I recently discovered that I was a fashion-loving, tree-hugging granola eater. Yep, right in the middle of a Nordstrom dressing room, I found a part of myself that I had buried a long time ago. And I’m jumping up and down with joy about rediscovering this part of myself. I want you to experience the same freedom and joy, too, especially if you’ve gone A.W.O.L. from your true self.

Let me tell you about what happened in that Nordstrom dressing room so that all of this will make sense to you, and so that you can get some excitement for yourself, too. You don’t need to be a tree-hugger to be excited. It’s all about finding parts of yourself that you’ve been burying in an effort to fit in with the rest of society.

Here’s my story. Not long ago, I made an appointment with a personal shopper at Nordstrom because I needed a special outfit for a media appearance. The shopper kept bringing me conservative suit after conservative suit to try on. We were both getting frustrated because I am not a conservative-suit type, but I thought that maybe I should dress that way since I needed to look professional. Furthermore, my personal shopper probably knew more than I did about dressing for this sort of event. We spent a good hour in that dressing room trying to find just the right “professional” outfit for me when, finally, I decided to go out to the sales floor and see if something else caught my eye. Immediately, I noticed a fun, stylish, sexy, earthy dress, which I brought back to show the personal shopper.

“Ick!” she said, with all the disgust of someone watching a worm wriggle out of an apple. “You can’t wear that! You’ll look like some Northwest, tree-hugging granola eater!!”

My face fell. What I thought was the perfect dress for me—the dress that made me excitedly bounce into the dressing room—was shot down. “Oh gosh,” I said to myself, “I don’t want to look like some Northwest, tree-hugging granola eater. I guess that’s a bad thing.”

So I left the sexy dress in the dressing room, and I bought a less conservative suit. I didn’t bounce excitedly out of the store. Instead, my insides were all scrambled.

I did the media appearance, and it went fine. And I looked professional. But I couldn’t get that dress out of my mind, or what the dress now stood for, thanks to the personal shopper’s comments. It stood for a part of me that I let go in an effort to fit in with the mainstream world. I had buried a part of myself that I cherished deeply.

I woke up a month later with the epiphany that gave me back my personal freedom—the freedom to be me...all of me. “Wait a minute,” I said out loud. “I am a Northwest, tree-hugging granola eater. And I am proud of it!” I called Nordstrom. I located the one dress left in my size. I ran to the store. It fit perfectly, and I bought it.

I had come home to myself. My excitement wasn’t so much about the dress as it was about what the dress stood for. I got an enormous boost of energy because I wasn’t burying part of myself any longer by trying to fit in. I got to publicly announce to the world that I do love those trees and, on top of that, I love granola. As a matter of fact, I love everything that nature provides—whole food, natural medicine, the air I breathe, the water I drink, and the wildlife and open spaces. I love nothing more than starting my day in the summertime by eating my granola or oatmeal outside while listening to the birds chirping. I can’t imagine if that supreme pleasure ever went away. And furthermore, I don’t have to wear a shapeless potato sack in order to love nature. I can wear a sexy dress. Life is too interesting and too complex to have to fit ourselves into ideological straitjackets.

Stand Up as a Beacon for Your Values

I cannot begin to tell you how fabulous it is to be able to admit to the world who I am and what I love. And that is what I want for you, no matter what it is that you’ve been burying in your effort to fit in with the mainstream. If we don’t stand up as beacons for our own values and beliefs, then how will anyone find us in this gigantic sea of humanity?

Let me tell you about my friend so you understand what I mean by “be a beacon.” My friend, who was in search of Mr. Right, is about as far from generic and middle-of-the-road as anyone I know. But in her quest for love, she had hidden a big part of herself because she thought that she had to “fit in” in order to attract a man. Of course, using this tactic, she couldn’t find anyone. So, after months of deep soul searching, she decided to write a personal ad that described every bit of her imperfect, off-center self. She thought no one would respond, but she got a ton of responses—and one of the first was from the man she ended up marrying last year. And what a match. Those two fit together like the most intricate of jigsaw puzzle pieces. But he never would have found her if she hadn’t summoned the courage to stand out like a beacon.

While this story is about romance, being a beacon is vitally important in every single area of your life. I want you to do work that lights your fire; to live according to your beliefs; and to have friends who are in sync with you so that you can elevate each other even higher. And I want you to stand out so that people who don’t share your values can have an honest dialogue with you. And above all, being a beacon for your values and beliefs—whether they are controversial or not—is the simplest way I can think of to feel energized and alive.

Don’t you think there are enough people in this culture who are trying so hard to fit in that they lose their souls? Isn’t this why, to quote one of my favorite philosophers, Henry David Thoreau, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation”? Yes, it’s why most of us are tired all of the time. It’s why we work just to pay the bills. It’s why we can’t wait until Fridays and dread Mondays. It’s why we try to find meaning in our shopping. It’s why watching TV or surfing the Internet are our favorite pastimes. It’s why most of us don’t stand for much of anything except for the pabulum that is fed to us through the media. It’s why most of us do not think for ourselves…because we have no idea who we really are!

Ask yourself this: How much time do you spend trying to fit in? And what do you do to make yourself stand out like a beacon? Start paying attention to your inner voice. Start noticing when you begin to think a certain way, but someone else or your own inner voice shoots your idea down. I desperately want you to come alive again, like I did.

Since my Nordstrom epiphany, it’s amazing, but shifts started happening in other areas of my life, like dominoes falling over, one after another. Once I had the courage to really be myself, I started to notice a lot of other parts of my life that I had been suppressing, and I started to realize when I was doing something just to fit in.

Here’s a great idea for you to try. Besides paying attention to your epiphanies, I recommend that you attend a program that I have tried. It has really helped me uncover who I am and what I love, and it has inspired me to get out into the world and make a difference. It’s called Landmark Education (www.landmarkeducation.com). At this program, I have seen people transform right before my eyes. If you attend, you’ll start finding incredible power within yourself that you never thought you had, and you’ll discover just how outlandishly and unimaginably cool it is to get out of your “safe” life and into something much bigger and grander. All of a sudden you’ll have energy. All of a sudden you’ll be excited to get out of bed in the morning because there will be so much you can do, and so many ways you can contribute. And you’ll be proud to be your own unique, “imperfect,” and alive self—just like you were before life beat it out of you.

Write me at askjanet@simpleliving.com and let me know what you are doing to come home to yourself.

Living Green Makes You Healthier

Once I fell back in love with my Northwest, tree-hugging, granola-eating self, I asked myself why I really cared about our environment. It’s because I’m in love with it. When I’m swimming in the ocean, I’m lost in another world. When I’m hiking in the forest, I’m at peace. I’m in love with wilderness because it’s a part of me. I enjoy the wind on my face. And I appreciate what nature gives to me, which is my life. And yours, too. So, of course, I want to take care of something I love this much.

And I made an even more profound connection. Most of us tend to think of environmentalists as a bunch of guys who try to save whales and trees. But their purpose is much deeper and far more personal than that. The basics we all need in order to survive are water, food, and air. So, in order to be healthy, we need clean air, clean water, and healthy food.

If the water is dirty, the air is polluted, and produce is sprayed with pesticides and grown in unhealthy soil, you can’t be optimally healthy, which causes your cells to slowly deteriorate. This is why so many diseases often come on silently and suddenly.

Got the connection? With that said, caring for the environment does not have to be difficult—and you don’t have to be an extremist to make a difference. Here are some simple, basic things you can do to get started on your road to health and environmental consciousness:

Eat organic fruits and vegetables. The further you get from eating healthy, organic, whole food, the higher your chances are of developing cancer, heart disease, or diabetes, to name a few. Plus, conventionally grown (i.e. nonorganic) food not only has fewer nutrients, but the way it is grown also degrades our air and water.

Let me first tell you why organic food is healthier for you. According to Jim Riddle of the University of Minnesota, there is a lot of research that shows that food grown in organic soil is healthier. For instance, one study shows that organic oranges have higher levels of antioxidants and lower concentrations of nitrates than conventionally grown oranges. Another study confirms these results by showing that organic strawberries have higher levels of antioxidants than the nonorganic variety.

In addition, the National Institute for Food and Nutrition Research has found a higher average vitamin C content in organic vegetables than in conventionally grown crops (especially tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, and cabbage), as well as higher amounts of some nutritionally significant minerals. In particular, higher levels of phosphorus and magnesium have been found in potatoes, carrots, lettuce, spinach, and cabbage. These data could be explained by the differences in soil nutrition, which affects plant metabolism and mineral absorption.

Another interesting study from Washington State University examined the urine of five-year-old urban children. While eating a conventional, nonorganic diet, their urine had residues of multiple pesticides, but when they switched to an organic diet, pesticide residue levels dropped to zero and stayed that way.

Organic farming is also better for the air and water. Conventional growing practices deplete the soil of carbon, which then goes into the air as carbon dioxide. And carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, which is thought to contribute to climate change. Organic practices, on the other hand, use less energy and actually enhance the soil.

According to Jim, “The average person buying conventional food supports a system of agriculture that emits more carbon into the atmosphere. Unless you are buying and eating local produce from farmer’s markets and community supported agriculture programs (CSAs), and purchasing organics at the grocery store, your eating practices are contributing to global climate change.”

He continues, “Researchers from Cornell University and the Rodale Institute have determined, following a 27-year comparative study, that organic farming sequesters more carbon and uses less fossil fuel than conventional production. On most conventional farms, crops cover the soil for only a few months of the year. For example, a corn field has plants growing on it for only about four months. That means that for eight months, the soil is black or covered with dead crop residues, neither of which capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and bind it in the soil.

“Organic farmers are required to use soil-building crop rotations, including cover crops, which keep the soil covered with green crops such as rye, vetch, clover, and alfalfa. These cover crops capture carbon dioxide and build soil carbon and organic matter levels. Improved organic matter means that the soil is easier to till, using less fuel to do the same job. In addition, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, used in large quantities by conventional farmers, but not by organic farmers, are all derived from fossil fuels.”

Support a healthy environment by shopping at organic farmer’s markets, or by joining a CSA where you buy a “share” of a farm and the farmer delivers fresh produce to you. (To learn more, visit www.localharvest.org/csa.) Or, you can simply buy organic food at your local grocery store.

Yes, organic often costs more than conventionally grown food, but wake up! Save money someplace else and treat this one precious body you have with the utmost of care. Get rid of cable TV, or buy a less expensive or more fuel-efficient car…do whatever it takes.

Know how the ocean sustains us. It turns out that there is a much bigger connection between the ocean and our health than we previously realized.

Did you know that a huge area in the beautiful Gulf of Mexico is considered a “dead zone?” This area, which is the size of New Jersey, has so little oxygen that almost nothing can live in it anymore—not fish, crabs, or even algae.

How did this dead zone happen, you ask? When chemical fertilizer and animal manure enters the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers, it spurs immense plankton blooms. As the plankton decay, oxygen is removed from the water. Everything that’s alive inside the expanding dead zone is forced to flee or perish. The dead zone also acts as a barrier, often preventing brown shrimp and other species from reaching their spawning grounds.

“So what?” you might be asking. “That’s too bad for those people living near the Gulf, but I’m living a fine and happy life here in Michigan or Kansas, and I can only worry about so much.”

But regardless of where you live, this area impacts your health. Do you enjoy seafood such as shrimp and snapper? They likely came from the Gulf of Mexico. But that indulgence is slowly coming to an end. Plus, the Gulf of Mexico is not the only place affected. There are also dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound, to name just a few.

Here’s another fact: Whether you live near a dead zone in Texas or far away from one in Michigan, the oxygen in every second breath we take comes from the ocean! If the ocean has no oxygen because the algae are dying off, well, you can follow this problem out to its probable conclusion.

Not only are there dead zones to worry about, but also the contaminants that fill the ocean water. No doubt you know that you really need to be careful about which fish you eat because some species are so full of mercury that they just aren’t safe to eat. How did that happen? Pick up your mirror and see that smiling face looking back at you. You did it. I did it. We all did it. But here are some incredibly simple, effortless ways you can help stop the degradation:

• Do not use pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. Reduce the amount of chemicals that flow into the ocean and feed dead zones by not over-fertilizing lawns, gardens, or farms. Pesticides leach into the soil , then into the water system, which flows into the rivers and ultimately ends up in the ocean. Multiply your individual pesticide and fertilizer use by many millions of people, and you see why the oceans and rivers are so polluted.
  
  
• Eat organic. Conventional farming uses an enormous amount of pesticides. By buying organic, you are doing your part to keep our oceans and rivers clean.
  
  
• Use biodegradable cleaning supplies. When you use toxic cleaning supplies, where do you suppose the toxins go when you rinse your sponge or spray your mildew remover all over your shower? And it’s not just cleaning supplies—soap and health and beauty supplies impact our oceans, too. If the product isn’t totally natural and made of biodegradable materials, the chemical residue winds up in our rivers and oceans when you rinse off in your shower or sink. I love the Nourish brand of skin care because it’s totally organic and made of natural ingredients, and I also use Seventh Generation and Bi-O-Kleen cleaning products. You can find these and other biodegradable cleaning supplies at most health food stores. To buy Nourish skin care products, call 888-577-6163 or visit www.simpleliving.com.
  
  
• Minimize your use of plastic. Don’t use plastic bags and recycle plastic bottles as often as possible. This will help slow the growth of floating trash dumps like the giant North Pacific trash vortex, which is literally a floating carpet of plastic waste that is pulled into one area of the Pacific Ocean by a slowly circulating gyre. Some of this trash is dumped overboard intentionally from ships, but the majority is washed into the sea from landfills and storm drains. It is believed that three million tons of plastic are floating in this trash vortex at any time, and the area has six times as much plastic as plankton. Even more depressing, at least 267 different animal species, including turtles, seals, whales, and fish, have been harmed by getting tangled in or ingesting this debris.
  
  
• Find out where your fish came from. If you eat seafood, ask where it comes from and how it was caught before you buy it. Line-caught fish are better than fish caught by bottom trawling. Bottom trawling drags several tons of fishing gear along the bottom of the ocean, which destroys habitats and results in a high by-catch rate (catching fish other than what the fishermen want). Bottom trawlers end up throwing several times as much marine life overboard in the form of waste than what they actually keep.