Going Green Part 1

(Photo Credits: from http://blogs.wvgazette.com)

What does green mean to you?  Is going green, being sustainable, Eco-Friendly overwhelm you or does it annoy you?  Do you feel that the green movement is a fad here today gone tomorrow?  Green, Eco, Sustainable means many different things depending on who you talk to.  Some would say these are buzzwords to get their attention.  Well sadly many people and companies out there are using the so called BUZZ words to get attention, try to sell a product which makes it difficult for Artist like myself and owner of an Eco company try to make customers, clients understand the real impact of what going and being green is all about.
I hope to share and shed some light on what does it really mean to me on a personal and professional level to be green and how it has really impacted my life and everyday living and how the transition was for my business and me? If it has helped me it surely will help others who are and have gone through similar experiences and may not yet have figured it out.
If you have read my about me bio or anything on this blog you will know that I had to transition into a person who is Eco conscious.   To be honest like many out there for the past few years have read, heard, seen everything I thought I needed to know about being green, Eco conscious, and contributor for the good of our planet.  Yeah I picked up and recycled a few bottles here and there, yeah I collected magazines and donated and yeah I felt like I was contributing to my planet and the good of my community.   But it really didn’t change or impact my life at the time until I was struck with an illness.  I really had no clue what green was and how it would change my life.
After an incorrect diagnoses of my condition and taking unnecessary medications for a period of several years my body screamed for help!  My body started to shut down with fatigue, ongoing chronic pain; fevers etc. over the counter medication did not begin to touch my pain level. I was out for the count.  I finally found a Doctor who actually heard me, paid attention to what I was saying; what a shock he didn’t just take my co-pay and wave goodbye!  He quickly realized I was not going anywhere until he heard what Maggie had to say.  I took charge of my care and asked questions and waited for the answer.  After many blood tests checking for lupus and other immune related illness we found out I had a flair up of Epstein Barr Virus (mono) but the virus from the mono stays in your system for life and can be reactivated with stress, a simple cold etc., which attacks your immune system.  This was the trigger for me, the stress that was going on in my life at the time was unbearable and I hit rock bottom from my stress thus causing the Epstein Barr Virus to reactivate and cause havoc with my immune system.  Not a fun ride to be on.
So I now had to tackle this head on and make peace with the fact that it would take at least two years if not longer for the virus to go dormant. During this time I did all that I could for myself to get better.  Weeks, months and two years went by and the virus traveled through my body I started to feel the effects of it.  It attacked my lymph nodes and secondary tonsils called the Palatine Tonsil and here I thought I got rid of my tonsils when I was younger.  So I lost my voice, I was unable to eat and pain was my constant friend and enemy,  thyroid problems, hair loss and weight gain kept me company as well.   I did what I do best  and I googled, researched, talked with other doctors, went for second and third opinions to find first doc was correct so I read books to learn more about what was going on with my body.  What I learned was scary and shocking that so much of what I was eating, wearing, cooking with and decorating with from synthetic fibers, carpeting, all the paints I was using in my house and artwork and other materials were making me sick.  I found myself overwhelmed, angry and confused. To be continued in my next blog entry……