses my philosophy in life and business: “I want to create an experience to benefit everyone, not just me.”

Thanks for reading about my learning explorations for the month. Take care!