Live Raw [antikvár]

IntroductionI was born in Hollywood, California, in 1938, the youngest of seven children. My mother outlived four of my siblings and my father by thirty years. I grew up in less than a middle-class family and far from a glamorous life. My sweet mother was a simple cook and we rarely went out to eat, so I didn't learn much about food growing up.I was married at seventeen and was widowed at twenty-nine; I am the mother of two girls and two boys and grandmother of seven children.Before my husband died in a private plane crash February of 1968, I was a stay-at-home mom. I quickly realized we had no insurance or financial savings, and I had to find a job very quickly to support my family. Three months after his death and four months before my thirtieth birthday, a producer friend helped me get a job as a screen extra in the movie industry and gave me a small speaking part in one of his television movies. In 1970, while working at Paramount Studios, producer James L. Brooks discovered me. Brooks thought I resembled the star of his upcoming television series, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and arranged a meeting between Mary and me. She hired me on the spot as her stand-in.Because of my original style of dressing, I worked with Valerie Harper designing a good deal of her wardrobe and I created the famous headscarf she wore on Rhoda. Throughout my entertainment career of eighteen years, I also worked in front of the camera on numerous television shows and movies.I started my spiritual path in 1969 when a friend told me about meditation and thought it would be a good way to heal from the loss of my husband. Meditation helped ease the pain and gave me strength. It opened the doors of knowledge to the ebb and flow of life and inspired me to live more in the moment. I always felt meditation was like learning a secret about life that not many people knew about. It was exciting and fulfilling and influenced my path in life. My children enjoyed going to services with me and loved to sit in a peaceful little meditation room I made under a stairwell in our home. I was blessed to study with two living gurus: Swami Prabhavananda of Vedanta Society and, later, after his death in 1976, Swami Muktananda of Siddah Yoga.In 1980, when my oldest children were grown and out on their own, my youngest daughter, Mia, and I went to Swami Muktananda's ashram in South Fallsburg, New York, for several months to study with him. Later, after his passing, I traveled to Ganeshpuri, India, and studied in my guru's ashram with his successor, a woman known as Swami Chidvilasananda. This is the same ashram Elizabeth Gilbert lived at for a short time and mentions in her book Eat, Pray, Love.After leaving the film industry in 1984,1 became an entrepreneur. I designed and manufactured costume jewelry under my spiritual name "Prasuti" Accessories. (Prasuti means "mother of divine children" in Hindu terms.) After selling my company in early 1986, I took a job in Beverly Hills as majordomo for a wealthy family, overseeing all aspects of their estate and helping to create and implement many charitable events. It was a very exciting time, with many formal parties and events, European travel, private planes, yachts, and a taste of the rich and famous lifestyle.My environmental concerns became very strong, and after three years, I left my job there to create, publish, and edit the City Planet, an environmental newspaper in Los Angeles. I later moved to Taos, New Mexico, to find the "simple life" and, while there, helped start the city's first film festival. I worked with several local nonprofits to help raise money and awareness about health and environmental concerns. In 1998, I created the first board game specifically geared toward women entitled Cowgirls Ride the Trail of Truth, and in 2000, I authored the book Cowgirl Spirit. This is only a small part of my many incarnations, including a short stint as a Las Vegas showgirl at the Flamingo Hotel in 1957. The rest of my life would make a book all by itself.My family is the most important to me. I have a very close relationship with my children and grandchildren, i am in a wonderful eight-year relationship with a man almost twenty years myjunior.Two years ago, I sold my cowgirl company and retired. I now spend much of my time tending my award-winning cactus and vegetable garden and traveling with my boyfriend. I lecture, give live-food demonstrations, and manage