Mayoral candidate Victoria Sullivan joins us on this week and we chat all things Manchester: how to get the Queen City back on its feet, better approaches to homelessness, zoning, and more.
There’s an Avett Brothers song, “Head Full Of Doubt / Road Full Of Promise” that always inspires me:
“When nothing is owed or deserved or expected
And your life doesn’t change by the man that’s elected
If you’re loved by someone, you’re never rejected
Decide what to be and go be it.”
Because I’m good at a lot of things, for the longest time, my struggle was “deciding what to be.” I’m a trained lawyer. I’m an author. I do a lot of political activism. I cook. Garden. I lead and mentor. I’ve been told I’m not the world’s worst wife. 
In order to be yourself, you have to know yourself.
When I was graduating from high school at sixteen, I was asked during an aptitude test what I wanted to be “when I grow up.” My answer: A writer and a fashionista.
In South Africa in the mid-Eighties, this wasn’t an “acceptable” career choice, so, bowing to societal and family pressure, I ended up practicing law on two continents, including at Logitech and Apple Computer.
Now, more than thirty years later, it’s clear to me that my instincts back then were right. I /still/ want to be a writer and a fashionista. (Really, I just love writing the word “fashionista.” LOL)
We know ourselves. Decide what to be and go be it.
Not sure where to start? Try journaling. Make a promise to yourself to jot down at least a few things daily. “Daily” is important, because it creates a routine, and routines, whether we like it or not, become habits and good habits make life easier. Good habits make it easier to DECIDE WHAT TO BE AND GO BE IT.
In my journal, I make notes about my mood, things I’m grateful about or maybe pissed off about, successes, failures, whether I meditated, did yoga or other exercise, etc. But mostly, with the habit of daily journaling, I was able to “hear” the voices in my head, especially the negative ones who tell you you can’t be who YOU want TO BE. You know the one. Those jerks who usually speak to you in the second person. Who is this person in your head who doesn’t think they’re even part of you? That mofo jerk who holds you back from knowing, deciding, and being your best YOU? Well, I discovered and smothered mine, and YOU can too! (Read more about that here.)
Deciding what to BE is HARD, and not static, so recently I decided a hack I would try was simply to focus on the “GO BE IT” part. Through my journaling, I’ve analyzed where I spend my time, and what of those activities actually make me happy. Not the “hafta dos” or “kinda must dos” but the, I LOVE TO DO THIS AND WISH I CAN TELL EVERYONE IN THE WORLD.
What are you DOING with your TIME?
Once I realized how much of my time I spent drinking or thinking about drinking, and how little I spent on ACTUALLY writing and finishing my first book, The Ecstatic Pessimist now available on Amazon, I knew something needed to change.
So I changed.
I quit drinking in 2017 after reading This Naked Mind, and I have never, ever regretted this DECISION. Know why? Because it was MY choice. MY decision. I owned it and I made myself proud.
These days, I never think about drinking, except sometimes in a “Man, I’m so glad I quit” way because I am too busy living a complete and fulfilling life. I am too busy deciding what to be and then being it.
I want to help YOU on YOUR journey. Tell me something you’re working on, something you’d like to become and be! Change is possible, you just have to CHOOSE to change! If I can, so can YOU!
Catch me being here:
The Art of Independence: www.CarlaGericke.com
On YouTube
PS: I know the 2020 photo does not look chill, but it was literally the moment I uploaded my manuscript and I was tres excite.
Welcome to Freedomnomnom!
I’ve been wanting to start a cooking show for yonks, and, in keeping with my Carpe Diem life philosophy, decided, there’s no time like the present! So this past Sunday, I set up the camera (the wrong way), forgot to put on makeup (the wrong thing), didn’t have a clear plan (wrong again) and then just WENT. FOR. IT. And know what? It came out A-OK, all things considered, and, as always, a learning experience that allows for improvement.
On the menu 04/02/21: Medium-rare grass fed steak, cinnamon-ginger sweet potato slices, and a foraged fiddlehead and garlic mustard pesto with toasted pine- and walnuts.
Wash the locally foraged greens. Blanch and shock the fiddleheads. <---DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP! Whirl in the food processor with toasted walnuts and pine nuts, slowly drizzling in 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil. I added extra fried garlic. Season liberally with salt, black pepper and garlic powder. Squeeze some lemon on top. Stir and keep at room temperature until the rest of the meal comes together.
Ingredients
Instructions
What if we lay the blame for poverty at the government’s feet where it belongs? Comrade Volinksy complains about a lack of minimum wage, but what he really needs is a lesson in sound money. America is paying today’s bills with credit cards. How long can it last? And… tulips!
The photo on the left came up in my Facebook memories today–OOOF!–and serves as a reminder of the positive changes I’ve made over the past four years.
The #1 change? Making MYSELF and MY HEALTH a priority.
How?
By switching to Ancestral living, focusing on whole #keto and #paleo foods. <— Catch my Sunday #freedomnomnom posts!
By quitting alcohol, which had become an addiction and crutch.
By processing underlying anxiety stemming from an unmoored childhood through journaling and behavioral modification therapy.
By making exercise a daily habit and restarting my yoga practice.
By meditating and being mindful and aware in my interactions with others, including deepening my relationship with my husband and friends.
By CHOOSING TO. <— This is THE KEY to fulfillment and joy!
DECIDE to prioritize yourself so that you can heal, mend, fix, restart, grow, change and IMPROVE! We get one chance… Get living! Learn more about my journey HERE. Buy my book, The Ecstatic Pessimist HERE.
I wrote this six years ago today. I stand by my words, but should probably update it to include the lies of the past six years, and The Whopper that was 2020.
1. They lied about marijuana, while taking out a patent on the medical benefits of cannabinoids to treat a wide range of diseases;
2. They lied about the food pyramid, and whoops, eggs and saturated fats aren’t bad for you, but that low-fat crap we told you to eat, so sorry;
3. They lied about forensics, after all, why do real detective work when they can make shit up and call it science, Oops, my bad about all those innocent people who got executed or are sitting on death row;
4. They lied about global warming, then when real scientists chimed in, they rebranded it to “global climate change,” and color me amazed, because that is surely as accurate a phrase as you can find to describe *the weather*;
5. They lied about Obamacare, “if you like your plan, you can keep your plan,” they said, “your premiums will not go up,” they said;
6. They lied about WMDs and the reasons to go to war, then they kept (and keep) drumming the same fallacious beats in region after region, because “Support the Troops” is one helluva shield to wield;
7. They lied about money creation, look, we know what we’re doing, we’re just going to keep blowing into this bubble until *POP!* Oh Dear: I have absolutely no idea why your house is now underwater, or where the equity from your tech stock went, but come on, be a pal and help us bail out Wall Street;
8. They lied about inflation, the “basket of goods” excludes the items you need to actually exist, like um, food and energy and stuffs;
9. They lied about the employment statistics, the number drops because people who can’t find jobs eventually give up searching and are no longer tracked, so hey, Life is Rosey, didn’tcha know?;
10. They lied about “a few bad apples” in police departments, but this “epidemic of isolated incidences” is now, thanks to technology, impossible to hide.
The biggest lie of all? That the state needs to exist. To these liars, liars, pants on fire, I say: Your time has come. Begone!
Just did one of the best yoga sessions of my life down in our basement gym! I’ve been doing a lot of yin to try to open my tight hips, and today I reaped the rewards. I did an old 50 minute routine I haven’t done in months, and lo and behold, having a strong, stable core makes a yuuuge difference.
As readers know, my 2021 aspirational words are “effort” and “ease,” and today I nailed it. There aren’t any quick fixes in reclaiming your health, but it IS possible if you’re willing TO TRY! Wishing YOU success today with something YOU’RE working on! #LiveFreeAndThrive
Here are 10 Steps YOU can do immediately to change YOUR life. Want to learn more about my journey to better health through ancestral living eating whole foods with a #paleo #keto slant? I lost and kept off 65 lbs, quit drinking alcohol, and become a new and improved me. It is possible… YOU just have to CHOOSE YOU! Please do! 
It’s 4/20! We chat about the double standard between how citizens and police are treated when someone is fatally shot, what’s the latest on the secret list of bad cops (aka the Laurie’s List), the end of the governor’s mask mandate, and more! You can read more about why I’m excited about 4/20 HERE.
Senator Bob Guida has been doing a lot of good work on this issue, and I recommend you follow his public posts on Facebook. Granite Grok is also covering the issue extensively, and it they who brought it to my attention that the Town of Windham was considering being less than transparent in choosing their forensic auditor. I wrote the following email to the Board of Selectmen, asking them to keep the whole procedure as open and transparent as possible. Without openness and transparency, there can be no trust, and as trust erodes in our institutions, the state is reacting with more and more secrecy. Let’s change that before it is too late!
***
Dear Windham Board of Selectmen,
I’m sure you’re being inundated, so I’ll keep this brief. I serve on Right-to-Know NH, a nonpartisan statewide coalition of concerned open government advocates.
It’s come to my attention that you are not planning to make all steps in the decision making for the forensic audit open to the public? This seems short-sighted and will likely unnecessarily raise suspicions at a time of historically low trust in government. Please keep the whole process open and transparent.
I remind you, the NH Constitution requires the following of you:
[Art.] 8. [Accountability of Magistrates and Officers; Public’s Right to Know.] All power residing originally in, and being derived from, the people, all the magistrates and officers of government are their substitutes and agents, and at all times accountable to them. Government, therefore, should be open, accessible, accountable and responsive. To that end, the public’s right of access to governmental proceedings and records shall not be unreasonably restricted. The public also has a right to an orderly, lawful, and accountable government. Therefore, any individual taxpayer eligible to vote in the State, shall have standing to petition the Superior Court to declare whether the State or political subdivision in which the taxpayer resides has spent, or has approved spending, public funds in violation of a law, ordinance, or constitutional provision. In such a case, the taxpayer shall not have to demonstrate that his or her personal rights were impaired or prejudiced beyond his or her status as a taxpayer. However, this right shall not apply when the challenged governmental action is the subject of a judicial or administrative decision from which there is a right of appeal by statute or otherwise by the parties to that proceeding.
Please keep your oath of office. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Carla Gericke
Former Republican State Senate Candidate District 20
This week, we talk about, guess what? Yes, you know it. Also, more of that. Stuff. That Covers Your Mouth. Like censorship. Join us to learn more about how to accept what you cannot change about 2020, and how by applying empathy, we can help our friends and neighbors heal!