Orchid Blooming

Watching my orchid bloom over the last 24 hours-

What is Love?: How Going Vegan Showed Me What Love Really Is

Tell me how to speak for you!

If you were born in a cage, would you want me to keep my mouth shut?  If someone was raping you repeatedly, just so they could sell your babies, would you want me to mind my own business?  If parts of your body were violently ripped off and thrown away would you want me to look the other way?  If you were being forced to undergo pregnancy after pregnancy, just so your breast milk could be sold and your babies killed, would you want me to sit down and shut the fuck up?  If your body was being used for testing of new devices, chemicals, and procedures, would you want me to just walk away quietly?  How would you want me to advocate for you, if you were a slave?  Would it be important to you that I not make your captors uncomfortable?  Would you want me to show them the most respect possible?  Would you want your captors to be politely asked to let you go?  Would you want your captors to be harmed in any way?  Would you want me to ask them to let you out, or would you want me to sneak in at night and cut the lock off of the cage?  If there were alternatives to the use of you, would you want me to keep them to myself and never teach others that they could use a non-sentient technology instead of your living body? 

Vegans are often criticized for the way we present information, and the way we fight to liberate all animals, human and non.  But, I wonder, if these same people would feel the same way if they were the ones being used for profit, greed, tradition, and the sensory pleasure of someone else.  It’s real easy to talk about exploitation when you aren’t the one experiencing it.  There is a popular phrase that everyone loves to share on their social media-

“It’s always been this way is the most dangerous phrase in human language”

So why does most of society completely reject the antidote to this “dangerous phrase”?

“It doesn’t have to be this way, there’s another way…”

Maybe it’s the personal responsibility, the admitting that we all, regardless of personal beliefs, have participated in the violent oppression our heart tells us we are against.  Change is admission of guilt, and that’s not an easy thing to face.  I would be willing to bet though, that any guilt or anxiety we feel is nothing compared to being born in a cage, surrounded by your family and friends who were also born in that cage, and everyone knows that no one is getting out alive. 

Go Vegan or GFY!

My biggest mistake as a VEGAN

In our house we just celebrated our 3 year Veganniversary.  We threw a wonderful party with friends, and binged on delicious plants until we were all ready to burst.  It was a great evening, and everyone enjoyed it.  That evening also sparked some interesting conversations about what vegan means, and what it doesn’t mean.  We realized that people don’t seem to know what it actually is, and there are plenty of myths and rumors filling in the gaps.

A few months ago, I asked my mom to define veganism, and her answer left me feeling completely ignored by my own family.  Here I was, about to celebrate 3 years of this amazing lifestyle where I use less water, use less land, produce less waste, experience more health benefits than I ever thought possible, and, most importantly, I don’t pay people to commit violence against innocent animals for the sake of fulfilling some ancient blood sacrifice tradition.  So what was her answer?  She said-

“It means you don’t eat meat and dairy.”

While she is partly right, her lack of understanding the full meaning of vegan is why she forced animal products on me the last time I visited my family.  (and why I will never visit them again but that’s a whole blog post in itself)  I do partly blame myself for this, as it is my job to be a voice for the animals.  But whether or not my family ever lets me finish the sentence where I describe what the most important word in my vocabulary means is not the issue here.  My own understanding of that word is.

You see, for the first year that I was walking around calling myself a vegan, I had never even read the definition.  I didn’t even know what ‘The Vegan Society’ was.  I made inappropriate jokes like other plant based dieters.  I didn’t hold myself accountable when I fucked up and forgot to say no cheese on my vegetable pizza.  I ate it, and got sick from the fat and the guilt.  Looking back now, I wish I had known some vegans at the time to kick my ass because I needed it.  I needed called out on my hypocrisy.

Fortunately, we kept learning.  I am so thankful to have a mate who loves to learn as much as I do.  So we dove in, headfirst, with no lifejackets.  We consumed every bit of information we could.  We watched humane slaughter videos.  (which are not humane, violence is just violence no matter how you dress that shit up)  We read so much about vitamin b12 we felt like sales reps for it.  We started following farm animal sanctuaries, discovered the great Gary Yourofsky, and rescued a local canine that had been abandoned when he was just a baby, left to rot in a cage.  Our view on the world changed.  We had no idea how much it was going to change, until it did.

Almost overnight, our focus had went from ourselves to every innocent being on Earth.  We wanted to save them all.  At the very least, we were no longer going to knowingly hurt any of them, because every soul deserves to live freely.  We had always considered ourselves to be supporters of equal rights, yet here we were, just now discovering what that even means.  Equal rights is wanting the same for all, and being willing to change your own habits that take away someone else’s freedom.  It’s hard to admit you’ve been wrong.  Even harder to admit you’ve spent your entire life inflicting pain, suffering, and exploitation on animals when you thought you loved them.  But we did it.  We held that mirror in front of our own faces until we liked what we saw.

Yes, it took time.  Yes, we failed along the way.  Yes, we get frustrated at all the violence in the world.  Yes, we understand that perfection is not attainable.  But none of that will ever stop us from continuing to be the changes we want to see in the world.

Veganism is defined as-

“A philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, animals and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals.”

After actually reading and comprehending it, there is just no way you could end up doing it wrong.  The message is clear, concise, and easy to follow.  Stop hurting animals, teach people about the violence and alternatives to using animals.  Of course, this means we are going to make people uncomfortable.  But honestly, don’t we deserve a bit of discomfort when we are forcing animals into the world just to die for us?

Go Vegan or GFY!

 

When are you going back to ‘normal’?

This is my hair.  A year ago, I started doing exactly whatever I want to it, whenever I want to.  Not surprisingly, it has led me to meet some very kind people who love artistic expression.  And also not surprisingly, it has led me to almost punch a few assholes in the nose.  I think people have gotten confused about our right to differing opinions.  We have a right to not like what someone has done with their hair, clothing, or other body alteration.  We do not have the right to slam and shame them for it.  YOU CAN LOOK THE OTHER WAY.

I have done a bit of reading on the psychology of this, because I used to do the same thing to people.  I just had to share my thoughts on every bad dress choice, different eyebrows or makeup applications, tattoos, etc.  It turns out, I wasn’t living my own passions.  I was living what society, culture, my parents, and the rest of the world told me to.  And that didn’t make me happy.  Now I live how I want, and I encourage others to live however they want.  I don’t need to control, judge, or shame when I see aesthetic alterations that I would not choose for myself.  I just keep choosing what I like, and when I see someone else doing what I like I tell them I think it’s cool because I know what it feels like to have most of the people you encounter treat you like shit just because you put bright, happy rainbow colors in your own fucking hair.

So, to answer the question I keep getting asked-

“When are you going to put your hair back to ‘normal’?”

I’m not.  I do not want to be normal in a society where the normal people are the assholes.  In my country normal means rapes, kills, and eats baby animals.  In my country normal means forces harmful ideologies on innocent children.  In my country normal means getting plastic surgery on your own face and then being mean to the neighbor girl for dying her own hair.  I will never, ever, go back to being ‘normal’.

Go Vegan or GFY!

 

 

Like crashing a bike

I haven’t stepped into the blogging pool since the days of xanga and myspace.  Hopefully I can get the hang of it without too many scraped knees and broken links.  It will probably be awhile before I put out anything worth reading, so if you’re already here, I apologize.

Go vegan or GFY!