The Mattacola Law Firm Blog

Food and Twigs and Facial Hair - Oh My!

Posted in Life ::: November 8, 2009 4:44 PM

 If you haven't noticed, I try pretty hard to intersperse the boring legalese with some odds and ends of "life" and "community".  It's kind of the whole theme here on this hugely read and widely demanded blog.  Cough.  If there were another theme, it'd be balance.  Balance, actually, is the mother of all these things and what allows me to do what I do.  There'd be no way I could run my practice well, be a Husband and a Dad, contribute to my community and take care of myself via running and nutrition without balance.  You've got to keep it all in perspective and keep all these things moving forward in a positive direction.  

Just recently, we've had three happenings at the Firm that speak to the whole balance thing and from which I'm still feeling ripples of positive change.  It's been an amazing few weeks to say the least.  

First, on October 22nd, I sponsored the movie Food, Inc. to come to the Capitol.  I wanted people in Rome and the surrounding area to get a chance to see this important documentary.  Nearly 200 people came.  Eyes were opened about our food industry and just where our food comes from and how it's produced and the effects on the environment and our workforce and most importantly, our health.  I cannot tell you the amount of people who have thanked me for bringing it and who have told me they've made changes in their shopping/eating habits as a result.  It's mind blowing and humbling.  Many have asked me about local places to get meat that isn't raised with steroids and genetically modified corn.  One such place that you can check out is Winters Grass Farm - Jordan Winters is the rock star there.  Here is the link:  http://www.wintersgrassfarm.com/ 

Jordan actually apprenticed with the farmer in Food, Inc. - Joel Salatin - you will remember Joel as the "good guy" as my kids refer to him.  His beef and poultry are grass fed and natural and humanely treated.  Take a ride to Holland Patent, it will be worth it.  

On October 28th, I spoke to the Rome Twigs at their annual dinner - they are the volunteer army at Rome Memorial Hospital.  I was the keynote speaker and the topic, as given to me, was 'Friendship, Sharing and Laughter'.  A slightly random topic but I ran with it and enjoyed the time with the Twigs .  The overall theme?  Simple.  Let us all stop being brainwashed by Madison Avenue and stop seeking the great white whale of perfection - doesn't exist.  And we are wasting life's precious moments in this foolish pursuit.  Let us live our life with love, with friendship, with sharing, with laughter - let us celebrate our imperfections and not chase after windmills trying to get what isn't possible.  It was a tremendous evening and one which I'm still receiving gratitude from.  Good stuff.  

And finally - gnarly facial hair.  Yes, that is a moustache sprouting on my upper lip if you've seen me in the past week.  it's part of an international movement called Movember - Mo being the nickname for a moustache in Australia where this started.  It is part of dedicating the month of November, now Movember, to men's health issues.  This year, the funds we are raising are going to the Prostate Cancer Foundation and Livestrong.  As part of this fun endeavor, I've been dropping some healthy tips on Facebook and Twitter here and there.  I've already had someone tell me that I've inspired him to fix some bad health habits he's gotten himself into.  That is pure gold.  I can't tell you how fired up that makes me.  If you are interested in donating to our team, Team Captain Kangaroo (the Captain had one fine Mo), here is the link:  http://us.movember.com/mospace/232957/ 

We would be grateful for anything you might want to do - it's for cancer awareness and prevention - it's for awful facial hair - how can you go wrong?  

So there you have it - Food, Twigs and Facial Hair.  Oh my.  it's all good stuff and that which I am very proud of.  I need to go grow my Mo now.  Onward.