Why am I Vegan?

My heart is so heavy writing this, as I know that many don't understand.

Roughly 2 years ago, I made the best decision of my life, to become vegan.

Becoming vegan wasn't an option for me. It was something I had to do. 

The stereotypical view of vegans are that they are hippies eating salads all day long and know nothing about actual health. They push their opinions on you, they deprive themselves, and they are only doing it to be different than everyone else.

First of all, if anyone knows my husband and I, the last thing we do is eat salads all day as we know that is not sustainable. We do anything but deprive ourselves as we eat more than anyone else we know, and we definitely do not push our opinions or do it just to be different.

Yes, we don't eat any animal products...this means no meat, cheese/dairy, or eggs. We don't eat animal fat, gelatin (as it comes from bone marrow) or honey. We don't wear leather, wool, or suede. 

Being vegan is about the animals, but it's also so much more.

Being vegan is about taking down the blindfolds that have been put in front of our eyes by society and seeing the world for what it really is. It's about knowing and understanding what is going on with our products, instead of taking the easy way out and hiding. It's about knowing what is in our food, skin products, and cleaning products and not participating in evil.

Most importantly, it's about being compassionate.

Many seem to think being vegan is just a diet, but that is not true as being vegan is a lifestyle. 

I don't miss anything that I'm not eating or using because I know the truth behind it. 

The problem is, as consumers, we are completely blind to what is going on before we get what we are buying. We don't raise, kill, or butcher our meats. We don't see the animals getting tested before we buy our shampoos and soaps and we don't listen to the cries of the enslaved animals. When we buy our products in a nice little package, we don't think about what it really is or how it could affect us.

This is a lifestyle. 

We choose to live compassionately towards animals, the planet, and the people around us.

We choose to reduce our carbon footprint and to make the best, most educated decisions on what we buy.

We choose to be vegan.

This is a topic that I am very passionate about, but I feel that without being exposed to what I've been exposed to, it's difficult to truly understand.

I challenge anyone who has not already to watch these YouTube videos and documentaries.

-Gary Yourofsky: Best Speech you will ever hear- 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es6U00LMmC4

-Earthling 

-Cowspiricy

-Food-Inc

-Forks over Knives

In no way is this a post trying to make anyone feel badly, or judged against. This is only to open up minds about veganism, to eliminate hateful stereotypes, and to expose the truth behind our food.

What is love?

My husband and I have a very special relationship. We love each other for who we are not who we want each other to be. This has been very clear from the beginning of our relationship. We were ourselves, never pretending to be something we weren't. If we got upset about something, we told each other. If we had a problem, we talked about it. We communicated, and always knew what our intentions were.

It was so easy. We didn't have to think about it....we just did it.

But, I used to think love was complicated.

We tend to make up rules and complicate things when it comes to relationships. We can't do this or that and we have a specific "type" of person we want. They have to look a certain way and act a certain way and if they don't add up to our specifications we won't look at them twice.

I used to try follow these complicated made-up rules. All it resulted in was my hiding my true self and acting like someone I never was. I never wanted to be myself in fear I wasn't guarding my heart enough, which led to me being afraid to be myself altogether. I read way too far into situations and tried to be the person I thought someone else wanted. I was afraid to share my thoughts and ideas in fear I would become too open.

I was complicating love, love wasn't being complicated.

Now, I couldn't be happier in my marriage, and it's because it's natural and it's real. We love each other with our whole hearts and minds and we don't complicate it.

If you have something to say, say it. If you're upset about something, talk about it. Share your hopes and your dreams. Don't hide who you are because someone else told you you weren't good enough. Be confident in who you are because the person you are supposed to be with will love everything about you.

Go with the flow.

Love deeply.

Love freely.