Fads, Snake Oils, and Cigarette Smoke - Autumn PSA
October 27, 2016
I've said that I'm not sure where I'm going with this blog. "Everywhere" is my plan, right now. I told my photographer that I was going to write about Everything; the common thread was going to be Me.
That seems like a plan. Right?
I'm going to write about the things that I do. And what I love.
Hold on to your butts, folks.
It's time. It's Oil Time. Because I have been asked the same question six times this week.
“You don’t seem like the kind of mom who’d push oils,” someone said to me once upon a time.
That assessment was spectacular on so many levels.
I have to get into this because it makes me laugh, so hard.
First, what kind of mom pushes oils? Clearly there is an image in this person's head. Mini van drivers? Kiefer fermenters? Coconut oil pulling anti-vax people? The kind that organize their lives in neat baskets with hand-made labels?
The kind who know how to freaking do beach waves in their ombre tresses? (Can one of you please teach me how to do that? When I try to do it they come out like Dolly Parton.)
Second, pushing? Really? Did you catch me passing some peppermint oil through my car window in the parking lot of Target?
(Yes. That was me. Never mind.)
But that language, come on ya'll. Don't be conjuring up images of an illicit substance being sold on the backside of government regulation until we actually come to that day, know what I mean?
Let's all just chill out. Be passionate about what you love but stop being weird. (This advice goes out to wearers of Lularoe, too. And Taylor Swift fans.)
Third, what kind of a mom do I seem like? The tattooed, whiskey drinking, kind of emotionally shutdown sarcastic kind? (Probably no one I know would actually even describe me like that. Like, ever.)
Do you ever do that?
Like, there's an image that flashes into your mind of yourself, but it's not who you are. It's how you feel about yourself right in that moment. So what do you do with it? Do you self-actualize? Or do you process it in a healthy way?
Emotions are neither right nor wrong; they simply are. They come like waves and we ride them out, releasing them, letting them go.
Back to this idea of me not being the kind of person who pushes oils.
Do I just seem too normal?
Friends, it doesn't matter what's in your head when you discover new information that doesn't fit into your idea of who I (or anyone) am. No assessment is accurate. None of it. Because I’m a freaking human bean. We're human beans. We is complicated.
I don’t use oils because it’s popular and trendy. I use them because they're practical.
I LOVE PRACTICAL THINGS. I LOVE THEM.
I'm not using oils because every mom between the ages of 21 and 40 got super excited about it and all of the accessories that they could then purchase to go along with their oiling adventure.
I’m not in to fads and I'm bad at accessorizing. (Also, can someone please help me with that?)
Members Only jackets were a fad. Friendship bracelets were a fad. Tetherball was a fad. Beanie Babies were a fad. The Rachel Haircut was a fad. Flare jeans and Flash Mobs were a fad. Dog shaming is a fad. Food trucks are a fad. Grumpy Cat and Planking and Words with Friends are fads.
Essential Oils are too old to be fads.
They've been around for so long the anthropologists don’t even know how long they’ve been around.
I grew up a little crunchy. We took vitamins and had organic gardens. And we were, oh lord, what are they calling it now? Makers? We were Makers. We made stuff. Like organic gardens. And quilts. We planed boards. We canned goods. We built shit.
I've had a long journey into the deeps of integrative medicine; chronic health problems kind of made that happen. So, time and pain have provided me for a starting grid for the remarkable complexities of the human body.
So yes, all that to say, I use. I’m a user.
I stumbled into it in a forthright way because I figured, hell, what do I have to lose? What’s the worst that can happen? My house will smell nice?
I love tools, dear people, I love tools.
I love things that are useful, practical, that work with my body and give me something effective by which I can care for my family. So here I am, three years into the oily ways, and I get a lot of questions and emails and phone calls and texts and instant messages and comments on Facebook photos and Instagram photos and all of the other places I didn't even know that people could contact me through. And everybody is asking the same questions, because it's autumn.
Peoples is asking me if I could give some general oily tips as we approach the winter.
So I thought, ok, I'm going to send out a PSA about my oily usage thoughts RIGHT AT THIS EXACT MOMENT IN TIME.
That is why I'm writing this post. That is why.
So here are my thoughts today, as a wonderful autumn chill has finally swept into Kansas City and I can finally wear cute boots and sweaters and think about loads and loads of pie.
First of all, stop eating processed sugar.
Ok. That has nothing to do with essential oils. Also, eat fermented foods. Drink tons of water. Eat a lot of plants. Stop eating processed foods. Do yourself a favor and develop a taste for dark green things. (Minus like, MacDonald’s shamrock shakes, which they don’t serve this time of year anyway.)
So, ok, that also has nothing to do with essential oils.
1. I'm hitting the Thieves Essential Oil hard for my big kids and me and my husband, whose essential oil knowledge is limited to Thieves, Digize, and Purification. Which is honestly pretty practical because those oils cover a lot of bases.
But it’s at the point when I’m going, “Babe, maybe you need some Copaiba for that particular thing you’re dealing with,” and he’s like, “Where’s the Thieves? You got some Purification up in here?”
To John, there are only three essential oils in the world. It's kind of adorable.
Thieve it up, people. (Except for those who have a history with seizures and use caution with small children.) This is the time of year when we don't get enough sunshine in our eyeballs or enough dirt on our bare feet. (Earthing. They're calling it Earthing now.)
Fresh food and clean air are less available in a lot of parts of the country. Our immune systems start to struggle extry, as my toddler says, supy extry. Any and everything we can do to love up on our immune systems is going to go a helluva long way. Water, rest, supplements, immune supporting oils, whatever you got going on, this is the time.
So I've been thinking about the cold months that are coming, along with their many hours indoors, and realizing that I've got to get into gear.
2. I'm gearing up to use Myrtle and Ravintsara, two of my favorite kid oils - Myrtle is in the eucalyptus family, but much lower in cineole. (Eucalyptus, rosemary and peppermint are all very high 1,8-cineole oils. Research has shown that large doses of this can cause respiratory problems for small children.) Pine, Spruce, Fir, and Cypress are also wonderful alternatives with kids. I love these oils. I'm thinking about these oils today.
This time of year I focus in on respiratory support and immune system support.
How can we get into the habit of loving all up on these complex systems starting NOW, before every disease known to man starts going around school?
The teachers at our school work SUPER hard to keep it sanitary, but let's be honest...where ever there are kids, it's a freaking cesspool.
I'm planning out my Essential Rewards order and strategizing how to actually use the stuff I buy. Because let's be honest...that's a huge part of the Oily Way. USE THE STUFF THAT YOU BUY! Make a chart. Put oils in multiple places around the house. Do whatever you need to do so that you are WORKING your oils.
I have to do a lot of planning. Because I'm a terrible nurse. One time I had this Thought so I called up Hannah, and I was like,
"You know, I was thinking, if I was in the medical profession I wouldn't be a nurse. I'm a horrible nurse. I'm not good at care-taking. I would be like Dr. House. I would be like this totally shut-down, bitter and super smart person who was amazing at diagnosing weird ailments."
The best part is that Hannah said that the second I said, "medical profession" her brain went, "Kristianna would be House."
We've been friends for a while.
Practical folks, lets be practical.
3. USE YOUR OILS! Take thirty minutes and make a few roller bottles that blend together your kiddo oils. Roll it on the little monkey's feet, or their chest, or wherever, before they leave for school and before they get into bed at night.
I'm making roller bottles for the boys room and the girls room.
In my head I'm imagining that I'm going to put them in cute little baskets. But I don't have any cute little baskets. Maybe I should get some. (Where do I get cute baskets? Can someone teach me how to do that?)
4. Lastly, I've been thinking about Highest Potential, literally my favorite oil at the moment. Guess why. (You'll never guess.)
When I wear it, it smells like how cigarette smoke makes me feel.
I love smoking, so I don't. I have a friend who is a smoker; I take deep whiffs whenever she walks in the door. Do you guys know what I mean? I'm talking about the nicotine feeling of dopamine production going up and feeling all pleasured and rewarded.
THAT is how Highest Potential makes me feel.
So I like to wear it, a lot. It uplifts and invigorates and I feel like, "heck yeah, I'm ready to do this thing."
So there you have it, friends. I've been thinking about Thieves and kiddo-safe respiratory support. (fyi I'm diffusing in the kids rooms every night. Lavender + Ravintsara).
