After reading Paulette Millis’s article, Why Choose ORGANIC Poultry? (p. 8), I shuddered at remembering the many times I’ve eaten non-organic poultry, not to mention my upset at the inhumane treatment of the birds. The facts she presents about commercially-raised chickens are downright scary and deplorable: they are fed antibiotics, artificial growth hormones, and GE foods such as soy; reports show that salmonella contamination is on the increase due to the way chickens are raised, the crowding, and the stress; “fecal soup” is created when thousands of dirty chickens are bathed together in a chill tank which spreads contamination from bird to bird; in many instances the chickens are kept in wire cages where each bird has 64 square inches, and de-beaking practices are used for maximum production; and what about the pollution of groundwater where large poultry operations exist? Are you convinced yet to switch to organic? When you read the article it will make you think twice. As usual, Paulette provides tips about buying, cooking, and storing organic poultry along with her usual nutritional and medicinal information and some fabulous recipes.

Wanting to live a healthy lifestyle is not an easy task. One has to be vigilant about everything one does and be willing to read lots and become very educated – I don’t mean academically, I mean practically. This all takes time and effort but what is time for, if not to be used for our betterment? Are we not all here on this earth to become better human beings? Unfortunately a great portion of our society has bought into the “quick fix” mentality for everything from health, to nourishment, to aging. I don’t believe life was meant to be sped up or “fixed-up” quickly; I believe it was meant to be naturally flowing and graceful. The good news is that it is never too late to learn and change, and the tough news is that it is not as simple as saying or thinking these words. It is a matter of living each moment of each day in awareness and applying what we’ve learned. If our goal is good health, peace, prosperity, and happiness, then it takes discipline and dedication to achieve these things. They don’t happen magically, they are created!

Fortunately for all of us living in Saskatchewan we are surrounded by a wealth of knowledgeable and like-minded folks who believe in helping each other become the best we can be. One of the greatest gifts I receive from doing this work is meeting and keeping in touch with plenty of these folks every day, so I know first-hand how blessed we are in this province. We have fabulous communities of people in every square mile of Saskatchewan who are ready, willing, and able to help others and themselves grow and prosper in a whole and balanced way. My dream is that every individual will continue to gently grow and evolve, each on her and his own path of enlightenment, and as we do so we will positively affect all those around us in a most wonderfully contagious way. There are no accidents who we meet on our paths, so look around yourself and know that at every moment there are mighty companions by your side who are there to support you on your life’s journey. Just ask and “Ye shall receive.”

You may have noticed that WHOLifE Journal has some new folks putting the design of it together. We are blessed to have Cheryl McDougall and Perry Van Dongen from St. Solo Computer Graphics Inc. doing our print design and website design respectively. Perry started with our Sept/Oct’03 issue and Cheryl with the Nov/Dec’03. We would like to wholeheartedly thank Ed Pas of Spiral Dragon Art and Design for three awesome years of work as WHOLifE’s print and website designer. Ed and his wife, Lia Pas, and their son left Canada last July and have embarked upon some new world-wide adventures. We trust they will find great joy and fulfillment along the way. We also want to thank Cheryl Zamora for her design work on our Sept/Oct’03 print journal.

I would like to wish you all a Christmas holiday season full of joy, peace, love, and a heart connection with all beings on the Earth. For me this is a special time to remember the birth and, in essence, the life of a famous human being, Jesus of Nazareth, who, in his lifetime, truly learned the meaning of love and who gave humanity the gift of forgiveness. May we always be forgiving.

From my heart,

Namaste!
(I honour the Spirit in you!)