Before we get into how exactly California Birthday was started, there's a part of me that you need to know about, which will eventually weave into California Birthday.
I'm pretty sensitive to certain things. Most fragrances make me nauseous and actually hurt my throat. I generally am not a huge fan of air conditioning. I stopped going to the gym years ago because I couldn't stand that the A/C was constantly pumping. I don't get many manicures, and when I do, the place has to have open doors, windows and fans going. Same with a hair salon. For me, the fumes are toxic and give me a headache.
This also applies to what I put on and in my body. For example, I will try to avoid lotions with certain ingredients such as mineral oil and petrolatum. My skincare routine consists of simple products like baking soda, jojoba oil, mango butter, rosehip oil, coconut oil to name several. Other products from brands that I use follow EU regulations, which has banned over 1300 ingredients. The U.S. has banned only 30. In my opinion, The Credo Clean Standard is a good source to understand how certain ingredients in cosmetics may be harmful. https://credobeauty.com/pages/the-credo-clean-standard-1
I grew up with a Dad who wasn't big on doctors. They gave him the wrong medication on more than one occasion. Being exposed to his opinions regarding the medical system in the U.S. definitely caused me to question everything. In a nutshell, I will always try to prevent or resolve something with Mother Nature's help before I'll pop a pill. Pharmaceuticals are generally my last option. I am not opposed to them, but I will try "natural" ways first. On a side note, birthing a child in a hospital here also opened my eyes to many things that this country as "normalized".
As a teenager I was put on medications for ADHD and depression, which led me to have an eating disorder. While my father was opposed to doctors, my mother didn't know any better at the time and just did what the doctor told her to do. It's shocking how quickly doctors will put children on pills before trying to understand what their lifestyle consists of and perhaps recommend some changes. Puberty and being a teenager is not easy for most. For me there are other ways to help ADHD and depression instead of taking a pill - low impact exercise, meditation, not putting artificial crap in your body, having a balanced and nutrient dense diet, not being in front of the screen for hours, getting fresh air! I fully understand that everyone is different and what may work for one person may not for another. I can only speak from my experience.
In my last post, you would have gathered that I wasn't previously a big fan of cannabis. However, I will say that I always thought it was odd that doctors are quick to prescribe OxyContin or some other big pharma pain killer but rarely ever suggest trying cannabis. Why do you think that is?