Nadine Feldman, Author

celebrating strong female characters and whatever else strikes my fancy

V is for Vitality #AtoZChallenge

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We’re entering the final week of the AtoZChallenge. While I’ll be ready for a break, I’m so glad I did this! Thanks to all for your thoughtful comments. It’s been so nice to have readers. I appreciate you!

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IMG_3503Vitality doesn’t come easily for some of us. I grew up a sickly child, with chronic strep throats, one of which caused a serious kidney ailment. One of my earliest memories was a visit to the hospital. I was upset because at mealtimes, they wanted to feed me. I was a “big girl” who fed myself at home. I remember turning my head to the side in disgust.

After years of long-term antibiotics, I had made it through childhood, but with some residual problems. Most notably, I struggled with fatigue. In my late 30s, this escalated to full-blown Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, disabling me for several years.

So these days, when I write about my garden or my travels, I write with a deep and abiding gratitude for the health I have now. It was a long journey, and sometimes even now I experience waves of fatigue…but they don’t last, and most of the time I have an energy and fitness level of someone much younger.

When I find an edible weed or flower, or try some vegetable I’d never seen before (celeriac comes to mind), I am filled with delight. Each nourishes and strengthens me. These days I am, as much as possible, eating seasonally, and definitely from the garden! Yesterday’s lunch included a leek soup (awesome recipe, by the way!) with leeks from the back yard, along with a side of steamed Swiss chard, with its tender spring leaves.

The more I discover food as medicine, the better I feel…and the less I want those foods that don’t nourish me. That’s not to say I never have them. Last night I ate a piece of fudge and enjoyed it very much, thank you. I’m not fanatic. But there seems to be greater balance in my life these days.

Vitality brings with it a sense of adventure. Trying new foods, I feel like that little kid who played with her Easy Bake oven. Fortunately, my husband will eat whatever I put in front of him. Sometimes the food is so good we could cry.

I hope, as we’ve traveled together this month with my garden musings, this sense of adventure has come across. This life, a holistic life filled with fresh food, much of it from my yard, has brought me many gifts. The greatest is a sense of vitality.

And vitality is what I wish for all of you.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Delightful post. As more interesting vegetables arrive at the market I am learning to expand my horizons. Sadly, I still crave my chocolate chip cookies now and then. It is interesting though what our childhood illnesses do to our bodies. I’m enjoying learning from you. Thanks.

    • Nothing wrong with the occasional chocolate chip cookie! The husband and I split one on Wednesdays. We have “date lunch,” then split our cookie for dessert. There are some awesome cookies in this town.

  2. I’m so glad you got your health and sense of vitality back. I’m very lucky always to have been healthy and I think I now have more vitality than I had, say, 10 years ago. Although I loved my job, when I left a weight lifted off my shoulders!

    • Congrats on your health and vitality! There’s definitely something about leaving a job when it’s time. I loved my last job most of the time I worked there, but when it was time to go, I really knew.

    • Oooh, yeah!!! Good for you! I need those every now and then, too. Likewise, I enjoy your blog as well. It’s been a fun month.

  4. Visiting you in these closing days of the #Challenge. Always happy to find another writer. If you have time or energy at this point in April, come and see what I’ve been up to. Love finding good blogs like yours. Thanks. I feel like I’ve found a kindred spirit, a gardener, someone who has discovered that eating well heals. I look forward to following you.

    • I’ll be happy to take a look! One of the great things about this challenge is meeting other like-minded people. It’s been a real pleasure!

  5. You did have a rough time of it over the years! I can’t say I’ve ever had an overwhelming amount of vitality, but I’ve remained relatively healthy and active. I don’t eat very well though I’ve been trying to do better of late.

    I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this to you, but when you leave a comment and I click on your name I’m not taken to any profile where there is a link to your blog. I actually had to search you on Google where fortunately you were pretty easy to find. If you haven’t been getting many comments that lack of profile might be part of the reason. You should probably check your Google account settings to see if you can fix that.

    Arlee Bird
    A to Z Challenge Co-host
    Tossing It Out

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