Calorie restriction

So... my new commitment to my spiritual growth includes looking after my body and getting healthy. So, after a suggestion from my mum, I'm trying the 2 day calorie restricting thing they did on the BBC recently. I think it was horizon. 600 calories a day, 2 days a week. Then eat normally the rest of the week. Supposed to have great health benefits, particularly as I need to lose about half my body weight to be a relatively healthy weight! Day 1, not so bad. Bit of a meltdown following some shit news at work, but I held it together, and even managed to practise my violin, mandolin and banjo briefly before dinner. Win.

Probably helps that my body is craving health following 2 weeks off drinking every day and eating everything in sight!

Now going to set up my altar after it came down so my brother could sleep in the spare room, and a spot of meditation to see how my body actually feels. Hopefully I'll reconnect with the spirit, it might be fun to get pissed and eat crap, but it does tend to make you feel a bit stuck in the mundane.

Exciting stuff....

Tax - just bloody pay what you owe!

I'm a pretty cynical person, but the tone of the recent press coverage about the tax avoidance (by Jimmy Carr et all) has begun to really get my goat. I agree with the overall view that there's absolutely no way that this should be legal, and that's the fault of the system, not the individuals benefiting, but I keep hearing, "Well, no one pays more than they have to." and, "We'd all do the same given the chance." As if that's sone kind of justification for the people that have paid as little as 1p in the pound on incomes of £1m plus! 

I'm not for a second saying that anyone is likely to go round to the tax office (if they can find one that's still open) and say, "I'd like to make a donation, do you take cash?" ostentatiously brandishing a wodge of notes. However, I do think that, as a human, I have an obligation to make the moral choice where I know what's happening is wrong. 

Accountants and Financial Advisors are paid to help you manage your money. Except it seems that a lot of the time they're helping people hang on to as much money as possible (beyond what is needed for a decent, nay luxurious, lifestyle) no matter the moral consequences. That being the case, if you are self-employed, whether you are a comedian, or a builder, or whatever, you should go to your accountant and say, "I need help to sort out my finances and tax. Please note that I intend to pay what I should pay according to the normal rules. Do not look for loopholes to get me out of paying tax, I am a citizen of this country and I have a duty to maintain it along with the rest of the population." If you think the idea of someone saying that (ok, maybe not quite in those pompous words, but you get the gist) is totally outlandish then I'm disappointed. Integrity still exists and those people with it will look to do their bit and play their part in the world, financially or otherwise. Morality is something we can all take into account in our day to day dealings and I don't mean religion, just good old fashioned morals and consideration.

Even if a person didn't do this, is it possible that they wouldn't notice that they were paying much less tax that they should? If so then they're not showing proper responsibility for their own affairs. If not then again we have someone who is aware of what is going on, they are surely aware of what sort of tax they should be paying, and therefore again are making a poor moral choice. Is this the kind of person we think we all are? Really? Maybe integrity only exists for the working class....

That's me, vaguely Pagan. Vaguely just about everything in fact. Well, not everything of course, but everything that I am, I am it vaguely. This hasn't started off too well has it? Sooo.... I sort of play some instruments and kind of sing, I occasionally write some fairly inoffensive songs, I get angry and incoherent about things and lose arguments that I could totally win if I were less vague. That's probably it. And I love my husband even though he's vaguer (not a word right? Right), sorry, more vague than me at times.
I'm currently investigating Druidry, not sure I'm doing it right, forging a career (of sorts) and I'm almost certain I'm doing that wrong and being unable to have a baby. Well, to be fair we haven't tried that hard yet, a bit too much like conviction. Which we lack.