My Journey To Veganism
I did not
hear the word veganism and what I meant before I was 15 when one of my mom's friends went vegan and my first
thought was; why would anyone do that? Which is pretty funny because now I
cannot think of one reason not to be vegan. But I thought about cheese and tuna
and how I did not like the idea of giving that up.
I already
knew I was 'lactose intolerant' ("you are not lactose intolerant, you are
just not a baby cow") because I had been tested in 2006 and I have
not had a glass of milk since.. I did however eat cheese and other dairy
products on special occasions and sometimes had it when I was out - otherwise
not. We did not even have dairy products in our house in the everyday life. So
it would not really have made that big of a difference.
I would
say that I have always liked meat. I would not use the word love but I
definitely liked the taste of it. One day
it just started to taste and feel weird to eat. This was after I heard the word
veganism but at the time I did not explore it further. I don't know what happened, it just
started being and tasting weird.
A couple
of weeks went by and I still ate the meat. I told my mom how I felt and she
said:
'Then why
don't you just stop eating it?'
And my
first reaction was; can I do that??
I don't
think I thought (wow that's a mouthful) I needed it to survive, I just thought
it was such a big thing to give up, I mean it was everywhere. How can you not
eat meat? It's such a normal thing to do so how could I just stop?
But I
did, I stopped eating meat when I was 15. And it felt so good.
As
mentioned, we did not have dairy products in our household and eggs were
starting to become a minimal thing, something not used as often so I ate
plant based most days without really knowing that I did.
Then I
watched a video on youtube, a video that is still very dear to my heart and
probably always will be because it was such a mind opener to me; 'The best
speech you will ever hear' by Gary Yourofsky. Such a powerful message without being
graphic. I thought it was so brilliant and I remember thinking that this felt
right.
So I was
vegan now? No, I still ate plant based at home however when I was out I would
have some dairy and other cheese products because of the social thing. I think
that's how it is for a lot of people so I totally understand. However now, I
will never let some social idea of what is normal get in the way of what I
believe in and what feels right to me.
I started
watching more videos, some including slaughter footage and my heart literally
broke. So I started to say no to animal products.
I did not
want that.
It did
not feel right.
It just
did not match with my ethical beliefs and what felt right.
The thought of me not being able to give up tuna, cheese or other animal products was selfish. Why should anyone be hurt over something I (thought) wanted?
The thought of me not being able to give up tuna, cheese or other animal products was selfish. Why should anyone be hurt over something I (thought) wanted?
So on my 19th birthday I said to myself and my family something along the lines of; this
is it. This is the last day I will (knowingly) eat animal products and it felt
so good making that vow to myself. Because this was how I felt so why did I not
live it? I had stopped eating animal products before that day but this was the
official day.
"I'm
vegan"
and I
started going beyond food and looked elsewhere for cruelty to cut out of my
life and I have never felt better.
I am now 21 and it has been over 2 years since I went vegan and I am so grateful for
this decision and all I think now is probably what a lot of vegans think;
"Why
did I not do this sooner??"
But I am
now and I will be a voice for the voiceless because just because something is
considered the norm that does not mean that it is right.
If you want to know about the benefits I have experienced after going vegan then just click right here.
Thank you so much for reading and if you have any questions then please feel free to ask down below. When did you first hear the word veganism?
Soluuna ♡
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