SharedBliss: Monkeying Around with Haley-O

Another Great Lakes Girl, Haley-O
from Toronto

Listening to: Someone she and the toddlers enjoy.

Bliss: Meeting people who are walking their talk, which makes me feel hopeful.

As regular readers know, one of my main frustrations in life is people who say one thing but do another. Like people who run around telling anyone who will listen that the sky is falling in terms of the environment, but then they run right to their cars and drive, drive, drive... Usually, they have bumper stickers about how awful Bush is/was.

But sometimes...and more often since I've started blogging...sometimes, I get to meet people who are really trying hard. People who are constantly on the look out for ways they can do better.*

*Of course, this can lead to a perfectionism that is neurotic. Ha. So we do have to accept ourselves for who we are, but I think there's always room for the trying.

The first thing, for instance, that becomes apparent about Haley-O, the writer behind the blog Cheaty Monkey, is her commitment. This is a woman committed to her children, her family, animal rights, and the environment. Watch out!

The mother of two toddlers, she also finds time to teach yoga, maintain the website Kids Deserve Art, write product reviews, and test and post vegan recipes, and you can find her on Twitter!

Describe the PrimaryBliss of your life. How did you come to know that this was your PrimaryBliss?

My PrimaryBliss right now would be compassion, and particularly compassion for animals and the environment — because it all starts there. I believe that the violence and anger and hatred in this world have a lot to do with the way treat our animals. Animals are tortured for our food, clothing and accessories, grossly exploited for our entertainment, and increasingly denied their rightful habitats. When we begin to love and respect our animals for all their sacrifices for us, we can begin authentically and deeply to have compassion for ourselves, each other, our environment.

What types of choices and sacrifices did you make to be able to craft this bliss-filled life?

I wouldn’t call my life “bliss-filled”! I have two toddlers: the Monkey (3) and the Rascal (1). My life is more about creating bliss: my family’s bliss, and bliss within my home, in my body, and in the world. And, it’s a daily struggle for me.

Becoming vegan is probably the biggest sacrifice that I’ve made in the name of my PrimaryBliss. It’s hard to feel like you have control over ANYTHING when you’re a stay-at-home mom of two toddlers. By being vegan, I get a sense of control because I’m actually saving animals, and in doing so I’m also helping heal the environment (veganism is one of the best things you can do for the environment because factory farming is one of our environment’s most deadly offenders). In helping heal the environment, I help create a better world — a better Earth -- for my children and their children. That’s what it’s all about for me.

I also sacrifice my time in the name of bliss. My blogs take up a lot of my time. With two toddlers ON THE LOOSE, I have very little time to myself, and the time I do have to myself tends to be devoted to writing blogs. When I quit blogging a while back, though, I got an outpouring of emails from readers telling me how much my blogs impacted their lives — these were mostly women, mostly mothers. Mothers were telling me how much the blogs made them feel connected and not alone in their frustrations, excitements and anxieties. So, about a day after I quit, I started it up again! This is a sacrifice, but it’s a service. And, I believe, we’re here on this planet to do service. To help, and to heal. I just have to find a way to fit time in to help and heal myself, too! But, there’s always time for that.... It’s all in the process.

How does your PrimaryBliss radiate out into the rest of your life?

As I give to animals (feeding the city animals whenever I can — especially in this cold weather — promoting animal causes, eating vegan, giving to animal charities), I get a lot back from them. I have very vivid and powerful dreams about animals, for example, which help me solve problems in my life and change my outlook on things. I’ve also been fortunate to be able to inspire people to eat less meat and, at least, to think about where their meals come from. My blogs and my business — an online art store for children -- moreover, make me feel like I’m accomplishing something every day.

What are some other activities that also give you this sense of bliss? Things that make you lose track of time?

YOGA YOGA YOGA! I’m a yoga teacher and avid practitioner. Yoga gives me so much bliss. I go to a yoga school that’s very community oriented. The practice is very intelligent and organic. I also love to read, especially at Starbucks whenever I get the chance. ALSO, my cats. I have three of them: Minden, MARGE, and Tigger. Minden (my male cat) and I have a seriously tight bond. The little dude comforts me at the SOUL level. Animals do that....

Minden
(Here at Blisschick, I certainly
understand the comfort of a tuxedo cat!)

What is your daily or weekly spiritual practice?

I teach yoga once a week, and I go to class once a week. I try to fit yoga into the rest of the week whenever I can. It’s difficult with two kids waking up early! I also practice with Tarot cards almost every night as a form of meditation. I have several really beautiful decks. I draw about 4 cards a night to see what messages I get about myself and what I need to do and think about the next day. I find them very powerful — not negative, like most people think, or scary. I’ve also used them to counsel people in need, and, so far, my reads have been very accurate and healing!

What music is your bliss?

I love Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Beyonce — because my kids love it. We bop to the music in the car. Total bliss! Outside the mainstream, I love Singh Kaur, and a Canadian singer known as Meenakshi. BLISSSS!

Name books or authors/poets or people who are your bliss, who influenced your bliss.

Right now, I’m loving Paulo Coelho — his entire oeuvre (that’s a word I haven’t used in a while!). I’ve also been hugely influenced by William Blake in my life, as well as other Romantic Poets, like William Wordsworth (also known as a “nature poet”) and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

What advice would you give to someone who feels they have not yet discovered their PrimaryBliss?

I’d say wait for it. Be receptive. Ask for it. If you ask for it, it will find you. My PrimaryBliss, my causes, certainly found me and changed me overnight. It’s only now that I realize I was born with this cause: being Jewish, I was given a Hebrew name at birth, and that name is “Chayah,” which means “animal.” Pretty cool, huh?

Do you have a favorite quote you would like to share?

Oh wow! There are so many. But, this is probably the one I think about most....

“Remember, every food purchase is a vote.” It’s by Jane Goodall, from her book Harvest for Hope. She continues, “We might be tempted, as individuals, to think that our small actions don’t really matter, that one meal can’t make a difference. But each meal, each bite of food, has a rich history as to how and where it grew or was raised, how it was harvested. Our purchases, our votes, will determine the way ahead. And thousands upon thousands of votes are needed in favor of the kind of farming practices that will restore health to our planet.”

Every time I go shopping and have to choose between the organic food (which I can’t always afford) and conventional, I think “every food purchase is a vote.” And, I cast my vote.


Haley-O is that kind of inspiration that we all need -- she shows us a path by walking that path herself and she does so in a way that is not guilt-ridden; she shows, by example, that it's hard and that it's about daily choices and that sometimes we fall off the path, but the point is to get right back on.

Just as a side note: Veganism is an issue that Haley-O is passionate about and I applaud her for that. There are other ways to cast your vote with your dollar when it comes to food; it's all about listening to your body -- and every body out there is different.

We eat just about 100% organic in this house. (It's not 100 because we do eat out occasionally.) Marcy is a vegetarian, and I was for 10 years but am no longer. As I have aged, my body and her needs have changed. I am allergic to soy and nuts and beans do not agree with me except in very small amounts. I was exhausted and my body needed protein.

So now I vote with my dollars by only buying organic meat, and as often as possible, meat "grown" locally and humanely. I am a true omnivore!

Like I said, I think that is the larger point of this interview: that we try harder each day, that we stay aware of our choices and their impact, and that we accept some things for what they are.