There is no room for dogma in the natural world.
Only laws.
I consume a raw vegan diet.
I do NOT believe that everyone else on the planet should be raw, or even vegan - at least not right now.
I am incredibly particular about the foods that I consume.
However, I am in no way afraid I am going to brush up against perfection - not any time soon. Nor am I concerned about any 'ideal' or 'philosophy' when it comes to my eating. I do not struggle with cravings for non-vegan or cooked foods. I do not have a food drama going on in my head all day long. Things are generally pretty simple for me in the food department. I am not some magical fairy or unicorn. Not at all.
It was not always this way.
In the beginning, I was eating vegan *mostly* because I wanted to look and feel good. There were some animal rights issues in my mind, and knowing how things were happening (ie. I read Diet For A New America, and with that abstaining from eating animal products was simply a non-negotiable) but mostly it was my own health that mattered.
I was also rather fanatical (tyrannical?) with my views and opinions. Vegan was the ONLY way, and you were an asshole if you ate animals.
From that vantage point, eating vegan was still pretty easy - due to the fact that I was aware of the animal suffering and just could not un-flip that switch, but the raw part was really fucking hard sometimes. And the food drama - don't even get me started!
"Will this make me fat?"
"Is this an 'ideal' food?"
"How many calories should I be eating?"
"Am I getting all my nutrients?"
"Is this the best thing for my hair/skin/nails/adrenal glands?"
And so on.
I struggled for YEARS with this food and body drama. And the thing that made it all go away?
I realized my food was not all about me.
I realized that as a HIGHLY privileged individual - meaning I have the ability to go to a grocery store/market, and I have the disposable income that allows me to make choices at that grocery store/market, I have consumer power and the ability to make CHOICES. That is radically privileged - I have a responsibility to the rest of humanity to choose my foods with as much conscious awareness of their impact globally as I can.
I realized that due to the fact that I have buying power, I am voting with every one of dollars for the world that I want to see.
I realized that my choices are a part of what is shaping the world that future, beautiful, innocent, generations are going to inherit as their job and home.
I genuinely feel that everyone deserves access to clean water, food and air.
I genuinely believe that this next generation should not have to clean up after me.
That they deserve fields and forests and parks to run around in, and food that has the capacity to nourish their bodies (knowing that we have not evolved to thrive off of processed, factory made foods.)
Which means that supporting animal agriculture, and supporting processed foods that are incredibly toxic to the planet and to our bodies is not an option.
Again, this realization did not make me perfect. I am in no way fully and completely aware of what is going into and onto my foods. But I do know that I choose not to support industries that, at this point, are totally out of alignment with the health of this planet and those who occupy it.
As soon as I made my food choices about ALL OF US - I stopped struggling.
The food drama died. There were no other options. I was ok with being uncomfortable for periods of time when I gave up some of the last little treats I was holding onto. I was ok with never having a bite of cake again. I was fully ok with all of it - because it was not all about me.
Finally, I realized that not everyone is like me.
Not everyone is where I am at. Not everyone has my history or my motivation or my desires. Not everyone has my privilege, education, and the resources I have access too. In fact, far from it. MOST people DON'T have what I have.
I am aware that for some, going vegan is way too radical at this point. Possibly totally physically not right for them (that's right I said it, I don't think everyone physically can eat a vegan diet - not right now anyway) and this is where the philosophical part of me had to let go.
Do I believe this world would be a really really magical place if everyone went vegan tomorrow? Sure. Lots would change and that would be awesome. But I don't think it is right to ask that.
Instead, I believe that everyone deserves to be met where they are at, with their family history, with their health history, with their financial status, with their preferences and all that considered.
You are not an asshole if you know that factory farming is the worst thing ever, but you still choose to consume meat. Not at all. You are a human. You are beautiful and deserving of love.
Because here is the thing:
Love is what is going to transform this world.
Not hate.
Not shame.
Not guilt.
Not ideals.
Not philosophy.
People heal and come into alignment with themselves and nature (thus all of us!) MOST when they are loved.
That is the way it will always work.
So if you eat animals, and you have the ability to do so, all I would say is be real about it. Know where your animal foods are coming from - like really know, go to the farm, the label is not good enough because those things are so poorly regulated - and just be aware of your choices.
Do one move better tomorrow than you did today.
That is all this is about. No perfection, no ideal, no philosophical end point - really because we are so far from that perfection, like I mentioned above we are at no risk of bumping up against it.
Just let your mind open to your choices, why you are making them, what they are doing for you and for everyone else. That's it. Then, be nice. Because if this movement is all about compassion, then it starts with compassion for yourself and compassion for the other human animals, just as much as having compassion for non human animals.
Do your best, whatever your best is for you in this moment, and then do better when you can.
Never, ever beat yourself up when you don't live up to your own expectations, and make room for everyone else to be where they are.
That's it.
<3
