THE BUTTERFLY GLAND

Clipart credit: http://www.designedtoat.com/butterfly.shtml

It continues to snow. I'm warm and cozy in the Kitchenette, maintaining the 25 hour 'avoidance' routine I follow after most of my weekly NAET appointment with Chulan. I have frequent posts about NAET because this wellness approach 'works' for me, and Chulan's style and practice with her healing art compliments my own. As you read this, and any other post we leave here, it is always YOUR decisions that matter and your journey of discovery that makes the difference. NAET is hard work, the subtle and powerful energetic clearing that takes place during the forty-five minute treatment often take place at a very deep level ... and I'm pooped when we finally make the thirty minute drive home. Seattle is not really a town 'prepared' for a foot of snow, so conscious and easy driving is the key, and it takes longer to get where you're going. It's 11 am as I write this and four and a half hours away from my avoidance of COLD. "Can you stay warm for 25 hours?" Chulan asked before pulling off my wooly socks to push in the needles (acupuncture). "Sure," I said, and we both knew I'd have to work on that ...

Multiple Chemical Sensitivities affects whole body systems; ie. the organs, muscles, glands and everything in between. Genetically, my heritage includes a thyroid gland that seems to have been fighting or fleeing before I could walk. If that doesn't make sense to you I'll completely understand and will expand before I close. Anyway ... for the past few weeks I have known that my thyroid gland was once again in a very weakened state. Along with the adrenal glands that sit above the kidneys in my lower back, and the lymph gland freeway all through my old bod, the ENDOCRINE FAMILIA has been totally over-worked and stressed out. Chemical exposures ... jet fuel, dry sheets, wood smoke and trees off-gassing collect in me, especially in the glands. The winter COLD is another thing clogging up the efficient flow of the be-go-joy me. This week I'm continue to listen and attend to THE BUTTERFLY GLAND... the thyroid.

I wasn't sure how to post this story, so I surfed most of the morning looking for a way to tell it. I found a website and blog for patient advocate and thyroid educator, Mary Shomon. Shomon has written a very informative interview with a doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The interview shared a different view of thyroid disease. I have no personal experience with Mary Shomon, nor the doctor. Like so much of the information on the internet, there was something worth considering and then there was this: A link to Oprah Winfrey's life with thyroid disease.

A few minutes ago Pete asked, "Where are you going with this? There are a lot of issues here." "Yeh, I know." He is right, MCS is a complex maze of symptoms and the folk who live with these symptoms are as blissfully complex as the symptoms. This story began when I began listening to the small BUTTERFLY GLAND that lives in the base of my throat, just above my collarbone. The same location where, in the language of energy points throughout Earth's cultures, the third chakra swirls. I have lived too many decades with that third chakra and home of the BUTTERFLY GLAND under-wraps, masked, and shut-down. Until MCS became a regular companion, I have lived much of my life in the duck and cover mode. The discussion that you can read on Mary Shomon's site debates, affirms, challenges, and shouts the validity of "swallowing the voice" as a factor in thyroid disease.

Here's where I would like this story to go. Before I was born I had heard the stories about my Tutu(grandmother) dying on the surgeon's table when he tried to remove a goiter. Even as a very small child that story spooked me. Except for those stories which my mother shared, no one else in the family ever talked about thyroid, and yet nearly every link in that side of my family has thyroid disease or has had the thyroid removed. NO ONE TALKS ABOUT IT. When I was told, in 2003, I had 'abnormal cell tissues' in my thyroid and surgery was the best option ... I said, "NO." I found an option that fit me, though my decision angered/frightened friends and family. I chose to begin life with raw and living foods. It helped a lot, and I got stronger. The other choice I made has more to do with listening to all of me ... the whole me. That's when I began to pay THE BUTTERFLY her due. Ever notice how quietly a butterfly moves? Gentle, gliding, and yet like her cousins the bees when the butterfly glides she is carrying some powerful pollens from here to there. It's the same with THE BUTTERFLY GLAND: when she is functioning at full capacity the hormones and connections she orchestras make all systems flow in harmony.

With the on-set of over-exposures and the stress of months of life on the run, THE BUTTERFLY has lost much of her glitter. I know the extra weight I carry now and the symptoms that range from a hot flash that lasts the night to a fluttering heart beat and zero energy flow are my thyroid telegraphing me her story. Chulan's diagnostics and my ability to voice what happens with me are the way I know to support a tiny gland that means the world to me. Additional tests, medications, supplements may be useful to THE BUTTERFLY and me, and those who live with MCS know finding other practititoners and facilities where I can get these services is another story.

I'm resting and restoring the life force I need to keep this story going. Blogging exercises the voice and connects me with solutions. I'm not sure but bet butterflies rest. If you live with thyroid disease and have a story or comment to share let THE BUTTERFLY sing ...thanks, Mokihana

Alchemy of Resilience ... boiling down the bones

If you are a regular here at VardoForTwo, you may have a sense for the diverse nature of our story. The banner photo here of Kolea Nani (our vardo) taken from the trail below the Ledge in the Woods, captures the essence of our lives during this first season of a reassembled life. To me, the photo reminds me of the large, wild nature that is teaching Pete and me how deep and powerful NATURE is. From that vantage point, the golden caravan of a vardo is small. The details and the daily swoops and slips that are our journey through an imploding society are recounted in part on this blog and the blog families that connect to this caravan.

The fullness of our journey could not be replicated here, some of it is unprintable and other parts of it are private and personal. Blogging allows so much disclosure, and then the author (me, and Pete) must set a limit, or create an illusion. Cosmic influences and teachers step in as well, and do things like tinker with the machinery whether the software or the hardware, the affect is clear. Saturn and Pluto, Mercury and Neptune have had their way with my life (and the lives of all here on the Planet). As relates to this blog, the limit of visual disclosure here on VardoForTwo and the other blogs at least for the while, means "No! No more pictures of your true life here." So, again, if you've been a visitor here, you'll notice no photos of our life appear on the blogs. They simply will not come.

Earlier in the week, I wrote a post linking to opinions of others who view the life of VardoForTwo. In that post I leaked some of my emotions that come from negative and hurtful opinions from strangers who know nothing about the real people. Most of the virtual relationships grown through internet communities and blogs are anonymous and stay that way. With the internet, the world of letters once reserved for those who wrote (true) letters using marking tools .... a pen, lead pencil, char sticks; and then books and novels bound and sold or borrowed from shelved housings in libraries became a singular dimensional sphere inviting a new platform for storytellers.

From these platforms called blogs/sites/twitters/facebook opinions, minutia, lies, truths, and threads fill virtual space. My innate curiosity and need to investigate (Scorpio and Mercury conjunct in the 10th house) steers me to seek things out. Combined with Pete's wandering mind and restlessness (Gemini Mars/Mercury) we look at a big parcel of information. That post linking to opinions about our encampment style life shook us awake. Sometimes, when life becomes a near constant diaspora, a layer or web encases you against allowing too much emotion at one time, and we hope the worst won't come. We've been woken to the truth ... there are more solutions to come up with and the existing codes and land use provisions will challenge our way of life.

We are elders, we have lifetimes of being here on Earth and there is alchemy of resilience that amounts to a boiling down the bones and drinking of the broth capacity that fuels our lives. Our search for a winter space in a whirl/world of polarized opposition shines a light on these two old dears. Our search has revealed the land use codes and laws based on protecting the rights of land-ownership. For me, a Hawaiian woman with roots based on traditional and ancient malama the aina and not own the aina principles, ownership has been on on-going reassembling process. Yes, I have been part-owner of two places on Earth in my life. Both experiences have been chaotic and opportunities for becoming who I was meant to be. I 'own' neither of those places on Earth, have benefited from their sales and learned countless lessons about what happens when Earth becomes real estate valued in money. Maybe there is room for another article/post about that at some other time.

Fall squalls are moving in and out of the Pacific Northwest. The light is muted today making this a perfect rest, recoup and reconnoiter day. I'm writing to add to my body of work here, and have eaten three servings of Bone Soup for breakfast and lunch. I'll wrap this one up with a quote from a book that I have not read, rather, I found an article on one of those virtual book shelves. The Weston A. Price Foundation site. Not too long ago, I was experimenting with raw and vegan eating and even taught raw food classes with Pete to a small number of heath-seekers in Hawaii. I was searching for an alternative to removing my thyroid gland. For a time, that way of living and eating seemed to work. Bone Soup is neither raw nor vegan. I live with my thyroid and she continues to give me vital information about the condition of my whirl. That's the thing about us, we are elders who are open to being wrong, and open to being right. Perhaps the lesson of polarization and opposition has something to do with recognizing we could be on the left as easily as be on the right. I'm boiling done the bones like my mother used to, when she made stews from beef and mutton serving up the marrow rich broth along with a bowl of poi on the best of days.

Simple Bone Soup Recipe

Here's how I made our Bone Soup:

Go to your local food co-op and ask the butcher if they sell grass-fed (organic best) beef bones. Or, if you live near organic farmers who raise beef, lamb ... ask about soup bones.

With a small bag of grass-fed bones ... I

Plugged in our crock pot.
Put the bones into the pot.
Filled the pot to the top with sweet, well water.
Chopped an organic sweet onion, and put the onions in the crockpot.
Added 2 T. of organic apple cider vinegar. (i muscle-tested the amount of vinegar since the recipe i read said 'a small amount of vinegar to draw the nutrients from the bones. i came up with 2 T.)
Covered the crockpot.
Turned the dial to HIGH.
Covered the top and sides of the crockpot with foil to keep the heat in overnight.
Climbed in the vardo, and went to sleep.
12 hours later I sipped the first dose of Bone Soup.

Ummmm. My old bones need this Bone Soup.


Pete and I need the nutrients of grass-fed animals with nutrients stored in their bones. It's an unlikely place to be for once veggies. Forgive us our zigzagging choices, we have few road maps that take us where we need to get. So, we keep searching. Here's a snippet of a really nice possibility ... I might even buy this book, and put it in a reading bag to be with the print.


Sally Fallon is the author of Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats (with Mary G. Enig, PhD)

"The truth is that every woman in the world experiences a decline in the level of female hormones and a rise in the level of male hormones at menopause. This is nature's way of equipping the female sex for her new role as forager, worker and sage. Like the male youth of eighteen, she experiences hotbloodedness, signalized by hot flashes, as she prepares for a lustier life than the cloistered one she led as a mother of small children. If she falls for the promises of the estrogen-peddlers, she inhibits the forces that push her into the role of activist and extrovert and throws cold water on the fire that her hormones have set to pry her out of her nest and into the brave new world of adventure and challenge."

PESTICIDE ACTION NETWORK

Yesterday an issue relating to the life of bees turned me into a little volcano. Susie Collins over at The Canary Report was the messenger of the story that caused the volcano-making. Here's the link to that story about the state of Hawaii Department of Agriculture's decision to poison all the wild bee hives in Hilo Town, on the island of Hawaii.

Here is an excerpt from the article appearing in the Honolulu Advertiser:

The state Department of Agriculture plans to poison wild honey bee hives in Hilo as an emergency measure to stop a growing infestation of bee-killing varroa mites, and warns the public against eating honey from wild hives over the next three weeks.

The department is using a “crisis exemption” to deploy the insecticide fipronil at about 200 baiting stations within a five-mile radius of Hilo Harbor.

Pesticide is never, in my opinion, a solution. I know there are always opinions in very high places (not heaven) that argue against my opinion and yet, pesticides repeatedly are the source of physical break-down in my thyroid gland and brain cells. Those of us disabled with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities know without doubt the malignant effects of the 'pesticide solution.'

As part of my volcanic condition yesterday, I sought guidance through my prayers and meditative walks along the shore praying for "the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." I found peace with my volcanism -- the part of me that knows courage comes from the fire of transformation. Then I took action: I made calls, sent emails and sought other opinions.

I have emailed Beyond Pesticides to ask if their organization is aware of the state of Hawaii's decision to use fibronil. I have yet to get a reply. A phone call to one of my dear friends here in Washington who is also MCS offered me other avenues to learn more and perhaps abate this action.

Last night I get this email from Bobby McClintock in Honolulu. HERE'S A SOLUTION, and a way to abate the irresponsible and arrogant belief that "pesticides are the solution."

"This is too important an issue to not pass on. Please sign on to this petition from the Pesticide Action Network. Those disabled with MCS will be particularly interested in the N statement in the A through Z categories. Please move down to see N in its entirety from just the statement. Please also pass this on to your entire network.

Thanks! Bobby"