Unapologetically Vegan: Why I'm Vegan, and What I've Learned

Hi everyone,

First, thank you so much for all of the support for this here space on the interwebs. I hope you'll read along and comment--it makes me happy and proves that I'm not just talking to myself, which I'm wont to do.

Lest you think I have forgotten about this blog's namesake, I'm writing a post to assure you that this is not the case. I'm vegan for all kinds of reasons: ethics, health, the environment, and also 'cause my skin is brighter and I've got more pep in my step when I don't feast on a dead corpse two times a day. Just sayin'. Besides the many impetuses to become vegan, I have also experienced some unexpected consequences as a result of this lifestyle choice. Most importantly--and the topic that this post will address--I have learned to be unapologetic and steadfast in my journey to health and happiness.

Anyone who has known me for at least a few months will tell you that I'm a stress case. My persistent anxiety, coupled with a diagnosed case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, is enough to send anyone into a tizzy if they are around me for more than five minutes. When you consider that a vegan lifestyle requires an inordinate amount of planning and special requests to make one's needs met, you can surmise how my first year as a vegan unfolded. Yet I trudged forward, and with a combination of experience and self-help tomes, I have learned that my choices need no apology.

Warning: high school-esque introductory sentence ahead.

As Dr. Wayne W. Dyer once said in his book Your Erroneous Zones, "You can never escape disapproval, no matter how much you may want it to go away. For every opinion you have, there is a counterpart out there with exactly the opposite view." Well said, Wayne, well said. I happen to think that, despite a cultural shift in favor of veganism and all that it implies, we as vegans tend to get a pretty bad rap. We're crunchy, hairy, pot-smoking hippies with idealistic notions of how the world should behave. Indeed, those types of vegans do exist, but they don't constitute the majority. I used to exert so. much. effort into trying to abide to what I felt was an accurate representation of veganism (i.e. flower-adorned braids and free love bullshit), but I realized that just isn't me. So instead of trying to conform to one particular reality, I decided to just be me. Unapologetically.

Of course, I'm still courteous to whomever my veganism touches. For example, if going shopping with a friend, I will remind him or her that I don't do leather or wool. I'll scout out a store that caters to my needs, and find other stores in the same vicinity that might appeal to my friend. Similarly, when dining with non-vegan companions, I make it a point to select a restaurant that serves both vegan and omni food (and for friends that are adventurous, I seek out an all-vegan restaurant to blow their mind!).

There's really no point in making apologies for something that is so much a part of who I am. It's disingenuous, and wholly unrepresentative of how I want to live my life. There are still times when I find myself feeling guilty for making my needs known, but I simply remind myself that my choices are no less legitimate than someone else's.

In the inimitable words of (vegan?) L'Oreal, "Because I'm worth it."

xo

What are some lifestyle or character traits that you have had to own? Do you have a guilt complex like me?