Chic Vegan

Lately I have been obsessed with the idea of subconscious reality and the vague line between dreaming and “real life”.  I have been toying with meditation and the idea of Transcendental Meditation and lucid dreaming.You can probably blame this obsession on Inception or my lifetime fascination with all things metaphysical. I want to cover TM in a future post but for now lets explore lucid dreaming a bit.

Lucid dreaming is when you become fully aware of the fact that you are in a dream, and you start to consciously control it. There are two types of lucid dreams. The most common is when you realize you are dreaming halfway  through a dream.  The second type is when you go directly from a waking state into a dreaming state without any clear lapse in consciousness.  You probably have experienced this phenomena at least once in your life and woke up thinking “whoa that was freaky”. Lucid dreams are a fascinating phenomena that really make you question reality and your subconscious.

The beauty of lucid dreaming is being totally aware of all the nonsense in your dream while it happens. Many lucid dreamers can control certain aspect of their dreams to make them more interesting or to live out their desires in a “sub-reality”. Our brain patterns are the same when we are dreaming as they are during waking life, so our body reacts the same to dream events as it would in reality. Crazy right?  We all know how real our dreams can be at times and living directly in them is a tempting prospect. Its an exciting, magical, mind-game adventure!

Many people have mastered the art of lucid dreaming and have been able to achieve that state on a regular basis. Some people use this opportunity to rehearse real-life events, get freaky with a crush, ride a unicorn (that’s mine) and fly.. among endless other things. Here is how you too can dream your way to total reality confusion!

• Constantly ask yourself throughout the day: Am I dreaming? You want to turn that question into a consistent thought so it will come to mind while you dream. If you are like me, this question will freak you out from time to time.. and will also help you live with more awareness.
• Keep a dream diary. Write down every detail of your dreams immediately after waking up. This is very important! It will help you recognize consistent themes.
• Learn your sleep pattern. Figure out what time most of your dreams occur. You can set your alarm to wake you up during one of these cycles. If you remember your dream vividly you can go back to sleep with intentions to control it – and it will usually work!  (I used to do this all the time without really knowing what I was doing.)
• Do reality checks during strange moments in your day. Pinch yourself, flip a light switch, or look at your reflection – all of those things are distorted in dreams.
• Go to sleep with a mission. Plan out your dream or intention before going to sleep. Usually your mood or ideas will transfer to your dreams.
• Listen to Binaural Beats. They are often used to induce lucid dreams in studies.
• Think and learn about lucid dreaming every day. The more you inundate your brain with the idea, the more it will sneak into your subconscious.

Learn more about Lucid dreaming here.

Or you can check out this great Discovery Channel segment on Lucid Dreaming.

Do you have lucid dreams?  Have you ever had one by accident?  What has worked for you to achieve this state?

Are you a veggie loner? Do your friends not share the joys of a cruelty free diet with you? Do you not have friends? Welcome to my world, people. Living in a new city makes it hard to make friends for anyone let alone someone who has limited social skills. Thankfully this wonderful thing we call the Internet is loaded with places for the veg-minded to chat with their brethren (or sistren). You can also find local vegan meetups where you can actually meet people IRL*. OMG!

Twitter and Facebook - Um yeah.. I’m sure you have these covered. But do you use them to find new like-minded people? On twitter, search out keywords and follow people with the same interests as you. Interact through Direct Messages and Mentions. On Facebook, join groups and pages of interest. Make sure to leave comments and interact with other group and page members.

Mr tweet on Twitter – Mr tweet will recommend people for you to network with via twitter, based on your interests and the people you are already following. Mr Tweet also has “communities” you can join or create to interact with others like you. There is a vegan community FYI!

Join a Tribe – Tribe.net lets you join or create “tribes” for events, interests, places and things. You can ask questions and interact on bulletin boards.  Everything is very location specific so you can make potential real friends!

Vegan World – Vegan World is exactly like Facebook (ok, maybe more like MySpace)  for herbivores. If you choose to network exclusively with vegans, this is the place for you!

Looking For Love? - Vegan Passions is an online dating service for lose looking for a bit of veggie love.

Veggieboards – Get into in depth discussions and meet interesting people on Veggieboards.com. Perfect for those that prefer slower paced communication with more in depth conversations.

Vegan Drinks - Vegan Drinks is a monthly event held in certain cities for vegans to get tipsy together at a designated bar. Check out the site to see if there is a Vegan Drinks near you. If not, create one!!

Meetup -  Join Meetup.com and search for events in your area. You can RSVP and get to know the people you are about to meet!

Do it the old-fashioned way – Go outside! Walk around! Go to coffee shops, museums, restaurants, parks. Strike up conversations. Even if you don’t find someone vegan, you will probably meet tons of new and interesting people!

Happy Socializing!

*IRL = In Real Life

Are you a creative spirit, wanting to break free but you just don’t have the any fuel for your fire? Maybe you’re an aspiring photographer or fashion designer that just doesn’t know where to start?  Lucky for you, my friend, this beautiful thing we call the internet is loaded with resources to get your creative juices flowing. You really just need to know where to look.  Her are some great resources for almost every creative endeavor you can think of.  Ready… Set… Make!

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The transition into the new year is always a refreshing time. It subtly reminds us of all the things we have accomplished in the past 12 months, and provokes contemplations on what we want to change or improve upon in the upcoming year.

We are all a work in progress. Everyone aspires to achieve and create different things in life.  One could argue that the things that most people want in their lives are: Happiness, Creativity, and Success.  You can easily experience these things everyday with a little dedication and thought. It only takes a little bit of action to get out of your rut and turn your life into a magical wonderland! (more…)

*Editors Note: Here is a much needed break from all the Holiday to-do, from our favorite randomly quirky guest blogger, Miss Beth.

The Veined Octopus (sexual connotations are welcome in the comments!), Latin name Amphioctopus marginatus,  lives off the coast of Indonesia where the ocean floor is a vast muddy flat with little to offer in terms of safe shelter. To predators these animals are tasty treats with no bones to get in the way.  The octopi have taken to collecting coconut halves and then scampering away with them to build shelters. This little guy has apparently almost caused many a scientist to almost drown from laughing (I can tell you from personal experience, laughing + several feet of water above you + scuba mask = not a good idea)!

Do you know what has eight legs,  can carry and then MAKE a shelter? This guy!

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Welcome to the most coveted day of the week -Friday! Regardless of the day, stress is high my friends! We are right in the midst of this treacherous season we call “the holidays”.  Is everyone ready for it to be over or are you enjoying the excitement of it all?  Personally, I want January to come quickly. I have had enough of 2009!

In the past few weeks I have experimented with some cooking.  Not as much as I would have liked, because the time just seems to be escaping through my grasp. I  could cook all day long, I really enjoy it. But unfortunately I have no such luxury.

A few weeks ago our movie night dish was Acorn Squash, Pear, and Adzuki Bean Soup with Sauteed Shiitakes from Veganomicon.  It was pretty easy to make and very filling. The boys seemed to enjoy it. I made double the recipe which ended up being a big mistake because I ended up with way too much! The remainder is now frozen and awaiting another soup-worthy day. (more…)

We all love our girlfriends. And although we don’t have much money to spend after splurging on piles of toys for the kiddies in our lives and luxurious items for our family members, (or just trying to get by….sigh)  we really do want to get our favorite biotch something special to remind her how much we love her 24/7 drama support.

Thoughtfulness doesn’t have to be expensive. The smallest gesture, can mean a whole lot to someone if it is well thought out and relates to the things they love in life. If  your bestie is an all out girlie girl, (as most of them are, at least at heart) or just appreciates quirky, cute and fun stuff, (really, who doesn’t?) then these gifts will certainly strike her fancy.
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Everyone knows that not all of their friends and family are alike. They all have their own special likes, hobbies and fascinations. This very fact is what genuinely makes the holidays a tough time.  I mean, who really wants an impersonal, impractical gift? There is nothing that says “I don’t know you at all”  like hand lotion, gift cards, socks, or some other obligatory holiday present.

To be quite honest, I feel that the holidays are a time for children and that adults should just join in celebration of the presence of their loved ones. However, some people just like stuff. And sometimes it is just really fun to buy a present that you know a person you care about is going to truly love.

Since everyone is their own unique snowflake, here are some present ideas for possible snowflakes in your life.

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Thanks to everyone that participated in our Thanksgiving Giveaway! It was really fun to read what everyone is thankful for, and also to make new Twitter friends! (I’m a junkie.)

Taking all of our entries in chronological order from Twitter, Facebook and the comments we had a total of 49 entries! And the mystical random number generator has chosen number 16!

Number 16 just so happens to be Miss Lindsay from Cooking For a Vegan Lover!  Congrats Lindsay!

Thanks again to everyone who participated! There will be much more where this came from

This year we are giving away a Celebration Roast to one lucky reader! Field Roast makes some of the best fake meat products I’ve encountered in a long time. Their Celebration roast tastes divine and is super easy to prepare (just slide in the oven for a few minutes and -viola!)

And that’s not all! A Turkey will be sponsored in the winner’s name from Farm Sanctuary’s Adopt-a-Turkey program. The winner will receive an adoption certificate including their name and a picture of their chosen turkey!

In order to be entered in this contest you must complete any or all of the following steps. The more steps you take, the more your odds of winning increase!

1. Follow us on Twitter AND tweet this: “This month @chic_vegan is giving away a celebration roast and adopting you a turkey! Get entered: http://bit.ly/12S6JK”

2. Be our fan on Facebook and post a link to this contest on your wall.

3. Add chicvegan.com to your blogroll.

4. Link to this giveaway on your blog or website.

5. Leave a comment here letting me know what you are thankful for.

6. Subscribe to our RSS feed.

A winner will randomly be chosen on Monday November 16th.

Do it for the turkeys! Good luck!