Holistic Living - Complete but Never Finished

When editor Dawn Aulet invited me to blog for the Channahon/Minooka Patch and my blog would be focused on holistic living, the first thing I thought was...are my days of hot dogs, beer, and baseball games over? Is this the Universe's way of getting me back on track? Is the responsibility of not just talking the talk but walking the walk too much for me to handle? Or am I already walking the walk and simply holding too tightly to the crass comment of my neighbor who once asked why I wasn't skinny when I did so much yoga and ate so many vegetables? I pondered these questions all night over a couple icy cold Bud Lights, avocado and cheese quesadillas and the last few chocolate Butterfinger eggs from Easter. I began to wonder about this overused, overworked, trendy term Holistic. I began to contemplate the intricacy's of living a holistic life and how living holistically is probably different for me than it is for you. 

There is another term that may also be overworked but it rings true to me in the rhythms of my life and guides me through my days.  For me, living holistically means living each day guided by inspiration.  Inspiration is everywhere.  It's in the softness of a friendly face and colors of a beautiful sunset, it's in the scent of a beautiful flower or the zest of a fresh lemon, it's in the innocence of a child's laugh and the sweetness of a kind voice, in the taste of a fresh picked peach, and in the intimacy of a long sensual kiss. Living holistically is more about living to your full potential.  It's about being who you are and discovering the real You, in all your beautiful humanness...if that's a word.  There is a vet I know who prefers to spell holistic, Whole-istic and I concur.  Whole-istic is more descriptive as it refers to living life from a whole perspective.  When you are whole you are authentic, true, real.  When you are whole you are...well...Whole. Filled. Complete, but never finished.

In the forthcoming blogs on holistic living, I will look at the inspirations around me and how those brief moments in time fill me up like a deep breath of fresh cool spring air and keep me going in the chaos and busyness that surrounds us each day.  Without inspiration, life seems so dull. It seems too mundane to bear. Even the most mundane tasks are illuminated by the essence of inspiration. When we find inspiration that surrounds us, we find effortlessness. We find calm and passion and joy all in one. And when we can't see the inspiration through the muddiness of our mind - then we need to pack up our senses and look for it. The adventure of seeking out inspiration may be an inward journey or an outward journey but it's a journey no less. I can hear the voice in my head whispering over and over - "Look long and hard as if your life depends on it, because at the end of the day...it does."