Vegan lifestyle articles that discuss ways of living in peace with humans, animals, and the environment.
Marla Rose,
VeganStreet.com
January 2015
Please don’t let anyone pressure you into staying vegetarian. As you can see, so much of my vegetarianism was fueled by unexamined myths, habituated behaviors, a desire to please others and self-sabotage. I look back at that vegetarian I used to be and I know that I intended to do the right thing, I just didn’t know any better. I was so naïve. Don’t be like me; don’t waste 12 long years as a vegetarian when you can evolve and move on to the next logical step toward manifesting your convictions about kindness.
After many years of being a vegetarian, I can no longer claim to be one.
Before you judge me, please read my story.
I grew up as a typical animal-loving kid and as soon as I was a teenager and
put two-and-two together, I finally gave up meat and became a vegetarian. I
felt righteous! I felt virtuous! I had found my way!
For most of those 12 years, I was happy and content. I would bring my egg
salad sandwiches to work for lunch and order the vegetarian option when I
went out with friends. No chicken wings for this animal lover. Over time,
though, I started to not feel as passionate about being a vegetarian. The
more I thought about it, the less that it meant anything to me. I felt like
I was just going through the motions. Eventually, I decided to do the very
thing no one I was close to would ever imagine possible. I became an
ex-vegetarian. It was a process with some ups-and-downs, partially because
my self-identity had become so entwined with my vegetarianism, but
eventually, I gave it up for good. Today, I have to say, I’ve never felt
better: body, mind and spirit.
As a former vegetarian, I feel that I am uniquely qualified to speak to the
elephant in the room (actually a whole herd of ‘em) about vegetarianism,
having been one for so long. I hope my words here help anyone else who is
conflicted about being a vegetarian. Maybe some of you have also struggled
with vegetarianism? Here are some reasons why today I am a proud former
vegetarian.
1. Being a vegetarian was not convenient. The harm and
destruction of eggs and dairy became an inconvenient truth that was
increasingly difficult to ignore. The more I learned, the less mollifying
the justifications became, which made excuses very inconvenient.
2. I felt weak when I was a vegetarian. Feeling controlled
by the cruel dairy and egg industries did not exactly instill a sense of
self-empowerment within me.
3. I felt excluded. All these amazing vegans were changing
the world for the better and there I was still chewing on eggs and gulping
down milk. I wanted to be on the right side of history, not supporting
industries that I find abhorrent, so I became an ex-vegetarian.
4. I felt limited. When my interest in maintaining my
habits was greater than my concern about other living beings or the future
of the planet, I realized that I was very limited in my capacity to extend
compassion to others.
5. I had cravings. I craved being self-reliant, aligned from within and to
maintain consistency with my values and practices but eating animal products
made it impossible for me to attain those things. The cravings just got
worse and worse the more I learned.
6. It didn’t feel natural. Going against my values each time I ate animal
products was counter-intuitive and every time I did, it felt unnatural for
me because I was buttressing the very industries that compelled me to stop
eating meat in the first place.
7. I didn’t want to be different anymore. I didn’t want to be different – in
fact, I needed to be different, which meant finding my own compass for my
morality instead of just fitting in and not making waves.
8. I wasn’t listening to my body. My brain is part of my body: my brain was
telling me that I understood how harmful and violent the animal products
industries are and my actions went against this until I finally listened.
9. I always felt hungry. I hungered for feeling a deeper connection to the
planet and to others; cutting off my innate empathy every time I ate animal
products only made my hunger for this more pronounced.
10. I realized that farm animals didn’t have it so bad. Whether one eats
“free-range” eggs or cheese from “happy cows,” a tyranny of cruelty,
domination and needless violence is intertwined with animal agribusiness no
matter what the packaging looks like. Also, the flesh that people eat comes
from animals who aren’t brutalized any worse than those we subjugate for
their secreted fluids.
11. I didn’t want to be rude. It’s kind of the ultimate rude thing to behave
as if my temporary cravings matters more than one’s very life. Actually,
rude doesn’t even begin to cover it.
12. It was a spiritual thing. How was I going to function as a spiritual
being when I was complicit in harming others? Nonviolence, compassion,
justice, empathy: these things are consistent with creating a spiritual
life. Violence, cruelty, injustice, self-involvement? Not so much.
13. Ultimately, it was just too hard. It was hard to deny my deepening
convictions. It was hard to maintain the status quo when my word and my
self-respect were at stake. It was hard to be complicit in a lie. It was
hard to quell my feelings. It was hard to deny what I knew. Ultimately, it
was just too hard to remain a vegetarian.
Please don’t let anyone pressure you into staying vegetarian. As you can
see, so much of my vegetarianism was fueled by unexamined myths, habituated
behaviors, a desire to please others and self-sabotage. I look back at that
vegetarian I used to be and I know that I intended to do the right thing, I
just didn’t know any better. I was so naïve. Don’t be like me; don’t waste
12 long years as a vegetarian when you can evolve and move on to the next
logical step toward manifesting your convictions about kindness. If you
listen to your innate wisdom, do some research, tune into your compassion
and move toward the future, you can leave the self-deception and harmful
practices in the past.
Like me, you can go vegan. Today, I am proud to say I’m a former vegetarian.
Are you a vegetarian like I was? Maybe it's time you go all the way, too.
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