This post is taken form my networking site http://www.soul-cafe.net and the group for Veggies and VEgan people!
People become veggie/vegans for a number of reasons. SOme because they simply do not like the taste of meat, others because they hate the thought of killing an animal.
I write a whole chapter in my next book The High Heeled Guide to Spiritual Living about my choice to become a vegetarian. Though it was something more pressing than a 'choice'. I felt that after years of on/off vegetarian eating, I could simply no longer eat meat. It was simply an impossibility for me to continue to do. I can't explain it better than that, but it made perfect sense.
I still ge teased mercilessly by friends about whether or not I am a vegetarian this week! Though I am proud to say that I have been for over a year now, no slip ups, no fails, no 'just one last time bacon sandwiches!'
The first time I became a vegetarian, shame to say it, was because Mark Owen from Take That was one. Not only this, but he lived near my Dad in Oldham, and I once saw him in his bedroom window. THis sealed the deal for me in typical teenage fashion. He was, so I was. I stuck to it for years, but then my downfall was a McDonald's cheeseburger. Soooo not even worth it, but by now I was an older teenager, and my thoughts were not so conscious.
I'm not sure what happened then. But from my late teens till a year ago I would have fads and phases of vegetarian living. Followed by mad attacks of 'atkins diet' style meat fests. I was trying (and failing) to be a model at the time, and copious amount so meat seemed the way forward. I was very much thinking of my own waistline, and in no respects was I concerned about the animals that suffered for it.
Again a few years after that, when under a 'vegetarian' label I cracked under the pressure of a deeply stressful holiday and ended up loading my plate full of the hotel's finest bacon. I started smoking too. I guess that in my confused state, again, the animals and even my own health was the last thing on my mind.
Happily, I am now past these flummoxes of consciousness. I have been a semi-veg for a few years, and a full-on - 'no meat passes the lips vegetarian' for over a year. I am so happy about this. I can safely say that this is a decision that will be permanent. And who knows, maybe in a few years my friends will stop asking the question, 'are you vegetarian this week / month / christmas'.
And why do I choose to be a vegetarian. So many reasons... I can refer you to PETA or VIVA, for the full list of abuses caused to animals and the environment caused by the meat industry. All of these are my reasons. But on a more personal note, I simply love animals. I love their fluffy, furry innocent little selves, and I have no desire to be part of a chain that chops that fluffy self up, roasts it and munches away liberally. Been there, done it, and I always did prefer the veg option on the menu anyway if I'm honest! I believe my spiritual progression led me this way, and I am not one to argue with spiritual progression. I try to go with the flow and if the flow insists on veg and grains, then so be it.
I hope in time, to cut right back on the animal products too and lean strongly towards veganism, for the most part. This is something I'm working on though, so be patient with me!
So why do you choose to be veggie...?
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