Happy Freedom Day, Inside and Out

I am so grateful for my life. I am grateful to live in this magnificent, imperfect country. I am grateful for my beautiful family, my health, and having birthed a book I've dreamed of for years. There is something truly freeing about living your dharma, doing what you know you are meant to do in the world. This did not come easy for me, nor do I take it for granted. The longer I live, the more sure I am that we cannot experience internal freedom unless we share at least some of our voice and truth with the world.This review on Amazon made my day.----------I have just finished Ravenous by Dayna Macy, and I am sad that it's over. That is an extremely odd thing to say for me about a book - but this was such a lovely read, I actually find myself missing it - which is even more peculiar!Ms. Macy's book is a wonderful read for anyone interested in exploring their relationship with food, but even more so for emotional eaters, who will likely find themselves relating to many of the things she says about using food to fill an emotional need of some sort, or liking a food mostly because it bring back memories.In the book, a chronicle of her experimentation and research into the food industry - or rather, since she explored the non-industrialized sources, more into "food-related crafts" - alternates with tales from her childhood or earlier times in her life, and as I saw patterns emerge in her own habits, so I started seeing patterns in my own. Her need, happiness, rage, sadness are all transparent, she is painfully honest and as such, she manages to craft something that is part memoir, part "documentary", part self-help book - but always without preaching, without faking being more in control or in better shape than the reader. She manages to help you by simply being open and honest, even when it's scary or painful; and because being that introspective requires a certain amount of courage, you can't help but admire her, even when you are not sure her course of action is necessarily the one *you* would choose.Even better, you can't help but making similar reflections yourself, as her account of both her research and her life are so unabashedly sincere that you crave that for yourself - you too want to bee that candid, that straightforward about your life, your emotions, your experiences; you too want to be that determined to solve your issues, that open to trying whatever might work.A wonderful read, one that I won't include in the pile I bring to my monthly book swaps, but instead will have a place on my shelf, where I can reach for it again when I need inspiration!