The ecotrain magazine. This weeks topics include Street Massage, Stories, God, Homesteading, Parenting, Vegan Cooking, 5 Elements, Parenting, Personal Growth, and more!

in #ecotrain6 years ago


Welcome to the @ecotrain magazine! This week's compilation brings together amazing posts from 18 of our dear @ecotrain passengers on a very wide range of topics. Whatever you are into, there is something for everyone here, and who knows maybe you will discover something or someone new today!


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If you would like to connect with more people and brighten up your Steemit Day then please do visit some of these posts and leave a comment. Half of the joy of Steemit is meeting amazing new people, and I promise you there are plenty to chose from below!

As always don't forget to follow the people you resonate with, and please do re-steem this post to help spread these amazing posts!

DRIVER'S PICK OF THE WEEK IS

@trucklife-family

Yes My Children Are Wild And Yes That Is Exactly How They Should Be.

Yes my children are Wild and Yes I am very happy that they are. Why is it such a problem for some to see children being allowed to be themselves, to express themselves openly, to teach themselves?

Having left the mountains in Spain to return to Ireland, I knew that the choices I have made in regards to my children upbringing would be questioned, I'm pretty okay with that as I really don't care so much for other people's opinions. But the level of discomfort I have seen, that my children cause just by being open and free, well it still surprises me. This is the longest I have come away with my kids, it just over 3 weeks now and certain tolerances are starting to wear thin for some.

 

@riverflows

🌊 Coherance: We Are all In It Together 🌊

"A state or situation in which all the parts or ideas fit together well so that they form a united whole" My love is a physicist. He sits across the table at a crowded Balinese restaurant from me and explains coherance in physics where light or sound waves have the same peaks and troughs - everything lining up. Like light through the same prism. I'm not sure I understand the maths of it, but I ike the description of what it isn't a. bit better. I like what it isn't - say everyone in this restaurant, he says - all the talking, the noise - it's all different soundwaves. IT's discordant, fractured. Waves crossing over each other. No two the same.

💀 Plastic Nightmares || Utopian Islands 🌊 We are Responsible Too

Last year we swum at the beautiful Manta Point in Nusa Penida, Bali, a stone's throw from where we are now. We weren't blessed by the mantas - perhaps it was the wrong tide, or the wrong moon.
However, we're familiar with the waters that British scuba diver filmed in the video below, which our free diving instructor shared on social media today. I can't watch it without feeling incredibly ill:

 

@solarsupermama

Girls' Day In

Today I got my buttons pushed! It's really not that hard sometimes. Someone decided to invite my son but not my daughter over because he has a little boy staying with him right now. Of course little boys only want to play with little boys. Let me be clear about that being sarcasm. Mind you, neither of the little boys had a say. Both the men decided this, including my soon to be ex husband. Also, they were doing some physical labor, and of course little girls can't do that. Again, sarcasm. You know, I have no interest in physical labor stuff. I prefer someone else to do that stuff for me, but don't ever, ever, ever, ever tell my girls they can't do something because they're girls or they're too small. That's a big hell no for me. Lulu really wanted to go and was very sad.

True Diplomacy: The Story of a Feminine Heroine Part 2

Janelle awoke in a bit of a fog. She felt terribly disoriented and couldn't figure out where she was. Suddenly everything came back to her, and she jerked her head around and realized she was not in a hospital. Her heart started to race, and she tried to leap from the bed. She immediately cried out in excruciating pain and laid right back down. Suddenly Lena was right beside her. "Oh my God, you're here. You're safe! Where are…"

Lena put her finger to her lips and pointed off in the corner. Alice and Jayden were asleep together on a big recliner. Lena then laid her head on her sister's chest and sobbed. "I thought you were going to die. This isn't even a hospital. I don't understand why they brought you here. They just kept saying it was the only way to stay safe. You can't imagine the bombing. Even under here. Shit's really bad out there. I've tried to keep the kids with videos going on their tablets and headphones, but I know they're terrified. We have to get out of here!"

@wombloom

Planting some beans on my Sunday.

These are the green beans I am going to be planting today. They are climbers and will have a lot of yield. I gathered some sticks on my walk in the forrest yesterday to guide them along. It was like they were calling me: "We are good to grow the beans along, that you bought. All nine sticks were there ready for me, just lying there, approximately the same length. Thank you Mother Nature!:

Is God merciful, are we allowed to make mistakes? What do Darwin and Rupert sheldrake have to say about it?

Is God merciful, are we allowed to make mistakes? What do Darwin and Rupert Sheldrake have to say about it?

Is it ok to make mistakes? Do we still deserve love when we make them? And maybe the bigger question that lies at the heart of many of us would be: Does God/the Divine still love me when I make mistakes? This feeling of uncertainty can paralyse us in to not wanting to take responsability over our own lives all together. We start thinking: Let someone else make the decision, then if it turns out to be 'wrong' at least I am not to blame and won't lose peoples/Gods love for me. How many of us think like that underneath all the rubble? I think many more then seems aparant. To me it seems to be an epidemic of a disease called 'guilt-ridden.' It's sad isn't it? Let's take a look at it.

@mountainjewel

High Tunnel | Step 2: Layout, Augers & Arrowheads

Summer is in full swing here! I heard reports last night that it is actually "the hottest summer on record"- not sure how true that is, but I can confirm: it is hot!!. As you know if you're been following us for any length of time, we are setting up a high tunnel that we got a grant for. We'll be sharing the Step by Step process of clearing the land (see post below),

Layout (today's post), and other aspects of the setup. The land is fruiting with abundance and it encourages us to continue planting perennials! We've been loving eating some of the thornless blackberries (on second year canes) and blueberries (planted this year!), all the while trying to stay cool. It's been beautiful out though as evidenced by the gorgeous blue sky!

Design Phase of DIY Sauna on the Homestead: Benefits of Making a Model

Wren's been digging deep lately as she has been processing and sharing some of the more systemic and "invisible" aspects of culture. I'm so proud of her for being daring enough to explore these important topics in such a lucid and poetic way. These elements of our cultural paradigms aren't easy to unpack, but it really behooves us to focus on them to create a more conscious and just culture.

That said, today I'm going to share something that I've been working on lately, something that has brought me into a creative and childlike state.


@hopehuggs

How to Live The Life of Your Dreams Part 1 of 25

Part 1: Do You Know What You Want To Live The Life of Your Dreams?

You go somewhere, you need to know where you are going. Ideally you need a map and good map reader, or a SatNav that doesn't lead you into a lake!

Listen on Dsound

The same applies to knowing exactly what you want when it comes to living the life of your dreams. All too often we have a vague notion of what we would like our lives to be like, nothing concrete to work towards. Its's time to get precise.

This step is often left out, because it is assumed we already know this.

How many motivational posters tell you things like "go after that one thing that makes you truly happy!"?


LISTEN ON DSOUND

3-2-1-0 Hope Huggs On The One Who Got Away

Today on 3 Minutes 2 Talk, 1 Take & 0 Script I am talking about how I cried yesterday, but they weren’t tears of sadness. I watched a video about how this girl wrote a letter to her 16 year boyfriend about how much she loved him, but her mother said she was too young and wasn’t allowed to see him anymore, this letter was found a number of years later, well I’ll let you watch the video - it’s emotional! But it made me think about the ‘one that got away’ if you like. The regret of not acting on those feelings.

I was seventeen and at Sixth Form College studying a GNVQ in Business Studies (yes, I did one of those Generally Not Very Qualified qualifications - multiple choice questions, coursework, easy as pie) But I went to university the year after, so he was soon forgotten in those years, so no way in the same league as the amazing story above, however, I watched it and this is the person I thought off.

@holisticmom

Breast is Best, But Here's Why We Shouldn't Judge ~ Doing What's Best For Baby

It's been nearly a year since my youngest self- weaned from my breast. He decided that he had drank all my milk and would rather cuddles at bedtime instead. It was a beautiful experience to be able to give my boys their nourishment in the most natural way possible. But it wasn't always this easy.

My breastfeeding journey began on January 21st 2013 with the birth of my first son. It was a struggle but I was determined to keep going. I didn't want to feed him any other way. I was also trying to compensate for not feeding my girls and felt that there was no other option for me than to persist with it. I overcame some serious hurdles, which many moms tend to give up on and turn to formula, which is why I wanted to share my story with you.

@vegan.niinja

3 Ingredient Chocolate Donut - NEW RECIPE - Chocolate HEAVEN!

Hi darlings!! Finally, yes really finally (I have been missing my Steemit friends!), I am BACK!! Now from Sweden and with a long road trip behind me through Europe! I haven't been here for many days and it really started to prickle in my fingers to write a new blog post, so today I took the chance and woke up early to write down this super easy chocolate donut treat for you guys, I have also made a video that I just need to edit before I can share it with you,but for now here is the recipe and the pictures!! If you are a chocoholic like me, this is the perfect snack to level up your chocolate game a little! You only need chocolate, popped quinoa or millet pops and any kind of nut butter!! That is it! So simple and really the next level of chocolate heaven!

@omdemian

Introduction to THE DANCE OF THE 5 ELEMENTS

Here is the introduction to my first book, The Magical Dance of the 5 Elements.

Since the beginning of time, the medicine men (and women), and the shaman have understood that the creation, the Universe was made of five different Elements.
In all traditions, we do find the presence and the use of Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether. If in the western tradition, we spoke more about 4 elements and not 5, it is known that the Ether was part of the esoteric hidden vault of knowledge.

So, according to the ancient traditions, everything is made of these 5 elements, in different proportion. The balance of these 5 energies will guarantee health and harmony, and the unbalanced state will bring dis-ease and discomfort. Most of the traditional medicines work with the readjustment and the rebalancing of the 5 elements.

DIVINE INTENTION : BECOME THE ZEN ARCHER !

Divine Intention.

Imagine you are an archer.

Standing in the wind, on the top of a hill, grounded as a tree in the Earth, embracing the sky with your posture of Warrior.

You are holding the bow, and you are stretching the string, with an arrow ready to fly.

Opening slightly your eyes, your focus is only on your target.

It is a moving target, it flows with the wind of potential futures.

You are so focused on it, that you don't even control the movement of your body that follows the target. Your connection with your aim is complete and steady.

You are listening to the winds of the 4 directions, waiting to receive the message that it is the perfect Time. The Divine timing. The one aligned with the Divine Will.

@aware007

A Particularly Lucid Dream - Pt1

One Man Comes Face to Face with Exactly What He's Been Asking For
(The Voyage Home Series)

A PARTICULARLY LUCID DREAM - Part 1

(I don't know this place. The Sun is diffused, the land nothing but shades of grey. A face, right in front of me. I feel electricity out to the ends of my feet and hands.)

Hello?

Hello indeed.

Whoa — I...I know you.

Well yes, of course.

I can't place where I know you from...how do I know you?

You've always known me. Or more correctly... us.

OK I'm really confused.

I am Michael. We are Michael.

I'm, I'm dreaming aren't I? I'm, I'm having a lucid dream!

Yes, and do try to stay calm this time, if you wish not to awaken again.

Yes. Calm. Calm. Yes, this has happened before.

Several times. And each time, your excitability has woken you from this, 'place'.

Yeah...calm. Your face...how do I know you?

My dear Robert, you have always known us.

How? How do you know my name? And why do you refer to yourself as 'we' and 'us'?

We are many, and we've known your name since before it was given to you. We of course know all your names, from each of your experiences within the beautiful illusions.

I — what?

A Particularly Lucid Dream - Pt2

One Man Comes Face to Face with Exactly What He's Been Asking For (The Voyage Home Series)

If you haven't already done so, please check out Part 1 of this article, then come on back!


[Weeks later]

(Ooh, I most certainly know this place... again, what appears to be diffused sunlight above shades of grey. That face again! That wonderful, smiling face!)

Hello?

Hello Robert.

I'm back.

We are pleased.

Are you Michael?

We are. And it brings us joy to again be in your presence. Your level of enthusiasm is clear, we hope you will be able to remain still.

I plan to remain completely calm, though I must admit it is not easy to manage.

We shall again attempt to guide you if your excitability brings you close to ending our visit prematurely.

Thank you, I really appreciate your help.

@trucklife-family

Struggling With Acceptance and Looking For Some Guidance

In order for us to move forward in life we need to accept what is happening. From there we can then make the decision on how we wish to move forward. I have written recently about how important it is to accept our emotions, that in doing so we take responsibility for them, we honour them and learn from them. We then allow our lives to be in flow and we all know how I like things to flow. It is the natural way of things in nature.

But what happens when it is some one else's behaviour that you are being asked to accept. Generally I am fine about this, within reason of course, as each person is on their own life journey and one thing that I have learnt, is that it is really important to accept people for who they are. We are not here to change people, that has to come from self. We can possibly offer guidance but the best is to live by example.

Trying To Make Sense Of It All!

Some of these days have been hard, the reality of what has been happening has really begun to sink in. It's kind of funny how we can just keep going, looking at what is happening in our lives and decide that Okay I need to just accept this and get on with it. The focus here has to be on healing, I need to be strong, I need to be supportive and to be present.

But watching you suffer, seeing the pain so clearly reflected on your face, seeing all the sadness wash over you in waves. Waves that seem to have grown in size and in intensity. Watching you look away because you do not want to share those feelings with us, your family. Here you are trying to protect us when all we want to do is protect you!

@misslasvegas

When you receive sad news that puts everything back in persepective

Yesterday my sister messaged me to tell me that her husband was dying. I knew he wasn't doing very well already, but didn't have a clue that it was this bad so it came as quite the shock.

I didn't meet my sister (my dad's daughter from his first marriage) until I was 12 years old and at the time she was already married to him and had a 2 year old daughter.
In the beginning it was hard for me to get used to the fact that I had another sister that I never heard about before. My parents literally sprung the news to me this way: "Oh, by the way, we need to tell you something. You have a sister, she's 10 years older than you, she's married and has a child and they're coming over tomorrow."

@celestialcow

Steemit iron-chef Round 05: Decadent Hazelnut and Saffron Truffles w/ Cherry Coulis

This week's steemit iron-chef competition theme is to elevate a vegan dish. Being a vegan and posting a dish every week, I try my hardest to elevate vegan food so that it is appealing, I started this journey a few years ago but only became fully vegan this year. One thing that took me on this journey was the desire to eat food that wasn't contaminated and cruelty free. I didn't know how I would live without chocolate though and I discovered that it's possible to make delicious vegan chocolate at home. Making this chocolate really helped me on my vegan journey and I wanted to celebrate this ingredient in this challenge.

@artemislives

Thai Grandmas, Bottled Water & Sustainability in Asia

Usually the only thing Thai grandmas push in our world is fruit. Whenever there is a glut of local Thai fruit (feels like every other week), it is gifted, rather insistently, by a sweet Thai grandma. They are hard to refuse, and so we eat tons of fruit. Not always terribly willingly - we feel like eating oranges but have 17 gifted pineapples choking the fridge.

Being a western person in Asia, the close proximity and lack of personal boundaries in the Thai village can be a little hard to take sometimes. I put my garbage out neatly twice a week, and within 5 mins the old uncle next door is going through my carefully sorted recycling, looking for things he can use or sell. Which is how all the 3 households in the soi (laneway) where we live knew how we were buying our bottled water. Living here just a few months and having been overwhelmed with several floods, electrical problems, start of the school year, fever, overseas visitors and business start ups and transitions, I simply had not yet got around to locating the local water delivery guy. And so we had just been picking up 5 litre large plastic bottles from the minimart at odd hours. Honestly, Locate the glass water delivery guy had been on my solo-mama rather-long to-do list for too long. Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa.

Street Massage - Real, Thai, Earthy, Socially Responsible a Proven Self-Care Strategy

Massage in Thailand is mostly a public affair - on street corners, at markets and at temple fairs.

One of our favourite things to do on a Sunday afternoon is to combine a great hour of Thai-reflexology-foot-massage with a spot of people watching.

Catch up on watching the tourist customers (who are largely our customers, too) wander by, observe new international fashion trends (northern Thailand being a bit of a hippie fashion backwater) and basically feel grateful to have deselected from that manic, see-as-much-as-you-can-in-3-days tourist world. We have been going to the same two massage "shops" (think pieces of footpath paid for and claimed by the same people, week in, year out) for at least a decade. Why do we choose these two sites?

@senorcoconut

Building Liberty's Composting Toilets

Liberty Festival... a festival for freedom of expression. The goal is to have fun and if you wish, experience transfomation from a community minded point of view.

What a nice break it's been. It was hot and the horse flies enjoyed all the fresh human blood from the 100 or so people at Liberty Festival (the mosquitos also had their feast), but there was a lake all to ourselves and we spent most of our time in the water!

We were invited to help build composting toilets. The festival aims to have a minimal carbon footprint and a Do it Yourself with available material attotude... my kind of game!

When we got to the festival grounds, someone had dug 5ft trenches near the two camping areas.

@thegreens

Earth Rangers of the SASH-Program – Etomes Marbrid, 7 years old Earth Ranger

https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmamiT3LEgsq5BgiYSTRJXSyZdgDEU8s4GzyjvQaGXRtHJ/IMG_1385[2].JPG

Today, we begin to profile the "Wakanda" Warriors or you can call them Earth Rangers of the Steemit Action Summer Holiday Program.

Etomes Marbrid - Pioneer Earth Ranger

Etomes Marbrid Ekote is 7 years old and a class 3 pupil of Gratitude Bilingual Nursery and Primary School Mile 3 Nkwen. Inspired by his Father who is an Environmentalist, Marbrid has decided to serve his community this summer holiday by becoming an Earth Ranger. He likes the Power Rangers movie and enjoys growing plants. He is curious to learn and ready to make a change in his community.
Watch out for Marbrid updates as he embarks on his journey to become a guardian of Mother Earth.

She is an Earth Ranger, She is 5 years old and her name is Kahlan-Amnell and she is brother to Frank-Kightley.

Earth Rangers of the Steemit Action Summer Holiday Program (SASH-Program)

Today, we profile 8 years old Frank-Kightley and 5 years old Kahlan-Amnell are now Earth Rangers.
Its getting very exciting as more Wakanda Warriors are subscribing for the SASH-Program.

Nyuykighan Frank-Kightley is 8 years old and brother to Limnyuy Kahlan-Amnell who is 5 years old. Both of them are Class 5 and Class 3 pupils of CAMSCI Bilingual Nursery and Primary School and children of Mr./Mrs. Green who inspire them.

@stortebeker

Of Berries and Bears – Awesome Nature Around the Doighouse Build

As the Earthship build at the Doighouse is progressing slowly, I was going to post another Ride With Me article, or at least a Walk With Me. Last Saturday I went on a little exploration with my friend, whom I met four years ago at the Earthship Academy, and had the pleasure to work together with at another Earthship build the following year. He's a fellow bike touring enthusiast and skilled natural builder. Last year he helped Tony and Susan, and this year we get to build an Earthship together again.

A Journey Through the Woods

We set out by bike, but our explorations took us into the depth of the woods, so it ended up being a biking-hiking day. This time I omitted using Strava, and even my nifty GPS map was put on the back burner, for last resort. We were not going too far anyway, just exploring the neighborhood. The property of Tony and Susan may seem like a complete clear-cut, with the leveled ground for the Earthship and the garden, but in fact more than half of their land is still undisturbed forest. This joins up with the woods on their neighbors' properties, which have been cut or may be cut sometime in the future. In any case, there is a whole lot of forest all around (still).

@nainaztengra

Why I stopped using bots for now and what new did I learn today on Steemit

Bots have been one integral part of steemit. Without being hesitant I will say I have been regularly using them. But lately I see no returns coming out from any bots, unless there are any which I am not aware of and someone can suggest me.....

For a month I was doing the calculations for every single post, and I found that the end result in the pay out was a loss in what I invested in the bots. Unless I am wanting to convert my SBD into SP at this point of time, which I am not planning to since the SBD is less than the SP, it is a loss for me to use the bots. I will atleast wait for the SBD and SP price to be equal for the conversion. Now let me give you one e.g.

@eco-alex

The Pay It Forward Community Support Initiative (CSI) WEEK 6

If you've been posting good content using the #ecotrain tag and have very few rewards you will most likely have received a ~$1.50+ upvote curtsey of the Community Support Initiative! I’m happy to say that I have found some really great posts from many of our community to support. That is what makes the @ecotrain voting bot great, I Pay It Forward every day from the rewards of the bot, this post, and donations... Speaking of which, a big thank you to @omdemian for his very kind donation to the CSI this week.

Roasted Red Pepper Tahini With Flaxseed 'Pink' Flat-Bread, accompanied by a Green Salad. For Dessert is a Chocolate and Avocado Mousse topped with Walnuts.

This is my entry for the Medicinal Gourmet Cooking Collective Challenge. In this first week we are cooking for the Fire element, the heart. This dish is one that includes many ingredients that are very beneficial to a healthy functioning heart. There is plenty of the colour red, and just about all the ingredients are beneficial to the body in one way or another. It is minimal in carbs and sugar, with whole wheat organic flat bread being used instead of the thicker white flour based pitta bread. I have even had some fun and added beetroot juice to the dough to make the flat bread pink! It isn’t really that hard to make a meal that much more healthy and tasty, and by doing this challenge I have discovered some new ideas that were really delicious. I also tried out a roasted red bell pepper tahini dip, which looked a beautiful pink and tasted really good too!

@thelaundrylady

Red on the Homestead: Worm Towers, Pitcher Pump, Tomatoes and More

This week's theme for the Homestead Photography Contest is Red On The Homestead. I love these contests. We are so used to walking around the homestead and doing our daily chores, we often forget to look around and see what's happening in the garden or on the homestead at the moment. These contests gives me a chance to use my creativity and imagination. I find myself wondering what the new theme will be each week. Seeing what everyone comes up with is always interesting to see. Thank you for hosting the contest each week @knowledge-seeker!

I use the themes of these contests to explain why I have certain things on my homestead and even learn the names of newly identified plants that I may have never taken the time to look up

@ecoTrain

Supporting People Who Help
Make The World A Better Place

Discover previous ecoTrain magazines at @ecoTrain

DRIVER
@eco-alex

VIP'S / CURATORS / DELEGATORS
@amitgiat
@blueberrybison
@hopehuggs
@kalima
@likedeeler
@lukestokes.mhth
@michelios
@movement19
@mrfunkymonk
@nainaztengra
@omdemian
@sashagenji
@senorcoconut
@stortebeker
@torico
@tribesteemup

PASSENGERS
@afifa
@aware007
@artemislives 
@celestialcow
@ecoinstant
@holisticmom
@hopehuggs
@misslasvegas
@mountainjewel
@nainaztengra
@omdemian
@rainbowrachel  
@riverflows
@sashagenji
@senorcoconut
@schoonercreek
@sharoonyasir
@solarsupermama
@stillgideon
@stortebeker
@thegreens
@thelaundrylady
@trucklife-family
@vegan.niinja
@wombloom
@zen-art


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Thanx for all the efforts you take Alex to bring it all under one roof. It makes so much easier for us to visit fellow members blogs.

Incredible work with compiling a magazine out of high quality content on here. Gonna use my tiny vote power to support this project for sure

thank you! your comment is just as valuable as your vote ;-)

GREAT collection of incredible content. Thank you @eco-alex for inspiring content and tireless (seemingly, anyway) input, coaxing, coaching and inspiration. :)

thank you!.. ha ha, now were on a similar timezone! happy you stopped by <3

I just shared this magazine to both my personal facebook world and our SMG group. It's more than "stopping by" - it's my daily refresh-reminder that I am not out here utterly alone. Global connection takes many forms, and this is one I really value. :)

oh wow! now that i Like to hear!!! im so with you!

Great post Thanks for sharing - that's a bunch of awesome fresh content for my wall and eco-aware people to follow. Yay for @ecotrain

and yay for you.. thanks a lot mr/ms dust!

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