There is a site called Six Items or Less: a global experiment examining the power of what we don’t wear. Now, to me, this sounds like a communist plot against all that is good in this world. Only six items to wear for a month? Fallout shelters with huge closets, anyone?

Before I started this blog, I smugly went into one of my drawers (bras and drawers are not included in the six. So maybe they have not lost their senses or their good hygiene) and counted my white Tee shirts. I assume I have less black ones since they don’t show the stains. The total of white tee shorts is 19. Black tee shirts numbered 23.  Don’t ever assume.

I decided to stop counting my clothes.

Six Items or Less had a month long experiment in June where you could only pick 6 items to wear. I am sort of happy that I missed the big experiment but it got me wondering – could I go the whole month with only six pieces of clothing to wear?

Screw it. No.

But are we victims of consumerism? You betcha.  Do I need all those shirts? Do I need all of the other clothes that define me when I am wearing them? Yes.  It’s like my war paint. You begin to see who I am by what I wear.  But do I need all those tee shirts? Maybe not.

Jean Chatzky from the Today Show was a participant in the Six Items or Less experiment and quite honestly, with shoes and accessories not being off limits, she did not look like she was wearing the same old thing.

So should I count my trousers and jackets? They left me a note saying that they are in safe house and that I should not to try to contact them.

I think this is a good thing to ponder – do I need all this stuff? Would someone else benefit from 30 of my tee shirts? Yes, but, I would want a background check and 2 references before I am let them leave my sweaty and shaking hands.

I think I do my share at helping the planet. I recycle, I signal when driving and I adopt rescued cats and here lies the main reason why I have so many tee shirts.  I pick the shirt with the least amount of hair so I can go to work and make money so we don’t end up homeless and become a burden to society.

In all honesty, I think this is a noble experiment. I think it can be quite liberating to depend less on material things and more on our inner goodness and as soon as I can (with my doctor’s permission) I will give away some of my tee shirts. I got to make room for my sweaters anyway.

© 2010, Coach on the Edge ™

elizabeth’s Creativity Coach site is: Coaching for the Creative Soul

Follow elizabeth on Twitter at: EdgyCoach or elizabethcoach

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Mercury the wise communicator—and universal trickster—turns retrograde at 19 01’ Virgo, in the sign of the Virgin, sending communications, travel, appointments, mail and the www into a general snarlup!  From Astrology on the Web.

This is Mercury. Isn’t he cute? Look like a bed bug with horns.

Now you tell me.

I only wish I had this info before Mercury went into its own galactic version of PMS.  But that would have made life too easy. I could have ignored the mounting fear that the oppressive heat and humidity this summer were robbing me of highly functioning brain cells when it came to minor technological adventures. Happy to report that the brain is just fine – to a point. Mercury just kicked my ass and how does one retaliate?

If I had known that some far away planet was about to search and destroy my life as I knew it, I could have just relaxed and gone with the flow.  It wasn’t my mess ups. Ladies and gentlemen, our “Let me mess you up big time” host for 3 weeks is that playful charlatan, Mercury.  How do you sleep at night?

I don’t know when the moon is in the seventh house or when Jupiter aligns with Mars so why would I care about Mercury getting jiggy and retrograding?  What do I know about astrology?  I am a Gemini.  My other selves are happy to meet you all.  When asked in the past what my sign was I would say, “slippery when wet” until I was asked to spend some quality time in back seat of some moron’s car.  Ah, I can hear my mother saying right about now, “She always made us so proud.”

It all started out rather innocently. I got out of bed, had a cup of decaf and turned on the computer. I was looking to design a new blog site. I had done it before. I went to add information and it wouldn’t take it. I politely put in the info and some gnarly hand threw it back at me – this won’t work at all. Please try later. Maybe in 2127. WTH.

So that was the beginning. One of my blog sites suffered a fatal error. I don’t think I cried as much as I did when the Beatles broke up. I have no ability to fix this stuff. But I do have a darling nephew who did and I just want to say a big thank you to WordPress for not hearing my pleas. Probably sitting around drinking with Mercury, were you?

Then the clothes dryer would only dry with no heat. It took me 3 attempts to dry the clothes before I realized that something was off. My clothes were not fiber dense. Last rites were given and a new one was purchased.  I love keeping the economy going.

The coffeemaker and microwave are now buried in our backyard.

Then Microsoft Outlook wouldn’t work. No emails going out and none coming in. For 4 days.  Do you know how many OTC stress pills I took? My 7 figure book deal if you respond within 48 hours email could have been trapped in email limbo. Alas, it wasn’t. It probably was deleted by Mercury.

My cat peed on our love seat because mercury is in retrograde? I am sticking with that because as of September 12^th Mercury halts and begins his return to direct motion through the zodiac as per Astrology on the Web. Don’t let the door kick you on your way out.

I am over the moon with this news because I won’t have to incur cat therapy bills. I might need therapy but I still have health insurance. Going to mess with that Mercury?

I hear that Mercury in retrograde will be back and when that happens, I will move to one of the most violent neighborhoods I can find. I think being shot at will be a lot better than living through this again.

© 2010, Coach on the Edge ™

elizabeth’s Creativity Coach site is: Coaching for the Creative Soul

Follow elizabeth on Twitter at: EdgyCoach or elizabethcoach

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This feels like stepping into a new pair of shoes. I can’t wait to cram my unsuspecting feet into them so I can show off my calves and yet I am a little fearful of falling on my face. But what the hell. Like I have never tripped up in my life before? Now that feels like an old bathrobe – comfortable yet not form fitting, familiar (the frayed belt does give me a fake waist) and with lots of pockets that hide a secret or two. Or a dog treat that has fossilized. Note to self – buy a new one and throw out the mummified delicacies.

The time for new is now.

And that is exactly what I have done.  I have bought a new perch for me to espouse whatever minute or colossal thought appears in my head. I plan on taking those gems out and examining them and putting my own little spin on it. God help us.

So now it is just me – all 5’ 8” and none of your damn business how much I weigh of me. I know what my mother would say – “you’ve already sworn.” And I feel another one coming on.

Now this is what is so invigorating. Not the swearing – I have elevated that to an art form in my short life, but using my voice to bring a new perspective to the world. And that is what we do when we write. We change the world. It’s a whole lot cheaper than running for an elected office and I don’t have to squeeze myself into some “Dynasty-inspired” (the TV show – some of you were born then) cast off suit.  And I do get to tell my truth. Maybe through rose colored glasses or by means of an acid flashback (ask you parents) but I will be telling the truth, the whole truth and can you believe that Glenn Beck did not know that Saturday, August 28^th was the anniversary of Dr. King’s  “I Have a Dream” speech? Please. As the husband always says, “I was born at night, but not last night.” God help me.

Ah, it’s good to be back. But I really haven’t gone anywhere. Just got a new room with a liberal exposure to sunlight, sanguinity and sarcasm.   Hold the mayo.

© 2010, Coach on the Edge ™

elizabeth’s Creativity Coach site is: Coaching for the Creative Soul

Follow elizabeth at EdgyCoach or elizabethcoach

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The deadline to win a free copy of My Formerly Hot Life  is fast approaching!

Coaches on the Edge just got a peek into the new book “My Formerly Hot Life: Dispatches From Just the Other Side of Young,” and we  would like to answer some of the questions posed in a  New York Times interview with Formerly Hot author, Stephanie Dolgoff.

So what happens when you’re no longer a Formerly? (The Coaches on the Edge have no good answer for that. Why are you looking at us like that?).

Are you just plain old? (Would you like us to throw our  4” Christian Louboutin at your head?)

“I’m not there yet,” Ms. Dolgoff said. (And neither are the Coaches on the Edge. We have learned that one’s nose does not really grow when you fib, so we can say whatever we like).

“But I think the next stage is taking the best part of being a Formerly – focusing on your own happiness rather than fitting into someone else’s version of womanhood – and running with it.” (This does not mean buying Mom jeans, does it, Stephanie?).

Meanwhile, her greatest challenge is shoes. “You do need to be able walk. I’m done sacrificing to look good. I don’t want to hurt anymore.” (Please contact the Coaches on the Edge for a rebuttal.)

Win a copy of “My Formerly Hot Life: Dispatches From Just the Other Side of Young,”

So Coaches on the Edge would like to know what you do when being faced with being ignored, overlooked or worse underappreciated because someone mistakenly considered you to be Formerly Hot? How did you fight back? If you used a weapon, we will have to report you to the authorities immediately.

We promise not to laugh (out loud). With the help of  Stephanie Dolgoff, blogger and author of  “My Formerly Hot Life,” we’re able to offer TWO lucky winners a copy of her book!  And you don’t have to pay for it!   

This is a laugh out loud book. Don’t believe us, look at what Newsweek. Com had to say: “Remember all those deep and important life transitions going on amongst a group of smart, beautiful women that the last, tepid Sex and the City movie tried-and failed-to capture? Skip the film; Dolgoff’s got it all in her book, and in a far more genuine way….Dolgoff’s style is energetic, funny, highly engaging, and self-aware….Bottom Line: Whether you’re going through the Formerly transition yourself or looking back on it (or catching hints of it down the road), Dolgoff’s book is a wonderful take on the early 40s.” (Coaches on the Edge concur, but are keeping our hot shoes anyway – they make excellent planters).

This is where the magic begins:

1) Submit your story here  by Friday, August 27^th.  Email your story to Coaches@Coachesontheedge.com In the “title” or “subject” line please put “Contest – How I Got my Formerly Hot Life back.” **

2)Please keep entries to 700 words max!

3) Please make sure to add your full name and email address at the end of your story. We will email you to let you know you won and then you can send us your home address.

4) Winners will be announced Wednesday, September 1, 2010.

5) Share with as many of your friends as possible!

6) We look forward to hearing how you make being formerly hot work. We all have tales to tell. Do tell.

** By sending entry via email, you submit your story to coaches@coachesontheedge.com , and it is understood that your story may be posted on Coachesontheedge.com with no monetary compensation.

© 2010, Coaches on the Edge ™

If you would like to learn more about Laurie, please go to her site: Empowered Life Journeys.

Stop by at elizabeth’s site at: Coaching for the Creative Soul

Please visit our new site at Coaches on the Edge

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elizabeth: The movie, Eat, Pray, Love, based on Elizabeth Gilbert’s bestselling memoir (for those of you have been living off the planet for a few years) is coming to a movie theatre near you this Friday. I, for one, am excited. A good friend and I are meeting up on the upper West Side of Manhattan for lunch and a serving of Eat, Pray, Love.

I think so many women wished they could have run away and penned this book – minus the early bathroom scenes.  Hell, I would have been happy to have taken a year long trek to …okay, I am feeling the love and just ate so I won’t mention the state, but you know where you are located. I just want to get the hell out of my office.

Laurie: Home is where the heart is.  Who said that?  Beside me, just now.  Maybe because I did so much of it when I was younger, I am not a travel person.  I like my creature comforts, my nesting space, and NOT flying in big tubular carrier through the sky (after having gone through the hell of airport security and procedures).

elizabeth: Eat:  I  want to throw people into a shallow grave when they just look at food as fuel. That is like those people who eat dirt. Please don’t put any of that on my plate. Food should leave you legless like your most memorable lover and savored like the afterglow(right before he starts snoring) and should always be non-caloric. In my world.  When I visited Italy, home of some of my ancestors (while I do consider myself 100% Italian, some of my relatives might mention the Irish and Scottish side, but I relate more to Michelangelo than to Yeats), I bought pants a size too big so I could eat my way across the countryside. I did not disappoint. Still trying to lose the last few pounds from my trip in 2002. I consider it my Italian baby fat.

Laurie: Now eating I can get into and I don’t need a special country to do it.  Unfortunately.  I’m having company this weekend and I have used that as an excuse to purchase all the decadent things I would never consider – macadamia white chocolate chunk cookies (250 calories EACH), rolls and bagels and all the accompanying butters and cream cheese, pasta just in case I break down and cook, and full-calorie ice cream.  See, I don’t need to go anywhere.  People are traveling to me and I will probably need pants that are two sizes too big before the weekend is over.

elizabeth: Pray: I go back and forth on praying. I think I do, but not always sure whom I am praying to.  I don’t think he has a long beard. I don’t think she has red curly hair. Is it living in my soul or sitting on my shoulder whispering directions to a place of worship?  I think my version doesn’t care where I go as long as I take responsibility for my life and help people and animals who can’t.  When I meet whoever is in charge, my first question (yes, I do plan on having a Q&A with whomever shows up) I would like to know if our planet was the only one that bred so much hate and waged so many wars in the name of God. My God. Your God. Their God.  And question Number 2:  where can I find the best double fudge soft ice cream that won’t cause a muffin top? Okay question #3 – if I become a Buddhist, can I keep my hair long?

Laurie: Man, I bug God to death.  I am constantly talking to him/her.  “What am I supposed to do with new catastrophe?”  “Why on earth would you make somebody so silly?”  “Think it might be time to give me a break?”  “Wow, how could anybody doubt your existence?”  A constant running conversation with a person I have never seen.  The one thing of which I am not guilty is asking him/her for stuff.  Take a break, God.  I lost my keys and I’ll find them.

elizabeth: Love: This is a “word” in progress.  Some days I feel it. Some days I deny its existence.   I try to love the people who make me believe that love is just the most overused word in the universe. According to Askmen.com, “love” overtook the word “hate” on the top ten list. (But the word “like” won. Like it really should have).  So many people are looking around for it.  If you find a place where it really does exist, let me know. I just might take my Italian eating pants and long hair and go live there. As long as I don’t have to eat dirt.

Laurie: Yeah, I need some work here.  When I read many of the philosophies that say we are all one, I look around and go “No way!”  But I love lots of stuff – bargains, sunsets, oceans, birds, etc.  I just have to keep working on the people part.

© 2010, Coaches on the Edge ™

If you would like to learn more about Laurie, please go to her site: Empowered Life Journeys.

Stop by at elizabeth’s site at: Coaching for the Creative Soul

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elizabeth: “I also realized this season that while I love discovering, supporting and nurturing young talent, it was hard for me to judge  people and sometimes hurt their feelings.” Now this last part sounds like me (when the evil twin is napping), but Ellen DeGeneres announced the other day that she is no longer going to be a judge on American Idol. Some people speculate that she got booted out. I believe she just had had it with making ratings by playing it cruel.

Laurie:  Surely Ms. DeGeneres didn’t think she was joining a youth glee club.  Her job as an American Idol judge is to crush dreams, pop unrealistic bubbles, discourage useless efforts, and if at all possible, do it as cruelly as possible.  Anybody who doesn’t know that has been living in a cave without cable.

elizabeth: Don’t get me wrong, some of the contestants were bloody awful. Their parents should be slapped for mixing their genes together, but no one deserves to be slammed in front of millions of people. Now this only goes for American Idol hopefuls. Certain politicians, TV and Radio hosts and the cast from the Jersey Shore do have it coming to them. What really upsets me about the “Shore Whores” group is that some of them are from the area I live in. Gives me another reason to get off this island! And just for the record, if I sounded like any of them, I would volunteer to have my tongue removed.

Laurie:  I stopped watching Ellen (but would start again if she had Coaches on the Edge as her guests) when I turned on the television one day and she was hysterically crying.  Like someone had swooped in and massacred her family and made her watch.  And then I find that the flowing tears were about a dog that was adopted by one family and had to be given to another.  Sad for one family I’m sure.  Worthy of five minutes of television crying time?  Not mine.  Touching but maybe a bit over the top.

elizabeth: So kudos to Ellen and thanks for setting an example about what how we should treat each other. The bottom line is that we need to be able to get up in the morning and face ourselves without a lot of regret.

And Ellen, if you are as nice as I think you are, Coaches on the Edge would be great guests for your new fall season. Just don’t tell Oprah. She is starting to see the wisdom in having us on the cover of O. We won’t stop you if you want to put a good word in for us.

And not to worry. There is a New York State law that prohibits me from singing within 500 yards of anything with a pulse. Sadly, Laurie has to cross state lines or face arrest.

Laurie:  Luckily I still have a pulse so I’m loving the sounds of silence.

© 2010, Coaches on the Edge ™

If you would like to learn more about Laurie, please go to her site: Empowered Life Journeys.

Stop by at elizabeth’s site at: Coaching for the Creative Soul

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Laurie:  My most expensive-to-date jeans came with a written warning.  Do they lift my butt?  You bet.  Do they tuck in my tummy?  Yep.  Can I breathe?  Yes.  Notice my priorities here – butt, tummy, oxygen.  So what was the warning?  The brand (I’m not advertising free for them after the price I paid) “cannot be held responsible for any positive consequence that may arise due to your fabulous appearance when wearing our jeans.”  Cute and it worked.  And it got me thinking that more clothes should come with warnings.

elizabeth: I am boycotting this blog until you tell me what these jeans are. Jeans that can change the world? I’d like to see Glen Beck in them. Maybe it would improve his fat ass attitude.

Laurie:  How about “Warning:  Do not attempt to wear this garment unless you possess a full-length mirror.”  Or “Warning:  These shoes are going to make your legs look fabulous; just don’t try to walk in them.”  And “Warning:  You may look great from the front.  Please have consideration of those viewing you from the back.”  Or “Warning:  This same dress did wonders for Halle Berry’s figure.  Please remember you are not her.”

But then on second thought, these warnings may hamper one of my favorite summertime activities – Watching the Outdoor Freak Show Costumes Go By.

elizabeth:  I will admit that I have put on a few pounds. But I sit here at the computer trying to be clever and brilliant, trying to be the best coach I can be and yet I was totally oblivious for months to the fact that parts of my body need a little more attention.  So I am waiting full a line of clothing to be made entirely of Spanx. I just need a little Spanx to get me through the tough months. But, if their tagline goes something like this, “your butt is responsible for global warming,” I think I just might go to seed instead.

If you think people dressing differently is a freak show than maybe a little town down, I don’t know….down south with a population of 156 including their hound dogs might work better for you. Viva the imagination of the people of New York!

© 2010, Coaches on the Edge ™

If you would like to learn more about Laurie, please go to her site: Empowered Life Journeys.

Stop by at elizabeth’s site at: Coaching for the Creative Soul

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elizabeth: I don’t want anyone to think that I harbor any ill will towards the famers in this country or in the world for that matter. It’s just   that alfalfa sprouts have never done anything to soothe a bitchy mood. And beets do not lead the pack when your man or woman has done you wrong. The only thing beets are good for is staining your good white shirt.  Do thoughts of baby organic carrots with a side of humus come to mind as a way to forget that the blouse cost a week’s salary? And if you are spending a week’s salary on a blouse – please adopt me. I won’t eat much.

Laurie:  So you’re not buying the health and nutrition theory that eating good food makes you feel good?  OK, well I’m the first one to tout the benefits of mashed potatoes and macaroni & cheese all in the same meal.  Maybe some biscuits on the side.  My gluten-intolerant friends have passed out by now.

elizabeth:  Headaches – a lot more people are getting brain thumpers because the humidity is so bloody high this summer. On days like this when I can’t see a damn thing because my eyebrows are sweating into my eyes, I sit myself down and dig into a enormous bowl of romaine lettuce. And then I give it to neighborhood dogs so they can bury it. What works for a headache?  A big plate of a homemade pie with a chunk of cheddar cheese on it (so that is compliments the red wine you are downing at a great neck pace), chocolate sauce melting into the crust and enough whipped cream to bathe in. I am feeling better already.

Laurie:  I’m not sure about the cheddar cheese but is there any headache better than an ice-cream headache?  Worth every shooting brain pain that enters your head.  It’s so good that, even when you know it’s coming, you still keep shoveling in the frozen delight until you reach your pain threshold.  Then you wait until it subsides, and do it all over again.  How cool is that?

elizabeth:  Hung Over – Okay, so maybe a little too much wine with the pie has left you with a lawn of fuzz growing inside your mouth.  Your mother must be so proud.   So can a bowl of Kasha cereal with a double handful of raisins do anything to make you feel more human? Please. On mornings like this only half of a red velvet cake along with a side of well done home fries and bacon can make you feel the life force pulsing through your veins again. An apple with yogurt would only go bad and then join up with a gang. It could get ugly.

Laurie:  I’m not much of an alcohol consumer but I have been know to down enough Diet Pepsis in one day to caffeine-accelerate my computer without turning it on.

elizabeth:  Feeling out of Sorts  – Now this is when you take your mood out on yourself or anyone who walks by you. You know who you are. Sometimes we don’t know why we are so down, but a chopped salad certainly won’t help – look at it.  It’s been chopped to pieces by an angry chef.  You wanna eat that? No amount of blue cheese will drown out the cries of the vegetables. But a dozen deep fried donuts with a half a gallon of double fudge brownie ice cream sandwiched between two pepperoni pizzas would be just what the mood doctor ordered. I like this modern women’s repast because afterwards I take comfort in knowing that I have not stuck a fork in anyone to see if they are done.

Laurie:  I’m done!

© 2010, Coaches on the Edge ™

If you would like to learn more about Laurie, please go to her site: Empowered Life Journeys.

Stop by at elizabeth’s site at: Coaching for the Creative Soul

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Laurie:  Someone just slipped a three-page Smoke-Free Household Survey under my door.  Seems like my building is going smoke free.  No easy endeavor with 1600+ apartments in the complex, but they are going to give it a try anyway.  By July 22^nd we are all supposed to cough up (yeah, I had to do it) information about ourselves and our family members and their smoking habits.  Declare your inability to break your filthy, disgusting, health-destroying addiction to cigarettes, and you will be benevolently grandfathered in (as a loser who can’t kick the habit I guess).  But if you’re just moving in, forget about it.  Not only can’t you as an individual smoke, but you may as well send “See ya!” cards to your smoking friends.  They won’t even be allowed to light up on the balconies.  I feel footprints all over my rights.

elizabeth: Don’t know how I feel about this. It does smack of Big Brother peeking into people’s apartments and telling them what to do or not do.  I was a smoker for a long time, and it was so hard to stop and then you start over again and you feel guilt ridden and then you try to stop again. And so on and so on. I finally gave it up about six years ago at a hypnosis session in a hotel with about 200 people. Men had to wear a metal reinforced cup until my bitchiness subsided a bit. About a week ago.

But I loved to smoke. It was an extension of my hand and it was always good to wave it around when making a point (or threatening someone) or you could grab one and think about what you wanted to say or do. I don’t care what anyone says – it did calm me down during some tense situations. But I made the decision to stop. Because I wasn’t going to let some fat cats who own tobacco farms take away my life. When I go, I want to decide how – in the afterglow with some young stud muffin works for me. Okay one with bad eyesight because I would like to be really old. Not older than graveyard dirt, but close.

Laurie:  I’m not in favor of smoking.  I’m thrilled that I finally kicked the habit (no more treks Down-South and to Indian reservations) and couldn’t afford to fall off the wagon if I wanted to.  Cigarettes in New York have tipped a whopping $10 a pack I believe.  But this further emphasizes my concern.  Cigarettes are still on sale and available in every State of the Union.  So if they are that bad for my health, will slay my friends and family with their second-hand smoke in one fell swoop, and are linked to every disease known to humankind, why can I still pick up a pack at my local Korean deli?  In a city where gas fumes from taxis and busses rule the congested roads, to regulate smoking in my apartment seems a bit silly.  To attempt to regulate my health seems a bit illegal.  Granted, the insurance companies do it all the time but my apartment building?  Nonetheless, I will say a little prayer of gratitude that I no longer smoke, meet my smoking friends at nonsmoke-free buildings, and avoid the wrath of the Smoke Detection Police when they show up at my door.  And I guess I’ll try to convince myself that this is “for my own good,” just like my mother used to tell me when I wasn’t allowed to do something.  I never believed her.

elizabeth: So as much as I know that smoking is a killer looking for its next victim, I still feel we can’t tell people what to do. I can really see them trying to get kids to not start, and if you are going to try to restrict this self destructive behavior – give people a guaranteed way to stop and make it reasonable so people can afford it.  I think $11 a pack might make some people stop so that they don’t end up homeless.  But telling people they can’t get an apartment because they smoke – what’s next? Twinkies addicts, soda sippers and liverwurst lovers (talk about something needing to be banned) being thrown out into the streets?

I had a neighbor on 89^th Street in Manhattan who left me notes about my smoking. This was from a woman who had really loud sex a lot of the time. So maybe she didn’t smoke after sex, but after listening to her escapades, having a cigarette seemed like the polite thing to do. As opposed to me going out and picking up a male hooker for myself.

© 2010, Coaches on the Edge ™

If you would like to learn more about Laurie, please go to her site: Empowered Life Journeys.

Stop by at elizabeth’s site at: Coaching for the Creative Soul

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Laurie:  Confession:  I can be intolerant.  I am fully aware that my friends are rolling their eyes and asking “What else is new?”  But if   you  question the power of a blog, I am living proof that sometimes life-altering views can be stimulated by the words of a blogger.  I’m a believer that health afflictions come in fads.  RLS (restless leg syndrome), ADD (attention deficit disorder), peanut allergies, and gluten intolerance (so new and cool, it doesn’t even have its own set of initials to identify it) seem to be the “in” diseases of the new millennium.  And I am not so heartless to pooh-pooh them, but I have more than once questioned their validity as I suffered through a waiter being grilled by a concerned patron about what knife touched food and where the olive oil comes from.  And yes, I thought it was a tad over the top.  But then I read a blog by a dear friend who wrote about Celiac Sprue and how she was forced to deal with it, and even more importantly, deal with the way people responded to her disease.  And the light shone on my intolerant self.

elizabeth:  My eyes are still rolled back into my head – one of my cats is writing this.  I think if one has some medical condition that is as familiar to us like cancer or as new as gluten intolerance, we should just be thankful that we don’t have to deal with it personally, but we do have to deal with someone who does with compassion. And you know, something will get all of us. So if someone’s life has been knocked down by some ailment that falls into the category of the unfamiliar, we should keep our impatience about how people handle their lives to ourselves. No, I take that back. We should take a look at ourselves and why we are reacting like that. These people did nothing wrong. They got sick and are trying to live their lives the best they can. So ask away how foods are prepared.

Laurie:  So I don’t want to say that I won’t be embarrassed when my friends torture a waiter about the origin of every piece of food on their plate.  I will definitely be concerned that the cook and the waiter are back in the kitchen spitting on all the entrees before bringing them out.  But I will also respect the reason why this is necessary and grudgingly accept that until skeptics like me are convinced that this is a serious disease, the need to over-react is valid.  If you’d like to read the blog that started this blog, click here:  http://ronniburns.wordpress.com/ .

elizabeth: Maybe your friend should tell the wait staff that they have some food allergies that could be harmful to them. Take it out of the  closet.

BTW – when I go out for breakfast with someone (who will remain nameless) I do have certain ways I would like my eggs prepared and I do request that they don’t run off the plate. And I get what I want and need. So should your friend and anyone with Celiac Sprue.

© 2010, Coaches on the Edge ™

If you would like to learn more about Laurie, please go to her site: Empowered Life Journeys.

Stop by at elizabeth’s site at: Coaching for the Creative Soul

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2. The Coaches on the Edge have the foods to elevate your moods. Just don’t tell anybody in the diet industry. elizabeth: I don’t want anyone to think that I harbor...

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