The Clean Windshield Effect
What happens when you clean a dirty windshield? You can see!
The other day I was chatting with Drake’s karate instructor, and he said, “Did you know that you can be so healthy that you are sick?”
I shrugged. Ok.
He said, “It’s true! I knew this guy. All he could eat was broccoli and peanuts. He just kept removing foods, and that’s where he landed – broccoli and peanuts. He was a recovered addict so it makes sense that you stop drinking alcohol and then end up with some other addiction, like healthy eating. He was complicated. Thing is, he died unexpectedly. He got run over by a car.”
I love my conversations with Drake’s teacher. This particular time, however, I just stood there, nodded and said, “Hmmmm…”
I mean, there’s so much to unpack. Where do I even start?
Well, I’m going to start here: I have heard people say over the years that they know a friend or have a neighbor or co-worker or a cousin or whatever who started eating healthy and now they are sensitive to EVERYTHING. “Who wants to live like that?” they say. “Not me!”
Ok. I get it. No one wants to live like that. And most people don’t want to give up their vices. After all, our food supply and world are filled with addictive drug-like substances: sugar, carbohydrates, caffeine, alcohol, tea, chocolate, and let’s not forget our cell phones and screens. These are coping mechanisms that many people employ in an effort to get through the day. I understand. I used to be there, too!
But the truth of the matter is this: being sensitive is a gift. It is a healthy state of being, and you are clueless and unconscious to your sensitivities, until you are not. It’s called The Clean Windshield Effect.
This little gem came from one of my favorite nutrition teachers – Nora Gedaugas. It’s what happens when you clean up your diet and lifestyle. All of a sudden you can observe how things are really affecting you. It’s just like cleaning the windshield of your car and now you can see the lines on the road and the squirrel you are about to run over.
The problem is that people often think that their sensitivities are increasing as they get healthy. This is NOT so. What happens is that your sensitivities are unmasked. They were there all the time but now you can SEE them.
This is what healing looks like. Healing is awareness of how the things you do either fuck you up or make you feel good. It’s never been about getting rid of symptoms. You want your body to talk to you! Healing is about paying attention to your symptoms and trying to make sense of them…trying to make connections.
Case in point: people keep sending me links to EMF protective devices. Most of these things don’t work and prevent us from making meaningful changes from using technology in a safer way. And crystals, in particular, can make you feel better while the damage to your body still occurs! I want my body to tell me when I’m in a toxic environment. That’s a state of health!
So please, don’t let a broccoli and peanut diet scare you. Clearly, these extreme examples are just that – extreme! And these particular people need help, as they are often disabled by their sensitivities. Bottom line: the perception of “increasing sensitivities” can’t stop you from cleaning up your diet and environment. That’s just your mind and addictions lying to you.
There is no higher calling than learning to listen to and respond to your body. As Dr Olle Johansson, EMF researcher from Sweden, said at the EMF conference last September, “What if the canary is the only normal human being?”
I mean, don’t you wonder what’s there in your environment or coming into your body that you’re not seeing and feeling? I know I do. It’s one of the great unfolding mysteries of being alive…and well.
Clean your windshield in peace, my friends!
Love,
Charlotte