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| Calvin (le doggie to the right of le photo) is currently my moral support as I make the vegan shift. |
...Well, the solar eclipse! Woohoo!!! But seriously though, besides this, what's been happening in the exciting realm of changing my habits and becoming vegan? The story continues as follows...
I actually must say that I've been having a difficult time this past week. I had no idea how much the negative feedback of others affected me. But it really did.
Since that incident this past Thursday, I found myself not feeling as excited about "fighting for" veganism and fighting for the health of myself and the welfare of animals. It's so backwards!!! I know that I want this for myself and for the animals everywhere; but it was as though the negativity I encountered infiltrated my every pore and started to poison me from the inside out. I know this sounds dramatic. I guess it is. But this is how I felt. I felt beat up. I felt discouraged. I felt tired of fighting (and I've barely even started!). And I felt a little bit apathetic.... Then, I ate two big non-vegan candy bars. Take that "haters"!... It seems as though I suddenly found myself on the path of a resentment where I'm eating poison while the person who sent the poison has no idea that anything is going on.
What I've found from this experience of getting the "blahs" is that I think all these things were forms of defense mechanisms. It feels icky to not be supported by certain people in your life. I think when one encounters this lack of support, the body feels a bit of sadness / grief / pain / fear. And these feelings are real. You have to address them. See them for what they are. See where these feelings are coming from. Feel them. And then (this is the "hard" part) continue the trek forward, and continue in action. Yes, ACTION is the key word.... Because hey, why am I making these changes anyways? Do I want to make my choices from a place of fear, and stop pursuing a lifestyle that I want so that unsupportive people in my life start to support me? Or do I want to do what is best for me, and do what falls in line with my belief system and love of animals? These are all questions that are important to ask.
But... yes... I was feeling pretty discouraged and a bit-even-painfully-dejected-feeling-sorry-for-myself when I received a website/article link from a friend of mine. This link couldn't have appeared at a better time. (It truly DOES help to get moral support for your choices in whatever form it comes in, even an online article!) The article came to me from a site named Vegansaurus! and the article can be found at http://vegansaurus.com/post/23482722215/how-to-stay-vegan
It's a great article by Sarah M Smart and Jenny Bradley about 13 tips for staying vegan. Note the word 'staying'. I like how the article begins with: "Anybody can GO vegan. Heck, my dad makes a joke that goes, “I’m vegan… BETWEEN MEALS!” Ha! Got me there, Dad!" " But, it's so true! The article talks about staying vegan by...
1. Telling everyone you're vegan. I can check that one off my list. Check. Done via posting this blog!
2. Getting a vegan tattoo... Hmmm... Could be a possibility... I've been wanting one forevahhh, and this could be it! It's kinda like getting married to ink on your body. I think I could commit to this! :)
3. Re-visiting why you decided to go vegan. Re-watching Meet your meat and Earthlings. I've seen both of these and this is definitely why I want to stay vegan. It also mentions the book Diet for a New America and the podcast We Like It Raw. I haven't read/listened to either of those, so that's next for me. :)
4. Stay in the know. As she says, "...pay attention—you might have forgotten all the pus and antibiotics in that hunk of cheese you’re craving."
5. Take it easy on yourself!... I needed to hear that.
6. Listen to your body!... I needed to read that.
7. Build your vegan community!... I really like this one. I recently went on the site MeetUp.com and found a local meetup site for Vegan/Vegetarians! Very cool. I'm looking forward to my first "meetup" with that group!
And my especially favorite #12 and #13 are 12. Let the vegan haters hate! and 13. Let the omni haters hate! These two tips made me feel ok again. It helps to know that other people go through similar struggles that I am going through. Just knowing this IS enough. Enough to keep going. And I realize that there's a wealth of supportive people out there. You just have to look for them.
So since reading this article mid-day while on my lunch break, I started to feel better... And more pumped... And pretty much back on track. I even may have muttered to myself, "I've got this!"
Then, I started back at work (where I work for a national, grocery store chain). My next "activity" for the day was to give out samples. The samples were mango candies. Yummy, chewy mango candies! Yum! I decided to have a quick taste (of course, to make sure they were of high enough quality. lol). As I was chewing on one, a fellow employee passed by and said, "You know, those definitely AREN'T vegan." What?! They're mango-y, and yummy, and gewy. How could they not be vegan? I figured they were sugar and mangos. Turns out I was wrong. They were made of gelatin, which I have come to find out is made up of ground-up animal bones!?! I had no idea!!! Wow, I guess I have a little ways to go before I've really "got this". And I guess I need to start reading ALL labels. Not just the ones I think have animal stuff in them.
So I still have a long way to go. But I'm back, baby! I'm back! Wonder-twin powers activate! Form of veganism in action!!!! Yes!... Or at least a "mostly vegan" (as I figure this thing out).
Yes. It feels good to be back on track.
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| Calvin's tired of the paparazzi. He implies, "Enough is enough with these photos! Plus it's almost 3am! Time for sleep!" |
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